Review of 11 day S Caribbean Wayfarer on the Noordam, Mar 11 - 22

[regnig]

Sea Day!

 

So it’s now a Sea Day and DH is signed up for pool volleyball, USA & Canada versus the World. Game one allowed him to serve 12 straight points ending in a USA victory. Game two saw him end the game in a crushing spike leading to USA domination. Yeah, he’s quite a catch!

For me it was a day of reading and relaxing at the Sea View Pool. Boozie, the barman had me down by now and I enjoyed a few mudslides. Note to self: DO NOT let Boozie make your Mudslides. PS Self: Don’t have 2! Ouch! I couldn’t raise an eyebrow if I tried!

(Thanks, Mudslides!)

 

We all cheered madly for your DH! :D

Although Boozie wasn't making those Mudslides himself I really came to believe he had something going with the bartender (who seemed to work at least 12 hours a day) to make his orders extra special! :D:eek::D I've never seen a deck server have as good a time as Boozie did even if all he did was "pole dance". ;)

 

Trust me your experience with non-smokers was nothing to compare with ours. I won't go into details here but I do wish that people who book veranda staterooms would understand that there very possibly will be guests in the adjoining stateroom that do smoke. And, while most smokers are very considerate and more than willing to abstain from smoking when the abuting cabin occupants wish to use their veranda we ARE NOT MIND READERS and communication on everyone's part is required. Even after pleasantly explaining to the occupants next to us that if they would just tell us when they wanted to use their veranda we would not smoke they spent the entire cruise opening their door, sticking their heads out and then slamming it shut. Had they only asked........ Oh well, can't win them all.

[luvmyjrt]

We all cheered madly for your DH! :D

Although Boozie wasn't making those Mudslides himself I really came to believe he had something going with the bartender (who seemed to work at least 12 hours a day) to make his orders extra special! :D:eek::D I've never seen a deck server have as good a time as Boozie did even if all he did was "pole dance". ;)

 

Trust me your experience with non-smokers was nothing to compare with ours. I won't go into details here but I do wish that people who book veranda staterooms would understand that there very possibly will be guests in the adjoining stateroom that do smoke. And, while most smokers are very considerate and more than willing to abstain from smoking when the abuting cabin occupants wish to use their veranda we ARE NOT MIND READERS and communication on everyone's part is required. Even after pleasantly explaining to the occupants next to us that if they would just tell us when they wanted to use their veranda we would not smoke they spent the entire cruise opening their door, sticking their heads out and then slamming it shut. Had they only asked........ Oh well, can't win them all.

Oh I'm sure we met on the Lido! Help me with who you are? And as for your neighbor, let me guess -- blonde, Penn State fan??? Luckily, ours was very kind after we did just as you stated when I told her to let us know if we bothered her. She was very sweet!

[alamedatravels]

Hey there, LUVMYJRT! Loved reading your review of our cruise...with the exception of different excursions, our impressions were very much the same! And you and I are probably the only HAL travelers who don't think the 2-story cabanas are eye-sores!!!! I want to paint my house the same colors!!! It was great meeting you, and hopefully, we'll see you stalking us on another cruise!!!!

[luvmyjrt]

Hey there, LUVMYJRT! Loved reading your review of our cruise...with the exception of different excursions, our impressions were very much the same! And you and I are probably the only HAL travelers who don't think the 2-story cabanas are eye-sores!!!! I want to paint my house the same colors!!! It was great meeting you, and hopefully, we'll see you stalking us on another cruise!!!!

Hi, Jan! We were so sorry we didn't see you again to say goodbye. Must have been the restraining order! LOL! Give our best to Scott!!

 

Hey, there's still room on the Epic in December! Come join us!

[luvmyjrt]

We all cheered madly for your DH! :D

Although Boozie wasn't making those Mudslides himself I really came to believe he had something going with the bartender (who seemed to work at least 12 hours a day) to make his orders extra special! :D:eek::D I've never seen a deck server have as good a time as Boozie did even if all he did was "pole dance". ;)

 

Trust me your experience with non-smokers was nothing to compare with ours. I won't go into details here but I do wish that people who book veranda staterooms would understand that there very possibly will be guests in the adjoining stateroom that do smoke. And, while most smokers are very considerate and more than willing to abstain from smoking when the abuting cabin occupants wish to use their veranda we ARE NOT MIND READERS and communication on everyone's part is required. Even after pleasantly explaining to the occupants next to us that if they would just tell us when they wanted to use their veranda we would not smoke they spent the entire cruise opening their door, sticking their heads out and then slamming it shut. Had they only asked........ Oh well, can't win them all.

Now I know who you are! I sent you an email while we were onboard, right? Enjoyed getting to know you!

[luvmyjrt]

Trying to post photos of Suite 7088. No luck!

[cruz chic]

<snip>

 

Trust me your experience with non-smokers was nothing to compare with ours. I won't go into details here but I do wish that people who book veranda staterooms would understand that there very possibly will be guests in the adjoining stateroom that do smoke. And, while most smokers are very considerate and more than willing to abstain from smoking when the abuting cabin occupants wish to use their veranda we ARE NOT MIND READERS and communication on everyone's part is required. Even after pleasantly explaining to the occupants next to us that if they would just tell us when they wanted to use their veranda we would not smoke they spent the entire cruise opening their door, sticking their heads out and then slamming it shut. Had they only asked........ Oh well, can't win them all.

Larsen, you sound like a very considerate smoker. I thank you for that. That said, it's been my experience that you are more the exception than the norm.

[cruz chic]

<snip>Half Moon Cay

I was able to see the new 2 story cabanas on HMC and I will say this – I didn’t find them out of place. They actually looked nice to me; but nice and empty! HAL needs to revisit the pricing of the cabanas; both the 1 story and 2 story models! There were quite a few empty from what I could see!

 

Same thing on my cruise (Feb 18 - Mar 1). The only 2 story was booked by the cruise director. I do like them even though many do not. I did not expect to like them. I think they are a way better deal then the playhouses.

[cruz chic]

Martinique – A whole lotta eyebrow raisin’ going on here!

 

We ported in Martinique at 8 am with a 4:30 all aboard time. Did it matter? Not one bit!

 

Because of the length of the walk from the pier to town, my husband and I decided to do some recon before coming back for my Mom. We came back and never went back.

I found one open t-shirt stall. We walked to the beach where I found some great sea glass. Even the fort was closed for the day! I got water from a restaurant that was doing next day food prep and they were very friendly. We heard others went to a restaurant that was open (really? There was one?) but determined that because they were not locals they would have a quite healthy wait they left.

 

Is it pretty? Yes! Would I do it without an excursion again? Absolutely not! But herein lies the problem; the excursions were few and far between and not all that interesting to me. You may love botanical gardens, it just wasn’t my thing. Our friends did a 4x4 excursion and she came back to the ship not very happy from begin pushed against a door the entire time.

 

From what I came to gather in talking with other passengers, Martinique is not tourism dependent so there is not a desire to open things on Sundays, which is when we ported. Furthermore, it seems that this itinerary always includes Sundays in Martinique from passengers who had done this itinerary before.

 

Here’s where I think the first two sea days are too much. Could HAL not rearrange the itinerary to have one sea day in front and arrive in Martinique on any other day? I tried to consider fuel costs, porting charges, etc. but it still seems to be a wasted day to me. Very sad!

 

Back on board, we played trivia and enjoyed the evening show of a husband and wife acrobat team and the SeaQuest show. Afterwards, I decided to nurse my Barbados sunburn back in the room with some wine.

 

A note on the acrobats – they were previous Cirque de Soleil performers from Russia. They were good but my goodness, he was quite a good looking man! I have some great “candids” from that night! My self-esteem when comparing myself to his wife, however – plummeted!

 

My husband, not ready for “day care” yet, decided he would observe, but not be a participant in the SeaQuest show. So we passed the captain card off to another passenger who did a great job and our team won! As we were leaving, my husband was putting his belt back on, re-lacing his shoes and returning his beloved Candadian Loonie to his wallet so we had to wait on his. Not participating, huh Dear? <Eyebrows fully raised!> He had a great time!

I haven't been a fan of Martinique. One of the posters here on CC mentioned I should try a tour. It was beautiful! I'm so glad I did it and came back with a whole different appreciation of Martinique.

[luvmyjrt]

I haven't been a fan of Martinique. One of the posters here on CC mentioned I should try a tour. It was beautiful! I'm so glad I did it and came back with a whole different appreciation of Martinique.

Good to know, Lorekauf! Maybe next time!

[luvmyjrt]

Let's see if this works!. Answer = Nope! Argh!

[luvmyjrt]

Same thing on my cruise (Feb 18 - Mar 1). The only 2 story was booked by the cruise director. I do like them even though many do not. I did not expect to like them. I think they are a way better deal then the playhouses.

Snerk.....playhouses! Love that term!!

[startwin]

Let's see if this works!. Answer = Nope! Argh!

 

 

Well, I see 5 photos! Guess it worked after all:)

[Himself]

Thank you for a good and thorough review!

[foodgirl]

I so enjoyed reading your review. The itenerary sounds wonderful although that is not the first time I have read about the need to change the call day to Martinique. Your suggestion sounds good to me, but what do we know right?:)

I can't wait to do one like that but will have to wait as work schedule only allows time for 7 days at a time. I lived vicariously through you!!

[LVSue]

Loved your review! I think we had so much in common (other than us being old and decrepit). We too stayed at Embassy Suites, but arrived around 6:00 PM the day before. Still made happy hour, thank goodness! I love their patio for drinks. And I love their pizza! When we saw our room, I told my SIL it was just like an SA, but with lots more sinks.

 

Since we were arriving late and didn't want to miss happy hour (I'd been at the airport at 4:00 AM (make that 3:00 because of DST change), I'd preordered online at Total Wine. The shuttle ($8 pp) stopped on the way to the ship so we could pick it up. It was not a ginormous order since we thought we might have to carry it, so we couldn't check it. Give me your tips for that

 

We had the same stewards, Dedi and Rah, who were super. We have a few requests like ice 3 times a day and laundry pickup at 8:30. They never missed a beat! Same with Neptune concierges, RJ and Vincent. Very helpful.

 

Same experience at MDR. Didn't get to know our waiters at all. Noel, our sommelier, was one of the best we have had. Ran into him everywhere.

 

Had breakfast either in the Neptune or the Lido. Can't ever manage Pinnacle because despite the fact that we are early-to-bedders, we are also late risers.

[sppunk]

What a fun review. Thanks for sharing!

[LVSue]

I, personally, being old and decrepit, enjoyed the two days at sea. It allowed me to recuperate from the hysteria of getting ready for the trip (cooking 12 days of meals for ailing pets, also old and decrepit). I especially enjoyed the fact that lcat3s M&G was at such a civilized hour. She did a great job with that.

 

Took the ship's tour in St. Maarten, but the submarine part didn't happen because of choppy seas, so we got 50% back. I'm sure we would have enjoyed Joyce more.

 

In St. Lucia we took a private tour with Cosol, a bit more expensive, but basically the same one you took, except we skipped the mud bath and beach. He was fantastic and so attentive. Plus we kept having these stops where he paid off our providers (breakfast lady, for example). Absolutely fabulous! So glad Yellow Bird was equally amusing.

 

In Barbados we saw the caves, which we enjoyed very much (hundreds of pictures of stalagmites and stalactites). We also had a cutter (flying fish sandwich), which was not so impressive.

 

Took a simple tour in Martinique. whale watched in Dominica; saw no whales but lots of dolphins!

[mtnmommy]

What an absolutely delightful review! Thank you so much for posting it--great fun to read. My family is going on a HAL Med cruise in June, and my dear husband is a terrible snorer. It's such an exhausting itinerary that I'm sure my 9-year-old daughter and I would appreciate it if we could enroll him in a "day care" of his own (and I don't think he'd protest!) Hmmm, maybe I can get a snorer's play group started on our roll call.

[LVSue]

We smoked on our balcony, but no one complained. I think the family upwind of us should have had no problem. They were out a lot (we nicknamed them the Loud Family--you have to be pretty old to get that). My feeling is that if we have to put up with all that noise... But if we had had a complaint, we certainly would have tried to work it out. I'm so glad we didn't run into someone like you! !

 

They had a wonderful trip, but I gather their main complaint was the entrees in the MDR. Can't say I disagree.

 

We didn't spend much time in the Seaview bar, though I did see Boozie pole-dancing. We got most of our drinks in the Ocean Bar, and Leopold was the best

 

We have been on the Eurodam once, and we loved the Tamarind. I miss that option.

 

So many people say they love the Noordam, but I don't quite get it. I really love the Zuiderdam. Can't say why.

[kjw869]

I haven't been a fan of Martinique. One of the posters here on CC mentioned I should try a tour. It was beautiful! I'm so glad I did it and came back with a whole different appreciation of Martinique.

 

I think that was me who mentioned that tour. We read that the stores and shops were closed on Sunday and the people are not friendly in Martinique. We found the opposite as the islanders were friendly, at least the ones we met along the way. We picked up souvenirs in St. Pierre, De Paz Rum distillery and a few shops in town.

 

The island was beautiful, especially the area around Mt. Pelee, and the grounds of the rum factory overlooking the ocean. We had a much different opinion of the island after we took that excursion.

 

We are booked on the same cruise next January in the same cabin.

[portofrome]

Thanks so much for your review.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing.

[kazu]

Your review was so much fun:D Thanks very much. I love the 'raise eyebrow' - so clever:)

 

Thanks again :)

[regnig]

Now I know who you are! I sent you an email while we were onboard, right? Enjoyed getting to know you!

 

Yep, that's me! I really don't remember what she looked like since after I spoke with her about letting us know when they wanted to use their veranda "smoke free" I never saw her again.... just heard the slamming of the door.

 

Trying to post photos of Suite 7088. No luck!

 

Email those pictures to me and I'll be glad to post them for you. :D