Westerdam Norwegian Fjords

[ansjefitnes]

We just got back from this beautifull cruise from 26th August - 7th September on the Westerdam. It was my first cruise with HAL and my partners 2th with HAL. There were 1200 Dutch people on board which was not always nice( we are Dutch ourselves). Some had very little manners.

 

Embarkation: When we arrived in Rotterdam at 14.00 pm lots of people from touringcars outside the terminal but inside all went smooth (due to wheelchair checkin ) and we

entered our cabin 14.30 and the suitsases arrived at 15.15.

 

Musterdrill was at 16.00 hours and was done in 15 minutes.

 

Cabin: We had a SS 8072 which is about midships on the Navigation deck.

It was spacious and very clean and out cabin stewards came to great us and ask what they could do for us. I needed a vase for our flowers and a winecooler with ice for our farewell champagne. They brought it in minutes. The whole cruise they (Roni and Kurni) were great we never had to ask for anything. Bathroom has a separate shower which is great for people with mobility issues like my partner.

 

MDR : We had fixed late seating and asked a table for two but we were seated at a table for 6 with 2 others Dutch couples and we had a great time every night. The diningroom waiters Sumiwat and Erwin and the winewaiter Nestor were great.

We don't like to be in and out of the MDR in less than 1,5 hours so we asked them to serve the courses a bit slowly and they did. During diner we had so much fun we were often the last ones to leave.The food was very good and always the right temperature and cooked to perfection.

Never had a single thing i did not like and so did my dining companions.

 

Lido : We went to the Lido for a late lunch (14.00-15.00) and at that time it was ok. Before that it was a zoo. Like i already mentioned some Dutch

have no manners and i was often ashmed for my fellow countrymen.

Luckely we were able to avoid them as much as possible. ( Ofcourse there were a lot of nice Dutch on board aswell). We liked the Asian Food Station a lot and for the green stuff the salad station.

 

Pinnacle: Had 3 outstanding dinners there, great food and great service.

 

Bars:Service was good everywhere and always with a smile.

 

Front office:We had a problem with a handicap restroom being closed one night at 10.45 and we adressed this to the front desk. The next day they send a appology (sp) card and a plate of choclates) and the day after that we got a phonecall to make sure it did not happen again. I thing that is good customer service.

 

We did not go to the evening shows so can not coment on that.

 

Overall this was a very nice cruise with beautifull scenery, great food,very

friendly staff (for 95%) and very nice tablemates.

 

One thing, the beds. I always hear the majority of you rave about the HA L beds. We don't think they are that great, they are ok but nothing special. I have better ones at home.

 

Disembarking was not fun but we managed it was a zoo, too many suitcases and people in a small area. They really must improve that terminal, Amsterdam is so much better.

 

 

Regards

 

Maria and Nick

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

Know what you mean about the beds -- too often the ones we have had on some ships are all worn out.

[Copper10-8]

................... Amsterdam is so much better.

 

 

......................

 

Heel goed review Maria! Bedankt om de tijd er voor te nemen! Ben van de zelfde mening over Amsterdam!;) /Great review Maria! Thanks for taking the time! Agree with you on Amsterdam!;)

[IRL_Joanie]

Great review of my, so far, favorite ship!! It was so good to learn/hear that everything is still so great on her, to include the crew:)

 

Welcome Home!!

 

And, like all people of all nationalities, there will always be some that are rude and/or obnoxious. I am just sorry that you had to experience them on your cruise:(

 

Just one question for you.... Any photos that I can add to the HAL Stateroom/Cabins pages?

 

Joanie

[ansjefitnes]

Hi Joanie,

 

I don't think we took a lot of photo's of the cabin if any at all.

But i will check and if we have any i will send them to you.

 

Regards,

 

Maria

[portofrome]

Thank you for your review.