Noordam - to cruise, or not to cruise?

A couple of years ago I did a cruise on the Oosterdam. It was the worst cruise I've ever done, by a long, long, long way. I had several major issues:

• The food, both in the main dining room and the buffet, was well below the standard I expected (having previously sailed with P&O, Carnival, Royal & Princess).
  
• The entertainment (particularly the evening shows) seemed perfectly tailored to the parents of the Baby Boomer generation. As for anyone younger (I'm Gen X)... forget it. The production shows were bad, and the guest performers highly skilled but completely lacking in entertainment value.
  
• Worst of all though, there was nothing to do on board the ship. This was a direct result of HAL's penny pinching, which left the CD with only himself, the DJ, and the girl who ran the Culinary Arts Centre. With next to no staff, there were next to no activities. In comparison, the last Royal Caribbean cruise I did (on Rhapsody) had 4x CD staff, plus the Activities Manager, plus the DJ, plus the CD, plus the staff who ran the climbing wall.
  

Having been burned once, I swore never again to waste my money on a HAL cruise... Fast forward 2 years and I'm considering the possibility of breaking that vow, and doing a fairly lengthy cruise on the Noordam.

Has anyone sailed on the Noordam recently? Are things any better on this ship, than they were on it's sister ship, the floating disaster area that was/is the Oosterdam? Is there any reason for optimism, or am I just looking for trouble by going back to the company which failed so badly in 2014?

:eek: After all that you're considering doing a lengthy cruise on HAL? :confused:

That may not be a good idea. Even if things are better on the Noordam than the Oosterdam you're predisposed to find faults because of your last experience.

It might be worth trying a short cruise, just to see if you were just unlucky on Oosterdam, but a long cruise could be pushing it.

I would bring some books and games or cards with you.

I would bring some books and games or cards with you.

I always do. Have a well loaded Kindle to keep me entertained some of the time.

Have cruised twice on the Noordam (2013 & 2016) and once on the Eurodam (2015). Loved the food in the MDR but the entertainment is a bit hit and miss (but great in 2013). BB King Blues is always a hit while some of the shows are good and others passable. Activities that attract us are the Name that tune in the morning, the general quiz in the afternoons and the DJ usually had some other fun activity early afternoon. Don't remember seeing very many Gen X on board and wouldn't expect to - its not a party ship. I would advise against young families (not much for children, no waterslides, rock walls, etc.) and suggest under 35s to reconsider if they don't want a sedate cruise. But it depends on the cruise destinations as well - around the Med or Baltic is more about the Ports with very few sea days while a long Pacific cruise has lots of sea days and may not suit.

We love HAL, almost as much as I like beer, but its not for everyone. Why risk it if you have other options that appeal.

HAL is our second favourite after Celebrity. Did a South Pacific cruise three years ago on Oosterdam and it was great. Excellent food, entertainement was good but let down by a very poor American juggler.

We also had a brilliant cruise on Volendam Sydney/Singapore. Again, excellent food and world class entertainers, e.g. Jane Rutter, Skinny German Juggle Boy, Mario D'Andrea, an Australian guitarist/singer entertainer now working in Las Vega (if you were around the pubs of Newcastle in the late 60s/early 70s you would know him).

I was on the Noordam in February and have never been so bored on my life!

The entertainment consisted of a piano accordion player and a tap dancing saxophonist (I kid you not!) :eek:

So if you want to have fun on a cruise give this one a miss!

Recently back from a Cruise on the Volendam, worst cruise we have done, we were offered $800 off our next HAL cruise, we wont be taking up their offer, could not wait to get off.

Sounds like a simple spiffy line to cruise on.

Is it really that bad.

:eek: After all that you're considering doing a lengthy cruise on HAL? :confused:

 

That may not be a good idea. Even if things are better on the Noordam than the Oosterdam you're predisposed to find faults because of your last experience.

The

It might be worth trying a short cruise, just to see if you were just unlucky on Oosterdam, but a long cruise could be pushing it.

Totally agree.

HAL do tend to an older clientele try a short cruise first.

Sounds like a simple spiffy line to cruise on.

Is it really that bad.

I haven't sailed with them, yet, but they are known (down here anyway) to have pretty much the oldest ave age of any line. Just like many young 'und don't like Princess, the same can apply to HAL. WE are usually among the young ones on Princess and that doesn't bother us. Our first Princess Cruise there were literally three passengers on the ship that I could say with certainty were younger than us and maybe a dozen that were our age range.

That was going to be my next question, the diff ages, diff lines, diff areas of cruising.

That sounds awful English ,so.

U.S.A-princess,vs Aus/Nz princess

U.S.A,europe HAL vs Aus/Nz Hal

Think you get my drift.

We would gladly sit beside say a 70,80 90 yr old over a few beers and chat away.

Age doesn't worry us, attitude and respect does. And that goes both ways.:)

That was going to be my next question, the diff ages, diff lines, diff areas of cruising.

That sounds awful English ,so.

 

U.S.A-princess,vs Aus/Nz princess

 

U.S.A,europe HAL vs Aus/Nz Hal

 

Think you get my drift.

I get your drift and while I don't think it's as bad in say the US I'm pretty sure HAL is still the older and Princess second but they don't offer as many long cruises either. And across all lines it seems the longer the cruise the higher the ave age.

We would gladly sit beside say a 70,80 90 yr old over a few beers and chat away.

 

Age doesn't worry us, attitude and respect does. And that goes both ways.:)

Never bothered us.

Last year, yep a long cruise, but ave age was 75+ the CD told us.

Even then we were the babies, one lovely American bloke kept calling us 'kids".

I always do. Have a well loaded Kindle to keep me entertained some of the time.

I can read my Kindle at home without paying cruise prices to do it.

I can read my Kindle at home without paying cruise prices to do it.[/quote

 

There's lots of things you can do at home that you might do on a cruise and lots of things you can do on a cruise that you might do at home. But what's the fun in staying home when you could be on a cruise doing things that you can't do at home and enjoying more the things you do at home when doing them in a different environment with new friends.

I can read my Kindle at home without paying cruise prices to do it.

Then why do you cruise? ;) :p :D

I can read more on a cruise because I don't have to stop to prepare meals and do chores. Reading my kindle on a cruise definitely trumps reading at home. :D :D :D

We would gladly sit beside say a 70,80 90 yr old over a few beers and chat away.

 

Age doesn't worry us, attitude and respect does. And that goes both ways.:)

I'm not worried about the age of the passengers, and being one of the youngest on board (I'm in my 40s).

My issue is the lack of activities (because they don't have the staff to run them) and the entertainment being aimed at people 2 generations older than me (with little that I would find entertaining).

I'm well aware that different cruise lines aim at different demographics. Carnival, P&O and Royal aim at families. Princess aim at the baby boomers. HAL target the the baby boomers' parents.

When I say a longer cruise, it's actually 2 cruises back to back, one around NZ, the other to the South Pacific Islands. Individually the cruises are about 2 weeks long, so it's not like the cruise my parents just did going all the way around the Pacific with Princess.

Both Nang and OzKiwiJJ missed my point.

We are mid-50's and with the exception of BB King's, found our HAL almost 2 week cruise this summer in Greece to be sorely lacking entertainment, of any kind, that appealed to us. As independent cruisers, we choose the itinerary and time in port first, line second, so have taken many cruise lines and ships, large and small.

We always have plenty of reading material with us, but after dinner it's nice to stroll and enjoy an evening out of the cabin. We tried lots of different activities on our HAL cruise, enjoyed the classical concerts but we're not ready for bed at 9 pm. Tried other 9 pm or later activities but none appealed, and always ended up at BB King's. However night after night of BB King, we grew tired of it. And the ship is practically locked down tight by 11. We decided we weren't old enough for HAL. I'm sure we're not the first to come to that conclusion,

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In regards to the age demographics on cruises, the length and itinerary have a huge impact on whether it will be a older cruise or a younger cruise. A short 3 night cruise will be much younger than a 7 night cruise, which is younger than a 2 weeks cruise and so on. Lots of sea days also makes for a younger crowd, especially if there are tender ports.

That said, HAL does have a reputation for being an older set and the entertainment would reflect this.