Noordam November 15 - 25 Cruise Review

[BuddyP]

Cruise Review

Holland America Noordam

November 15 – 25, 2013

 

This is my cruise review. All opinions are personal and subjective.

 

My wife and I are 3 star Mariners who have nearly 100 days on HAL. We have been sailing Hal since 1998. We are in our late 50’s and this trip we were joined by great friends.

 

Our vacation started with a flight to Ft. Lauderdale the evening before the cruise. We stayed locally and lingered at the hotel the next morning through lunch. We wanted to avoid the crush of people who like to board as soon as they can. It proved to be a good strategy.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We were suite passengers so we did not have to wait to board. We had done all the paperwork on line and had our passports so everything went smoothly.

 

Escort is no longer provided to the cabin, but we were in aft suite 6166 so I knew where to go. The elevators midship where we boarded had a long line so we went aft. That didn’t help. Two elevators were being used for luggage and the one of the other two was malfunctioning. We gave up waiting and lugged our carry ons up 4 decks. Our cabin was ready and we made ourselves at home. We love the aft cabins for the view and for the large wrap around balcony. Our friends stopped by and we discussed dinner plans. We were open dining, so we went to the Neptune Lounge and made dinner reservations for the first 4 nights. We were disappointed that we could not reserve for all 10 nights, but we were told 4 nights out is as far out as they would go. Later in the cruise we did not have reservations but we were seated without a wait.

 

Our cabin was clean and well kept. We met our steward and his assistant, who did a fine job throughout the cruise. The safety drill was in the rain but we didn’t melt. It was time to sail and we were soon on our way.

 

Like most lines, HAL has significantly reduced staff over the years. This was immediately apparent in the main dining room. The worst service of the trip was the first night. It took us 2 hours to eat at our table for 4, with long delays between courses. The wine stewards were few and far between and harried at best. Portion sizes continue to shrink, but we were pleased with the quality of the food. There were good choices every evening along with staples available every day. The service was irregular through the cruise. Some tables had better waiters than others. The guys work incredibly hard and were always kind and polite despite being understaffed. We love the HAL crews, which are always a highlight of a HAL cruise. They all do everything they can to help you enjoy your vacation.

 

We ate twice in the Pinnacle Grill. The food and service is a decided upgrade from the main dining room. The portions were too big here, but we enjoyed delicious steak, fish and chicken. I lost 3 pounds on this cruise, which would not have happened had we eaten here every night. As a treat it can’t be beat!

 

The ports were typical Caribbean. Half Moon Key is pretty. We rented a cabana, which was comfortable and helped protect us from the sun. Grand Turk is similar to Half Moon Key with the cruise industry development and shops. Samana, DR was poor and polluted, as we were warned. We took a tour but there was not much to see except for the nice Taino Park. The ABC Islands are beautiful and always nice to visit. We dodged occasional showers along the way, including a loud thunderstorm just north of Cuba on our last sea day.

 

The entertainment early in the cruise was excellent. The first show was hysterical Canadian ventriloquist Mike Robinson. His talent is amazing! Other fine acts we enjoyed were Scottish comic Scotty McLean and the talented singer and impressionist Tricia Kelly. One night Robinson and Kelly performed back to back, which was fun. The Noordam Singers and Dancers were typical cruise entertainment and nothing special. Later in the trip was a Swing artist but I’m a rock & roll guy so I didn’t go.

 

The captain was Jeroen Van Donselaar. He kept us well informed throughout the cruise. He said there were 1810 passengers and 810 staff. That low staff ratio was evident in the bars as there was sometimes no one to take drink orders, so we had to go to locations with bartenders to get drinks. That was disappointing.

 

The cruise director was Shane Michaels. He was nothing special but did his job.

 

In general I would rate the cruise 4 stars out of 5 – with one glaring exception that will prevent us from sailing HAL again unless it is changed.

 

Many cruise lines have banned smoking from cabins and balconies. HAL continues to allow smoking on the balconies. We had the misfortune to be surrounded by smokers, in particular one adjacent cabin with chain smokers from morning until late at night. The ship movement and wind even in port wrapped the smoke around our balcony, making it impossible to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. We’ve never encountered smoking this bad, and we won’t deal with that stench again. I suspect smokers have changed to HAL because the other lines prohibit smoking on the balconies. It’s HAL’s business decision to allow the smoking, but it’s a deal breaker for us. Our health and comfort are an important part of our cruise experience, as is enjoying the balcony.

 

There are plenty of no smoking alternatives to HAL, so we will continue to cruise. We will reconsider HAL if they change their smoking policy.

[trixiee]

Very sad to hear you couldn't use your wonderful Aft balcony. :mad:

[kazu]

Thanks for the review.

 

Sorry to hear about your issues on your verandah but you did know the HAL rules from previous cruises, no?

 

It's a shame as otherwise it sounds like you had a good cruise overall.

[igraf]

More than the usual smoking thread. The OP is a very experienced HAL cruiser who paid big bucks for a premium aft suites, only to be driven back inside by an apparent increase in balcony smoking.

 

We are being warned that the balcony smoking situation is getting much worse as the hard-core smokers are turning to HAL as other lines adopt more restrictive policies. I for one will heed the warning. My choices are to avoid warm weather cruises, don't pay extra for a balcony, or switch to another cruise line.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

Another smoking thread disguised as a review

Edited November 27, 2013 by igraf

[mamaofami]

Thank you for your review. Our next up is Noordam so I enjoyed your sentiments. So far, we haven't been bothered by smokers, but I'm sure the time is coming. It would ruin my use of the veranda, and as I said in another thread, I love being out there. And, no, this isn't a smoking thread. If the OP complained about the food, we would comment on that too.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review. We rarely book balconies any more partly because of what you encountered. The problems reported in virtually every review about service in the MDR continue.

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[Roz]

When I saw the emoticon, I thought it was going to be a negative review, but aside from the major smoking issue, it seems like you enjoyed many aspects of the cruise. I'm sorry you weren't able to enjoy your balcony after paying for a premium stateroom.

 

About the staffings levels, there's something I've never understood. On more than one occassion I've not ordered a drink or glass of wine simply because there was no one to take my order. Alcohol generates revenue, so you think that having more wine stewards in the DR and bar waiters would not only pay for itself but result in profit.

 

Roz

[sunsetbeachgal]

We quit getting balconies a few years ago because of the smoke, and as Murphy's law would have it, we always seemed to be surrounded, with the smoke curling around the partition onto our balcony. On our July Princess cruise it was a joy to be on a balcony with no threat of smoke. We just got off the Eurodam and were lucky that people next to use were not balcony smokers and we were sailing with friends in an adjacent cabin, so no smoke from their side. ;)

 

I think the comments earlier that HAL may now be attracting smokers displaced from Princess, Celebrity, RCL, is probably true.

Edited November 27, 2013 by sunsetbeachgal

[the2ofus]

I enjoyed your review. I'm saddened that HAL seems to be drawing in the smokers as other lines limit smoking. To be deprived of the enjoyment of your balcony because of annoying behaviors of neighbors is totally unacceptable, whether it is smoking, loud partying, arguing, whatever. The last time we sailed in a balcony cabin we also had a heavy smoker upwind of us. It diminished our experience also.

 

Why should smoking occupants of one cabin have the right to over-rule clean air occupants of another cabin by essentially making their balcony unusable.

 

It is time HAL caught up with the rest of the industry and banned smoking except in certain areas of outside decks.

[BuddyP]

Thank you for your review. Our next up is Noordam so I enjoyed your sentiments. So far, we haven't been bothered by smokers, but I'm sure the time is coming. It would ruin my use of the veranda, and as I said in another thread, I love being out there. And, no, this isn't a smoking thread. If the OP complained about the food, we would comment on that too.

 

Thank you. No, this is not a "disguised smoking thread", whatever that means. We did enjoy the rest of the cruise and outside of the smoking issue we would love to sail HAL again. Their staff is very special. HAL has made the business decision to allow smoking on balconies, which is certainly their prerogative. Our neighbors did nothing wrong, they were following HAL policy. We didn't complain because we had nothing to complain about. The only choice we have is to take our business elsewhere. We will miss HAL but we have had fun on other lines which don't allow smoking including Celebrity and Princess. Our health and comfort is more important to us than loyalty to a single line. I'm happy for everyone who enjoys HAL.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Sorry about your not being able to use your balcony. We have had bad situations several times when we could not use our verandah either.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write and share the review.

 

Keith

[Richie2pies]

It seems that with all the people complaining about smoking on balconies, HAL must have made the right decision regarding smoking on balconies. It seems HAL must fill their balconies with smokers according to the complainers.

[waASPCrusier]

Thank you. No, this is not a "disguised smoking thread", whatever that means. We did enjoy the rest of the cruise and outside of the smoking issue we would love to sail HAL again. Their staff is very special. HAL has made the business decision to allow smoking on balconies, which is certainly their prerogative. Our neighbors did nothing wrong, they were following HAL policy. We didn't complain because we had nothing to complain about. The only choice we have is to take our business elsewhere. We will miss HAL but we have had fun on other lines which don't allow smoking including Celebrity and Princess. Our health and comfort is more important to us than loyalty to a single line. I'm happy for everyone who enjoys HAL.

 

Bold is mine.

 

I think one interesting thing to remember is that HAL has always allowed smoking on balconies. What they choose to do was not allow smoking in the rooms anymore. I remember people posting back then, that the move would have results some wouldn't like. Now couple that with other lines restricting balcony smoking and you are where we are today. I think that they will probably change it, assuming they aren't the last line to do so. This however will happen because of financial circumstances.

[BuddyP]

It seems that with all the people complaining about smoking on balconies, HAL must have made the right decision regarding smoking on balconies. It seems HAL must fill their balconies with smokers according to the complainers.

 

Exactly! HAL intentionally books smokers next to non smokers just to upset the non smokers. Your analysis nails them cold!

 

I never cease to be amazed by what people post here..........

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

 

Sorry you were unable to use your balcony.

[startwin]

Thanks for the review, which I found very balanced.

 

I hope you reported your concerns to HAL when you did your online survey after the cruise.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your review, we also enjoyed our cruise on the Noordam last year, and I agree with you 100% about the smoking issue.

[BuddyP]

Thanks for your review, we also enjoyed our cruise on the Noordam last year, and I agree with you 100% about the smoking issue.

 

Thank you.

 

I did the on line survey and expressed our feelings regarding the smoking.

[julia]

Thank you for your review.

 

If HAL is going to continue to be in the dark ages regarding smoking, then the very LEAST they could do is to allocate one side of the ship to smokers and the other to non-smokers. If one side fills up, and a smoker should book on the other side, they must agree to smoke in a designated area only, and NOT on their balcony.

It's not rocket science.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoghts.

[BettyPC]

I didn't realize that smoking was still allowed on balcony cabins. We haven't sailed HAL before & I am researching a 2015 trip and came upon your review. I love balconies - but our next 2 trips are "window" cabins.

 

I liked the different ports that HAL visits. Thanks for your review.

[nana51]

I quit smoking over 20 years ago, but the smell of a cigarette doesn't really bother me. I am not crazy about the smell of exhaust when downtown, but many people breath that every day. I think if I had 2 or 3 smokers smoking it would bother me. One smoker, meh, no problem. It would be nice if they banned smoking entirely. I think that day will come pretty soon.

[TracieABD]

Thank you for the review. I am sorry to hear that you were unable to use your balcony. Perhaps if you had practiced your tuba playing or bongo drums on the balcony each time they lit up, they might have gotten the hint. :p(Then again, you may be an awesome tuba player. In that case, you might even encourage them to linger on the balcony for another smoke!):eek: