The "Worsterdam"

[deer30084]

My wife and I went on the Worsterdam (er, Westerdam) Nov 26, 2011 to Dec 4, 2011. It was our worst cruise ever and we have done 9 cruises. Hence the name Worsterdam. The first night our main entree did not arrive until an hour and a half later. There was a looooooong time between courses. I looked around and lo and behold, our waiter had at least 4 tables of 6 and one table of 8. We were at a table of 6. HE WAS OVERWORKED. We only ate at the formal dining room 3 times. The rest of the time we ate at the Lido deck.

Our stateroom (6039) was an upper veranda deck room with balcony. I can't say anything bad about the room or the steward service. It was good. The balcony had a plexiglass wall so you can see out when sitting on the balcony. The room was spacious and so was the bathroom. It had a tub also. Plenty of room for your stuff and your suitcases fit easily under the bed. I liked the supplied safe that you can use by entering any four digit numerical code of your choice. That's a plus for your cash, passport and other important stuff.

One bad thing is the second hand smoke you willl breathe on the balcony.

Room service was lacking. Twice they forgot the silverware and once they did not bring what we ordered. They need quality control in room service. I don't know about you, but I need a spoon for my coffee and a knife for my butter. If you cruise this ship, ask for a spoon when you order room service coffee. Tell them twice to bring your English muffin and then you may have a better chance of getting it. Oh and tell them to bring a knife. They'll bring you the butter though.

I'm in no hurry to sail HAL again.

On the positive side. In Bonaire snorkle with Woodwind! (http://www.woodwindbonaire.com). I especially liked that the owner frequently checked on people to make sure they were ok. She swam to people that she thought needed help. No one was in distress though. She briefed everyone in the beginning and told you how to give hand signals if in distress or if you were ok when asked. You will take a sailboat to KleineBonaire, just across from the cruiseships and only takes minutes to get there. You will be offered equipment to include mask, snorkle and flotation devices if you need them. Many elderly people did this too. I was impressed. I'm no spring chicken myself at age 58. They also provide snacks and drinks. Anyway, I strongly recommend Woodwind if you are snorkling in Bonaire.

[Himself]

I am sorry you found some of the service to be lacking.

[deer30084]

I am sorry you found some of the service to be lacking.

Thank you Himself.

[cmdchiefthom]

It seems to me like you had some issues. May I ask who you talked to aboard ship to resolve these problems while you were aboard? I would certainly be upset if I was waiting that long to be served, and would have spoken to the maitre'd. As for room service, I would have asked the front desk to have the room service supervisor t call me so I could get my butter knife, as well as a spoon for my coffee. As for second-hand smoke, I've not noticed it on by balconies on the Westerdam, nor here sister the Zuiderdam, but if it bothered you, there are smoke free cruiselines.;) I am glad to hear the you liked your cabin.:)

[kjw869]

My wife and I went on the Worsterdam (er, Westerdam) Nov 26, 2011 to Dec 4, 2011. It was our worst cruise ever and we have done 9 cruises. Hence the name Worsterdam. The first night our main entree did not arrive until an hour and a half later. There was a looooooong time between courses. I looked around and lo and behold, our waiter had at least 4 tables of 6 and one table of 8. We were at a table of 6. HE WAS OVERWORKED. We only ate at the formal dining room 3 times. The rest of the time we ate at the Lido deck.

Our stateroom (6039) was an upper veranda deck room with balcony. I can't say anything bad about the room or the steward service. It was good. The balcony had a plexiglass wall so you can see out when sitting on the balcony. The room was spacious and so was the bathroom. It had a tub also. Plenty of room for your stuff and your suitcases fit easily under the bed. I liked the supplied safe that you can use by entering any four digit numerical code of your choice. That's a plus for your cash, passport and other important stuff.

One bad thing is the second hand smoke you willl breathe on the balcony.

Room service was lacking. Twice they forgot the silverware and once they did not bring what we ordered. They need quality control in room service. I don't know about you, but I need a spoon for my coffee and a knife for my butter. If you cruise this ship, ask for a spoon when you order room service coffee. Tell them twice to bring your English muffin and then you may have a better chance of getting it. Oh and tell them to bring a knife. They'll bring you the butter though.

I'm in no hurry to sail HAL again.

On the positive side. In Bonaire snorkle with Woodwind! (www.woodwindbonaire.com). I especially liked that the owner frequently checked on people to make sure they were ok. She swam to people that she thought needed help. No one was in distress though. She briefed everyone in the beginning and told you how to give hand signals if in distress or if you were ok when asked. You will take a sailboat to KleineBonaire, just across from the cruiseships and only takes minutes to get there. You will be offered equipment to include mask, snorkle and flotation devices if you need them. Many elderly people did this too. I was impressed. I'm no spring chicken myself at age 58. They also provide snacks and drinks. Anyway, I strongly recommend Woodwind if you are snorkling in Bonaire.

 

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience of the Westerdam, or the "Besterdam" as it's called by many of the crew and officers on Holland America. We have been on her three times and have always had great dining service and have never been bothered by smoke on our balconies on any of our HAL cruises. However, our last cruise on her was in May of this year.

 

I have read other reports of long waits in the MDR, and I hope this is not the norm. We normally have a table for two at early dining and usually get in and out quickly.

 

I hope you mentioned these problem area on your comment card.

[catl331]

when you inquired about your entree after waiting 20 min. what was the explanation? Did you ask for something different than was on the menu? Did your waiter have an assistant??This had to be a fluke. We have eated in the main dining room many times and never had to wait that long. I hear the smoking rules will change on HAL ships soon.

[WNcruiser]

So you had one slow meal service in the MDR (not uncommon the first night) and slow room service twice and that was the worst cruise you ever took? Did I miss something else?

 

You must have had 9 flawless previous cruises:). Sorry you didn't enjoy Westerdam...good luck with your future cruises.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your report.

 

Sorry the Westerdam didn't work out for you.

 

Glad you had a wonderful excursion in Bonaire.

[djhsolara]

Sorry you had such a bad experience on Westerdam. I don't usually get into these "cheerleader" conversations on here, but I just had to chime in this time. It is understandable if the service was not up to your expectations, but I would love to know what really caused this to be the worst cruise ever...the things you mentioned were rather minor when you look at the big picture. Please, in your 8th post here on CC, tell us what really went wrong for you.

 

I have to agree with KJW when I say Westerdam to us is the "Besterdam". We've been on her three times (most recently this past April) and the service just keeps getting better and better each time.

 

:) :)

[kazu]

What a shame you had these issues - there are ways to alleviate some of them - however, what's done is done.

 

I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise - we did enjoy ours very much and have most of the time. No cruise is perfect. No weather is perfect. But in room dining for us has always been very good. Sorry it wasn't for you.

[Typhoon1]

Have sailed the Westerdam twice. Can't say anything bad about it.

[hal lover]

I've sailed the MS Westerdam once and found it to be wonderful! Sorry that you were not satisfied. Sometimes I think that any given cruise can be a hit or miss. FYI, the smoking policy is changing in 2012. However, smoking on your balcony will be allowed. It will be interesting to see how this works out. Hope that your future cruise's will be great one's!

[VermeulT]

I'm curious OP... You got on the Westerdam on the 26th? That must be a typo - since I got off her on the 27th. I didn't think she was going to Bonaire until the holiday cruise... But perhaps I'm wrong about that.

 

 

Yes, there have been many recent reports regarding the slow MDR due to stewards having more tables than previously.

 

In my 2 weeks on her, we had 1 room service malfunction (scrambled eggs instead of an omelet). But no issues outside of that.

[Typhoon1]

FYI, the smoking policy is changing in 2012. However, smoking on your balcony will be allowed. It will be interesting to see how this works out.

 

Hopefully, that is prohibited before long.

[deer30084]

I'm curious OP... You got on the Westerdam on the 26th? That must be a typo - since I got off her on the 27th. I didn't think she was going to Bonaire until the holiday cruise... But perhaps I'm wrong about that.

 

 

Yes, there have been many recent reports regarding the slow MDR due to stewards having more tables than previously.

 

In my 2 weeks on her, we had 1 room service malfunction (scrambled eggs instead of an omelet). But no issues outside of that.

Yes you are right. I got on the Westerdam on the 27th. It did go to Bonaire right after Curacao.

And my main issue and really only complaint is the slow service in the MDR due to some MANAGER MAKING THE SERVERS WORK TOO MANY TABLES.

[deer30084]

I am sorry you found some of the service to be lacking.

I hope that my experience as expressed in my review is appreciated by someone else going on a cruise. It was written for others consideration. Anyone can take it for what it's worth. Of course others will not and may not have the same experience as I if they go on the Westerdam. My intent was to let everyone know my experience and what I thought. And in the future, I will choose a different cruiseline based on ONLY my dining experience on HAL. I never had that problem before on other cruises. If other cruiselines offer the same bad service I'll tell you. I have nothing personal against HAL in particular.,

[deer30084]

Sorry you had such a bad experience on Westerdam. I don't usually get into these "cheerleader" conversations on here, but I just had to chime in this time. It is understandable if the service was not up to your expectations, but I would love to know what really caused this to be the worst cruise ever...the things you mentioned were rather minor when you look at the big picture. Please, in your 8th post here on CC, tell us what really went wrong for you.

 

I have to agree with KJW when I say Westerdam to us is the "Besterdam". We've been on her three times (most recently this past April) and the service just keeps getting better and better each time.

 

:) :)

It's quite interesting that you pointed out that I've only posted 8 times. I really should get more experience before I offer my opinion.

[deer30084]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience of the Westerdam, or the "Besterdam" as it's called by many of the crew and officers on Holland America. We have been on her three times and have always had great dining service and have never been bothered by smoke on our balconies on any of our HAL cruises. However, our last cruise on her was in May of this year.

 

I have read other reports of long waits in the MDR, and I hope this is not the norm. We normally have a table for two at early dining and usually get in and out quickly.

 

I hope you mentioned these problem area on your comment card.

 

I did.

[luv2travel06]

And my main issue and really only complaint is the slow service in the MDR due to some MANAGER MAKING THE SERVERS WORK TOO MANY TABLES.

 

We had the same issue on the Zuiderdam in October. After 2 nights of long delays during dinner, our tablemates said something to the supervisor in our area of the dining room and he kept a closer eye on things, pitching in when needed.

 

We did mention it on our survey, focusing on the amount of work required of the servers, not blaming them for a situation out of their control. We were a table of eight.

[Osmosis Jones]

Don't worry deer30084, 'they' will find a way to demonise you if you say anything negative about HAL! LOL.

 

You can only speak as you find, it's always good to have balanced and honest feedback.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post and happy future sailing:)

[deer30084]

Don't worry deer30084, 'they' will find a way to demonise you if you say anything negative about HAL! LOL.

 

You can only speak as you find, it's always good to have balanced and honest feedback.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post and happy future sailing:)

Thank you. I expected the "defenders" to chime in and criticize me for stating my opinion. My only intent was to let everyone know my experience. Isn't that what this site is all about?

[sbcatcher1]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1526140

 

She was in a suite & experienced similar food service delays.

 

It is sad that HAL which was know for its service is destroying its own reputation. The cabin steward said that he has 35-45 rooms, I don't know what the norm was in teh past. By the end of teh cruise it looked tired. He never complained & talked about how much he liked working for HAL due to the lenient time off policy.

 

Yes deer 30084 is my other half. We booked HAL this time because of the exceptional time we had on the Alaska cruise.

[bebob]

I was on this same Westerdam cruise and had a wonderful dining room experience but was surprised at some other aspects. This was our 5th HAL cruise and love HAL but we were surprised at the lack of showroom entertainment. We only had 2 comedians and on 4 other nights entertainment was provided by the ship singers and dancers. Usually there is a different headliner for at least 5 out of 7 nights. Also, the daily movie was only shown over the dinner hour each day. In the past, it's been shown at several times throughout the day but not on this cruise which made it impossible to watch because you would miss your dinner hour or have to eat after 8:30 every night. The movie choices were lacking too until the last 2 days. We always enjoy playing Quest and that was also missing on this cruise. Last but not least, twice we were given Tang at breakfast instead of 'fresh orange juice' as the sign said. I told the Lido manager and he said he'd look into it as fresh orange juice should have always been served.

[sbcatcher1]

We had late dining table 46. People were leaving having eaten their meal (even dessert) before we got out entree. Our table mates were seasoned cruisers & commented on the poor service as well. They said the night we skipped wasn't any different. They missed the shows because we were still eating at 10PM.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We were on Westerdam for 15 days ending in mid November and really have no complaints on service in the MDR or room service. We had the open sitting which worked wonderfully for us. Perhaps the OP will be more specific and let us know what sitting they had for dinner or whether they had open sitting. We didn't notice unusual workloads for the waiters in our area of the dining room.