Brief Westerdam New Years Eve review

[Zyzygy]

We sailed on the Westerdam Eastern Caribbean (Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, HMC) NYE itinerary Dec 27-Jan 3.

 

This was our second NYE itinerary, having sailed on the Zuiderdam last year. It was also our second Westerdam sailing and sixth HAL overall.

 

Prices fell substantially after final payment date, so we arranged an upsell from a Verandah guarantee to a Signature Suite (SZ) guarantee through our travel agent for $200 pp. This was ultimately upgraded by HAL to an SS suite, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

HAL also linked our reservation with another couple traveling independent of us, so our cabins were close. We were also able to be seated together at main (second) seating at a table of four as requested.

 

Our dining steward was very sluggish the first night, for which he apologized on the second night. From that point on the service was excellent. He appeared to have a cold the first night.

 

Our cabin stewards were excellent throughout, fielding several special requests.

 

We paid corkage at embarkation for a large quantity of carry-on wine (15 bottles), and the beverage stewards were uniformly helpful. This year there were no tacky efforts by beverage stewards to suggest that the ship might run out of champagne on NYE. Last year we had found such sales efforts to be less than attractive.

 

My wife received full-sized (12 oz.) glasses of soft drinks with her soda card, whereas in the past we have sometimes received only 6 oz. glasses.

 

Happy Hour service was unusually swift and efficient in the Crows Nest. My impression is that some previous complaints may have caused them to try harder to serve customers before the Happy Hour deadline expired.

 

This year the New Years Eve celebration was spread among the Crows Nest, Lido Pool area, and Seaview Pool/Bar. We spent most of our time in the old folks party in the Crows Nest, but our younger companions also enjoyed the Lido and Seaview celebrations. My guess is that the Vista Lounge had become overcrowded as the main venue, as was the case last year on the Zuiderdam, so they decided to spread the party out.

 

Carpeting accents in the Crows Nest, and new decorative partitions in the Explorers Lounge have been added since our trip last year on a Vista Class ship. Adagio (two Ukrainian musicians) was exceptionally good, and the HALcats, both this year and last, have been much improved over a few years ago.

 

We ignored the two course structure of the menu and ordered our meals in three courses. The servers had no difficulty with this. The two course structure has cut down somewhat, however, on the total number of menu choices available.

 

We had room service breakfast on the Verandah every morning, and on two mornings it was a bit late. My opinion is that they should honor written requests from the previous night first, then fit in new morning orders after that. The meals were always excellent, however.

 

In short, we had a great time. I appreciate it when cabin stewards and dining room stewards work together as a team, and we experienced that teamwork on this cruise, together with an overall enthusiastic holiday crew.

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your Westerdam New Year cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

On the mornings when your room service breakfast was a little late, were they the mornings that the dining room opened later (like sea days)? Just curious.

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

Thanks for the review! We left just as you boarded, and I agree that happy hour was very efficient - though we were in the Ocean View bar, not the Crows Nest. But I agree with your feedback on the HALcats - though I thought the lead singer was a little weak. However, I keep reminding myself that these entertainers do not have the luxury of using Autotune devices in concert like many performers do these days.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your Westerdam cruise.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for sharing with us about your Westerdam cruise. All in all, sounds like it was a good Holiday Cruise. :)

 

Welcome back.

 

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Zyzygy]

The mornings when breakfast was a little late tended to be shore days when a lot of people were planning early excursions at the same time, such as at Grand Turk and St. Thomas.

 

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[BarryW]

I was on this cruise as well. We enjoyed new years eve on the rear seaview pool with the BB King All Star band. I've played professionally over 30 years, these guys (and gal) are the stuff - not to be missed. Having three choices for NYE was a great idea, each being a little different. HAL Cats? meh . . . absolutely mediocre. The captain got engaged and married on our trip, it was a treat. Crow's nest bar at happy hour? I found the opposite, I had slow service (15 min wait for drink) and poor drinks. What they serve as a margarita is not a margarita. Otherwise, great cruise - excellent room stewards, great servers and food in the MDR, ship was in great shape. We had a great time -

[A&A Bar & Grill]

I am wondering who the piano player was on your cruise. We will be on the Westerdam on January 31st and love the piano bar.

[Himself]

I enjoyed your review, Thank you for posting it.

[kazu]

Sounds like it was all good.

 

Westerdam was a happy ship when we were on last and a leader in entertainment. Looking forward to returning on her.

[Italy52]

We are considering this cruise as well as a few others for New Years Eve. If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you:

 

How is the condition of the ship?

Was tendering quick? Did you need to get a tender ticket?

How quick was the embarkation and debarkation process?

Have never been to Grand Turk --- was it nice?

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide, I appreciate it.

 

We are thinking of getting a balcony cabin but not too sure which deck would be best. Any thoughts?