Noordam Christmas Cruise Review

[FoxyTerrier]

Pre cruise DS’s graduation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

We left on 12/19 with DH feeling a bit off. About half way through the flight to Daytona DH got really sick -Short of breath, cold and clammy, sweats and nausea. I wanted to contact the flight attendant but he kept saying no, no, no. We were traveling with my 90 year old mom and I didn’t want to alarm her too much either. We landed at MCO and I asked DH if we should go to the ER before driving on to Daytona again he said no, and he did feel some better but felt warm and was running a slight fever. We checked into the Hampton Inn and we called DS to let him know we had arrived but DH was not well. Being the bright boy we raised he said get to the ER and he came to stay with mom. So off to the ER we went based on his symptoms and family history they ran blood work for possible heart issue, did a chest XRay to see if possible pneumonia. Everything came back negative and diagnosed him with flu. They put him on Tami Flu (5 days) and the doctor said he could attend graduation the next day if he was feeling up to it and also could go on the cruise if he continued to improve. After 2 doses of Tami Flu DH felt much better and made it to the graduation which was wonderful. I don’t think he had the flu at all since he only had symptoms for 12 hours.

 

On 12/22 we drove down to Ft. Lauderdale and had booked 2 rooms at the Hampton Inn. We knew they offered a program to park your car at the hotel and inquired how it worked. The front desk person was so nice he said we could park DS’s car there for FREE normally it was $5 a day which is still a great deal. The parking at the Hampton Inn is covered and secured which made me happy as DS got a new 2010 Nissan Altima as a graduation present. We signed up for the 11am free shuttle to the port. There were quite a few people waiting for the 11am shuttle too many for one van. We made it on the 2nd van about 11:30.

 

Embarkation

After the luggage was dropped off we headed into the check in and found no line at all. We stepped right up to the Deluxe Veranda check in. All 5 of were checked in with in minutes and we were off to the Neptune before noon. It was pretty empty and we were met by Melanie and Franz. Melanie made our Open Dining reservations and 2 Pinnacle Grill reservations. Next stop the Vista dining room for the Mariner welcome lunch.

 

Rooms SA7064 and VB6040

We hadn’t had an SA in ages normally preferring an SB aft corner. But since DH and I were sharing the room with my mom we felt we need the extra room and the close proximity to the NL. Rooms were ready exactly at 1:30. As soon as we got to our room I noticed a friendly face it was Tony our room steward from our 2006 Eastern Med cruise also on the Noordam. It turned out Tony would be our steward again along with someone else whose name we never learned. Suit cases arrived right before the muster drill. This was the first cruise where we did not have to take our life vest with us to the drill nor did they call out room numbers. On our last sea day they installed a wall mounted Elemis shampoo, conditioner and body wash dispenser. One in the shower and one in the tub. Future cruise will not have the small bottles.

 

Mom slept in the sofa bed and found it quite comfortable. We also found the room big enough for 3. The dressing area provided enough privacy for all. Mom does need a shower chair and I found I could put her walker (it has a seat) in the tub and that worked out very well. There was also plenty of storage for 3 people.

 

DS and his GF, Katie, had the VB and while the room was much smaller than our SA they loved it and enjoyed the balcony. We had booked them a VF guarantee and were happy with the upgrade to a VB.

 

Ports

HMC - DS and Katie did the Aqua Trax one of DS’s favorite activitys. They beached it afterwards and enjoyed the BBQ. DH, mom and I stayed on board. We heard nothing about the little girl who lost her life until we returned. So very sad…

 

Jamaica - DS and Katie did the Dunns River falls and DH, mom and I did the highlights tour. I found the shopping to be not so great and was looking forward to shopping in Grand Cayman.

 

Grand Cayman - cancelled due to bad weather at the port. Earlier in Dec it was reported by several people it got so rough the tenders had a hard time getting people back to the ship.

 

Cozemel - We docked about 3 miles from downtown which was disappointing. DS and Katie did a HAL beach party trip. DH and I walked into town, poked around a bit and took a taxi back.

 

Food

This was our first cruise where we did not have the fixed dining and I felt it was disappointing. We all felt the service was off and can only think it was due to open seating. Of the 5 nights we ate in the Vista we only had one steward who was wonderful and luckily it was on the Second Formal night. His name was Deddy. On all of the other nights the steward never spoke to us except to ask what we wanted to order. The food was good for the most part but DH and I felt the desserts were not as good as they normally are.

We ate twice at the PG and had a fabulous server Firat from Turkey. The food was great and Firat made the best Caesar Salad I’ve ever had. We requested to be seated his Firat’s section for our 2nd even at the PG. He got busy and someone else made the salad and it was awful. When he checked in with us he knew I was disappointed and insisted on remaking it and said he would give the others lessons.

 

We attended the Suite Luncheon at the PG which was a buffet and very similar the ones we have attended in the Crows Nest. On our last cruise the Suite Luncheon was a sit down lunch of Indonesian Food and was hoping for the same as it was yummy.

We ate breakfast either in the NL or at the PG. I really loved the new breakfast menu. This was the first cruise we never ordered room service. DS and Katie ordered room service the last day for 6:30 and it never arrived by 8:30 when we got off the ship.

 

MISC

We did Team Trivia every day but never won never made it to Pub Trivia. There were lots of great teams.

The casino was very good to us this trip. DS and I played in several Texas Holdem Tourney’s and won a few of them. I hit trips twice at the 3 Card and DS hit on Straight Flush at 3 Card.

 

We played one music Trivia game in the Northern Lights the first night it was music from the 21st Century DS knew them all and won for our team. We never went back to the Northern Lights as I found DJ Dave very annoying.

 

No luck at Bingo and again DJ Dave was annoying and making fun of people and even said this was the greediest bunch of people he’s ever seen. After that comment I was going to mention it on the Comment questionnaire but in the end let it go…

 

Disembarkation

Smooth as silk. The van driver from the Hampton Inn picked us up. The Hampton Inn does not provide a free shuttle back but that was fine. She charged $8 per person and dropped 3 of us at FLL and DS and Katie at the Hampton Inn to pick up DS’s car. If anyone is interested it’s Sunshine Coast Limousine John 305-746-8976 and Fannie 305-746-8966 (husband and wife I think) FLL was a complete zoo but we made it home safely.

[shandryl]

Glad everything went well :) l enjoyed reading your review.

[IRL_Joanie]

Welcome home!!

 

And congratulations to your son!!

 

Thank you for the review! Any photos??

 

Joanie

[Himself]

Thanks for the review and I am glad the DH was able to overcome his illness.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

 

Congratulations to your son!!

 

Glad that your DH recovered from whatever ailed him and he was able to cruise.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

So pleased to know that your DH recovered from the ailment, and you were all able to cruise.