Some Comments on Feb. 26 Noordam Cruise

[Rudolph38]

My wife and I also were on this cruise. This was our 5th cruise on 3 different HAL ships in the last 6 years. 4 of these have been to the Caribbean. I would just like to make a few observations.

 

We left Rochester, NY in the middle of a snow storm on February 24. We missed our connection in JFK, but fortunately were able to get on another flight later that day. People who fly in to the cruise site on sailing day, especially in the winter, are almost as foolish as those who don't take out cruise insurance.

 

For some reason I failed the full body scan and got the complete pat-down. I can't speak for the ladies, but for men the pat-down was no more intrusive than getting fitted by a tailor for dress trousers. I think the media just over-hyped the whole thing.

 

It's amazing how quickly HAL can now turn over the ship. We got on about 11:30, and our cabin was ready. Left our bags in the cabin and went to the MDR for a nice, leisurely Mariners' lunch away from the chaos of the Lido.

 

Service has remained consistently cheerful, polite, and excellent. I have noticed no drop off in cabin service since HAL assigned 2 steward to a larger number of cabins. Lido and MDR service was also great, and I have always had good experiences with the front desk. I think service is where HAL stands out from other competing lines.

 

Lido food for lunch and breakfast is still very good with a great selection. I was surprised that being in "Code Orange" for the first couple of days didn't seem to slow things down at all. The replacement of trays with larger plates seems to work quite well and negates so much of the complaining registered when trays were done away with.

 

Dinner was a different matter. We had open seating and when we ate in the MDR we did so at 5:30. Service was good, but I think the quality of food for dinner has slipped a bit. Not bad, but no better than you would get in a slightly above average restaurant on land. We ate in the Canaletto twice. I am surprised that they don't charge extra for this. It's a neat experience, atmosphere and service better even, I believe, than the MDR.

 

Since we have stopped doing formal nights, last year we ate in the Lido on those nights. It was a surprisingly nice experience. The tables on one side had table cloths and candles on them. Menu items were almost the same as in the MDR. You picked up your salad and appetizer, ordered your entree, and when it was ready, it was brought to your table. Not so pleasant this year. Totally buffet. You now wait in line for the entree as well and take it to your table yourself. When the Lido was busy, it was not a nice dining experience.

 

We didn't go to the Mariners' lunch, and I guess that's the reason we didnt get any tiles this year.

 

Entertainment: We enjoy all the shows. Because it is a smaller ship, with all of its advantages, you don't get the glitzy shows that the larger ships provide. We enjoy the talent and energy the HAL singers and dancers provide, and we have never experienced what we would consider to be a bad performance by other entertainers.

 

Now, this is where I will probably raise some hackles, but honesty and completeness compels me to include it. HAL has very limited outside TV programs on the cabin television, and I resented the fact that one of these channels---in fact the only one that is mainly US news---is taken up by Fox News. I know many of you love Fox and watch it at home. But it has a definite Republican bias, and many of us with a liberal/progressive inclination find it truly offensive. And in all fairness, since the NY Times has a liberal editorial policy, I think the editorials should also be left out of the daily newspapers delivered to our cabins. (I would prefer a little more sports news in their place :-) There is too much polarization in our country now. I hate to see it brought into our vacation experience.

 

We go on cruises mainly to read, relax, and be pampered, so I can't say much pro or con about the activities. The passengers are mainly older (and I think this will be HAL's niche in the competitive cruise market), and the activities or lack thereof seem to be adequately geared to that demographic.

 

Disembarkation was so prompt and flawless that we were at the airport 4 hours before our noon flight. Had I known this ahead of time, I would have booked an earlier flight. If the ship is coming into port on a week day and you walk your own bags off and take a taxi, you should have no problem making a late morning flight.

 

Well, that's enough. I just wanted to share these observation and opinions. It was again a great cruise experience.

[luvcruisn']

Disembarkation was so prompt and flawless that we were at the airport 4 hours before our noon flight. Had I known this ahead of time, I would have booked an earlier flight. If the ship is coming into port on a week day and you walk your own bags off and take a taxi, you should have no problem making a late morning flight.

 

Re: booking an earlier flight-sometimes the ships do not make it in on time. With a noon flight you didn't have to stress out about making the flight if there had been any kind of delay.

[kazu]

Thanks so much for the interesting review. I do agree that people (especially those of us affected by snow) cannot fly out the day of a cruise. Just too risky.

 

Glad the storm didn't stop you from making the ship. As above, I do recommend people get their departing flight at noon or later. It's just safer. Delays can happen with immigration.j

 

Even better - stay a day or two and extend your vacation ;)

 

Thanks again - great read :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

thank you for taking the time to write your review

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the write-up. We also enjoy Canaletto's.

 

I am right of center and don't watch Fox or CNN (the equivilent on the left) because I find them both almost funny in their approach to the news. The problem for HAL on TV and filling the daily rag is that any product they choose is going to have a bent, I can't think of anyl news channel or newspaper that does not. I wonder if by using the two they choose it is to balance each other out? We usually don't watch the news much while on a cruise other than to make sure something major has not happened.

 

Kirk

[brucory]

Thanks for the review.

 

We have also found the TV options lacking on HAL ships. We now take a portable hard disc with tv shows and movies we have not had time to see on land. If we have spare time and want to watch something, it plugs into the laptop!!!

 

Great to hear you enjoyed Canaletto as we loved that extra option too....

[luvcruisn']

Disembarkation was so prompt and flawless that we were at the airport 4 hours before our noon flight. Had I known this ahead of time, I would have booked an earlier flight. If the ship is coming into port on a week day and you walk your own bags off and take a taxi, you should have no problem making a late morning flight.

 

Re: booking an earlier flight-sometimes the ships do not make it in on time. With a noon flight you didn't have to stress out about making the flight if there had been any kind of delay.

[cruisinggranmama]

Interesting take on the news available. Have yet to find any news that is truly without bias. But those two channels would work for me when I'm away. When we are in Europe it is very different with BBC and MSNBC being the only English speaking choices in most countries. Talk about a big dose of bias with USA bashing thrown in from both channels!?

[onthegogirl]

I wish they would bring back the BBC World News. Really enjoyed a global perspective.

[csingle]

Do they have movies on the the television? Any other programs besides news?

 

Thanks!

[Love the beach]

Do they have movies on the the television? Any other programs besides news?

 

Thanks!

Yes to both.

[Kathyh1313]

Thanks so much for your review. We board the Noordam on 3/18. Every review just makes me more excited!:D

[benny salami]

:cool: Not only do they show recent movies {uncut} they also rebroadcast some shows. Agree about BBC worldwide but who really goes on a cruise to watch telly? To many other activities. As far as FOX News it is by far the most popular cable news in America.

[cruiseapril]

Interesting review and commentary on news channels. We'll be on the Noordam soon. I know we'll mostly watch movies on the telly.

 

Just a note about activities on HAL. We have been on most of the major cruise lines and found that the Westerdam offered plenty of activities-interesting ones. More interesting than many of the activities offered on other lines, IMO. We look forward to the activities on the Noordam.

[Monicaed]

Did you have any speakwrs/lectures on Noordam? We had excellent ones on Statendam (New Zealand) and Amsterdam (Panama Canal). But not on subsequent cruises. The Digital sessions are good but I have now done them all!

 

Bill

[Rudolph38]

They had two lectures---Pirates and Life Below the Sea's surface. They are both slide shows. We attended the latter, since we had attended the former on a previous cruise. The presenter is not an expert like the one we had for the Panama Canal and Alaska. But she did her homework and did OK.

 

Meatier talks is one of the things I wish HAL would incorporate into their cruises. For instance, we visited the Dominican Republic, and it would have been really neat to attend some lectures on how Hispanola (?) became divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and why Haiti became an absolute disaster, while the DR is surviving. Lots of possibilities for interesting lectures. In an ideal world, I would like a lecture on the history and culture of each island before we visit it, instead of the shopping talks. But that's us, and the interest in it might not be worth paying for a presenter.

[Kathyh1313]

I'm with you Rudolph38. DH and I would love to attend lectures/presentations on each of the islands, culture, history, music, food, etc. The shopping "presentations" hold absolutely NO appeal.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear that they have some enrichment lectures. Most lines do not on a Caribbean cruise these days. Glad to hear they have Fox News.

[JamesEM]

If you don't like FOX watch CNN, or turn on somethig else.

[cruiseapril]

Rudolph- Another vote for more history, cultural discussions. Although, as I mentioned, we've always found plenty to do on HAL.

[Rudolph38]

If you don't like FOX watch CNN, or turn on somethig else.

 

My point was that I don't think any program as politically biased as Fox News should be part of a limited TV package for a clientelle (sp?) that is not only international, but has large numbers of people with different political views. A cruise ship is no place for political propaganda. Whether or not you like Fox News or whether it is popular in the US is irrelevant to the point I was making.

 

And that is why I added my belief that politically biased NY Times editorials should be removed.

[FrankNJ]

didn't notice Fox news last year on Noordam , but glad to hear it's there.

We'll see in a few days

[Monicaed]

Thanks for comments. There is plenty of scope in the Mediteranean for interesting talks and presumably at reasonable cost to HAL.

Awful news from Japan. Natue is still the boss.