Westerdam so Far

Thank you for your live reports, 1ANGELCAT! We'll be on Westerdam next January, so I'm following your reports with great interest.

 

 

 

One question for you. Does Westerdam still have unlimited Internet plans?

Doesn't really say unlimited.

Enhanced plan is 24.99 day. $159.99 for 13 days-email and favorite sites-no Skype.

Premiere plan includes above plus skype. 29.99 day. 209.99 -13 days.

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Glad you are having great weather and enjoying your cruise.

Its been a beautiful warm sunny day in Cadiz.

This will probably be the last post till FLL .

I just emailed some photos to the sight we all know and love of the cabin and of Crows Nest and Atrium and deck 1.

Final note for laundry - by the bag is 30.00

Unlimited for 13 days is 117.00

Unlimited pressing is 65.00

We sail in 90 minutes. Hoping for a smooth crossing [emoji3]

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Its been a beautiful warm sunny day in Cadiz.

This will probably be the last post till FLL .

I just emailed some photos to the sight we all know and love of the cabin and of Crows Nest and Atrium and deck 1.

Final note for laundry - by the bag is 30.00

Unlimited for 13 days is 117.00

Unlimited pressing is 65.00

We sail in 90 minutes. Hoping for a smooth crossing [emoji3]

 

 

 

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Thanks so much for taking the time to keep us informed, Angelcat. Have a safe crossing!

Its been a beautiful warm sunny day in Cadiz.

This will probably be the last post till FLL .

I just emailed some photos to the sight we all know and love of the cabin and of Crows Nest and Atrium and deck 1.

Final note for laundry - by the bag is 30.00

Unlimited for 13 days is 117.00

Unlimited pressing is 65.00

We sail in 90 minutes. Hoping for a smooth crossing [emoji3]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the Westerdam, much appreciated. We are on her in April. Sounds like things have changed quite a bit since our last cruise on her in 2015.

1 last post.

Just recd notice for luggage direct.

Fee is now 25.00 plus airline fee.

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Thank you, 1ANGLECAT - I appreciated the updates and info!

Doesn't really say unlimited.

Enhanced plan is 24.99 day. $159.99 for 13 days-email and favorite sites-no Skype.

Premiere plan includes above plus skype. 29.99 day. 209.99 -13 days.

Thank you for answering my question!

thanks also - on her in February - looking forward to it and event with the changes I'm sure it will be wonderful. No such thing as a bad cruise

Last night of the crossing. It was a great crossing - warm and sunny , only 1 day of rain and wind.

Just got cell service - some where in the Bahamas

Sel de Mer was fabulous- way too much food and big Mariner discount

Will update more once home

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Cruise log received last evening. Same as before.

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Some final thoughts. We did have the chocolate parade on the 2nd Gala night . It started about 9:45 on deck 2 -

Disembarkation started about 7:20 for expedited. Luggage Direct was next, I walked off about 7 :40 and then hit customs

It took an hour to get thru. There were only 3 agents for US and 1 non US .

Global entry backed up brcause they were taking all the wheelchair pax thru there .

I think people missed their Shore ex because of the delay.

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I disembarked from the Westie yesterday in Ft. Lauderdale after 37 days. I totally agree with 1Angelcat: the public spaces are lovely with the exception of the Crow's Nest, which is a total waste of space. There is a bar of sorts, but not a full bar, selections are limited.

Thanks for your report.

Recently a Cruising article in one of our newspapers, mentioned Holland America Line's Rijksmuseum at Sea.

Where on the ship is this studio situated?

The article states that "guests can join workshops, where instructors will help them produce their own work of art; a new masterpiece is discussed each day and sketchpads, pencils and encouragement are provided".

In 37 days I never saw or read about any sort of art related activities in that space, which does not mean that they were not held, only that I was not aware of any.

Thank you for the Westerdam reports.

Is there is still a band and dance floor in the ocean bar?

Thanks!

We just disembarked the Westerdam after 25 days from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale.

I agree with all the posts about the Explorer's Lounge. The old circular bar is now a combined bar and the specialty coffees. Yes, they do have the usual pastries, free, of course.

There is a smaller wood floor area that could be used for dancing, but during the whole 25 days, we never saw anything about a band there. No Black & White ball, which would have been perfect for Halloween. They had a costume contest in the BB-King area.

Internet is definitely unlimited. You have 2 options, buy it for a 24 hour period, or for the whole segment. Also, there are 3 levels of service. Basic is strictly Facebook, and social media. Enhanced will allow e-mail, web browsing, banking, and most other services. The premium package allows Skype, music and video streaming, and other methods of VOIP. The enhanced package was around $149 for the 12 day segment from Venice to Rome, and $159 for the 13 days from Venice to Rome. Most times, the service was reasonably fast.

The MDR food was good, but there was a lot of repeat selections on the 25 days. The Lido dining seemed to have too much pork belly and lamb entries. Loved it when they had roast turkey. Very moist, tasty white meat. I wish I could get my turkey to be that moist.

Billboard Onboard had two different pairs of musicians. Venice to Rome was a talented pair of guys, and Rome onward had a girl and guy pair. They always accepted requests, but only on their last set of the night, usually around 11:00 PM. Many of the requests I asked for were rejected because "Billboard Corp doesn't allow us to play those songs". This was told to us by the musicians. They have a list of around 180 songs they can play. These restrictions cause them to fall back on playing the same songs night after night. Billy Joel has maybe 35 very good songs that everyone knows, but what do they play ??? You guessed it.... Piano Man, almost every night. Same with the Beatles, Elvis, Jimmy Buffett. How many times in 25 days can you hear Margaritaville ? We're still fans of the intimate, personal piano bars and talented artists like Jimmy Maddox.

The ship was in good condition, a very smooth Atlantic crossing, thanks to the captain's wise decision to take a more southerly route rather than the usual Great Circle routing. There was a big storm north of us and we passed south of it, experiencing only 1 day of rain and clouds. No rough seas anywhere.

I know it's a unsolvable problem, but the lack of available tables during lunch (noon to 2:00 pm) in the Lido pool area is a continuing problem. There's plenty of tables, but about 30% of them are not available for lunch because a single person will grab a table early and sit and read a book or browse the internet for hours, and hundreds of passengers are walking around with plates of food from Dive-In or Lido, looking for a place to sit down and eat. There are planty of other places on the ship to sit and read, especially during the busy lunch time on sea days.

Disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale was the usual morning from hell. They separate US and non-US passport holders into different lines after you collect your luggage. But there are only 6, double-sided booths for immigration clearance. When we got off around 10:00 AM (was supposed to be 9:00 AM), they only had 5 agents working the US line and 4 working non-US. There was a lot of Canadien guests onboard, so that line was very long and slow moving. It took about 1 hour to clear immigration and customs. A bad way to end a great cruise.

Thank you for your review, TAD2005! Good hear about the unlimited Internet plans. I hope they'll still be available when I board!

LOL about Piano Man. I like that song, but not sure if I want to hear it every night :')

We just disembarked the Westerdam after 25 days from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale.

I agree with all the posts about the Explorer's Lounge. The old circular bar is now a combined bar and the specialty coffees. Yes, they do have the usual pastries, free, of course.

There is a smaller wood floor area that could be used for dancing, but during the whole 25 days, we never saw anything about a band there. No Black & White ball, which would have been perfect for Halloween. They had a costume contest in the BB-King area.

Internet is definitely unlimited. You have 2 options, buy it for a 24 hour period, or for the whole segment. Also, there are 3 levels of service. Basic is strictly Facebook, and social media. Enhanced will allow e-mail, web browsing, banking, and most other services. The premium package allows Skype, music and video streaming, and other methods of VOIP. The enhanced package was around $149 for the 12 day segment from Venice to Rome, and $159 for the 13 days from Venice to Rome. Most times, the service was reasonably fast.

 

The MDR food was good, but there was a lot of repeat selections on the 25 days. The Lido dining seemed to have too much pork belly and lamb entries. Loved it when they had roast turkey. Very moist, tasty white meat. I wish I could get my turkey to be that moist.

 

Billboard Onboard had two different pairs of musicians. Venice to Rome was a talented pair of guys, and Rome onward had a girl and guy pair. They always accepted requests, but only on their last set of the night, usually around 11:00 PM. Many of the requests I asked for were rejected because "Billboard Corp doesn't allow us to play those songs". This was told to us by the musicians. They have a list of around 180 songs they can play. These restrictions cause them to fall back on playing the same songs night after night. Billy Joel has maybe 35 very good songs that everyone knows, but what do they play ??? You guessed it.... Piano Man, almost every night. Same with the Beatles, Elvis, Jimmy Buffett. How many times in 25 days can you hear Margaritaville ? We're still fans of the intimate, personal piano bars and talented artists like Jimmy Maddox.

The ship was in good condition, a very smooth Atlantic crossing, thanks to the captain's wise decision to take a more southerly route rather than the usual Great Circle routing. There was a big storm north of us and we passed south of it, experiencing only 1 day of rain and clouds. No rough seas anywhere.

I know it's a unsolvable problem, but the lack of available tables during lunch (noon to 2:00 pm) in the Lido pool area is a continuing problem. There's plenty of tables, but about 30% of them are not available for lunch because a single person will grab a table early and sit and read a book or browse the internet for hours, and hundreds of passengers are walking around with plates of food from Dive-In or Lido, looking for a place to sit down and eat. There are planty of other places on the ship to sit and read, especially during the busy lunch time on sea days.

Disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale was the usual morning from hell. They separate US and non-US passport holders into different lines after you collect your luggage. But there are only 6, double-sided booths for immigration clearance. When we got off around 10:00 AM (was supposed to be 9:00 AM), they only had 5 agents working the US line and 4 working non-US. There was a lot of Canadien guests onboard, so that line was very long and slow moving. It took about 1 hour to clear immigration and customs. A bad way to end a great cruise.

You were lucky; I was sent off at 7:45 with the other Luggage Direct participants. Three agents were on duty: crew, Non-US, and combined everyone else, with Global Entry and handicapped given priority... two hours from ship to bus.

Thank you for the great reports and review.

Glad you had a smooth crossing :)

for those who reported on disembarkation in ft Lauderdale .....was the global entry lines clearly marked?? this is our first time to use our global entry and wondered if we can see the lines as soon as we get luggage or if we need to go to a certain location??

We just disembarked in Lauderdale last week. We claimed our luggage and proceeded to the lines. Global Entry was directed to the far right line. You do need your card. There was no checking of fingerprints. It was very fast.

thanks to "mustgo" for response.....we were hoping that after going through all the details with global entry that it will help us speed things up with disembarkation

thanks to "mustgo" for response.....we were hoping that after going through all the details with global entry that it will help us speed things up with disembarkation

Earlier in the morning, one agent was processing both global entry and handicapped. The line somewhat backed up as handicapped were given priority.