Westerdam Alaska Explorer, May 18-25

We were on the Westerdam last week and I thought I would type up some of my thoughts on the cruise:

 

The weather was truly phenomenal for May. The gorgeous, blue sky, sunny day in Glacier Bay was such a treat after enduring 35 degrees, rain, sleet and snow the entire day the last time I was there. What a difference. Same for the float plane trip we took in Ketchikan. It was another beautiful, clear day and we were able to fly much higher and see so much more compared to the last time flying through low clouds and misty rain. I just cant say enough about the absolutely wonderful weather we experienced throughout the entire cruise. It was exceptional.

 

As for the Westerdam, she is as nice as ever. The crew is great and the ship is in tip-top shape. Roberto, the bartender at the Seaview bar, was fantastic. What a great guy! Our cabin Steward, Jaswan, was pleasant, always available and most efficient. 2 thumbs up. The staff in the Neptune Lounge were very nice and helpful with anything we needed.

 

I do have to say the food in the main dining room is getting more and more disappointing. The menus are very weak and the food just seems to be fairly low in quality. The service is adequate, but the servers just seem rushed and have no time to interact at all. We only ate in the main dining room 3 times due to the unappealing menu. We had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill three times and had breakfast there every morning. It is still as superb as it always has been. We decided to try the Canelleto on one night, which was better than I remember it being. Its still not something I feel is really worth the upcharge, but it was better than the main dining room, so perhaps it is worth it. I though the food was decent enough (better than the last time I ate there) and the service is very good since they were not busy at all.

 

We really didnt do much in the way of shows, its just not really our thing. We went to see the Illusionist and found his act to be a little predictible and played out. How many times can you watch a woman get cut in half before it gets stale? We were impressed with Adagio on this cruise. While they were still not world class concert performers, they did a very nice job. We enjoyed listening to them several evenings. They have abandoned the "requests" format the previous Adagio was using back in December and that is a most welcome change. We didn't have to endure any Beatles songs on this cruise. :)

 

We participated in all three of Tony's (Cellar Master) wine tastings and thoroughly enjoyed them. Tony is a very personable guy with a lot of wine knowledge and a great wine attitude. We very much enjoyed talking with him about different wines. Great fun!

 

We did get the Hydrotherapy pool option for the entire week at the spa. That was really one of the best things on the ship. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. The pool is great and the heated loungers are just the best. I want one at home now. :) Well worth the cost of admission, especially in Alaska. I only wish it were open earlier in the morning and later at night. We liked to use it after dinner, and it was a rush to get through dinner and get to the pool with enough time to really enjoy it. One hour later close time would have been perfect.

 

The only real disappointment we experienced on the cruise was with the excursions. We were really, really looking forward to the three excursions we had booked and two out of the three ended up being cancelled. :( Both were cancelled at the very last minute leaving us very few contingency options. Whale watching in Juneau was cancelled due to high seas and we did not find out until we were to meet the tour operator on the pier. We ended up going with an independent operator who assured us they could manage the high seas and they lied. It was a complete waste of time. They were unable to even get out of the bay due to the 10 foot swells. It was a 2 hour rough ride where we never saw a thing but waves and whitecaps. Their brochure cited humpback sightings guaranteed. No one on the boat saw anything, but the crew said the sighted a blow spout and part of a tail. Really? Of course they did. No money was refunded. We later called the operator and complained. They told us they had a lot of complaints and would be crediting our card for the whale watching portion of the tour. Bottom line, our short time in Juneau was pretty much wasted. When we got to Sitka, we were so looking forward to the 4x4 ATV adventure we had booked. We took the tender to the dock, met the operator and were on our way. After about 15 minutes in the van we were informed that the tour was being cancelled. Really? Again? This cant be happening. It was happening. They had mechanical problems with the boat that transports you to Kruzoff island. Another bitter disappointment. 0 for 2! We got back to the dock and talked to the shorex rep who offered us the Birds, Bears and Barnicles tour at a 30% discount. We didnt have any other options, so we did it. While I really appreciate the work they are doing at the Raptor Center, it just wasn't very interesting to see birds in cages in Alaska. Pretty much the same with the Fortress of the Bear. Going to Alaska to see a few rescued bears living in an abandon sewage treatment tank is not all that exciting. Again, I appreciate what the guy is doing, but its just not really something I would have paid to see if I knew what it was, and I didn't. Next stop was the fish hatchery, which we decided to skip and walk back to the tender dock through town. All in all, another disappointing shore day. Next stop, Ketchikan. Happily our float plane tour was not cancelled and it was as fabulous as we had anticipated it would be. We decided to not even get off the ship in Victoria and went to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner, followed by the hydrotherapy pool instead.

 

All in all it was a wonderful cruise. Aside from the disappointment of travelling thousands of miles to do somethings we wanted to do and not being able to do them, we still have a great time. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Thank you for the review.

While I really appreciate the work they are doing at the Raptor Center, it just wasn't very interesting to see birds in cages in Alaska....Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

I'm a member of the Raptor Center and have been there many times.

As you know most of the birds are not in cages, but in large enclosures where they're being rehabilitated for future release, or need to spend the rest of their days because they'll never be healthy enough to survive if returned to open land. Thanks to partnerships with companies like Alaska Airlines, injured birds from the region are transported to the center for treatment. (One bald eagle is named for Holland America Line).

 

So I'm sincerely curious and would appreciate your honest feedback on what you, as a visitor, would like to see to make your time there more valuable. I realize that the visit wasn't your first choice of excursions that day, and I hope that didn't sway your mood while at the center. Please know your opinion is important to them.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

We had quite a few excursions cancelled on our Hawaiian cruise a few years ago. So I know how you felt about having tours cancelled.

We were also disappointed in the quality of the main dining room food. We had quite a few dinners in the Pinnacle, did Le Cirque twice and did both special dinners.

Glad you still enjoyed your cruise in spite of what happened with the tours.

We have often talked about going to the Raptor Center in Sitka -- now I know we will avoid that and the Fortress of the Bear tours.

Thanks for the review of your Westerdam cruise. Sorry about your canceled tours but it can happen, other then that sounds like you had a good time. To see Glacier Bay in sun light is wonderful.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

 

We had quite a few excursions cancelled on our Hawaiian cruise a few years ago. So I know how you felt about having tours cancelled.

 

We were also disappointed in the quality of the main dining room food. We had quite a few dinners in the Pinnacle, did Le Cirque twice and did both special dinners.

 

Glad you still enjoyed your cruise in spite of what happened with the tours.

 

We have often talked about going to the Raptor Center in Sitka -- now I know we will avoid that and the Fortress of the Bear tours.

 

We go to the Raptor Center every time we go to Stika and we have done the Bears, Birds and Baricles tour and thought it was quite interesting. Guess we all have different opinion.

We agree the quality of the food was lacking. I think we had a better shipboard experience on the Zaandam, the kitchen and cruise director on the Zaandam were much more on the ball.

Thank you for taking the time to write and to share this review.

 

Keith

Thank you for this review of your Westerdam cruise.

Sorry your excursions were cancelled.

so was there cookies, Danish and such in the Neptune Lounge on your trip? i have seen posted they are cutting back on that stuff

so was there cookies, Danish and such in the Neptune Lounge on your trip? i have seen posted they are cutting back on that stuff

Very little, there were a few goodies under the dome that I saw, but there was nothing on the sideboard except boxed cereals any time I was there. I miss the little devilish chocolate truffles, cookies and chocolate covered coffee beans. You can still order chocolate chip cookies from room service, but they aren't as good as the ones that used to be in the Neptune.

 

I should also add that the Exploration Cafe (or whatever its called) was closed the entire cruise. They had a sign that coffee was available at Chocolate Seduction. But, all three times I went there, no one was manning the store. It appeared to be open, but there wasn't a soul around. I asked someone in the shop once if they knew what was up and they just shrugged and said they didn't know where they were. Hmmm :confused: