On the Noordam

http://www.travelpod.com/z/avoncarole/1/1441123571?utm_campaign=share_notification&utm_source=dashboard&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share_button

This is a link to my blog that I did whilst on the Noordam

Wonderful start.

I very much enjoyed your blog post with the pictures. So many ship reviews seem so critical of their vacation. I am happy that you had a good time. I am looking forward to my cruise on Noordam next June.

A nicer concise review. Glad you enjoyed your first cruise to such a beautiful spot. Wondering when the second 1.00 drinks are served....think one must be about 5:00 or so? And the other? Also wondering in which bars. Thx

A nicer concise review. Glad you enjoyed your first cruise to such a beautiful spot. Wondering when the second 1.00 drinks are served....think one must be about 5:00 or so? And the other? Also wondering in which bars. Thx

Crows nest and ocean bar 4-5 and 10 -11pm

Great value

Enjoying reading your blog, thanks for the link.

We are looking forward to sailing on Noordam when she arrives Down Under.

Wishing you safe travelling.

Thanks for posting. Excellent review, very readable! So glad you had a good cruise!!

A nicer concise review. Glad you enjoyed your first cruise to such a beautiful spot. Wondering when the second 1.00 drinks are served....think one must be about 5:00 or so? And the other? Also wondering in which bars. Thx

Muffin, Are you the same Muffin currently listed on the Crown Princess CC for Oct 17th cruise this year? Are you still going?

Enjoying reading your blog, thanks for the link.

We are looking forward to sailing on Noordam when she arrives Down Under.

Wishing you safe travelling.

Some of the staff in the Lido were very excited about their upcoming visit to Australia, one young man who was having his first week on the job and had never seen the ocean before.

Amazing

An excellent blog, I really enjoyed your report. I bookmarked it so I can go back and read about all your other travels. Thanks for sharing.:)

Your welcome Lizzie, I love to travel

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What a first class review! Thanks so much!

Love your Blog!!

Thank you for the very interesting blog. I am surprised at how good the cabin 5030 looks.

Will keep that picture in mind for a future cruise if nothing on the main deck (J) is available.

We may have been on the same cruise (8/22 embarkation?). Very much enjoyed your review. We, too, had an excellent time. We were blessed with excellent weather throughout, and the staff on the ship was wonderful.

Yes 22nd to 29th, we were blessed with good weather, thanks everyone for your nice comments on my blog.

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Yes, same muffin....we are doing the Aus -NZ noordam in January/16 instead.

So sorry I did not officially withdraw from the cruise roll call you mentioned. I simply forgot, my bad. Hope you are still going and trust you will all have a wonderful cruise. Bon voyage!

I enjoyed your review of the Noordam very much.

Many thanks for sharing your review! We were on the same cruise and, like you, we had a great time. Here are a few highlights from our onboard experience...

We were SO impressed with the staff - the HAL tradition of good service continues. They were all so friendly and helpful that mentioning all who stood out would take too long. But I do need to mention Rey Rey (wine steward) in the PG. He had us laughing so hard he really made our PG dinner special. He may have missed his calling as a stand up comic, but the PG is lucky to have him and anyone sailing on Noordam should look for him in the PG.

While we had a stateroom on the Navigation deck, we had no noise at all from the Lido buffet that was just above us although until we had them work on the AC in our room, we did get a heavy smell of breakfast cooking around 5:30 am and then again at lunch (but it was fixed quickly). We had stateroom 8099 which is right at the "bump" and we loved it. The little extra space from the bump and the larger balcony were pluses we enjoyed.

We also were impressed with the food - less so in the Lido but we never had a bad meal anywhere on the ship. We didn't like the Canaletto not due to the food but rather its location. It was too close to a Lido Buffet food station where they burnt the garlic several times and that just isn't a nice smell. As we had booked using Explore 4 we had the SBP and that worked very well for us. It was fun to take a page from POA1's research and try out a number of different kinds of drinks. And, while the wine selections were limited and were not stellar, they were drinkable and we were happy with them (I especially liked the option of starting with a glass of Prosecco in the MDR).

When we cruise we love to dance and got in a good amount at the Ocean Bar where "The Band" tried hard to offer us a good mix of ballroom dance music. We would have liked more time on the floor and a chat with TJ, the Cruise Director, did result in a later set each evening which we really appreciated - great to see that level of customer responsiveness (but a little time more would have been even better). The big disappointment was the BB Kings venue where we would have loved to dance had we been able to stand the volume level long enough to do a dance. We tried a couple of times, but it was just too loud to be enjoyable.

The 2 shore excursions we did were excellent - the photo safari in Juneau and the White Summit Pass train. We'd recommend both. And the unlimited laundry package was terrific with great care and attention given to everything that was laundered.

It has been 10 yrs since our last HAL cruise as we've been off trying a bunch of other lines. We were happy to be back and are now trying to figure out where we'll cruise on HAL in 2016...maybe one of the early sailings on the new ms Koningsdam as she looks beautiful.

How was the piano bar entertainer, if you spent any time there? We are on the Noordam in a couple of weeks. We have been disappointed on the last two cruises. Unfortunately, I am not a name person so just mentioning a name doesn't work for me. Just an impression will be fine. I have checked the 'Piano Bar' thread, but no mention of the Noordam for this Alaska season.

Dennis

Awesome blog!!!!

I am amazed how on a wonderful cruise for R and R, our CCers are so dedicated to writing about their adventures!

I love your blog and pictures!

Thank you sooo much!

Happy sailings to many more adventures!

Denise:)

Awesome blog!!!!

I am amazed how on a wonderful cruise for R and R, our CCers are so dedicated to writing about their adventures!

I love your blog and pictures!

Thank you sooo much!

Happy sailings to many more adventures!

Denise:)

It doesn't take that long to write a blog and it's my way of sharing my travels with friends and family.

It's also a great way to "go on holiday again" whenever you like.

Glad you liked it.

How was the piano bar entertainer, if you spent any time there? We are on the Noordam in a couple of weeks. We have been disappointed on the last two cruises. Unfortunately, I am not a name person so just mentioning a name doesn't work for me. Just an impression will be fine. I have checked the 'Piano Bar' thread, but no mention of the Noordam for this Alaska season.

 

Dennis

Sorry, can't help you with that

We dropped into the piano bar once and while it was packed, we were not impressed with what we heard so we didn't stay and didn't go back. Others in our group tried it on different evenings and it never got good reviews. But, music is such a personal thing that what one doesn't care for might be the next person's cup of tea - hard to tell! Have a great time on the Noordam!!