Noordam Review 1/4/2010 - 1/14/2010

[WILLVINO]

Sorry this is so late. Time just seems to fly by these days and I finally had some time to post this.

We sailed on the Noordam on 1/4/2010 – 1/14/2010. This was our first 10 day cruise, our 2nd Holland America cruise and 4th cruise overall. DH is 57 and I am 42. We left out of Fort Lauderdale. We flew in the night before and spent the night at Amerisuites for about $68 including tax. They were very cheap and just fine since our flight got there at 11 pm so it was merely to sleep in. The towels were very cheap and thin and so were the walls but it was very clean and conveniently located. There is a huge wine store called Total Wine, there is a Ross and a Publix so great location to stock up on things before getting to the ship.

DH and I walked over in the morning and stocked up on wine. We then took a cab over to the pier. The fair was $6 and we gave the guy $10. Gave the porters our 3 bags and $5 and went to board. The line was fairly short. It was about 12:30pm. We went to the buffet area and had a little lunch. By 1:30 the announcement came that our cabins were ready so headed to the Cabin. Our cabin was 5021. Our cabin stewards were Hendra and Johnson. This was the first time that we had experienced two stewards. They were both very nice.

The ship didn’t leave until about 5:30 and they had the bbq on pooldeck which was actually very good. They had steak, chicken and salmon. The temperature was quite cool for Florida but of course warm for us since we had left Nebraska when it was 7 below and the forecast was 25 below for the next couple of days. We woke up in Fort Lauderdale to 40 degrees with a breeze. By the afternoon on the ship it was about 60.

The population was much older in age than the last Holland America cruise but that is never an issue for us since we really just go to relax and enjoy each other.

Cabin - # 5021

The last time we were on Holland America we had a Deluxe Verandah Suite and this was just a balcony cabin so much smaller but still very nice.

We took the stairs every where and walked a lot around deck. I went to the gym 3 times and did the spinning classes. I signed up for the classes the first day there.

I asked the steward to empty the mini fridge and they never did so I ended up just taking most everything out and putting it under the desk so that we had a place to put a few items to keep cool.

The shower curtain was a little moldy and I wished I would have asked to have them change it. I will next time.

Itinerary

Tuesday – 1/5 - Half Moon Cay from 8 – 4pm. It was very windy and cold. I wore my coat to the island but eventually had to take it off as we hiked as it was very sunny. Temperature was about 65. The tender was very choppy and people were getting sea sick. We hiked all around the island and didn’t eat the barbeque.

Wednesday – 1/6 – Grand Turk 12 – 6 pm (formal night). We took a taxi to town. It was $5 per person one way walked and saw all the historical homes. Many of them had cisterns enclosed for their water. We stopped at the only open beach bar and had a couple of beers and fries. It was cool and cloudy and the sea is really rough. We went to dinner at Pinnacle Grill. I had lobster bisque, lamb and lobster and chocolate soufflé. We took our own wine and paid the fee. Had a wine steward from the Phillipines his name was Noel and he was very good. Osmond was our waiter from Turkey and he was very good.

Thursday – 1/7 – Samana, Dominican Republic – 10 – 5 pm. We woke up to beautiful scenery as the ship came into port at DR. There were many palm trees and lost of jungle. The ship time change by + 1 hour. Good thing we did a wake up call : ) as I had not read it in the newsletter. We had scheduled a scuba dive through Holland America. We went to the theater to get our tender tickets and were introduced to our security escort which I thought was weird. This gentleman went with us to the port and was there to ensure we got on the right cruise tour etc. There isn’t anything in port and we heard that if you walked a little you would get to the town were there were some vendors but it was very poor and very aggressive. We got on the boat which was open with no cover and very small. There were 12 of us. When I asked if we were going to switch boats at the dive shop I was told that this was the dive boat. Both my husband and I decided that we didn’t feel safe in this small boat with so many people and trying to get scuba equipment on etc. The water was very cloudy and we just decided against it. So the operation had another boat take us back to the port. So we went back to the ship. Had some lunch and hung out reading. The temperature was about 70.

This is when we were told that we had 16 passengers with norovirus. We never got sick and it was said that there were about 51 cases overall. The captain ordered code red so everything had to be handed to you. The pools, hot tubs etc were all closed and the buffet was no longer self serve. This was very frustrated many passengers. We understood and didn’t mind; however, it would have been nice to have a sign that said ‘line starts here’ so as to avoid issues amongst people starting in different sides.

We were getting ready to leave but were told by the captain that we were going to wait as there was a passenger that needed to be taken off the ship due to a medical evacuation and they were waiting for a helicopter but the captain didn’t want to leave until the passenger was picked up. We waited an hour then the captain decided to keep the passenger on board and leave since the helicopter couldn’t make it given that there was a storm. The captain was going to devert the ship since the next day it was to be a sea day however the passenger’s condition improved and he did not have to do that.

We had room service that evening from the main dining room menu. One thing we love about Holland America.

Friday – 1/8 – Day at Sea. We relaxed and had a wonderful time. Temperature was about 70 or so.

Saturday -1/9 – Bonaire 8 – 5 pm. We had booked a dive privately with a place called Buddy Divers. They met us at the boat dock. The dive operation was great and so were the dive guides. There were only 6 of us and we were all from the Crown Princess. We had to do what they call a check out dive were you just jump in and make sure you are properly weighted etc. Then off to two dives which were both wonderful. I have never seen so many fish. Very healthy reef. The entire operation was excellent and I would highly recommend them.

Sunday – 1/10 – Curacao 7 – 11pm. We had booked a dive privately with a place called Ocean Encounters. They did not have transportation so we went ahead and took a taxi from the dock which cost about $20. We decided that we would do the 10 am dive and the afternoon one. The dive operation was great. Great boats and dive masters. The ocean was very rough and we had several people get sick. The waves were very tall and the current was a bit rough so we ended up doing a drift dive which was fine. Again lots of fish and really nice dives. We were back on the ship around 4 pm. We went back out only to find out that all of the shops were closed because it was Sunday so ended up back on the ship and did more relaxing.

Monday – 1/11 – Aruba 7 – 5 pm. We rented a car and drove around the island. Stopped at a beach bar and had a snack. Also stopped near the port and had an ice cream right before a small shower started. It was very hot probably in the 90s. Very pretty and not too rough.

Tuesday – 1/12 – Day at Sea. Relaxed and read. Had lunch in the Pinnacle compliments of our TA. It was very good but not sure that I would pay for it. It rained most of the day. Were out on the balcony looking at Haiti when the earthquake hit. We didn’t know anything but did notice the seas got rough.

Wednesday 1/13 – Last Day at Sea. Again relaxed and packed since it was our last night. Temperature got cool again.

Overall a great cruise.

Other

We went to hear the captain speak and answer questions one afternoon and that was interesting. The captain was very personable. He wrote children’s books so he did a signing of the books etc.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your report.

 

Sorry about the ship being in Code Red -- has happened to us quite a few times.

 

We bought the Captain's Log -- which Captain Hans Matebor wrote when we were on the Noordam last year -- loved it.

[oobbian]

Thank you for the review. Who did you rent your car from in Aruba and did you reserve it before your cruise?

[WILLVINO]

Yes we rented the car in advance from Thrifty. Had to pay $20 to get to the airport but didn't realize that they actually have a rental place at the Renaissance Suites which is close to the cruise port so next time this is the place to get the car. We were able to just drop the car off there which was nice. The rate was $36 plus insurance so i think it ended up being $60 all included. One thing is that insurance had a $1,000 deductible. Not to worry as the car pulled up and it was so full of dents and very old. I almost thought that it was someone's car that they were giving us for the day. The thing barely went but it was cheap on gas and got us around for the day.

 

So I would go with Thrifty again since it was cheaper than the others but you get what you pay for.