Westerdam New Year's Cruise

[St. Louis Sal]

We just got home yesterday from our cruise on the Westerdam. I don't like to sound like a gossip but I didn't see this posted anywhere, unless I missed it.

I thought all of you who love to cruise on HAL would be interested in knowing that the new Carnival Corp CEO, Arnold Donald and his extended family were on the Westerdam, December 28-January 4.

 

They were treated just like any other family celebrating the holidays. They stood in line with the rest of us to board the tender to Half Moon Cay. My daughter said she frequently saw Mr. Donald having a late night snack in the Lido. Some of the family members were in her spinning class. They were staying in the Neptune Suites (naturally) and I ran into them several times in the Neptune Lounge where they were friendly and sociable. I was tempted to ask him a few questions but it was obvious this was just a low key family vacation and I thought I should respect that. Nothing was ever said publicly about him being on the ship as far as I know.

 

I hope he and his family had as good a time as my family and I did on the Westerdam.

 

Happy New Year,

St. Louis Sal

[0bnxshs]

Nice to know they use their own product. :) Thanks for the report.

[sail7seas]

Hopethey enjoyed their holiday cruise....... and hope you did as well.

 

Maybe because there was a VIP aboard, the Neptune Lounge put out all the treats sideboard cookies, fruit, pound cake, cheese and crackers, breakfast pastries, muffins, donuts, chocolates....... all those things served in all the other Neptune Lounges in the fleet but apparently not restored in Westerdam's Neptune Lounge.

 

Actually, maybe I am ill informed and they have corrected that deficiency recently and I am not aware. Were those items available each day for Suite guests to enjoy?

 

Thanks if you can set me straight.

 

[St. Louis Sal]

Hopethey enjoyed their holiday cruise....... and hope you did as well.

 

Maybe because there was a VIP aboard, the Neptune Lounge put out all the treats sideboard cookies, fruit, pound cake, cheese and crackers, breakfast pastries, muffins, donuts, chocolates....... all those things served in all the other Neptune Lounges in the fleet but apparently not restored in Westerdam's Neptune Lounge.

 

Actually, maybe I am ill informed and they have corrected that deficiency recently and I am not aware. Were those items available each day for Suite guests to enjoy?

 

Thanks if you can set me straight.

 

 

All those things were definitely served in the Neptune Lounge this past week. I haven't been on the Westerdam for awhile and was not aware that they weren't available lately. Does anyone know why they weren't being served? I have only done a Neptune Suite 3 times but have done it both of my times on the Westerdam.

 

Anyway, my husband had donuts every morning while I had pain au chocolate and muffins along with little demitasse cups of muesli. And later in the day I had pound cake, cookies and chocolate covered strawberries. And maybe I should keep this a secret but one morning our concierge Hazel made sure that some of us got two of the same cinnamon rolls they serve up in the Explorations café.

 

St. Louis Sal

[sail7seas]

That is so good to hear. About 9-10 months ago, those items were removed from the sideboard and all sorts of explanations were given. We sailed Westerdam a year ago Thanksgiving and all of that was provided same as on every other ship. And then it was gone.

 

Thank you for verifying Westerdam's Neptune Lounge is back to 'normal'. :)

[PathfinderEss]

Hazel was you concierge, that is great, we had her a few years back and she was wonderful.

[St. Louis Sal]

Hazel was you concierge, that is great, we had her a few years back and she was wonderful.

 

We had Hazel and Spencer and they were fabulous. Just an odd side note: Arnold Donald's wife is named Hazel too.

 

St. Louis Sal

[Two@Sea]

It would be great if someone could report on the Westerdam Neptune Lounge sideboard selections for sailings subsequent to this one...

[startwin]

All those things were definitely served in the Neptune Lounge this past week. I haven't been on the Westerdam for awhile and was not aware that they weren't available lately. Does anyone know why they weren't being served? I have only done a Neptune Suite 3 times but have done it both of my times on the Westerdam.

 

Anyway, my husband had donuts every morning while I had pain au chocolate and muffins along with little demitasse cups of muesli. And later in the day I had pound cake, cookies and chocolate covered strawberries. And maybe I should keep this a secret but one morning our concierge Hazel made sure that some of us got two of the same cinnamon rolls they serve up in the Explorations café.

 

St. Louis Sal

 

Were there any snacks available in the Neptune Lounge between meal times?

[sail7seas]

It would be great if someone could report on the Westerdam Neptune Lounge sideboard selections for sailings subsequent to this one...

 

 

Good point.

If someone would be so kind to share photo(s), it would be so appreciated.

 

[iancal]

I am always surprised at how concerned some people are about what food is available, when is it available, and in what quantities in the Neptune Lounge. It seems to be such an issue.

 

Is there not enough food elsewhere on the ship?

[Krazy Kruizers]

We just got home yesterday from our cruise on the Westerdam. I don't like to sound like a gossip but I didn't see this posted anywhere, unless I missed it.

I thought all of you who love to cruise on HAL would be interested in knowing that the new Carnival Corp CEO, Arnold Donald and his extended family were on the Westerdam, December 28-January 4.

 

They were treated just like any other family celebrating the holidays. They stood in line with the rest of us to board the tender to Half Moon Cay. My daughter said she frequently saw Mr. Donald having a late night snack in the Lido. Some of the family members were in her spinning class. They were staying in the Neptune Suites (naturally) and I ran into them several times in the Neptune Lounge where they were friendly and sociable. I was tempted to ask him a few questions but it was obvious this was just a low key family vacation and I thought I should respect that. Nothing was ever said publicly about him being on the ship as far as I know.

 

I hope he and his family had as good a time as my family and I did on the Westerdam.

 

Happy New Year,

St. Louis Sal

 

 

Welcome Home

Hope you had a great cruise.

How did you know that they were on your cruise?

I don't know what they look like so would not know if they were on one of our cruises.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am always surprised at how concerned some people are about what food is available, when is it available, and in what quantities in the Neptune Lounge. It seems to be such an issue.

 

Is there not enough food elsewhere on the ship?

 

I guess that you did not read the reports about all items being removed from the sideboard on the Westerdam beginning the 1st of March. And only on this ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

[Delete

Edited January 6, 2014 by Krazy Kruizers

[jayisgerman]

I am always surprised at how concerned some people are about what food is available, when is it available, and in what quantities in the Neptune Lounge. It seems to be such an issue.

 

Is there not enough food elsewhere on the ship?

 

Well, while we certainly were not starving, I do think it is a difference that should not exist and to receive inadequate offerings, compared to other ships' NL - is not right.

 

We paid a good amount to enjoy all the perks of the NL, which should include a fully stocked sideboard, not just the dome. While we did also eat in the Lido, Pinnacle and MDR - IMHO - that's not the point.

 

We tried once to ask for cookies and it became a big production, because the concierge has to go to the back closet/store room. Get the platter of coookies. Then they remove the plastic wrap. Then they realized they needed tongues - so back they went. I loved our concierges and this made me feel so awkward, because I felt like I was a hassle. Certainly not their fault, but I never asked for anything else again (cheese, strawberries, cookies, cake, etc.....) :(

 

So - to sum it up for me - yes, of course there is plenty of food. But if you went to Target and paid for a pair of pants and at home found out they only had 1 pantleg and the other were missing, you would be upset. Then you would call and they would tell you "why worry, don't you have other pants in the house? It's not like you'll freeze, there are plenty of other clothing options... :eek:

 

That's just my 2 cents...

[St. Louis Sal]

Welcome Home

Hope you had a great cruise.

How did you know that they were on your cruise?

I don't know what they look like so would not know if they were on one of our cruises.

 

My daughters had the Neptune Suite close by theirs. The girls also had two room stewards and those gentlemen said that one of them was brought up to help out because the CEO of Carnival was on board. I remembered reading about him but didn't note his name so I looked him up online and saw his picture. He's pretty distinctive looking so had no trouble identifying him in the Neptune Lounge.

 

St. Louis Sal

[St. Louis Sal]

It would be great if someone could report on the Westerdam Neptune Lounge sideboard selections for sailings subsequent to this one...

 

I am curious now too as to whether we had something special thanks to Mr. Donald.

 

And to answer startwin: I didn't really pay attention to the times things were served but there was always something available when I went in. I'm not sure when the breakfast stuff left and the lunch stuff came out (loved the wraps they served everyday). I will say that sometimes the items on the sideboard were somewhat picked over and maybe not replenished the way I would expect. For instance there might be one strawberry left on the dish and maybe just half a plate of cookies, a partial tray of truffles and chocolates etc.

 

I know there is plenty of food available but one thing a friend traveling with us noted is that once the Lido dinner stops at 8 there really isn't much available unless you do room service until they put out the late night snacks. I guess I never notice this because we usually eat around 8-8:30 in the dining room.

 

I don't usually review my cruises but I will say that we got stuck with open seating because we booked the cruise so late. That was my first experience with that except for one time in the past when we missed our dining time and in November they did it one night on my theme cruise. I really, really hated it. The first two nights the whole process was messed up and led to long lines even for those with reservations. I never sat at the same table twice even though we would always have the same table number on the reservation. We ended up eating in Canaletto twice and having dinner served in our cabin on one of the formal nights. We would have probably even done the Pinnacle (which is not really a favorite of mine) but they were booked when we wanted to go.

 

St. Louis Sal