cruiseaholic78

We are booked on the previous cruise which does a round trip Boston and visits the Caribbean, Panama canal partial and Port Canaveral. As we have just returned from Westerdam we know what to expect. For us an added bonus was shorter and cheaper flights from Amsterdam.

We have actually done this on Oceania, it was in Bangkok a few years ago, to be absolutely sure before booking flights we contacted Oceania and got written confirmation it was allowed. We disembarked the afternoon on our arrival day. By the way when/if taking a taxi to the airport discuss the fare first. We were on the highway to the airport when our driver took a turning went through loads of backstreets before finally arriving there. Needless to say our fare was way more than it should have been. Rosalyn

Great thanks, yeah I remember that now live in The Netherlands but grew up in the UK, thought it could be Nami Sushi but to be honest never went there or looked at it. Judging by your fotos will definitely give it a try.

That looks amazing but I can’t work out where you had this, it looks totally Tamarind (scoofy? I have no idea please enlighten me) but you had dinner in C.O. Love review and looking forward to try some of your ideas and cocktails, luckily we will have two weeks for this!

On our Westerdam cruise last month we had fruit/rhubarb/apple/mango/berry crisp ( crumble) nearly every day in the MDR. (always on the menu) DH always had it with ice cream but I always ordered it with vanilla sauce which was not on the menu but they always managed to get it for me. I never saw any in the Lido but they always seemed to have some sort of bread and butter pudding. Just checked on Navigator and Strawberry crisp is actually shown on the dinner menu !

There’s always someone willing to take their Elliott with them! https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350114728/cruising-cat-whisked-custody-after-being-smuggled-ship

To me it seems as though each ship doe nit have the same offers, we just returned from the Westerdam and had a “Brunch” for everyone, no embarkation lunch in the MDR and tiles. There was also a Mariners reception.

We are following the Jet Blue Schiphol story as we are really hoping to be able to book flights roundtrip Amsterdam Boston October/November 2024. They fly direct and are a lot cheaper than KLM/Delta/Air France who have had the monopoly until now. I thought it had been settled when J B threatened legal action in US but it looks as though it might still be difficult. https://nltimes.nl/2023/11/15/jetblue-may-still-lose-schiphol-airport-slots-despite-halt-downsizing-plans Still hoping it will be possible but return flights are (still) only bookable until 30th October!

The Zuiderdam does two one round trip Caribbean in October and one from Boston to Fort Lauderdale in November on the Zuiderdam.

Just off the Westerdam, some cruises to Asia include some meals in the “Tamarind” which is really a partitioned part of the Lido restaurant in disguise. We booked our (fHIA) Canaletto reservations and it was the first time we have eaten there. We found it is lacking in ambiance/atmosphere and the menu didn’t appeal that much they no longer have alternating specials. We definitely wouldn’t chose this again unless Tamarind was offered as part of the HIA because their menu would be worth it to us. (despite the atmosphere) We felt that the Pinnacle restaurant was really in a different class not only with the actual restaurant but also with the staff.

We are just off the Westerdam and we also had a cabin with shower only, this was one of the reasons for choosing this cabin as we hate stepping into a bath. The cabins/showers are not as luxury as on the Pinnacle ships but I imagine itinerary is more important than the ship. You can check some more info on HAL facts website which is a fantastic source of information. Happy planning https://halfacts.com/4172-noordam/

Just returned from the Westerdam and paid $100 for 28 days, DH said it was much quicker. The only problem we had was in Hong Kong where apparently there is a some sort of blocker by guess who. As we were already on board it didn’t matter but for those embarking there was a huge line at the service counter until they posted the “problem” on Navigator.

Any crisp/crumble in the MDR except banana. I always ask for vanilla sauce instead of ice cream.

On the Westerdam last week, was there for tea (really) and it looked as though they were just setting this up. They all looked great.

Book as soon as you possibly can as prices will definitely not go down, I booked our return flights to Asia in January and they are now double. You could also consider flying into Paris and taking the train as direct flights could be hard to find. You might br able to choose refundable flights so you can cancel if prices do go down but as you said with the Olympics this is unlikely to happen. Taking the above into consideration you might also look at booking your hotels sooner rather than later. Happy planning Rosalyn

I tried that but were not able to do so far in advance and I wanted to get it sorted earlier. Rosalyn

We have used this company for Sydney when our flight left late evening, we chose an hotel at the airport with a pool. It made leaving the ship and the wait for our flights so much more relaxing. https://au.dayuse.com/s/australia/queensland/brisbane-city Rosalyn

Nope I asked in the shop and they had no idea what I meant. Even cuter with a bow tie.! Rosalyn

Mission accomplished got two for my twin granddaughters too.They are $19.95 and adorable.

All, we are cruising at the moment (Westerdam Asia great) and have two cruises booked for next year. If I read this thread correctly I can have a welcome back promo applied to an already booked cruise. Is this right? Or is it only applicable for new bookings? Please enlighten me. Rosalyn

Thanks we will be there tomorrow.

Thanks so much now all set to tender to the island. Happy cruising

Hallo, we are following along more or less your route on the Westerdam, I have a small question, does the tender actually take you to the island? I thought we would have to take a boat across from the tender port. Reading your reports with interest hope your cruise is as good as ours.

I guess staff are trying to supplement their income, most plastic bottle and cans come with a deposit in The Netherlands!!