just my view of the Westerdam 18th & 25th November

[suesie]

This is just my view [ shared by my friends ] and it is quite long. Please don't angry with me for expressing my views.

 

I was on this cruise with 5 friends for 14 days from 18th November, and we had Freedom/anytime dining.

This has to be one of the worst cruises I have been on [and I have been on a number]. I had previously been on two HAL cruise [Oosterdam and N. Amsterdam], which I really enjoyed and hoped that this time would have been as good.

These are my experiences and feelings and I have no doubt that a number of HAL loyalists [of which I used to be one] will decry me for them, but it will be a long time before I chose to sail with HAL again.

 

Stateroom: Excellent. Nothing to fault. As usual a wonderful steward with excellent service. Super comfy beds and pillows.

 

The Lido: The usual bunfight with a lack of food being replenished. In the end it was easier to order room service than wait for things to be replenished by staff who were not the most pleasant on the ship. The food was ok but not particularly good, flavoursome or hot.

 

Dining: We were on anytime dining in the MDR and for the first three nights were shown to a table in the same area of the lower dining room, meaning we had the same waiter. He was at best surly and rude. He served salads without asking what dressing; just presuming for me, and became angry when I asked to choose and on one evening snatched the menu from my hands before grunting!! On the first formal night it took him over three hours from start to finish to serve, and others who had arrived after finished before us.

Another problem is that the wine waiter only takes orders for wine – that was fine for the 5 of us who wanted wine, but my friend wanted a drink from the bar which had to be ordered through the waiter who took forever and on the formal night took over an hour, which meant my friend took it into her own hands and walked to the bar herself during which time the waiter delivered her main course [yes she waited that long for her drink].

We were fortunate after that [at our request] to be moved to another area of the dining room, where we had one of the best waiters ever. The wine waiter the first week was excellent, but then he was moved upstairs to fixed dining and the replacement was slow and rarely appeared at the tableside, so we asked for the wine to be kept closer so we could access it. We had a wine package and the men had red wine – one or two bottles every night. It seemed from looking round the tables nearby most tables weren’t drinking wine so it was hard to fathom why he seemed to hide away so much.

 

Wine: On day one were not told of the availability of house wine and my friend and I ordered a package. A few days later another bar steward mentioned house wine and my friend and I enjoyed a bottle on deck. When we tried to repeat this a few days later we were told there was none left and we could only have the more expensive Pinot at $39 plus 15% per bottle. We spoke with the Assistant Beverage Manager, who told us that they had just been on a 35 day trip [why would that be relevant to us ?] and then a 7 day trip [the first of our 14 day trip]. This despite the fact they had been into Fort Lauderdale twice they had only taken on board 260 bottle of house Pinot Grigiot wine [for approximately 2000 passengers] and this was calculated on the basis of the last 10 years information!!! How was that meant to help? I found the excuse lame and a way of persuading the customer to purchase the more expensive wine. Sadly, in our case, we found the house wine to be better than the two more expensive types we were offered. Safe to say we did not buy any more of that wine – a loss I am afraid to HAL. We did not bring any wine on board with us as we wanted to share with our friends in the public areas and not spend our holiday tucked away on our balconies.

 

Drinks stewards : Mainly excellent, but one or two who thought that omitting to bring a glass of water when requested with the drinks could go unnoticed, and when we asked politely for it they often chose to forget again.

 

Bars: On the first evening one of my friends was sat on a stool in the sports bar [one of my friends also smokes so we would go there]. Whilst sat on the stool it sheared off and he fell to the floor – the lack of interest from HAL was amazing. They had to be persuaded to call the doctor and no point was it ever followed up by them – Health and Safety sadly lacking. They placed a piece of paper on the chair saying “Out of Order” – as if that wasn’t self-evident. The following night, whilst being guided by a waiter in the semi dark of the Queens Lounge, he neglected to point out a step causing me to stumble and break my shoe. Again Health & Safety and a total lack of concern from HAL. Quite remarkable.

Most of the evenings after dinner the bars seemed quite empty. We went one evening to the Crow’s Nest about 10:15pm to find Anthony, the guitarist, playing to an audience of about 3. We stayed for about 40 minutes and no-one else joined us. We spoke with Anthony and he seemed very pleasant, although his repertoire of songs to choose from was very limited. We also ventured back during Happy Hour one cold early afternoon and the place was packed – that should say something to HAL.

 

Entertainment: There were two ladies on the piano and violin and I have to say it was possibly the most dreary music it has been my misfortune to hear. One evening whilst we were asked to wait for dinner we had to endure the sound – sorry while it might be the taste of some it was not in any way spirit lifting.

We only saw the stage show with HAL once and only for about 15 minutes; not hugely professional nor entertaining. HALcats on deck or the Queens Lounge were not much better – only the gentleman singing with them made them bearable at any time – the girl just seemed to screech!! We didn’t see may people waiting on deck to see them and I’m sure that wasn’t just due to the cooler weather.

Stryker was very good although, again, on many nights not that well attended after 10:30. We enjoyed the time we spent there.

Hilby the German juggler [very amusing] and Recycled Percussion were both excellent and as something that was out of the norm for HAL – most appreciated. Can understand why some people might not have liked the noise of Recycled but it was innovative, humorous and clever.

 

Excursions: We are not people for ship’s excursions, preferring to do our own thing. I have been on one HAL trip previously, which was very well organised. However, being on two 7 day trips we decided that it might be easier for that day to do an excursion through HAL and avoid any difficulties with the ‘in transit’ bit, and any scrum for taxis that we have previously encountered on disembarkation day. What a joke!! We were given stickers and told to be at the Queens Lounge for 08:20. We got there to be told to go immediately to disembark and meet a coach outside the terminal…..we could have done that on our own. We were no different from the people leaving the ship completely. There was no organisation and the coach did not leave on time: what a fiasco

 

Casino: It is mainly smoking, which is a problem – whilst respecting the rights if others to smoke it did limit the time we spent in the casino.

Return to the ship: I am sure that as recently as last year when you returned to the ship from a day ashore, there would be a tent to provide shade and the offer of a cold cloth and chilled drink of lemonade/water passed to you. Gone.

Only once we were offered a cold cloth, which ran out, and two of my friends who were immediately behind us did not get one – no apology offered. No tents and no drinks available. Yet when at St Maarten moored next to another HAL ship they had the tent, cloths and drinks!!! Why the difference??

 

Half Moon Cay: All that I had read about it was true. Very beautiful. We did the horse riding here as being an experience of riding in the water. It was good but the trip was fast, no time to stop to catch your breath or have a quick sip of water. Very perfunctory; do this, move on, got more riders to get through and there were only 5 of us on our trip!!!!

Why do HAL charge more for the drinks on the island than on the ship? What can the justification be?

The second day we had there, they packed up all the bars at 2:00pm even though we did not leave until 3:30pm – nothing was to be had for a drink – why? And of course no shade or water to be had by the dock.

 

Overall we enjoyed our holiday but this would be in spite of not thanks to HAL.

 

Will I sail with HAL again? Probably not, unless the itinerary or price were too good to miss, but my expectations would be much lower and I won’t be extolling the virtues of HAL in the future.

 

Any questions please ask.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. Were there any particular good main courses in the dining room? Also, how were the activities during the day--things like trivia, movies, and lectures? We'll be on board in 10 days.

[jaguarstyper]

Thanks for posting this. Very much appreciated and noted.

[GRACECRUISE]

We were also on the 11/18 sailing. I agree with everything you have said. This was our worst trip on HAL. While we will sail HAL again, it will not be on the Westerdam. We encountered alot more problems on the ship that were not handled well by the GRM or Hotel Manager. We did have main seating for dinner and did not run into any problems there. I love HAL just not the Westerdam or Captain PJ.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your review! Again another bad MDR experience, this is a trend not an isolated issue.

[aliaschief]

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience. Maybe all of us should write to Holland America and complain about the staffing cuts in the MDR and the new nickel and dime offerings.

 

We where told by an officer on the Noordam that competition and the cost of oil is the cause of much of these changes. Well charge us a little more and lets return to the Hal of yore!

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

When we returned from our Noordam cruise Dec 2011 -- we cancelled a couple of cruise.

There was a time when we cruises 65 - 90 days a year on HAL. Not any more.

After our cruise on the Amsterdam in June/July 2012 - we cancelled 2 more cruises.

We have seen too many changes on HAL the last couple of years and they are not for the best.

Soory that your Westerdam cruise was not up to what you experienced on the Oosterdam and Nieuw Amsterdam.

[vicocala]

Thanks for your review, I am glad the Westerdam isn't having some of the issues some of the fleet is having, yet service again seems to be lacking.

[Bearnaise]

Some of your complaints seem like complaints about the system, i.e. shore excursions that you could have done on your own. You complain about smoke, yet your friend smokes. Otherwise, I just see a bunch of whining about service that doesn't really sound so bad to me considering the number of passengers that have to be served (and the obvious unwillingness of happy Indonesians to serve whiners). This is just my view, please don't be angry with me about expressing my views. Fortunately my views are more positive. Whereas you will never cruise the Westerdam again, it sounds like I'll love it :)

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[kazu]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us.

We were on the 25th sailing and I agree with your comments on the Lido replenishing - I even noted one thing (which was probably petty but important to me) on my live from thread.

Our service in the MDR was excellent. We were on late seating. One question as to your anytime dining (or whatever the right word is) - if you had a bad waiter - why did you not tell the dining room captain/assistant - and I would have certainly told them the next day I did not want to sit in his serving area. If they don't know they have a problem they can't fix it.

Sorry to hear you did not enjoy your cruise.

Just goes to show how experiences can vary on the same cruise. Welcome home;)

[jaguarstyper]

I agree with kazu. If I experienced the service deficiency that you did, I would have certainly asked to be moved to another table. Even if I were in fixed dining. It seems like most of the complaints about service in the MDR come from those in anytime dining.

[PetNanny]

Thanks for your review. We were on the Westerdam earlier this year and service was not as good as it had been in the past.

[miketeri]

Thank you for your review.

 

My wife and I were on the same cruise and share much of the dissatisfaction as you do Susie. It amazes me that after just a few days, it seems that everything you do on a HAL ship involves standing in a line!

 

Go to breakfast-stand in line. Go to MDR-stand in line. This is not us being whiney. It relates more to the point that there is not enough staff working to move things along. Get even a glass of water or a cup of coffee, you wait, and wait, an wait.

 

Most of the crew (if not all) work very hard and smile. They really try hard. The service issues nearly forced us to address our tipping. But the problem was not always the staff working near us. For example, we had horrible waits in the MDR for everything from taking our order to getting our food. We NEVER stayed for dessert (I had cramps from sitting and waiting). It was not the fault of the waiter who was running around trying to serve many tables at various points of dinner service. The poor guy had little if any help from an assistant. Yeah, there are wine stewards chasing your wallet before you are even seated, but you can't get a drink or more rolls. You waiter takes over 20 minutes to greet you and take your order. Food comes out warm not hot. But we have several guys at the front desk in formal suits looking pretty doing little else. 2 hour dinners are not quality dining in my book.

 

Every meal at the buffet was painful long waits in line. Just 1 or 2 people to serve you. Forget getting a sandwhich at lunch. How many people does it take to make a PANNINI? The answer:20 1 to make it and 19 waiting in line for their turn.

 

No one with a cart in the Lido to refill a coffee or water (well once or twice in 14 days). No trays to carry your plates and glasses, many times the plates were right out of the dishwasher nice and too hot to hold.

 

And it is always great to go to dinner at the Lido after 8 only to find it is shut down. Thank God for the pasta and pizza bar, but I did not spend the money to cruise and just eat pasta. And frankly, the late food service often had far better dining options then what was offered at dinner if you made it. Sorry, I enjoy the sunsets and getting to dinner at 5:30 works well for the Golden Girls but not many of us who have a live pulse.

 

And if I am tipping the staff on the entire ship, is it too much to ask for water when we are pestered for bar drinks from early morning to late night? but no one wants to get you your water because they don't get the 15% tip I guess.

 

thank God my room stewart was superb.

 

The problem IMHO might not be the staff themselves. I out the blame squarely on the management of HAL both on the ship and the directions coming from the Corporate office in Seattle. You tie the hands of your crew with inferior management of passenger needs. Everything from having the latitude to please a customer over simple problems to a total disregard for our cruise experience once HAL has your money. HAL does not care, they have your money. HAL realizes that if you are happy with your cruise, they still have a huge % of people to attract business from.

 

I learned firsthand that my HAL loyalty (Mariner status) means nothing in resolving any issue or problem. I was reminded of what I spent for my cruise in trying to address my cabin location. My onboard spending was addressed as anothe reason why HAL does not have to do anything to assist me. What kind of crap is this?

 

Frankly, I believe HAL loves all of the older cruisers who just want to eat, stay on the ship, smoke, and drink all day. A joke was made that the Westerdam was nothing more than a WAIT STATION for Jesus as he calls us up to heaven. The ship seemed more like an assisted living home on water. I applaud those folks that make the effort to get out and cruise, my point is HAL seems to only cater to your needs. If HAL wishes to neglect the rest of us with a pulse (again), then I can and will take my cruise business elsewhere.

 

Susie, your review hits home for many of us who chatted while on the cruise. While this forum will beat up on anyone with a dissenting persepective, I will support your complaints as legit. For those of us on either leg of this cruise, I am sure we are disappointed in our most recent HAL cruise experience. I expected better and in my mind HAL has dropped the ball.:eek:

[Bearnaise]

Much of life involves standing in line. Standing at the line at the bank. Standing in line at the grocery store. Standing in line to buy movie tickets. When you have almost 2,000 passengers on a mid-size ship, at some point lines are inevitable.

 

If 20 people all want a panini at the same time, do you propose 20 panini chefs be on hand to make them? That's a waste of manpower.

 

You say "2 hour dinners are not quality dining in my book" but it is fine dining and 2 hours is just about right for a multicourse meal if you don't want to feel rushed, unless you're eating fast food or Denny's IMO.

 

Sorry, but someone who gets cramps because they're so impatient they can't sit still for a two-hour dinner is not someone whose review I'm going to take seriously, at least not as it might in any way impact my cruise experience which I know will be completely different from yours.

 

Honestly, I need no valid gripes in your entire tirade. No trays? That's been well-documented here for quite a while. Lido closed at 8 pm, I bet that was noted clearly, and it's hardly like there aren't any other dining options after that hour. Some people make the slightest inconvenience sound like the end of the world. And entire cruise chatting about how miserable one is aboard the ship sounds like a miserable cruise indeed. I hope the people I meet aboard my cruise are a little more upbeat.

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Wow!!! I totally disagree with the posts here. We did not wait in line at all except for the first night in the MDR and waiting for the stragglers for the Lifeboat drill! Now I am certain I will write my own review of the November 25 sailing on the great Westerdam.... :)

[sail7seas]

We were on the November 18 and November 25 cruises and agree with SOME of what has been written in this thread.

 

Lido workers cannot do the work required of them and I think some have reached the point of Oh well,,,,,, Day after day they know they will not be able to provide the service HAL promises and used to provide. I think they, being only human like all of us, are working at a steady pace but cannot 'rush' day after day and if they don't have what someone requests, they have no choice but to say they don't have any or any more of whatever but they can't be making a sandwich and going for more potato chips at the same time.

 

We enjoyed our cruise, loved seeing friends on board who we see far too infrequently, enjoyed some very pleasant evenings on board and are grateful for special treats we enjoyed, however, we are unhappy with 'how low can they go'? If there are still more cuts on the horizon that will not be a good thing.

 

We experienced excellent cabin service from two very good stewards, totally enjoyed both concierges (Hazel and Debra) in Neptune Lounge, thought out dining team excellent but have little good to say about the food. Each day we read the menu when it was delivered in the morning and looked at each other blankly. We reread it hoping we'd find something that we had missed that would tempt us.

 

 

JMO....

[trixiee]

Much of life involves standing in line. Standing at the line at the bank. Standing in line at the grocery store. Standing in line to buy movie tickets. When you have almost 2,000 passengers on a mid-size ship, at some point lines are inevitable.

 

If 20 people all want a panini at the same time, do you propose 20 panini chefs be on hand to make them? That's a waste of manpower.

 

You say "2 hour dinners are not quality dining in my book" but it is fine dining and 2 hours is just about right for a multicourse meal if you don't want to feel rushed, unless you're eating fast food or Denny's IMO.

 

Sorry, but someone who gets cramps because they're so impatient they can't sit still for a two-hour dinner is not someone whose review I'm going to take seriously, at least not as it might in any way impact my cruise experience which I know will be completely different from yours.

 

Honestly, I need no valid gripes in your entire tirade. No trays? That's been well-documented here for quite a while. Lido closed at 8 pm, I bet that was noted clearly, and it's hardly like there aren't any other dining options after that hour. Some people make the slightest inconvenience sound like the end of the world. And entire cruise chatting about how miserable one is aboard the ship sounds like a miserable cruise indeed. I hope the people I meet aboard my cruise are a little more upbeat.

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

Also, looking for clarification on this point:

 

I learned firsthand that my HAL loyalty (Mariner status) means nothing in resolving any issue or problem. I was reminded of what I spent for my cruise in trying to address my cabin location. My onboard spending was addressed as anothe reason why HAL does not have to do anything to assist me. What kind of crap is this?

 

Sorry - I don't know how to multi quote:o

[OVgirl]

miketeri, such a shame that you spent so much money on a cruise and weren't able to come away with a good experience. I know that we have recently been reading of more problems on the ships and agree that if you are on the receiving end of a major issue, it could ruin your cruise experience. And I do hope that I'll never be in that situation.

 

Those of us with lower expectations with return again and again. I think you could call that a win, win for both the cruisers and the cruiseline.

I hope you can find a vacation experience that suits your 'pulse', even if it isn't at sea (on the 'wait station for heaven').

[vicocala]

Wow!!! I totally disagree with the posts here. We did not wait in line at all except for the first night in the MDR and waiting for the stragglers for the Lifeboat drill! Now I am certain I will write my own review of the November 25 sailing on the great Westerdam.... :)

 

Please do, those of us who are boarding soon would appreciate an unbiased review of both the good and bad that we should expect.

 

While waiting in line is a waste of our lifespans, it is common, especially here in Florida. I would suggest that a couple of these complainers never try to eat in a restaurant here or go to a theme park. They will be most disappointed.

 

I would more prefer a review that compares the current HAL versus current other cruise lines if that is possible. Talking about what used to be isn't nearly as helpful as making comparisons to what is happening now. JMHO

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

My wife and I were on the same cruise and share much of the dissatisfaction as you do Susie. It amazes me that after just a few days, it seems that everything you do on a HAL ship involves standing in a line!

 

Go to breakfast-stand in line. Go to MDR-stand in line. This is not us being whiney. It relates more to the point that there is not enough staff working to move things along. Get even a glass of water or a cup of coffee, you wait, and wait, an wait.

 

Most of the crew (if not all) work very hard and smile. They really try hard. The service issues nearly forced us to address our tipping. But the problem was not always the staff working near us. For example, we had horrible waits in the MDR for everything from taking our order to getting our food. We NEVER stayed for dessert (I had cramps from sitting and waiting). It was not the fault of the waiter who was running around trying to serve many tables at various points of dinner service. The poor guy had little if any help from an assistant. Yeah, there are wine stewards chasing your wallet before you are even seated, but you can't get a drink or more rolls. You waiter takes over 20 minutes to greet you and take your order. Food comes out warm not hot. But we have several guys at the front desk in formal suits looking pretty doing little else. 2 hour dinners are not quality dining in my book.

 

Every meal at the buffet was painful long waits in line. Just 1 or 2 people to serve you. Forget getting a sandwhich at lunch. How many people does it take to make a PANNINI? The answer:20 1 to make it and 19 waiting in line for their turn.

 

No one with a cart in the Lido to refill a coffee or water (well once or twice in 14 days). No trays to carry your plates and glasses, many times the plates were right out of the dishwasher nice and too hot to hold.

 

And it is always great to go to dinner at the Lido after 8 only to find it is shut down. Thank God for the pasta and pizza bar, but I did not spend the money to cruise and just eat pasta. And frankly, the late food service often had far better dining options then what was offered at dinner if you made it. Sorry, I enjoy the sunsets and getting to dinner at 5:30 works well for the Golden Girls but not many of us who have a live pulse.

 

And if I am tipping the staff on the entire ship, is it too much to ask for water when we are pestered for bar drinks from early morning to late night? but no one wants to get you your water because they don't get the 15% tip I guess.

 

thank God my room stewart was superb.

 

The problem IMHO might not be the staff themselves. I out the blame squarely on the management of HAL both on the ship and the directions coming from the Corporate office in Seattle. You tie the hands of your crew with inferior management of passenger needs. Everything from having the latitude to please a customer over simple problems to a total disregard for our cruise experience once HAL has your money. HAL does not care, they have your money. HAL realizes that if you are happy with your cruise, they still have a huge % of people to attract business from.

 

I learned firsthand that my HAL loyalty (Mariner status) means nothing in resolving any issue or problem. I was reminded of what I spent for my cruise in trying to address my cabin location. My onboard spending was addressed as anothe reason why HAL does not have to do anything to assist me. What kind of crap is this?

 

Frankly, I believe HAL loves all of the older cruisers who just want to eat, stay on the ship, smoke, and drink all day. A joke was made that the Westerdam was nothing more than a WAIT STATION for Jesus as he calls us up to heaven. The ship seemed more like an assisted living home on water. I applaud those folks that make the effort to get out and cruise, my point is HAL seems to only cater to your needs. If HAL wishes to neglect the rest of us with a pulse (again), then I can and will take my cruise business elsewhere.

 

Susie, your review hits home for many of us who chatted while on the cruise. While this forum will beat up on anyone with a dissenting persepective, I will support your complaints as legit. For those of us on either leg of this cruise, I am sure we are disappointed in our most recent HAL cruise experience. I expected better and in my mind HAL has dropped the ball.:eek:

 

We also noticed many changes over the years in the cruise industry -- cutbacks, lower quality of food, etc.

Gee -- where we live you have to stand in lines atthe bank and grocery stores and mall stores, etc. Even have to sit in line at the gas station. That's life.

Noticing all these changes, we find ourselves cruising less.

Maybe you should consider land vacations.

[Boytjie]

Sorry - I don't know how to multi quote:o

 

 

Just slap QUOTE and /QUOTE each within square brackets [ and ] on either section that you want to quote.

 

E.g. [ quote]This is how to manually make a quote.[ /quote]

 

Now if you do that without the space after the [ it should look like this:

 

This is how to manually make a quote.

[sail7seas]

Please do, those of us who are boarding soon would appreciate an unbiased review of both the good and bad that we should expect.

 

While waiting in line is a waste of our lifespans, it is common, especially here in Florida. I would suggest that a couple of these complainers never try to eat in a restaurant here or go to a theme park. They will be most disappointed.

 

I would more prefer a review that compares the current HAL versus current other cruise lines if that is possible. Talking about what used to be isn't nearly as helpful as making comparisons to what is happening now. JMHO

 

 

I have made honest, unbiased posts in both this thread and other threads re: Westerdam's recent cruises.

 

Perhaps you may get something of value from them.

If not, sorry...... I tried to do just what you seem to be requesting.

 

I always tell what I think excellent on our cruises and I say what I think is lacking.

 

Is there something very specific you would like to know?

I cannot compare to other cruise lines with current information as we only sail HAL and have so for years. My info from years past on Princess, Celebrity, RCI and Carnival is too old to have any value.