Heading back to HAL

We have cruised on the Westerdam and the Statendam. We had a great experience on the Statendam and our worst cruise experience ever on the Westerdam. We have decided to give HAL another try as well as the Westerdam. We are going to book a Panama Canal cruise on the Westerdam for next spring. The ship was not our favorite but not bad it was a bad experience with the crew. I know the crew changes so we are going to give them another try. The Canal is the important part of the cruise for us. We have done full transits of the Canal several times. The timing and the price of the cruise is partly what is bringing us back.

We have sailed quite a few times on the Westerdam. Many of them have been full Panama Canal transits.

The best was our 21 day from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego in 2013. And that was due to a great captain.

Our worst was in 2016 -- 21 days from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego. Too many changes and perks dropped. We ended up cancelling a couple of cruises. Crew was fine. Saw the captain at a distance 2 times.

One of my most favorite recent HAL cruises was on a 7 day Caribbean cruise out of Port Everglades on the Westerdam. It truthfully exceeded my expectations in every category. Such does depend upon the Senior Management aboard the ship, I think. Their actions/expectations, whether verbal or non-verbal, are transmitted down the chain of command. The guest sees it with their interactions with the crew and staff.

Please approach your cruise with positive expectations--not unrealistic ones--but positive. I hope you will be pleased. The Canal transit is a great experience and don't miss the commentary that should be provided from the On Location Guide in the Crow's Nest and may be heard on the outer decks as well.

A reading of "The Path Between the Seas" by David McCollough before your cruise will give you a perspective that I believe will help you appreciate what you are experiencing.

Best of luck to you. We sailed on the Westerdam and had very disappointing service during and after the cruise. I wrote to the Pres, of Holland and they finally responded to me. Just wanted to be heard and an apology for being so ignored. They gave us a $500 Per Person credit for my wife and I, to be used in 1 year. Honestly I really didn't want it. Holland was so bad we did't even think of using it. My Aunt and Uncle when on Holland last year, and also had very very bad service. They also said never again for Holland. I really hope it goes well for you. But Holland is not a cruise line I'll be on again

We have cruised on the Westerdam and the Statendam. We had a great experience on the Statendam and our worst cruise experience ever on the Westerdam. We have decided to give HAL another try as well as the Westerdam. We are going to book a Panama Canal cruise on the Westerdam for next spring. The ship was not our favorite but not bad it was a bad experience with the crew. I know the crew changes so we are going to give them another try. The Canal is the important part of the cruise for us. We have done full transits of the Canal several times. The timing and the price of the cruise is partly what is bringing us back.

How funny! We also have two previous cruises on HAL...one on the Noordam that we loved, and one on the Westerdam that fell short of our expectations. While we didn't hate it, the Westerdam cruise was not one of our better ones. Looking back, there were a lot of circumstances that made the Westerdam cruise less than ideal, including it being a last minute replacement for a coastal wine cruise that got cancelled, it was very late season in Alaska with stormy weather and a staff ready to head south, and an unusually quiet ship with few activities in the evenings.

Like you, we're giving the Westerdam another chance. We looked at every possible itinerary in our time frame on several cruise lines for our Med cruise, and the Adriatic Dream on the Westerdam was our favorite, so we'll be back on her in just under two months. We couldn't be more excited, and I'm looking forward to a fresh look at the Westerdam. I think it will be great![emoji16]

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Best of luck to you. We sailed on the Westerdam and had very disappointing service during and after the cruise. I wrote to the Pres, of Holland and they finally responded to me. Just wanted to be heard and an apology for being so ignored. They gave us a $500 Per Person credit for my wife and I, to be used in 1 year. Honestly I really didn't want it. Holland was so bad we did't even think of using it. My Aunt and Uncle when on Holland last year, and also had very very bad service. They also said never again for Holland. I really hope it goes well for you. But Holland is not a cruise line I'll be on again

Curious. What brings you to the HAL forum here?

We've been on the Westerdam twice , once in 2015 and again dec of 2016. We love her and had fantastic service. It was a great cruise and our first ( but not last !) aft wrap. I am sorry others did not have our experience.

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We've been on the Westerdam twice , once in 2015 and again dec of 2016. We love her and had fantastic service. It was a great cruise and our first ( but not last !) aft wrap. I am sorry others did not have our experience.

 

 

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We have an aft wrap again this time, as we did on the Noordam. I love those cabins![emoji16]

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