Food/Dining Review - Westerdam - 7 day Alaska, Glacier Bay - 29 August - 05 September

[Khaos WolfKat]

I promised I'd be forthcoming with a review, and, while it has taken a few days, I am finally delivering!

 

I'll start with food for a couple reasons. First, it was the first thing I really took time to check out, after briefly visiting my stateroom to drop things off, and because, next to dining attire (also to be included), it is about the most discussed thing.

 

I ended up blowing off my Pinnacle Grill dinner, cause I got engrossed in conversation ashore in Victoria and decided the company and conversation was more valuable than a fancy dinner, so no review on that.

 

Before I go on, I'd like to extend a huge thank you to all of those who have griped and whined in these forums, comparing the HAL MDR fare to Applebees and Olive Garden, and the Lido to something worse that Old Country Buffet, for seriously lowering my expectations, thereby making for an extremely pleasant surprise. I don't know where all y'all live, but I want to go to the aforementioned restaurants in your town(s), 'cause none of the ones I've ever been to, though decent fare for the price, could even hope to compare with even the Lido offerings, let alone the MDR!

 

Anyway...

Lido:

So, my first meal aboard the M.S. Westerdam was lunch in the Lido. I had a wonderful lunch of grilled salmon, skin on mashed red potatoes and rich, brown gravy, sautéed yellow zucchini, and a fresh, mixed greens salad with all the trimmings. As soon as I got up to the first food station, a dining room attendant materialised to help me carry my plates, find me a table in my location of choice, fetch me beverages, and otherwise make certain I had everything I needed or wanted. This service continued every time I visited the Lido restaurant, and I was not able to come anywhere NEAR sampling even a little of everything that looked good (that will take a few more cruises!).

The variety and quality of the food available reminded me of my favourite buffet near(ish) to me - the Eagle Buffet at the Tulalip Resort & Casino, which is about $25 a head (more on seafood night) and bloody well worth every penny. The service is better (which is saying a lot) and table settings are a bit fancier in the Lido though.

With one exception, that being that the lamb was a bit dry on the last evening, everything was divine.

 

They also made certain to seat me near an electrical outlet any time my scooter was running a bit low on battery as well.

 

Vista Dining Room (MDR):

I had dinner in the Vista either four or five (can't remember for sure) out of the seven nights.

Each night, they got me seated, then parked (and charged, if needed) my scooter out of the way until I finished, at which time they brought it right back to me as soon as I was ready.

 

I chose anytime dining and let them know the first night that I was happy sitting alone or with others, whatever worked best for them on a given night. The first night, I came in quite late, and ate alone. A lot of solo cruisers over on the solo section have mentioned being neglected when dining alone, but I was not neglected at all! As soon as I was seated, I was brought bread and water (LOL.. Not how it sounds!) - a fresh assortment of sliced, crusty, artisan breads (including a heavenly rye! YAY) and rolls, cubes of real butter, still chilled, but just warm enough to spread easily, and asked if I wanted anything to drink to start.

 

There was a slight blink when I asked for immediate coffee, as it is customarily served after dinner, rather than with dinner, in fine dining or dinner parties, but that was the only hint that there was anything odd about it, and I was kept fully supplied with fresh coffee all evening.

 

Yes, it is against etiquette, but Miss Manners and I will simply have to agree to disagree on that one. I maintain that growling at fellow diners and wait-staff is a larger breach than having coffee before and during dinner. Vista coffee was quite good, unlike the rest of the onboard coffee, including Explorations.

 

Shortly after, the wine steward arrived to ask if I wanted any alcohol or soda. I let him know I don't drink either, and was not approached again in the Vista offering either.

 

As soon as I had looked at the menu for a bit, a waiter appeared, answered my questions, and took my order. My first course arrived promptly and each course followed moments after I had finished the previous, as is proper, and this was mostly the case each night.

Once the first night, and once another night, a waiter tried to take my dish before I was completely done, but both times, someone else rushed over to smooth things, so I suspect n00bs. Not a huge deal, since it wasn't really a pattern.

 

There were lots of options for every course - appetisers, soups, salads, mains, and desserts - each night. My only real issue was choosing between a few of them, knowing there is only room for so much.

 

The biggest highlight for me was the chocolate soufflé the first formal night for desert. OH. Mah. GAWD!! SO good! I should have ordered another! Sadly, it was only offered the one night, but you can bet I'm gonna find a recipe!

 

All nights after the first, I was seated at a large table with others - different folks each time. Yes, it was all couples other than me, another thing that's much lamented over on the solo board, but honestly, I don't get why. I sat with a wide variety of folks from other places, socio-economic classes, political and spiritual persuasions, and ancestry, and we all managed to have wonderful conversations, bonding both over learning about the different things from one another and sharing the similar things. No one was rude about anyone else's different backgrounds, and there was lots of smiling, laughter, and more than a few hugs on parting every time!

Well.. OK, one borderline rude thing, though it didn't bother me at all. One of the guys, on hearing I live in Seattle, busted out with, "Man! You must make a lot of money!" His poor wife, and one of the other wives did the scandalised, napkin to the mouth thing, but I just laughed and told him no, not really. I didn't go into detail, cause there was no reason to, but I did say that there was quite a diverse population in Seattle, and that there were inexpensive living arrangements available. I actually found it rather amusing, and must admit to being even more amused at the two ladies' reactions, though I tried to hide that bit. Hopefully, dude's wife wasn't TOO upset with him later.

 

I have seen several mentions of people being upset at having to wait until everyone was seated and/or finished with their previous course before anyone could get theirs. That would actually be the "proper" way to do it, but, other than waiting and taking everyone's order at the same time initially, courses were brought as each diner finished the previous one. Yes, you had to wait until everyone was at least seated to order food and get started, but I say, if you don't wish to have at least that minimum of courtesy, eat alone! Besides, there were plenty of yummy bready things with butter, and drinks were brought promptly during the small wait.

So yeah Awesome food, exquisite service, good company, and beautiful views.

That said, one of the couples I dined with have been on the Veendam, and I think the Amsterdam, and they said that the Westerdam does have the best food/food service, so I may not be giving other reviewers of other HAL ships a fair shake. Still though, I specifically asked if this was significantly better than the others, and they said no, so I'm more inclined to believe it's a case of some people feeling the need to bitch about everything.

 

There were lots of lovely gowns, dresses, pantsuits, dinner jackets, ties, and even several tuxedos every night at dinner, and even more so on formal nights. I don't recall seeing any jeans or baseball caps or the like, but I wasn't really looking for dress code infractions, so I could have missed them. I certainly didn't notice anything that looked out of place, and there was lots of finery on display to admire all around, so I think the worries of proper semi-formal and formal dining attire becoming the norm, at least on the Westerdam, are premature. Even the little kids and teenagers were all gussied up in their dresses, gowns, and suits! Very nice.

 

Oh yeah. Also the first night, since I was one of only a few other diners that late, I had plenty of company from the Dining Manager and waiters coming over just to chat and pamper me extra. I learned some new words in Bali, and was given two origami dogs, which are simply adorable.

 

In Room Dining:

I opted for room service breakfast every morning. I kept meaning to get down to the lido for some waffles at some point, but never managed to do so. Pretty much did the same thing every morning - veggie cheese omelette, fruit/melon, milk, juice, croissants, and coffee - ship coffee first morning, my own after that. Very tasty and fresh.

 

I had several offerings from the room service menu throughout the cruise, and everything was great, with the exception of the one burger I got, which was dry, overcooked, and the parry was tiny! I have no idea if the burgers at the Dive In Terrace are different/better, cause I never got around to going there. There's just too damn much good food aboard to try anywhere near everything! Condiments were forgotten a couple times, they ran out of grapefruit juice one morning, and they brought me an additional slice of cake the one time I ordered it, for some reason, but otherwise, it was efficient, timely, and arrived hot (or cold, as appropriate).

 

Explorations Cafe:

The free (as many as you want, every day) pastries and hors d'oeuvres were a nice touch. I didn't have any of the sweets, but did have some very nice little cucumber sandwiches and chicken salad ones.

The coffee, sadly, was NOT up to my standards. I am VERY glad I brought my own coffee, grinder, and Aeropress! the "espresso" machine was controlled by pushing buttons and having the machine dispense the drinks, rather than a barista actually pulling the shots, and the flavourings (or maybe it was the coffee itself - I don't know) had some kind of weird, chemical taste to them. At least I got to bond with the BB King Band's keyboardist over our Aeropress coffee, commiserating about the bad ship coffee, and music. LOL.

 

 

So, there you have it. That's it for the food and dining attire portion of my review. More later. I HOPE to find time to get some photos and more of the review bits up before I leave for the woods, but, if not, it will have to wait until my return to the grid at the end of the month.

 

Edited September 9, 2015 by Khaos WolfKat
typos

[1of4]

Your review was worth the wait. Thank you. Your observations and experiences are very close to my own. Nice to know I am not alone as we spent 20 days on the Westerdam and never once had anything negative to write home about.

[kazu]

I have enjoyed your posts very much and am so glad you did a review.

 

I am even happier to hear that you were pleased with the food and the service overall. Food and service make such a difference on a cruise (at least IMO).

 

thank you so much for sharing your experiences.

 

We really enjoyed the Westerdam and it sounds like you did too :)

 

happy to hear that and thanks again for sharing.

[regnig]

Wonderful, non-biased review. Those of us who have followed your previous posts expected nothing less. Looking forward to more.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for posting.

Looking forward to reading more!

[prettyblue2]

Thank you for your excellent and entertaining review. I will be on the Westerdam in November on my first cruise with Holland America. I am hungry now after reading all your food information!!

Edited September 9, 2015 by prettyblue2

[POA1]

I'm glad you had a good trip! Now that you have a cruise under your belt, you'll have a much better idea of how to filter Cruise Critic posts. There's a lot of good information, but sometimes you have to read between the lines to get at it. [emoji106]

[frankc98376]

For future reference- if you like something in the restaurants you can normally ask for the recipe and they will get you a printed copy. You nay need to do some "fine tuning" as they are normally metric measurements and make large quantities.

[Lizzie68]

That's an excellent review, thank you.:) I'm so glad you enjoyed the Westerdam, I really liked that ship when we spent 3 weeks on her. Food and service was always excellent.

[retiredkid]

Thanks for sharing... a fine read, indeed. Looking forward to more, when you have the time.

[Fouremco]

I'm not a fan of "cheerleader" reviews, so it was very nice to read a positive review from someone we know likes to speak her mind. :)

[chefestelle]

For future reference- if you like something in the restaurants you can normally ask for the recipe and they will get you a printed copy. You nay need to do some "fine tuning" as they are normally metric measurements and make large quantities.

 

 

Now that is another piece of great information!

[chefestelle]

Can you tell us more about the coffee maker you took? I usually take Starbucks via packets but they are only useful if you have a kettle - and I thought those weren't allowed...

[Cruising-along]

What a treat to find your first review this morning. I'm thrilled that you enjoyed your first cruise, and appreciate that you reported back. :)

 

So funny about the "Seattle-rich" statement. He must think we all live like Bill Gates :D:D What a silly thing to say!

[Fouremco]

Can you tell us more about the coffee maker you took? I usually take Starbucks via packets but they are only useful if you have a kettle - and I thought those weren't allowed...

Here's a link to the coffee maker: http://www.aeropress.ca

 

Like the Via tubes, which we also take because the only consistently bad item in the Lido is the coffee, you need to get your "hot" water in the Lido or from room service if you take an Aeropress or one of the more common French presses.

[RuthC]

I'm so happy for you that you enjoyed the food and service portion of your cruise. Those are a big part of what makes a cruise good, or not.

Thanks for posting your thoughts.

 

I'm also looking forward to the rest of your thoughts on how it went.

Have a good time in the woods.

[Vict0riann]

Thanks for your review.:)

[0bnxshs]

As something of a "fan" of the Westerdam, and really, her crew, I find it refreshing to read your review as it comes from someone who has a fresh set of eyes, ears and taste-buds. Your thoughtful review of some of the dining venues on board seems balanced and is well written.

 

I will say that you missed something by not having lunch at least once (which is difficult to do!) at the Dive In. Your in room burger can't be compared to these burgers except on the most opposite ends. But, reason for another cruise, one hopes.

 

Thanks for your time and efforts here. :)

[kftw]

Thank you for your review.

[frankc98376]

Loved your food review- we will be boarding Saturday and made us very happy. Thanks!!

 

So, while we are on the ship you will be out in our neck of "the woods" experiencing our "paradise". Have a GREAT time!!!

Edited September 9, 2015 by frankc98376

[Barrheadlass]

Having read a lot of your precruise posts, I was hoping you'd come back with some comments. I like your style! Thanks for all the info. Have fun off the grid!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review of dining and etc.

Glad you enjoyed the food and service.

Looking forward to the port review.

[jbhcw]

thanks for you review...you writing style is refreshing and informative:) Have sailed the Westerdam twice and enjoyed the ship so much....both times...looking forward to the rest of your review!

[InTheWASide]

 

Before I go on, I'd like to extend a huge thank you to all of those who have griped and whined in these forums, comparing the HAL MDR fare to Applebees and Olive Garden, and the Lido to something worse that Old Country Buffet, for seriously lowering my expectations, thereby making for an extremely pleasant surprise. I don't know where all y'all live, but I want to go to the aforementioned restaurants in your town(s), 'cause none of the ones I've ever been to, though decent fare for the price, could even hope to compare with even the Lido offerings, let alone the MDR!

 

Great review overall and I particularly enjoyed this part :)

[cruiseJMO]

Been a great read so far; looking forward to reading more.

 

Waiters often giggle at me on the many occasions it was apparent I needed to start with coffee in order to get through dinner. I like to do a lot of activities, sunning, or sometimes drinking throughout the day. Dinner time is about when I need that extra boost. All good 😊