review of noordam 3/4-3/14 caribbean cruise

[nurseblissful]

what a great time! prior to the cruise, we stayed at the comfort inn in hollywood. tidy rooms with nice staff. we did the touristy thing for two days before leaving. we took an airboat ride with the folks at sawgrass recreation park. quite informative and fun. catfish dewey's for dinner. a local kind of place. not fancy, but the food was great. the frog legs were great, the shrimp wonderful and the grits were outstanding. the next day, we went to flamingo gardens, a bird sanctuary. it was great. they have shows to tell you about the animals that are native to the area. and all the animals have been injured and would not otherwise live in the wild. then we went to the fishing hall of fame (yes, there is one:)). it was quite informative and interesting. i thougt i would be bored, but was not. we ate at the rustic inn crabhouse that night. another local place, again, not fancy. the portions were huge! and the food was fabulous. i think those were the best shrimp ever. the maui maui was great, conch fritters wonderful and the crabs tasy. the garlic crabs are a tad greasy/buttery.

embarkation was quick and painless. the demographic on this cruise was much older than our previous 2 cruises. but there were no big deals. the room was wonderful, the balcony was too. our room steward artis was the standard that we have come to expect. he was absolutely wonderful. the food was quite good. and the pinnacle grill.....oh my! i am gonna go all foodie for a moment....the prawns and beurre blanc were ambrosiac....the filet was the BEST i have ever eaten. and the cabernet savignon to go with, quite nice....ok, trying to focus....not drool...we did not do the shows. the casino was very smoky....i did not like that. the weather was kinda rough, and it was quite bouncy for a couple of days. i found that hanging on the the one arm bandit was quite steadying...they taped off the doors so you would not bounce off the decks....no going outside for a couple of days. st maarten was quite good. the shopping is better than st thomas (less $$$$), then off to the beach for a dip. let me say, it is the caribbean, but this time of year, the water is still cold! next was st lucia. it was sunday so it was mostly shut down. but i did hear a few folks went to the beach and the land tours were quite good (that is second hand, as i wondered around close to the ship). barbados was lovely. sunny beaches, crystal clear water....VERY strong rum punches.....yikes. we were diverted from martinique because of some civil unrest issues (killing each other and tourists) and the captain chose st kitts. what a great place! the beach was beautiful. and they had an obx flag by the restaurant:D. we did figure out that we were not on the outer banks of north carolina (the water was way too pretty). there are monkeys all over the island. it is very funny. they steal the golf balls on the golf course. that is funny to me, not the golfers. next was st thomas. there was a shooting just outside the port. two guys killed each other..scary. we went shopping. in our 2 prior visits, we went snorkeling. we should have done the same this time. the prices are higher than st maarten and it is wildly crowded. we went back to the ship after just a few hours. someone got sick and we had to delay leaving so they could be taken to the hospital. oh, and we had to wait for one of the two ambulances.....two ambulances...that is quite mind boggling to me...last was hmc. i love that little island. they have built up quite a bit. we fed the stingrays. quite cool. but again, the water was really COLD. we were there the same time as the eurodam. the beaches were really crowded, but the buffet line, bar lines and shopping lines were all good. the guy driving the tender back must have just got his permit....more on that later.

our dining companions were from canada and ohio. we sailed with our friends that came from pittsburgh. it was a great time with great food. oh, and our last night, we had bami goreng ! did i spell that right? it was wonderful....sweet and spicy...

disembarkation was lengthy and chaotic. it took us two hours to get through customs. since we had a 17 hr drive back to norfolk, i was getting quite irritable. but not as bad as our skycap....he was great....he should be a supervisor...

it was a great cruise, and a great time. thanks hal. lauri (and mike)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home!!

Glad you had a great cruise.

St Kitts -- that is wonderful -- on our cruise we went to Dominica in place of Martinique -- haven't been to St Kitts in years.

Can't wait to hear more about the tender ride and disembarkation.

[cruiseapril]

Hi- Enjoyed your review. Which beaches did you go to on St. Maarten and St. Kitts?

[nurseblissful]

on st maarten, we went to the beach right by the water taxi drop off, i think it is called big bay....beautiful, convenient, but there is a big drop off when walking out into the water....step forward slowly. and when i say big drop off, i only mean like 9 inches. just a shock when you are not ready for it:p

on st kitts, we went to timothy beach and ate at the sunset grill. it was nice. would love to go back to that one....

[bellebaby]

Based on this review, it appears the Noordam's disembarkation issues continue. Do you have more detail?

 

B

[nurseblissful]

what a nightmare. luggage in the wrong rows, no designated lanes so people merging in (at the top of the line of course), and a limited customs personnel. customs truly slowed everyone and everything up. on a humorous note, all those people that take the fruit from their staterooms, left it sitting by the signs that stated there was a $300 fine right then, right there, if caught bringing fruit in.....there was fruit everywhere. which just shows people will do as they please unless forced to obey rules. that may well be why customs is such a lengthy process. and as aggravating as that was, it was not as bad as a 17 hr drive home....or having no one to make my bed, or bring me coffee...:rolleyes:

[RedmondCruiser]

Yonnie - We were on the same cruise and St Kitts has changed. We have not been there for five years and they totally revamped the town, and they did a great job. Hope they dump Martinique and replace it with St Kitts on all future cruises. ----- disembarkation was a mess. They need to go back to announcing colors and numbers and control the flow of passengers going into the terminal.

OP - Our steward was Aris -- could this be the same fellow. We were on deck 6. He was great.

 

Welcome Home!!

 

Glad you had a great cruise.

 

St Kitts -- that is wonderful -- on our cruise we went to Dominica in place of Martinique -- haven't been to St Kitts in years.

 

Can't wait to hear more about the tender ride and disembarkation.

[pipedreams62]

what a nightmare. luggage in the wrong rows, no designated lanes so people merging in (at the top of the line of course), and a limited customs personnel. customs truly slowed everyone and everything up. on a humorous note, all those people that take the fruit from their staterooms, left it sitting by the signs that stated there was a $300 fine right then, right there, if caught bringing fruit in.....there was fruit everywhere. which just shows people will do as they please unless forced to obey rules. that may well be why customs is such a lengthy process. and as aggravating as that was, it was not as bad as a 17 hr drive home....or having no one to make my bed, or bring me coffee...:rolleyes:

 

 

[nurseblissful]

yes, aris was our steward too. we were in 6087. two yrs ago we were in 6083.....like those middle of the ship rooms:).

[takemewithyou]

Yonnie - We were on the same cruise and St Kitts has changed. We have not been there for five years and they totally revamped the town, and they did a great job. Hope they dump Martinique and replace it with St Kitts on all future cruises. ----- disembarkation was a mess. They need to go back to announcing colors and numbers and control the flow of passengers going into the terminal.

 

OP - Our steward was Aris -- could this be the same fellow. We were on deck 6. He was great.

 

Oh boy...I so agree with you about disembarkation!

HAL: Are you listening???

My last 3 cruises...Westerdam...Zaandam...and Noordam have all had chaotic disembarkations and I am fed up with it! All in the last year.

[jilloh2]

Hi, glad to hear you had a great cruise, my husband and myself are considering this cruise for December as a gift to each other. All of the resturants in the Ft Lauderdale sound great!. This will be our second cruise on HAL, just completed a Panama Canal trip on the Zuiderdam which was great, wierd our disembarkation was smooth, why can't it be the same on all Hal ships? Can't wait until December!

[Crusing Bob]

We were in 6099 October 2007 and Aris was fantastic. Last October we had a new but nice guy and he tried hard just not quite as experienced as Aris. Glad to hear he is back and hope to have him again this October.

[c-cruise]

I am sure the disembarkation problems had something to do with the fact that there were 9 ships in Port Everglades on 3/14 including 3 HAL vista/signature class ships (Noordam, Oosterdam, Eurodam). We had the same problem with our Noordam disembarkation on 2/22, but read that the 3/4 (Wednesday) Noordam disembarkation went fine.

[takemewithyou]

I am sorry....it doesn't have to be a disorganized disembarkation. I have sailed on HAL for 5 cruises - under silent disembarkation and back when the numbers were called.

 

There is NO excuse for the disorganization and frustration that is caused when silent disembarkation fails!

 

The color and number system worked just fine. No problems - it was more work for the CD and staff, that's all.

 

There, I said it! Flame away!

[newbie2468]

We are sailing in June and I have never been on HAL... only Princess..

My questions are this:

 

Is it worth the "spa package" for lots of money.. if we only want to use the thermal suite and the hydro pools? Can you purchase those separately or do you have to get it in the "package?" What about a massage... can you book one when you get on or do they only come in the packages? Any other good advice about what to purchase? We are in a SY suite... what amenities do we get with that category?

 

Thanks for all your help and answers :D

[donaldsc]

Your ability to properly punctuate a report and your proper use of upper case letters is really amazing. I will bet that you do a lot of texting.

 

DON

[c-cruise]

I am sorry....it doesn't have to be a disorganized disembarkation. I have sailed on HAL for 5 cruises - under silent disembarkation and back when the numbers were called.

 

There is NO excuse for the disorganization and frustration that is caused when silent disembarkation fails!

 

The color and number system worked just fine. No problems - it was more work for the CD and staff, that's all.

 

There, I said it! Flame away!

 

Your assuming that HAL has full control over the disembarkation process and can speed up forklifts, baggage handlers, customs officials, etc. Disorganization on the ship - I agree that falls in HAL's lap, no excuses, but shoreside problems are often beyond any cruise lines control.

 

nurseblissful, thank you for the review! We really enjoyed our Noordam trip a few weeks back and it was nice reliving it for a few moments in reading your post. Thanks!

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL really needs to go back to calling colors and numbers.

In the last year we have experenced 3 out of 4 bad disembarkations.

Veendam -- March 2008 -- only ship in Tampa -- disaster.

Westerdam - May 2008 -- one other ship - Seattle -- disaster.

Eurodam - Dec 2008 - 6 other ships - Ft Lauderdale -- went smoothly.

Noordam -- Feb 2009 - 7 other ships - Ft lauderdale -- disaster.

One of the big problems -- once people realize that disembarkation is behind in time -- everyone starts to get off the ship disregarding all times on the papers/cards they are given. It becomes one big mess!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hi Ron

Welcome Home!!

I read on your Roll Call that you were upgraded to an SB -- Congratulations!!

[nurseblissful]

wow donald. i did not realize i would be receiving a letter grade on my report. online we call this behavior trolling. this is throwing out unnecessary, nasty comments that do not bring anything to the thread but bad feelings. i would give you an nice example of my texting skills but do not believe you are worth the effort of exciting the mods......

[takemewithyou]

Nurseblissful,

Ignore the negative comments!

We are very appreciative that you took the time to post your report - regardless of punctuation, Capitals or anything else!

Thank YOU!! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

nurseblissful

It didn't bother me one bit what form you wrote your report in.

Many of us here just like to get the facts.

Thank you!!

[Copper10-8]

Silent disembarkation on HAL works fine if:

1. Passengers pay attention to their scheduled disembark time

2. Have their 'stuff' together when that time arrives

3. Don't congregate near the gangway and/or on the stairwells

4. Don't 'cheat', i.e. try to get off the ship prior to their assigned time, thereby throwing everything in disaray

5. Those pax who are required to, report to INS at the assigned location and time on the ship

6. Settle their onboard charge account with Front Office personnel

7. Outbound luggage is off-loaded from the ship on time

8. Customs officials have their 'stuff' together

That's all:)

[Copper10-8]

Oh and thanks for taking the time and effort to write a review of your cruise, Nurseblissful! It is appreciated!:)

[takemewithyou]

Silent disembarkation on HAL works fine if:

 

1. Passengers pay attention to their scheduled disembark time

 

2. Have their 'stuff' together when that time arrives

 

3. Don't congregate near the gangway and/or on the stairwells

 

4. Don't 'cheat', i.e. try to get off the ship prior to their assigned time, thereby throwing everything in disaray

 

5. Those pax who are required to, report to INS at the assigned location and time on the ship

 

6. Settle their onboard charge account with Front Office personnel

 

7. Outbound luggage is off-loaded from the ship on time

 

8. Customs officials have their 'stuff' together

 

That's all:)

 

Yeah, right!

That's the problem - the heavens have to be in the right alignment and all must be perfect! :rolleyes: