Westerdam Alaska 5/17/14 Review

[DiploTraveler]

We just arrived from the 5/17/14 sailing of the Westerdam to Alaska. We had another amazing time on HAL and can’t wait for the next time!

I thought I would share some of my thoughts (good and bad).

 

Itinerary

Glacier Bay: Just amazing! This is why we booked this specific cruise and we were not disappointed. Luckily, the rain stopped and sky cleared just as we were entering the bay. The scenery was superb. So picturesque. We didn’t see any glacier calving, but we did see a brown bear roaming on the beach. The hot mulled wine that was served on the bow of the ship was a great touch! Very enjoyable in the chilly weather.

 

Alaskan Ports: It was raining in Juneau and Ketchikan. We had beautiful weather in Sitka. Maybe this is why we liked Sitka the best. We decided not to do any excursions on this cruise and simply walked the downtown areas in each port town. We found the towns to be convenient and the store staff and information center staff to be very friendly.

 

In Sitka, we found the walk from the tender pier to the Sitka National Historical Park to be delightful. We did a bit of shopping through the downtown section. Then we stopped at the public library to let the kids enjoy their wonderful children’s room. At the end, we strolled through the paths at the park, where we saw bald eagles and several totem poles dispersed throughout.

 

Victoria, B.C.: This seemed like a wonderful European-style town. We walked a bit through the downtown and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the schedule puts you here in the evening after many attractions have closed for the day. On top of that, we were delayed one hour by bad weather coming out of Ketchikan.

 

Food

We were pleasantly surprised by the food. We were a bit worried before the cruise. On the last three cruises, we saw a noticeable decline in food quality and I had read plenty of posts complaining of even more. Meal preparation has improved from our previous sailings, making up for any decrease in quality of ingredients. Overall, we felt the meals have improved (especially at Lido), but there were still examples of undercooked plates as described by other passengers.

 

Dive-In was interesting… other than the pager system, I didn’t notice anything different from before.

 

We did not have a dessert night, unlike our last three cruises.

 

Miscellaneous

Meet the Captain: There was no “tea and cookies with the captain” at the Crow’s Nest as in past cruises. I rather enjoyed these events as he often answered some interesting and nuanced questions about the cruise business and running a ship. Instead, he held a book signing event at the shop.

 

Medical Services: Unfortunately, my wife suffered from what was most likely minor food poisoning. Maybe from some undercooked food as has been described by other cruise critics on this forum. Although she felt just fine after an episode in the middle of the night, she decided to report it to the medical staff so they could possibly improve their food preparation standards. This is when we found out that the CDC requires a quarantine period of 24 hours for any passenger experiencing these symptoms, since they could also be caused by a GI virus. Unfortunately, the nurse’s bedside manner left much to be desired. She spoke to my wife as if she had done something wrong and the quarantine was a punishment. She even said that she expects passengers to stop reporting symptoms in order to avoid the quarantine. She didn’t show any concern for her well-being and dismissed any attempt to track down a food source to the problem.

 

I give credit to my wife, however. She stayed positive throughout her day in confinement, trying to enjoy the balcony, in-room dining, ShipFlix, etc. as much as possible. Although the nurse wasn’t nice about the situation, everyone else bent over backwards to make sure she was comfortable. The room stewards immediately appeared to ask if there is anything she needs. She got a call from the front desk for the same reason. The following morning, a different nurse called to ask how she was feeling. In contrast, this nurse was very cordial and was solely concerned with my wife feeling better and promised to release her as quickly as possible.

 

24 hours after the start of quarantine (perfectly timed with dinner), my wife was freed and we had a nice celebration at MDR.

 

Grumpy Cruisers: For the first time, I met a few cruisers who acted as if they were forced onto the ship against their will. Really? If this is how they are on vacation, I never want to meet them in their normal life.

 

Billing Confusion: There seemed to be a lot of confusion regarding on board accounts on this cruise. There was almost always a lengthy line at the front desk of passengers complaining about one charge or another. We experienced this after our medical visit. The following day, we received another passenger’s medical bill. It was fixed by the next day, but I had to wait 20 minutes in line with everyone else. We also had a minor mix up with our beverage card that had to be fixed after another 20 minutes in line.

[Susie51]

Thank you for sharing. Does the Westerdam's itinerary always include Sitka?

[Mytime2014]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. As for the grumpies - sometimes people do not want to go on a particular cruise line or on a cruise and they tend to make everyone around them miserable. If they post here pre-cruise, you know who they are and what they will report when they come back.

 

My friend cruised twice with her husband who doesn't like to be disconnected from his internet and didn't want to take the cruise. Apparently, he was grumpy to everyone who came near him....her resolution - she's not getting on a ship with him again. Instead, her dear friend [me] can use his accumulated credit card points to cruise. He's happy having time off in the house with no one to bother him - we'll have fun on a ship this winter.

[Mtn2Sea]

Thanks for your report. My wife has also experienced medical staff onboard who could improve their bedside manner, but on other occasions the staff has been great. Luck of the draw I guess.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review of your Westerdam cruise. Glad you had a good cruise inspite of your wife illness and the grumpy people.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Glad you were able to enjoy your cruise in spite of your wife's illness and the nurse.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for sharing. Does the Westerdam's itinerary always include Sitka?

 

We have done the Westerdam's Alaskan itinerary a few times and yes -- Sitka has been a port call.

Can't predict what her itinerary will be next year. Changes can happen without notice.

[rkacruiser]

Your comments are most appreciated. Your wife did the correct thing to report her illness to the Infirmary, I think. I hope that on your end of cruise survey that you will receive on-line that you report the attitude of the initial nurse who cared for your wife. She needs to be landed.

 

I have had the need to use HAL's on-board medical services and have nothing negative to say whatsoever.

 

I love the Westerdam. A great crew and ship!

[krazy4kruisin]

Thank you for the review. I just booked this itinerary on the ship May 2015. My first Alaska cruse. Can you tell me what the menu was like in the MDR? Main courses? Does HAL serve Lobster tails, Crab Legs, Prime Rib? We have never sailed HAL b before. Thanks!

[Himself]

Thank you for sharing. Does the Westerdam's itinerary always include Sitka?

 

Only when the ship is in Alaska. The HAL ships that sail from Seattle stop at Sitka and Victoria BC. I love both of those ports.

[Himself]

We just arrived from the 5/17/14 sailing of the Westerdam to Alaska. We had another amazing time on HAL and can’t wait for the next time!

I thought I would share some of my thoughts (good and bad).

 

Itinerary

Glacier Bay: Just amazing! This is why we booked this specific cruise and we were not disappointed. Luckily, the rain stopped and sky cleared just as we were entering the bay. The scenery was superb. So picturesque. We didn’t see any glacier calving, but we did see a brown bear roaming on the beach. The hot mulled wine that was served on the bow of the ship was a great touch! Very enjoyable in the chilly weather.

 

Alaskan Ports: It was raining in Juneau and Ketchikan. We had beautiful weather in Sitka. Maybe this is why we liked Sitka the best. We decided not to do any excursions on this cruise and simply walked the downtown areas in each port town. We found the towns to be convenient and the store staff and information center staff to be very friendly.

 

In Sitka, we found the walk from the tender pier to the Sitka National Historical Park to be delightful. We did a bit of shopping through the downtown section. Then we stopped at the public library to let the kids enjoy their wonderful children’s room. At the end, we strolled through the paths at the park, where we saw bald eagles and several totem poles dispersed throughout.

 

Victoria, B.C.: This seemed like a wonderful European-style town. We walked a bit through the downtown and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the schedule puts you here in the evening after many attractions have closed for the day. On top of that, we were delayed one hour by bad weather coming out of Ketchikan.

 

Food

We were pleasantly surprised by the food. We were a bit worried before the cruise. On the last three cruises, we saw a noticeable decline in food quality and I had read plenty of posts complaining of even more. Meal preparation has improved from our previous sailings, making up for any decrease in quality of ingredients. Overall, we felt the meals have improved (especially at Lido), but there were still examples of undercooked plates as described by other passengers.

 

Dive-In was interesting… other than the pager system, I didn’t notice anything different from before.

 

We did not have a dessert night, unlike our last three cruises.

 

Miscellaneous

Meet the Captain: There was no “tea and cookies with the captain” at the Crow’s Nest as in past cruises. I rather enjoyed these events as he often answered some interesting and nuanced questions about the cruise business and running a ship. Instead, he held a book signing event at the shop.

 

Medical Services: Unfortunately, my wife suffered from what was most likely minor food poisoning. Maybe from some undercooked food as has been described by other cruise critics on this forum. Although she felt just fine after an episode in the middle of the night, she decided to report it to the medical staff so they could possibly improve their food preparation standards. This is when we found out that the CDC requires a quarantine period of 24 hours for any passenger experiencing these symptoms, since they could also be caused by a GI virus. Unfortunately, the nurse’s bedside manner left much to be desired. She spoke to my wife as if she had done something wrong and the quarantine was a punishment. She even said that she expects passengers to stop reporting symptoms in order to avoid the quarantine. She didn’t show any concern for her well-being and dismissed any attempt to track down a food source to the problem.

 

I give credit to my wife, however. She stayed positive throughout her day in confinement, trying to enjoy the balcony, in-room dining, ShipFlix, etc. as much as possible. Although the nurse wasn’t nice about the situation, everyone else bent over backwards to make sure she was comfortable. The room stewards immediately appeared to ask if there is anything she needs. She got a call from the front desk for the same reason. The following morning, a different nurse called to ask how she was feeling. In contrast, this nurse was very cordial and was solely concerned with my wife feeling better and promised to release her as quickly as possible.

 

24 hours after the start of quarantine (perfectly timed with dinner), my wife was freed and we had a nice celebration at MDR.

 

Grumpy Cruisers: For the first time, I met a few cruisers who acted as if they were forced onto the ship against their will. Really? If this is how they are on vacation, I never want to meet them in their normal life.

 

Billing Confusion: There seemed to be a lot of confusion regarding on board accounts on this cruise. There was almost always a lengthy line at the front desk of passengers complaining about one charge or another. We experienced this after our medical visit. The following day, we received another passenger’s medical bill. It was fixed by the next day, but I had to wait 20 minutes in line with everyone else. We also had a minor mix up with our beverage card that had to be fixed after another 20 minutes in line.

 

Who was your Captain? Captain John Scott, a very friendly man, was Captain when I was on the Westerdam last fall.

[Windsailer]

Captain Rens van Eerten is currently the Captain on the Westerdam.

[erewhon]

Thanks for your review.

Unfortunately we too have cruised with grumpy passengers.

[Crew News]

Thank you for the review. I just booked this itinerary on the ship May 2015. My first Alaska cruse. Can you tell me what the menu was like in the MDR? Main courses? Does HAL serve Lobster tails, Crab Legs, Prime Rib? We have never sailed HAL b before. Thanks!

 

Prime rib is served on embarkation day in the MDR. Lobster tail is served with the surf-n-turf meal served on the second Formal Night..

 

Note that you can select anything on the menu and make variations. That means you can order two or three lobster tails and not order the filet mignon portion of the meal.

[mollyeilis]

Thanks for the review.

 

Glacier Bay: Just amazing! This is why we booked this specific cruise and we were not disappointed. Luckily, the rain stopped and sky cleared just as we were entering the bay. The scenery was superb. So picturesque. We didn’t see any glacier calving, but we did see a brown bear roaming on the beach. The hot mulled wine that was served on the bow of the ship was a great touch! Very enjoyable in the chilly weather.

 

So glad to hear this. My mother in law was on the 5/10 sailing, and when I picked her up and asked her how that day was, she said you could barely see the glacier because it was tiny. She gestured to a door or something to show me how small it was. :confused:

 

There's a language barrier on both sides, and unfortunately we chose the very very wrong traveling companion for her (figured that since she would be charged the single supplement anyway and she was nervous to be alone, she could take a friend, but it would have been a million times better to just go with her ourselves), and so I think her friend pointed out the glacier from far far away, then pulled MIL down into the casino or something, telling her that that was all she would see. :rolleyes:

 

Though, in the friend's defense, she might not know anything more about the Glacier, because she might always have been in the casino for it.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report. Strange about the billing confusion.

[DaveOKC]

Thanks for the review.

 

 

 

So glad to hear this. My mother in law was on the 5/10 sailing, and when I picked her up and asked her how that day was, she said you could barely see the glacier because it was tiny. She gestured to a door or something to show me how small it was. :confused:

 

There's a language barrier on both sides, and unfortunately we chose the very very wrong traveling companion for her (figured that since she would be charged the single supplement anyway and she was nervous to be alone, she could take a friend, but it would have been a million times better to just go with her ourselves), and so I think her friend pointed out the glacier from far far away, then pulled MIL down into the casino or something, telling her that that was all she would see. :rolleyes:

 

Though, in the friend's defense, she might not know anything more about the Glacier, because she might always have been in the casino for it.

 

On our May 1 cruise we did not get very close to the glaciers either (because of the ice and slower sailing times) and we were a bit disappointed. Perhaps this happened to your Mom as well?

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Susie51]

Thank you for answering my question about Alaskan cruises going to Sitka.

[Snyder_man]

On our Westerdam sailing on May 10 the captain got within 200 yards of the glacier. We viewed it from our balcony quite well. The captain swung the ship both front and back and both sides toward the view so everyone could get a very good look.:)

[CruiserGreg]

Thanks for your review. We were on the 17th May sailing out of Seattle on the Golden Princess and missed Victoria completely supposedly because of the storm we encountered after leaving Ketchikan. Funny how the Westerdam made the port call in Victoria and the Golden didn't, even though we left Ketchikan only 20 minutes apart. Guess it's Holland America for us next time.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for writing and sharing this review.

 

Keith

[jwcsr]

We were on this cruise. We were in Glacier Bay for quite a while, and the ship was turned around at least three times for a very good view. We were in Glacier Bay nine years ago. The glacier now is extremely small compared to nine years ago. The glacier that was at the very end of the bay is now nonexistent. Very sad.

 

In response to the cruiser on the Golden, we arrived in Victoria an hour late, after 7:00 pm. When we got there a Norwegian ship was in port. We had already paid for a Victoria Highlights excursion. Because of getting in so late due to the rough seas the night before from Ketchikan, our excursion didn't leave until 8:00. So we saw Victoria in the twilight and darkness. When we returned to the ship, the Golden had pulled in where Norwegian had been. This was not Golden's fault. Obviously ships' arrivals and departures are controlled by port authorities, not the cruise line, so don't be hard on the cruise line.

[runnergirl71]

Question...

 

Is the last night still that "International Dinner" thing? And if so is the "always available" stuff still a possibility? Because I was looking at the menu someone posted from last year and...I'm not overly picky, but there is NOTHING on there that appeals to me, so I'll need to figure out my options if the always available stuff isn't.

[rkacruiser]

Question...

 

Is the last night still that "International Dinner" thing? And if so is the "always available" stuff still a possibility? Because I was looking at the menu someone posted from last year and...I'm not overly picky, but there is NOTHING on there that appeals to me, so I'll need to figure out my options if the always available stuff isn't.

 

Based on my experience, "always available" options are not available that last night. Good night to go to Caneletto or Pinnacle Grill.