The Good, the better, the awesome - Alaska Westerdam Penthouse Review

[mrspeck]

WESTERDAM ALASKA EXPLORER Sept 15-Sept 22

 

JOURNEY TO SEATTLE'S PIER 91

Arriving in Seattle the prior morning, we arrived at Seattle's Hotel Andra around 11:30am. We were able to drop off our bags and make our way to Serious Pie for some pizza and beer. I would definitely recommend giving them a try...now they don't serve traditional delivery style pizza, but if you want a gourmet pie, you can't go wrong. After lunch, a short tour through Pike Place Market, and a stop at World Market for a case of wine and champagne, we headed back to Hotel Andra and were in our room before 2:00pm. After a nap we strolled around the market, grabbed an evening meal and rode “The Great Wheel” after dark. After a good night's sleep (with much anticipation), we departed Seattle's Hotel Andra at 10:45AM taking a car service to PIER 91, arriving right after 11:00am.

 

EMBARKATION – PIER 91

Arriving at Pier 91 around 11:00am, we found what seemed to be a small number of people making their way to embark on two ships, the MS Westerdam and a Princess ship (I believe it was the Sapphire Princess – don't recall for sure, as we crossed paths with the Golden Princess also). After the our last Alaska embarkation experience at Canada Place in Vancouver in 2010, this was a breeze. No lines to first drop off luggage, no line through security and no line in HAL's suite check in line. What a great way to start the trip! It went so fast that the only waiting we had to do was for the ship to readied for us to board. That only meant a fifteen minute wait or so before our escort opened the gate for us to take embarkation photos. (The photographer's flash wasn't working correctly, so we skipped the actual photo and rejoined our escort.) As the first passengers to step aboard, we were greeted by our Neptune concierge and whisked away to our room, the port side penthouse, number 7046. Within moments of our arrival we met "Katut" and “Didik", our Cabin Stewards. They were the epitome of “attentive and unobtrusive”. They were some of best cabin stewards we've experienced.

 

PENTHOUSE SUITE #7046

As we had been on the Westerdam in February of 2010 and had noticed a fair number of places were she was aging (ie, upholstery, carpets, etc.), we were overjoyed to walk in to a newly refurbished penthouse suite. During the May 2012 dry dock, the penthouses received major updates...new carpets, wall covering, upholstery, and furnishings. Not only were the materials replaced, but a new color palette was used...no more red and gaudy. Now it is decorated in browns, creams and golds...much better. We were prepared for the old, so the “new” was a tremendous surprise. The latest photos I had seen on Joanie's site were pre-drydock, so that will soon be remedied! Until they are up, picture new cream toned walls (instead of the red), metallic gold upholstered sofa, cream leather on the living room chairs, new dining chairs with cream leather,and chocolate colored carpeting. The veranda was in good repair with well kept wood trim, recently varnished railing, dining and end tables, padded chairs and loungers in good condition and new caramel colored leather on the veranda dining booth. . The only thing that was still showing wear were the gold plated sinks in the bathrooms. They are only partially gold plated these days and are looking a little worn. I think this is probably common among the gold fixtures. The Eurodam's in 2009 were the only ones that I'd seen that looked as they should. We brought my brother along this time, who slept on the murphy bed in the Penthouse’s living room, he found it very comfortable. All in all, the room more than met our expectations...it was superb and was in much better condition than the same port side penthouse that we had on the Zuiderdam in 2010.

 

NEPTUNE LOUNGE - Awesome as always!

 

CASINO - We played a few times and always walked away from the slots as non-winners. A tempting little machine had been added to the casino since I was last onboard, it is called “Casino Vault” and reminds one of the claw games that win you a stuffed animal. These instead have prizes of 100, 200 and 500 plus a kindle. You must attempt to line up a key (with a side to side adjustment and an up control) with a (what appears to be large) key hole. It is not easy. We tried it at least 50 times at a $1 a shot. It was our gift to HAL. We did enter the slot tournament on our first sea day, I was in 5th place till the last go round on our last sea day. So in the end, the casino was entertaining, at a cost...which I guess is what casino's usually are.

 

SPA – No uses this trip

 

DINNING

BREAKFAST

We can only relay our thoughts on in room dining for breakfast as we ordered in each of the seven mornings of our cruise. Each morning our meals were delivered within 10 minutes of the early side of the requested window. They were delivered hot every morning and correct almost every morning. We ordered many items through the week including eggs benedict, omelets, the full English breakfast (eggs, back bacon, banger sausage, hashbrowns, baked beans), corned beef hash, the Dutch breakfast, breakfast sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries, waffles and banana bread french toast. There was just one morning when we were missing toast, condiments and our french toast was not made of banana bread. Now, once you have had this treat, it is almost unforgivable to not get it. We survived and got it the next morning. All in all, excellent breakfast service.

LUNCH

I can only comment on a couple lunches, as we usually only snacked in the Neptune. The first lunch that we did attempt to eat was in the Lido. I hate the Lido. After getting a plate of food, we searched for a table for an extended period before finding one (the only one available) on the rear pool deck. I'm still not convinced that we didn't steal the table from someone who was retrieving their lunch from the lido. I would much rather snack in the Neptune than fight for a place to sit. That is not a relaxing vacation to me. The only other lunch we had was the Mariner's brunch. We sat at a table with six others and thoroughly enjoyed our light meal and company. I had only attended one other Mariners brunch as the last one I could have gone to was at the same time as the suite luncheon. The one brunch that I had attended, on the Westerdam in 2010, had an attendance of maybe 50 people. This one filled pretty much the entire upper level of the dining room. It wasn't nearly as special with just a quick introduction from the cruise director and captain. We were the last table to leave as we had such a nice time with our tablemates (whom all but one of the six were first time HAL cruisers). Our tiles were delivered to our table as we were preparing to leave...I'm assuming everyone else received theirs as they exited the dining room. Now, a question for you all...our tablemates had never cruised on Holland America, but had sailed on Princess and other Carnival owned lines...do those sailings qualify them for the Mariners Brunch? I thought it was for returning HAL guests. They were two separate parties and neither had been on a HAL cruise, but did have the invitation in hand. On our last cruise, the Mariner's Brunch overlapped with the Suite Luncheon (7 day Zuiderdam to Alaska, Sept 2010). I made note of this, here on Cruisecritic and on our onboard surveys. Well, I guess HAL listened and fixed the problem by eliminating the Suite luncheon on sailings of less than 10 days. That was a disappointment, we had really enjoyed it on the Zuiderdam.

DINNER

Main Dining Room - We had as you wish dining, and didn't partake in a single dinner in the main dining room...so, I can't comment on service there

Canelleto – We visited the Italian venue on our evening of embarkation in Seattle. We were traveling with my brother and two friends, so there were five of us that dined together most evenings. We were pleasantly surprised with the food and service after reading so many mixed reviews. It turned out to be a great teaser meal for the three first time HAL cruisers that we had along with us this trip. The five of us had a variety of dishes and I didn't hear any complaints. A highlight of the evening was running into a gentleman whom we had met on our first HAL cruise on the Eurodam in 09. He had been our in room dining steward and had been a big part of winning our hearts to HAL. He has been promoted and is now a server in Canelleto.

Pinnacle Grill – We indulged in the Pinnacle on the first formal night and on our last night of the cruise. Once again, great experiences...I can't recall a dish that wasn't enjoyed by our party. The lamb skewer and bone in ribeye were favorites. The lobster mac n cheese didn't seem to be as good as I had remembered, but was well received by those who had not had it before. We also really enjoyed the cheesecake. (FYI – A jacket is required on formal night...one person in our party arrived in dress pants with a shirt and tie – he was discretely handed a sport coat that amazingly fit him perfectly. I witnessed them turn away a gentleman in jeans.)

Le Cirque – By far, this was our groups favorite meal. I was skeptical due to many persons reviews, but we loved the lobster salad, caesar salad with poached egg, the lamb chops and especially the Chateaubriand. The chateaubriand may possibly be the best piece of beef I have ever consumed. The crème brulee was enjoyed by the entire table.

In Room Dinning - On the evening of our visit to Sitka, we ordered course by course service in suite. There was some miss-communication between in room dining and the Neptune as our meal showed up all at one time. The steward adapted quickly and remedied the situation and served us course by course --- just not on a perfectly set table, etc. He remained with us through the meal and continually kept our glasses filled and made sure our food was hot and well liked. This was the second formal night and we just didn't feel like getting dressed up. We got to privately enjoy our escargot and surf and turf in our excursion duds.

GUEST CELEBRITY CHEF – Paul Virant, owner/chef of Perennial Virant and Vie in Western Springs and Chicago, IL was onboard with his wife and sons and provided cooking demonstrations throughout the week. We really enjoyed the shows we attended. He and his family were very friendly and seemed to be enjoying their first cruise the last we talked to them. We ran into them in Juneau at Tracy's Crab shack were they shared some of Tracy's eats with us.

DESSERT EXTAVAGANZA

This was this first time I tasted anything from this event. Of all of the foods and such that we ate on this trip, these desserts were the least memorable...the best thing I had was a Mojito! I'd go to see the event, but I wouldn't feel bad about not partaking in eating of such.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

I have to say that the entertainment aboard the MS Westerdam right now is the very best I've experienced in our short cruising career. I am very critical (especially of vocals) and must say that the four show room vocalists are awesome. They along with 10 dancers put on wonderful music reviews throughout our week of cruising. I believe they said that this group has a month or two left together on their Westerdam contract, so if cruising on her soon, you are in for a treat.

 

I sang in the karaoke superstar show on Thursday night and received the winning trophy. It was a lot of fun as cruise director, Jason Venner, and his cohort, DJ Mario were a great comedy pair and made the evening a lot of fun. They also hosted the marriage game one evening and it was a hoot as usuall.

 

PORTS

We enjoyed are time in every port. I; however, will not go into detail, since this cruise is over for the year.

 

SHIP TOUR

Three of us signed up for the in depth ship tour which was once again well worth the price. I just thoroughly enjoy seeing it all and visiting with the staff. They have sadly cut the bridge tour from the excursion, but have also reduced the cost from $150 to $99. It is one of the best excursions you'll get for $99. We had a very small group made up of a gal from Holland, a HAL employee from Seattle, a HAL intern from Germany (neither had ever been on a cruise before this sailing), and the three of us. We had a great time with questions and answers from the staff and spent a good half hour to forty five minutes with the hotel manager at the closing of the tour...very interesting afternoon spent on board. If you haven't done it...do it!!! It was specifically mentioned that they do employ someone in Seattle to monitor social media including cruisecritic.

 

OVERALL

The Westerdam and her staff were wonderful! Not only have the Penthouses been updated, but the dry dock changes are apparent throughout the ship. I didn't have any complaints! Had to book another while on board. Going to try a 5th floor aft corner on the Zuiderdam for a 10 day partial Panama Canal next November. Can't wait!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the thoughful review of your cruise on the Westerdam to Alaska. Sounds like everything went well and you had a wonderful cruise.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[aliaschief]

Thank you very much for sharing your cruise experience. Well done.:)

[erewhon]

Enjoyed reading your review.

 

Thank you.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[hal lover]

Thanks for your review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

 

Loved it.

 

Good to hear that HAL has fixed up the Penthouses.

[kazu]

Great Review:):) Great detail and well done:D Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us. Sounds like a truly wonderful cruise.

 

Welcome home:D

[kakalina]

Thanks for your review. You mentioned karaoke. Don't they just have regular karaoke in the nightclub? Is it all a contest thing?

[George C]

thanks for the review, would love to book the Penthouse ( would need a great upsell to do it)

[sail7seas]

Your joy and pleasure shine through your writing and it was a pleasure reading your review.

 

Happy you had such a good time on Westerdam.

Your review makes me look forward to our upcoming two weeks aboard her even more.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Viesczy]

Thank you for the review. We're on the Westy in 8 days (not counting today), so all info provided is GREATLY appreciated!

 

Derek

[mrspeck]

Thanks for your review. You mentioned karaoke. Don't they just have regular karaoke in the nightclub? Is it all a contest thing?

 

They offer a night or two of regular karaoke in the early part of the week and select applicants from those nights to compete in a "Karaoke Superstar" competition. It has been held in the Queens Lounge on the sailings I've been on. It has been fun the couple of times I've done it.

[KirkNC]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise, thanks for posting your review.