Our Westerdam Trip, 9/6-13

[localady]

Returned from our first cruise on the Westerdam and I needed to share an experience during the trip that personifies why I love HAL. Due to hurricane force winds and some of the roughest seas I've been in, Capt. Henk Keijer was forced to cancel the Westerdam's call to Sitka.

 

He monitored it during our day in Juneau and came up with an alternative plan, a full day cruising Tracy Arm. Immediately the Westerdam crew went into overdrive to pull together a day of activities as well as a series of nature narrations about Tracy Arm.

 

It turned out to be a rainy day, but instead of spoiling the day, it truly made the voyage amazing. Hundreds (no exaggeration) of waterfalls cascaded down the sides of the fjord, (think Yosemite x 100) as we zig zagged our way carefully through the huge chunks of crystal blue ice. The experience was surreal and will live in my memory as one of my favorite cruise days ever. :D

 

Yet again I fretted needlessly that the Westerdam may not meet up with our prior experiences on all our other HAL cruises. Yet again, we continued to find our experience improve on this, and most every DAM cruise we take.

 

(I also found the Capt. to be exceedingly handsome, but I didn't share that part with my DH! ;))

[dandro]

Glad to hear you had an enjoyable experience on the Westie.

[Susie51]

Localady, we missed you at the M & G. I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise.

[FireIce0010]

Sounds great. Glad that things turned out good for you. Tracey Arm = good.:)

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

Yet again I fretted needlessly that the Westerdam may not meet up with our prior experiences on all our other HAL cruises. Yet again, we continued to find our experience improve on this, and most every DAM cruise we take.

 

Hi localady,

 

Glad to hear you had a great cruise! :)

 

Please could you share what you found so great about the Westerdam in particular? I have only cruised once before, on the Ruby Princess, and although I am really looking forward to my cruise next year, I am ever so slightly concerned that the Westerdam won't be as nice as the Ruby being as it will be 6 years old by the time I sail her, whereas the Ruby was less than a year old.

[dandro]

Hi localady,

 

Glad to hear you had a great cruise! :)

 

Please could you share what you found so great about the Westerdam in particular? I have only cruised once before, on the Ruby Princess, and although I am really looking forward to my cruise next year, I am ever so slightly concerned that the Westerdam won't be as nice as the Ruby being as it will be 6 years old by the time I sail her, whereas the Ruby was less than a year old.

 

Hope you don't mind my putting my 2 cents worth in.

The age of the Westerdam is not a factor. It is a beautiful ship, and the artwork every where on the ship is stunning, worth a stroll just to look at it all. The service everywhere from the cabin stewards to the dining room was impeccable. The food was delicious, the best I have ever tasted.

 

You will love the Westerdam!

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

Hope you don't mind my putting my 2 cents worth in.

The age of the Westerdam is not a factor. It is a beautiful ship, and the artwork every where on the ship is stunning, worth a stroll just to look at it all. The service everywhere from the cabin stewards to the dining room was impeccable. The food was delicious, the best I have ever tasted.

 

You will love the Westerdam!

 

I am happy for you to put your two pennies (!) in :D

 

Thanks for your thoughts, I was curious as to whether or not things might be beginning to get a little worn out and creaky after reading things on this board such as sewage smells and A/C problems (I know these were not solely in relation to the Westerdam). Of course, service is something that has nothing to do with the age of a ship and I have heard such great things about HAL's service that this is one of the considerations I had when booking the cruise!

 

I am sure I will love it, especially as I have a nice aft balcony cabin, just wish it wasn't sooooooooo far off in the future :)

[ekerr19]

Sher -

 

Glad you had a great time!!! Thanks for sharing with us - we are looking forward to our 11/15 Westerdam cruise and happy to hear you were not disappointed! :)

[jasl]

Glad you had such a great cruise, Sher, too bad Sitka was missed, but I believe you have been there before. The alternative day sounds wonderful.

We recently spent 35 days on our favorite, the Prinsendam on the Celtic Kingdoms & Top of the World voyages. Nothing but praise, truly enjoyed it, our faith in HAL has been restored and we have already booked another cruise. Best to you and Bob...............................

[RuthC]

Glad you had a good time, Sher. Handsome captian, eh? Care to tell us which handsome captain was assigned when you were there? ;)

[usha]

Glad you had a good time, Sher. Handsome captian, eh? Care to tell us which handsome captain was assigned when you were there? ;)

I thing she was talking about Henk Keijer, if I read her post right.

[localady]

I am happy for you to put your two pennies (!) in :D

 

Thanks for your thoughts, I was curious as to whether or not things might be beginning to get a little worn out and creaky after reading things on this board such as sewage smells and A/C problems (I know these were not solely in relation to the Westerdam). Of course, service is something that has nothing to do with the age of a ship and I have heard such great things about HAL's service that this is one of the considerations I had when booking the cruise!

 

I am sure I will love it, especially as I have a nice aft balcony cabin, just wish it wasn't sooooooooo far off in the future :)

 

I never smelled anything like that during our trip. I have a very sensitive nose for "Ship" smells and I can assure you the only thing we smelled was baking bread that waifed into our cabin in the wee hours of the morning and again about 3:00pm......:D

 

The Westerdam is a new ship in my book and we found everything to be in fine order. The ship looked marvelous and we saw it being cleaned and polished constantly, really spotless.

 

Our service was as good as we have experienced. Our steward was a long time HAL employee having worked under James Deering and Douglas Hernandez on the Oosterdam and he and his assistant did a fantastic job, remembering our names and always greeting us in the hall with a smile.

 

We were in an aft balcony, SC 6164, and enjoyed it very much. The depth of the decks are greater generally that the cabins on either side of the ship. I sure hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

[localady]

Glad you had such a great cruise, Sher, too bad Sitka was missed, but I believe you have been there before. The alternative day sounds wonderful.

We recently spent 35 days on our favorite, the Prinsendam on the Celtic Kingdoms & Top of the World voyages. Nothing but praise, truly enjoyed it, our faith in HAL has been restored and we have already booked another cruise. Best to you and Bob...............................

 

Joyce-

So great to hear from you, my new business keeps me away from here more than I'd like. So glad your faith is restored in HAL and that your Celtic Kingdoms/ Top of the World was lovely. My best you and your dear Bob too, promise to drop you a note soon my friend.

[localady]

I thing she was talking about Henk Keijer, if I read her post right.

 

 

Ruth-

Usha is correct, our Captain was Henk Keijer (hope I spelled it correctly). He is tall, Dutch and handsome. ;)

I actually looked forward to his daily report from the Bridge! :D

Almost as good as Dutch chocolate I tell you Ruth! :cool:

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sher, I was thinking of you all week :)

I am so glad you had a great time despite being a bit wet.

[LVSue]

Returned from our first cruise on the Westerdam and I needed to share an experience during the trip that personifies why I love HAL. Due to hurricane force winds and some of the roughest seas I've been in, Capt. Henk Keijer was forced to cancel the Westerdam's call to Sitka.

 

He monitored it during our day in Juneau and came up with an alternative plan, a full day cruising Tracy Arm. Immediately the Westerdam crew went into overdrive to pull together a day of activities as well as a series of nature narrations about Tracy Arm.

 

It turned out to be a rainy day, but instead of spoiling the day, it truly made the voyage amazing. Hundreds (no exaggeration) of waterfalls cascaded down the sides of the fjord, (think Yosemite x 100) as we zig zagged our way carefully through the huge chunks of crystal blue ice. The experience was surreal and will live in my memory as one of my favorite cruise days ever. :D

 

We had the same experience in France on the Prinsendam when the French dockworkers were on strike. We got a full day in Bordeaux where the ship docks riverside, and instead of Brest, a big industrial port, we tendered at St. Malo, a lovely old walled city from whence Jacques Cartier departed for Canada. Kudos to HAL for making lemonade out of lemons!

[RuthC]

Ruth-

our Captain was Henk Keijer (hope I spelled it correctly). He is tall, Dutch and handsome. ;)

I actually looked forward to his daily report from the Bridge! :D

Almost as good as Dutch chocolate I tell you Ruth! :cool:

Thanks for the info, Sher. The name doesn't sound familiar, but if I ever sail with him, I'll be sure to polish up my spectacles.

[joe122]

Worn out and creaky after six years? You are joking, right? We sailed on the Volendam, which is now ten years old and thought it was beautiful. Admittedly, at the time, that ship was a bit shop worn here and there, but it was a great cruise through the Panama Canal.

 

I am happy for you to put your two pennies (!) in :D

 

Thanks for your thoughts, I was curious as to whether or not things might be beginning to get a little worn out and creaky after reading things on this board such as sewage smells and A/C problems (I know these were not solely in relation to the Westerdam). Of course, service is something that has nothing to do with the age of a ship and I have heard such great things about HAL's service that this is one of the considerations I had when booking the cruise!

 

I am sure I will love it, especially as I have a nice aft balcony cabin, just wish it wasn't sooooooooo far off in the future :)

[fsdj1097]

I have had two different family friends that have sailed on the Westerdam and both complained about the food in the main dining room.

 

Can you give your opinion about the food?

 

Thanks.

[localady]

I thought the food was pretty good in the dining room. I would equate it to good mid western cooking without alot of spice like this "Spicy Lady" usually cooks with. Actually ordered a sirloin steak in the dining room and it arrived as I ordered it and was tender. The salmon was also a winner on the 2 nights I elected to have it, not overcooked, moist and tasty. Fresh fruit was also very good with lots of ripe melons etc. Missed the departure of Beef Wellington as it wasn't offered during the cruise and it's something I don't make at home but really enjoy.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I have had two different family friends that have sailed on the Westerdam and both complained about the food in the main dining room.

 

Can you give your opinion about the food?

 

Thanks.

Food can change from sailing to sailing depending on who the Executive Chef is and the Chefs preparing it and the quality of the provisions they have purchased. Personally I thought the Westerdam was excellent in the Main Dining Room the first week of June and was not as thrilled with the Oosterdam in Feb. or the Statendam in April but yet the Eurodam was as good as the Westerdam last December;)

[fsdj1097]

Food can change from sailing to sailing depending on who the Executive Chef is and the Chefs preparing it and the quality of the provisions they have purchased. Personally I thought the Westerdam was excellent in the Main Dining Room the first week of June and was not as thrilled with the Oosterdam in Feb. or the Statendam in April but yet the Eurodam was as good as the Westerdam last December;)

 

We probably had the best food on our Amsterdam to Alaska cruise this year. And, honestly I guess I'm just too easy to please because I can't remember being disappointed with too many meals on a HAL ship.

[rbyrd2531]

I never smelled anything like that during our trip. I have a very sensitive nose for "Ship" smells and I can assure you the only thing we smelled was baking bread that waifed into our cabin in the wee hours of the morning and again about 3:00pm......:D

 

The Westerdam is a new ship in my book and we found everything to be in fine order. The ship looked marvelous and we saw it being cleaned and polished constantly, really spotless.

 

Our service was as good as we have experienced. Our steward was a long time HAL employee having worked under James Deering and Douglas Hernandez on the Oosterdam and he and his assistant did a fantastic job, remembering our names and always greeting us in the hall with a smile.

 

We were in an aft balcony, SC 6164, and enjoyed it very much. The depth of the decks are greater generally that the cabins on either side of the ship. I sure hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

 

 

 

Maybe deck six has the bakery on it. :>) We were in SC 6175 and I could smell the baked goods a couple times a day as well. Only good smells to report the whole cruise.