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Westerdam Here We Come Again

qsuzi

By qsuzi,
in Holland America Line

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bjarrett7

bjarrett7

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We disembarked from the Westerdam on 9/26 and greatly enjoyed our Alaska itinerary and the ship!! So much so we just cancelled our 12/16 Princess cruise and booked the Westerdam for 12/16!!!

 

Love it! We disembarked from the Westerdam on 9/5 and canceled our January Celebrity Cruise and booked the Westerdam for 1/2!!! We absolutely loved the Westerdam! Can hardly wait for January. [emoji41]

Edited by bjarrett7
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IRL_Joanie

IRL_Joanie

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We disembarked from the Westerdam on 9/26 and greatly enjoyed our Alaska itinerary and the ship!! So much so we just cancelled our 12/16 Princess cruise and booked the Westerdam for 12/16!!!

 

The Westerdam is our 2nd favorite ship:) It is almost up there with our absolute favorite Zuiderdam:)

 

Glad you liked her enough to want to go back!!

 

Now, you can be our spokeswoman for how great she is:)

 

Welcome Home!! We missed you here on the boards:)

 

Joanie

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Lizzie68

Lizzie68

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We disembarked from the Westerdam on 9/26 and greatly enjoyed our Alaska itinerary and the ship!! So much so we just cancelled our 12/16 Princess cruise and booked the Westerdam for 12/16!!!

 

Glad you enjoyed her. The W'dam is also my favourite ship after the 3 fabulous weeks I spent on her this year. I know you enjoyed our Sailaway Gang live thread at the time - all endorsed her as a great ship, and there is something about the captain and all crew that just makes you want to return to her again.:)

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bjarrett7

bjarrett7

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I will be sailing on her December 19. Can I ask you all what makes her so enjoyable?

 

 

This is a very good question! My DH and I were trying to figure this out ourselves. The service and food were excellent. The ship was very well maintained. It's classic and beautiful. The Westerdam is smaller than most mainline ships though she is considered to be midsize. It's like comparing a boutique hotel to a massive resort in a way. Both have food, entertainment, bars etc. I think my DH and I prefer the boutique feel over a shopping mall feel. All of the public spaces were very useable and comfortable as well as warm and inviting. We enjoyed using the public spaces on this ship more than any of our previous cruises.

I was a little anxious about cruising on an older ship especially since the Westerdam was the oldest ship we have cruised on before. That's why it was such a pleasant surprise!

Of course if you looked for it, there was some wear and tear. I didn't care for the wallpaper in the halls and it was peeling in some places.

I think it is important for me to also say that I really don't enjoy large crowds of people. There were times, for example, on Celebrity Reflection that I felt very crowded and couldn't find a chair. The Nieuw Amsterdam was similar, especially the Lido...but not quite as bad. I wasn't sure if a smaller ship would be better or worse! I have to say that we NEVER felt crowded!!!!! Always found a chair!

We had an SS cabin and thought it was fantastic! It might have spoiled us though! In general, we find HAL cabins to be very spacious.

I still really can't put my finger on why we liked it so much. I think it must have been a combination of a lot of different things. Hope this helps.

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Crew News "Live from...." Rare

Crew News

Posted
Posted

Glad to hear you really enjoyed the Westerdam.

 

It is by far the most popular with the crew who try their best to keep sailing on her. A large number of HAL passengers sail the Westerdam over and over again just because of the atmosphere and happy crew.

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qsuzi

qsuzi

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This is a very good question! My DH and I were trying to figure this out ourselves. The service and food were excellent. The ship was very well maintained. It's classic and beautiful. The Westerdam is smaller than most mainline ships though she is considered to be midsize. It's like comparing a boutique hotel to a massive resort in a way. Both have food, entertainment, bars etc. I think my DH and I prefer the boutique feel over a shopping mall feel. All of the public spaces were very useable and comfortable as well as warm and inviting. We enjoyed using the public spaces on this ship more than any of our previous cruises.

I was a little anxious about cruising on an older ship especially since the Westerdam was the oldest ship we have cruised on before. That's why it was such a pleasant surprise!

Of course if you looked for it, there was some wear and tear. I didn't care for the wallpaper in the halls and it was peeling in some places.

I think it is important for me to also say that I really don't enjoy large crowds of people. There were times, for example, on Celebrity Reflection that I felt very crowded and couldn't find a chair. The Nieuw Amsterdam was similar, especially the Lido...but not quite as bad. I wasn't sure if a smaller ship would be better or worse! I have to say that we NEVER felt crowded!!!!! Always found a chair!

We had an SS cabin and thought it was fantastic! It might have spoiled us though! In general, we find HAL cabins to be very spacious.

I still really can't put my finger on why we liked it so much. I think it must have been a combination of a lot of different things. Hope this helps.

Nice job/description! We didn't notice wear and tear just lucky I guess. Staff overall were so friendly and helpful. It's also the little touches like putting your final statement and your immigration information in envelopes, etc.

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qsuzi

qsuzi

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Glad to hear you really enjoyed the Westerdam.

 

It is by far the most popular with the crew who try their best to keep sailing on her. A large number of HAL passengers sail the Westerdam over and over again just because of the atmosphere and happy crew.

 

A big shout out to you Roger for providing me a chart and information about the Westerdam prior to our cruise. It really reduced my stress and helped us get around the ship. It's always great to have some really helpful tips like those you provided.

Edited by qsuzi
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redding

redding

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This is great to know that so many love the Westerdam. While we have sailed on all the other HAL ships, have never been on Westerdam. My husband has us booked on her for Dec. 16th, 2015 for my birthday which is a really big one and now I am looking forward to it even more.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Glad to hear you really enjoyed the Westerdam.

 

It is by far the most popular with the crew who try their best to keep sailing on her. A large number of HAL passengers sail the Westerdam over and over again just because of the atmosphere and happy crew.

 

yes, this ship is the SECOND most popular with passengers and crew.

 

Not the most, but close enough.

 

She has a huge following with crew and passengers and deservedly so, following only the Prinsendam. The second most repeat passenger ratio in the fleet and crew. Prinsendam is first. The only reason the crew leave the P'dam is to get to FLL more and other duty free ports for certain purchases ;)

Edited by kazu
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qsuzi

qsuzi

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yes, this ship is the SECOND most popular with passengers and crew.

 

Not the most, but close enough.

 

She has a huge following with crew and passengers and deservedly so, following only the Prinsendam. The second most repeat passenger ratio in the fleet and crew. Prinsendam is first. The only reason the crew leave the P'dam is to get to FLL more and other duty free ports for certain purchases ;)

 

Kazu, do you have a link to the statistics/information please?

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