Anyone had a GOOD Alaskan cruise on Westerdam?

[Deettet]

I just read a previous post on "Never again on HAL" and was very disappointed. I just spent a lot of money to go on my first Alaskan cruise on Westerdam and now I'm wondering if this will be a waist of money. I have been on 3 Princess and 1 Carnival cruises and liked the Princess better and now I am trying HAL. I realize that more people write complaints rather than compliments on posts but I would really like to hear from those that had a great time on Westerdam to Alaska.

[chrisbu315]

I sailed her last year to Alaska and enjoyed it very much. Unless you are extremely picky, I don't think you'll find much wrong with the Westerdam. Having said that, I am sailing on the Volendam on July 3 out of Vancouver and find the itinerary much better - inside passage both ways, longer times in port, and mid week departure (smaller crowds in ports).

 

I live in Seattle but all my future Alaskan cruises will probably be out of Vancouver because of the time saved getting out of Puget Sound and no need for a Canadian stop. I costs a little extra to get up there (I'm going to drive and park) but I think it will be worth it. Unfortunately, it took me two prior cruises from Seattle and lots of Cruise Critic research to figure this out.

[Markanddonna]

Every cruise is a good cruise. I was on that sailing June 1st and while there were some disappointments, most of the cruise was just fine. I wrote a response to that other OP and gave some objective information. Much of her criticism was unfair, but she did have a few points.

 

Also, the June 1st sailing was not the best weather- it was the kind you hope not to have but had better dress and pack for. The rain and chill didn't stop us from doing things, but it does create a damper. HAL can't be blamed for the weather, but they did drop the ball in some other areas. Glacier Bay was glorious! They also didn't do the dessert extravaganza that previous weeks enjoyed and our Ketchikan salmon bake was cancelled. So, a few legitimate disappointments.

[Markanddonna]

BTW- I am writing a VERY long review that should be online maybe early next week. It is about 10 pages so far...

[Linda&Vern]

We were on the Westerdam for 14 days in March. Unless there has been a tragic accident with her, I can assure you the ship is not falling apart. Enjoy your cruise and enjoy Alaska!

[Gunther1]

I've sailed on the Westerdam twice and her sister ship, the Oosterdam, seven times.

 

Both were in fine shape every time.

 

Take everything you read on line with a very large block of salt. Just because something is written on line doesn't mean it's necessarily true.

 

What's that old rule of reviews ??.....something like ignoring the best 10% and the worst 10% of all of them ?

 

Also keep in mind that probably 5% of people that cruise (I have no idea what the real % is...I just made up the 5% number....another thing to read with a large block of salt) are on cruise critic.

[Crazy For Cats]

I've been on the Westerdam twice. Both times the crew and itinerary were wonderful. The Alaska trip last fall had weather that was less than desirable but hat is not the fault of HAL! Of the six HAL ships I've been she is my favorite.

 

 

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[kjw869]

We just completed our fourth Alaska cruise in the past five years on the Zuiderdam last month and have booked the Westerdam for a May 2014 in our 49th state.

 

We've been on the Westerdam three times and it's one of our favorite HAL ships. I stopped reading the "reviews" years ago and in our past 13 HAL cruises, we found only one thing to be true--a slight vibration in the Tamarind on the Nieuw Amsterdam this past January.

 

We were next to the Westerdam in Alaska last month and she looked wonderful. If I believed everything I read on each ship I have sailed on, I wouldn't have enjoyed those 13 wonderful trips.

 

I will start writing reviews after I've sailed on all 270+ cruise ships--twice!

Even so, it would be only my opinion and my wife may see in differently.

 

Enjoy your cruise, you will have fun!!

[Sandi3667]

I'm a newbie compared to other posters, but we did the same itinerary on Oosterdam in 2011. It had us hooked on cruising. Was it perfect? No, but stuff happens. We fell in love enough with HAL that we've booked an 11-day trip on another Vista class ship, Noordam for next March.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We just spent 20 days on the Westerdam from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego.

We have also done 2 other longer repositioning cruises a couple of Alaskan cruises on her.

No complaints from us.

The ship was in tip-top condition.

[kamac56]

I just read a previous post on "Never again on HAL" and was very disappointed. I just spent a lot of money to go on my first Alaskan cruise on Westerdam and now I'm wondering if this will be a waist of money. I have been on 3 Princess and 1 Carnival cruises and liked the Princess better and now I am trying HAL. I realize that more people write complaints rather than compliments on posts but I would really like to hear from those that had a great time on Westerdam to Alaska.

I read the same post, however the thing I look at is how often the CC posted prior to that negative review and that particular CC only posted the one time.

There are times on here that some will just try to get others in a flury...do NOT take the one review to heart, go to the home page of CC and check out other reviews for the ship your sailing and you will be amazed that there is such a striking difference in reviews :) I too have sailed Carnival, and Princess and this will be our first HAL, I booked the Westerdam first for the itinerary, than the ship. Keep your expectations low and you will come out extremely HAPPY!!!! And be sure to post a review when you return with your opinion of the ship for others. HAPPY SAILING!!!!:D

[Deettet]

Thank you all for your encouraging words, I'm excited for my cruise. Just hoping for good weather during the last week in July.

[dan1618]

I just read a previous post on "Never again on HAL" and was very disappointed. I just spent a lot of money to go on my first Alaskan cruise on Westerdam and now I'm wondering if this will be a waist of money. I have been on 3 Princess and 1 Carnival cruises and liked the Princess better and now I am trying HAL. I realize that more people write complaints rather than compliments on posts but I would really like to hear from those that had a great time on Westerdam to Alaska.

 

Don't put too much on the comments on one poster -- especially when the WHOLE cruise was bad. Does it seem feasible that EVERYTHING on the cruise should be so bad? Bad ports, bad food, even food poisoning -- literally nothing good to say. The Westerdam would never be sailed by anyone but fools if that was a normal experience.

 

While I haven't been on the Westerdam, I have been on her sister ship the Zuiderdam twice. Wonderful ship. I can't imagine HAL does maintenance differently from one to the other.

 

Forget about the bad post and go have a great time.

[Chelly]

Had a fantastic Alaska cruise on the Westy. Weather was awful but I don't blame HAL!

 

Oh, that negative poster who never returned could be defined as a troll, IMO.

[BellBoys]

We had a great time on our Westerdam sailing May 18th and posted our review a few weeks back:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1853177

[Joe1961]

I've sailed on HAL five times, been to Alaska 6 times, and have been on a total of thirteen cruises. Have never taken a bad cruise! Some people just like to complain.

 

 

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[sue117]

What is the saying? If you have a good experience, you will tell 1 friend, if you have a bad experience, you will tell 10. If someone has a good cruise they will most likely not bother to write about it. But if someone has a bad cruise, they will want to get stuff off their chests, so they will write about it.

 

Think about that. You go to a restaurant, you order, you eat, you leave. The food was good, even if it wasn't awesome, but just good, most people won't bother to ask to speak to the manager to tell them they had a good meal. But if you have a bad waiter, and the food just wasn't good, then more people will go out of their way to fill out the questionnaire and to ask to speak to the manager about their bad experience.

 

Same in a hotel. If you go to a hotel, and the service was fine, the bed was fine, nothing really happened, you aren't going to complain about it and you most likely aren't going to tell anyone that you had a "good" stay. But if things went wrong, then you will bitch to the front desk and anyone else that will listen.

 

I think it's the same here. There are thousands of people on EVERY cruise. I'm sure most of them had a good time, but they only tell their friends and family, they don't go out of their way to come to this site and post about their "good" time. But if things weren't great in their mind.....

 

So don't sweat it. Go with the flow. Enjoy yourself even if there are some things that aren't perfect on your cruise. You're on vacation. Relax! (and yes, we will be on the Westerdam in Sept and we expect to have a great time even if there are some things that don't go the way we want them to). :)