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I didn’t mean to sound negative with my pov but after I spent 51 days on the Westerdam last fall. I felt there was a big difference between the two ships and this was before she went into dry dock. From what I understand only the suites have been upgraded on the Noordam, so we definitely did not have a new mattress. We only book verandah cabins, so we can afford to cruise on longer voyages more often. We just felt that basic maintenance was lacking on this ship. I appreciate the company has had a severe setback in revenue and decor will not score high on the priority list but maintenance is a must. There have been so many cutbacks. Again I will praise the serving staff as they are top notch, we have established wonderful relationships with some of them and look forward to reuniting on another dam ship.

Just got back from 2 weeks on the Noordam. This ship definitely needs an overhaul. In our cabin we had several issues; balcony door wouldn’t open, Luke warm water in the shower and sink, bathroom flooded with vile smelling water during a stormy night and the hallway door was broken. However HAL did fix all the issues, although it took over a week to get the balcony door fixed. They needed a new cylinder for the key. The bed was rock hard but they did bring me an egg crate topper which did help a bit. On deck 2 near the Rolling Stone Lounge there was a permanent sewage smell, which I was told has been an ongoing issue. Apparently it won’t be fixed until the ship goes into dry dock in December or January in Singapore I believe. The ship is showing her age for sure although the staff do try really hard to keep her looking her best. The pools need to be be retiled with new decking all around. They did have newer looking deck chairs though. The dining room did have new upholstery on the chairs, which was nice and most of the public venues were quite presentable although a bit dated. I hope this helps.

We have only had one cruise where the Billboard performers were any good. The others were really bad. Since HAL isn’t spending any money on big broadway style productions, one would think that they could get a more talented group for Billboard. Just my opinion.

We are traveling on the Noordam in a week and can certainly update you after, however I did find that she was updated late 2019 and again in Feb 2022. Hope this helps. We were on the Westerdam last fall and found that she was in excellent form. HAL takes very good care of their ships.

Yes, I agree. The Northern Lights venue was never used. On the Westerdam last fall the gallery bar was a nice quiet place to grab a drink with friends. The noisy games were usually played in the crows nest. I wonder if they have removed the Lincoln Centre stage yet, as those musicians are moving to the main stage and the Explorers Lounge is to be expanded. I guess I will find out in 10 days.

On the Westerdam the Library is in the Crows Nest, which is also where they moved the Explorations café to. We were hoping they did the same on the Noordam. They also removed the Lincoln centre stage and the Northern lights Nightclub. I don’t know what they did during the Noordam dry dock.

Thank you, that’s what I was wondering. We love our lattes up in the Crows nest.

Anyone know if the explorations café has been moved to the crows nest or is it still on deck 3 on the Noordam?

Is the explorations café the only place we can get Lattés? The line up must be long if it is the only place. Just spent 18 nights on the Koningsdam in April and we loved having the Grand Dutch Café for coffee and snacks as the Explorations café was very limited.

Thank you Heartgrove, Now this makes sense. I can now stop fretting. I was picturing some sort of Juliet balcony. LOL

I found this about the Westerdam on Cruise deck plans. I wish I knew which balconies! The ship last drydock was in Jan 2020. Most modern cruise ships need to be dry docked for inspection, maintenance and class surveys every five years and once they reach 15 years of age they need to be dry docked at least twice within a five-year period. Dry docks typically last up to 14 days at a cost of up to $2 million per day and involve regular maintenance including hull cleaning, exterior painting of the structure, inspection of pipes, restoration of exterior deck flooring, and installation of enhanced HVAC filter systems This ship underwent a major upgrade in 2007. Some of the decks were extended length wise by 130 feet. 34 new passenger cabins were added to decks 6, 7 and 8. As a result some aft balconies were made narrower. Some other changes included expanding the Sea View Pool area on deck 9, Explorations Cafe replaced the Oak Room, Windstar Cafe was removed and new shops were added.During drydock Apr 14 to 26, 2017 added Casino Bar and Billboard Onboard in place of Piano Bar and Sports Bar. Replaced Northern Lights Disco with Gallery Bar. Transformied Explorers Lounge into Lincoln Center Stage. Added 18 balcony staterooms and 7 inside staterooms to deck 10 forward. Added Retreat with Cabannas to Deck 11.

Hi, not sure if anyone is aware of this, but I read that the aft port side and starboard side cabin balconies are very narrow on deck 6 and 7 due to ship modifications a few years back. I have asked this question before on the roll call forum, but did not get an answer. Please help as the cabins are filling up quickly on this sailing and I might have to change location. Thanks

The HAL website never works properly on Apple. I end up going to my old Windows PC and it works perfectly.

We are booked on a 51 nt. b2b Australia/ New Zealand cruise on HAL in October departing SEA. Just wondering if one of us tests positive will be asked to leave the ship in Sydney before the 2nd leg or will they let us stay on in quarantine. Is it still 10 days of isolation or are they reducing it to 5 days?

Good morning, We just returned from an 18 day Hawaii cruise with the HIA pkg. I was told by HAL at the time of booking that I would not get extra credits for extra cost of the pkg. I did however get the spending credits upon our return. The agents on the phone do not have all the correct information unfortunately.