May 26 Westerdam Review

[Orangeguy]

Just back from an amazing week on the Westerdam, and wanted to take a second to post a review but also to thank the numerous people here on the boards who answered tons of questions from me. It certainly helped me to have a more enjoyable first cruise.

Now onto the review…

Pre-Cruise: Flew in on Thursday afternoon and got to enjoy some truly amazing weather in Seattle along with some of Seattle’s sites. We stayed at The Paramount, which was great. It was reasonably priced (given its location) and is close to all of Seattle’s attractions downtown.

Embarkation: We pulled up to Pier 91, a porter helped us with our luggage and within 25 minutes we were boarding the ship.

Cabin: After taking advantage of some price drops, we ended up with a VH guarantee and were ultimately assigned to 5170, which is a standard verandah cabin. The cabin really was the perfect size.. I wouldn’t have wanted anything much smaller. We also loved having the verandah, especially for sail away as the weather in Seattle was perfect. Our cabin steward was Cy (sp?), who introduced himself almost the minute we got to our cabin. The entire week he took very good care of us. He was always very energetic and happy to help with any request, and knew us by name almost immediately.

Food: This was the one area where I had some frustrations, but overall I was still really happy. We opted for As You Wish Dining, which we were generally happy with. The first night we went to dinner a little after 7pm and did have to wait about ten minutes to be seated; however, as the cruise went on we found that if we went either a little before or a little after 7 we could avoid the line. The food in the Main Dining Room was always very good.

We primarily ate our breakfasts and lunches in The Lido and while the food was very good for a buffet, we could almost NEVER find a table. It was extremely annoying. I can imagine that in nice weather people would eat out on the aft by the pool, but for most of the week this was not an option. This meant that on more than one occasion we brought our food back to our room. Also, while I generally didn’t mind the Code Orange for the first 48 hours, is it really necessary to do it for glasses of water too? Given that the staff in the Lido had glasses of water and tea pre-poured, I would argue no.

The biggest let down of the entire cruise was the in room dining. On our first morning we decided to get breakfast to the room because we had a relatively early (10am) Roll Call. When the food arrived, everything was there but some of the items were sub-par. For example, we ordered scrambled eggs and found powdered eggs. On the night leaving Juneau, we ordered room service for dinner. After waiting about 45 minutes for the order, both of the entrees arrived cold. This was a real disappointment.

One night we did opt to dine at The Pinnacle Grill and I was blown away. This was the best meal I’ve ever had in my entire life. The food was delicious, and the service was excellent as well.

Entertainment and Activities: During the day, there were tons of options that appealed to me. I particularly enjoyed the activities in the Culinary Arts Center. We also took advantage of the Spa Specials, and greatly enjoyed those. Our CD, Jason, did a good job of promoting activities over the PA, but also mentioned that this was our vacation and many times said, “Do it all, or do none of it.” I felt like he struck a great balance of encouraging participation, while letting people enjoy their cruise.

In the evenings, we tried out a number of different options. On the second night at sea we went to the main show and Capitan PJ’s toast. I was really underwhelmed by the show. Its not that the performers aren’t talented… they clearly are. And its not that HAL has invested enough in their sets.. they definitely have. It is that the performers kept doing the same thing over and over again. Every song seemed like it was the same thing. I ended up leaving half way through the performance. Other nights, we went to the Piano Bar or the Ocean Bar to see the jazz group. We enjoyed both of these venues.

Roll Call: We had our Roll Call on the first day at sea and had somewhere around 35 members drop by at some point. It was great to put names with faces. The Hotel Manager and the Beverage Manager both stopped by as did Jason, who kept us laughing the whole time. He mentioned that during the previous cruise, one feedback form had complained that the glaciers were dirty and that HAL should invest in cleaning them. I also learned that Jason is actually the most senior CD with HAL, and in fact sometime in the near future he will be leaving the Westerdam and will be replaced by DJ Armen.

General Comments on HAL & the Westerdam: Many previous reviews have said that the ship is showing some signs of her age, but I didn’t really see this. While its clear this isn’t a brand new ship, I felt that it was in good condition. There were a few very minor things that could use some attention (i.e. the curtains in our stateroom had come off the track and kept getting caught in the door), but it was clear to me that HAL has taken good care of the ship.

Also, one of my biggest concerns heading into the cruise was that I was going to be one of the youngest adults on the cruise… and I was right about that. I saw maybe 5 other 20-somethings on the cruise the whole time. It is clear that HAL is making an effort to have activities for this age range with their Generation Next activities, but I went to one of these and found that while the event was advertised as being for 18-25 year olds most of the people here were juniors/seniors in high school. I think these events would be better served by separating under 21 and over 21 age groups.

Juneau: We decided to do the Land and Sea Photo Safari, which includes 2 hours on a boat doing whale watching and 2 hours hiking and viewing Mendenhall Glacier. My mom and I both greatly enjoyed this excursion. It was great to do a little of both activities. Our guide was a professional photographer who clearly has a passion for photography and loved sharing his knowledge about photography and the Juneau area with us. This was money well spent as we were able to get some great photographs, but also learned some tips to take better photos for the rest of the week.

Glacier Bay: In my opinion, this is where Capitan PJ and HAL really shined. We sailed to within 200 feet of one of the glaciers and did a complete 360. In talking to passengers on other cruise ships, they all said that they didn’t do anything like this on their ships. We were on the bow of the ship for at least 2 hours and then went back to our verandah for the rest of the time.

Sitka: Originally, my mom and I were just going to walk around Sitka on our own, but at the last minute she decided that she really wanted to do the Dry Suit Snorkeling excursion, which she greatly enjoyed and managed to stay warm the whole time. I opted to explore on my own. Despite a sudden storm that brought colder air, wind, and a heavy rain, I really enjoyed Sitka. While Juneau and Ketchikan are nice, Sitka feels much less touristy and has a nice mix of activities for people of all types.

Ketchikan: During our short time in Ketchikan, we took a flight with Michelle from Island Wings to Misty Fjords National Monument, which was definitely worth the money. We greatly enjoyed being able to land and get out of plane to take some pictures. I would highly recommend Island Wings!

Victoria: We were really disappointed in this stop. We arrived about an hour late into port and went downtown, but by the time we got there most of the non-tourist oriented shops were closing up for the day.

Disembarkation: Went very smoothly. We originally planned on using Luggage Direct, but I didn’t realize that you must get off the ship at 7:30am in order to participate in the program. Instead we decided to take the traditional route, and waited until our assigned time of 9am. The entire process was super easy and we were out the door within 15 minutes of getting off the ship.

Ultimately, we really enjoyed our cruise with Holland America—so much so that we went ahead and took advantage of the discounted deposit onboard. We are currently booked to sail on the Eurodam next May when she sails from Rome to Copenhagen!

[portofrome]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for the review.

[IRL_Joanie]

Great Review of your cruise aboard the Westerdam. I love that ship:)

 

I feel the same way you did about Sitka:) It is small enough to be quaint and yet there is just something about it that makes you want to stay and look around her longer. Love that town!!

 

Question about your Land and Sea Photo Safari in Juneau.... Was that the one that only takes 14 people on it?? If so, my hubby, Crew News sis that a couple years ago and raved about it also:)

I am glad that you liked it well enough to book ahead next year:)

 

Joanie

[jaguarstyper]

Thank you for the well written review!

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to write your objective review.

[Orangeguy]

Question about your Land and Sea Photo Safari in Juneau.... Was that the one that only takes 14 people on it?? If so, my hubby, Crew News sis that a couple years ago and raved about it also:)

 

 

 

Sounds like the same excursion. They said the max was 15, but we only had 9 which was really nice.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you had such a wonderful cruise that you have booked another for next year.

 

Thank you for your review.

[kakalina]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Westerdam. We will be on her for 30 days in Oct/Nov and your interesting review had whetted our appetites for our cruise.

[earl_m]

Glad you enjoy your cruise, Thanks for sharing!

[Lisa63]

Thank you for your review. We leave in a few weeks!

[MilliesMom]

Enjoyed your review ... thank you. Will be on the Westerdam next May to Alaska. So looking forward to it.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your cruise. Glad you had a good time and have booked another cruise. See I told you that you would like the Westerdam.

[crewcox]

what made you chose the Juneau photo tour over the one in Sitka

[cruise crazed]

I was also on the 5/26 sailing of the Westerdam. we had a great time. The only negative experience we had was the long wait to get on the tenders in Sitka.

 

We took our 13 year old grandaughter. She really enjoyed the cruise. Kristen, the counsellor in the teen loft provided great activities for the teens.

 

We ate at the Pinnacle Grill 5 nights and loved the experience. we ate at Canaletto the other 2 nights. The food was fair. HAL is going to have to improve the quality and the variety of food on the menu since they are now charging $10. The place was empty both nights.

 

Service across the board was excellent.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for your review. We have a Collector's cruise upcoming on Westerdam and it's good to hear you think the ship is in good condition.

 

Happy you were pleased with most things HAL/Westerdam. :)

 

Welcome back.