Redneck Review of a Caribbean Cruise II: Westie; Blast from the Past

[RedneckBob]

Hi y'all Redneck Bob hear !

 

Well, this is Part II of our great cruise on the Westerdam (Westie), Queen of Toots! If you recall Part I was about our dinner with Captain Eerten.

 

Let's start by saying this was one our best cruises ever on any cruise line. And one thing that made it great was that two days prior to sailing we got a call from Monte Hall, I mean HAL, "Lets Make A Deal". That's right we got an upsell to one of those Planet Suites; HAL calls it a "Neptune", and we took it. And boy was I surprised when we boarded the ship and got to our suite that (1) we were not located under the Lido Pool and (2) no Senior Proof safe like on our cruise in July on the Statendam. Those safes were on the floor and at the back of the cabinet; had to crawl on your hand and knees to open & close.

 

When we sailed out of Port Everglades, the Captain layed on that horn for several minutes. I guess that's why he is the Queen of Toots; wait, I thought he was married with a wife and kids.

 

Everything about this cruise was great; the Suite, the food, the service,the entertainment and the ports of call. In fact HAL has started using these electronic tablets at the MDR and PG to order your food. It was very efficient. I asked the server in the MDR could I have the tablet when we get to San Juan; I like to order a pizza from Domino's !

 

This was a party boat; not like some of those long cruises we have taken. At 10 PM all parts of the ship were hoping; I mean busy.

 

Ports of Call: Grand Turk: never been their but since there was another ship in port we decided to wing it; so I went snorkeling at the beach to look for those erotic fishes under the water. And boy did I see a lot. It was great. And do you know one of those 5 foot barracudas swam within a couple of feet of me. opened his mouth (I assumed it was a he), and showed me his pearly whites. I screamed, "Back off Buddy, do you know who I am; go ahead make my day." Well it backed off. Had fun the rest of snorkeling.

 

San Juan: Great day. Me & the DW, Thelma, went to my favorite place in San Juan; Starbucks for free wifi; but it was not free had to buy a coffee.

 

St. Thomas: We were docked at this place called Crown Bay and the DW decided to stay on ship and I decided to walk to town. And I walked and walked and walked (kinder sounds like Forest Grump) and walked and did not stop until I was at another port with 3 cruise ships. Where was downtown ? I asked a local where was downtown. He said, "RedneckBob. everyone in the islands know who I am, its one mile from hear". Well I had just walked past the town and did not even no it. Got to downtown and found my favorite cafe for free wifi (of course had to purchase drink)

 

Half Moon Caye: very cloudy the day we arrived so me and Thelma got off first to steak our claim. It was great. No one at the beach until a couple hours later. Snorkeled and saw lots of fish.

 

Entertainment: Absolutely the best we seen on HAL. The paino bar player was so good I never could get a seat to hear him.

 

There was this comedian, Kevin Jordan, the best I had seen on a boat except he partially offended Thelma. Kevin performed for 70 minutes without stop and was excellent until it got to this joke about tattoos. He said isn't it a shame how these young folks put tattoos all over their bodies. Just the other day on this ship I saw a lady with a beautiful rose tattoed on her breast. Thelam looked shocked because she had a rose tattoo their. Then Kevin said, in 25 years dont that lady know it will be a long stem rose tattoo :D ! That brought Thelma too tears. I said, " Don't worry Thelma, when we get you those new implants it will look like a dozen roses :eek: !

 

There was a rock in roll piano player. His show was called Rockin Legends. Best I had seen in a long time; but I forgot his name. I told him I would give him a shout out on this hear cruise critic forum. So if anyone remembers his name let me know. Played everything in a rock & roll format from Mozart to Beethoven to Little Richard to Jerry Lee to Elton John to Billy Joel to Lets Part like its 1999 ! What a show !

 

Certainly the highlite of the cruise was dinner with The Captain which I talked about in Part I of my review

 

Look forward to another HAL cruise in the future

 

"I'm RedneckBob and I see it like I tell it, I mean tell it like I see it"

 

(names have been changed to protect the innocent)

[dancourt]

Loved it......thank you.

 

Susan

[Vict0riann]

I keep hearing stories about people getting "upsells" to suites, but I never have been one, so I think it's all a figment of their imaginations! Glad you enjoyed yours. But, I am not a techie, so I'm wondering if it will scare me off to have to order my dinner by tablet.:eek:

 

Keep up the good work! Cruise a lot and give us lots of redneck reports!:)

[kftw]

Thanks for another enjoyable review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Glad you had a great cruise.

[G&G]

Thanks for the funny review. We were also on the Wesrerdam a couple of weeks ago and tried to book the same cruise in 2016 but could not. Ship is being relocated to Mexico cruises :(

 

Something happened on this cruise I had never experienced with HAL besides the use of the electronic tablets at the MDR; no picture of me required at checkin. Apparently HAL had saved our pictures from our cruise in July 2015

[Himself]

Your review was quite cute.

[RedneckBob]

I keep hearing stories about people getting "upsells" to suites, but I never have been one, so I think it's all a figment of their imaginations! Glad you enjoyed yours. But, I am not a techie, so I'm wondering if it will scare me off to have to order my dinner by tablet.:eek:

 

Keep up the good work! Cruise a lot and give us lots of redneck reports!:)

 

 

Thanks

 

This was our 2nd upsell in a row; last one on 14 day Alaska cruise in July15. It happens but have to:

 

1. Be lucky that there are suites still available close to the sailing date.

 

2. Do your homework and keep following up with your TA and HAL as to availability up to cruise date.

 

We were lucky on this cruise. Found out after we got on board that the Neptune Suite we got was from a late cancellation. Stationary in suite was in other passengers name. Also friends of ours who were traveling with us, also in a Neptune Suite, had to cancel two days prior to sailing due to illness. Someone got their suite at the last minute.

[erewhon]

Thanks for the Part II review of your Westerdam cruise.

[POA1]

Thanks Bob!

[IRL_Joanie]

Another Great one!!

 

To those afraid they will be "scared off" by the Tablet system in the MDR, DO NOT BE. You will not be using them, your server will be taking your order on the tablet him/herself not you:) It's electronically transmitted to the Galley, which makes it so much easier and faster (supposedly:D)

 

Joanie

[RedneckBob]

Another Great one!!

 

To those afraid they will be "scared off" by the Tablet system in the MDR, DO NOT BE. You will not be using them, your server will be taking your order on the tablet him/herself not you:) It's electronically transmitted to the Galley, which makes it so much easier and faster (supposedly:D)

 

Joanie

 

Thanks IRLJ !

 

The tablets are great ! You don't see the assistant waiters running back & forth from his station to the kitchen like you use too. And things have gotten much better as far as speed of service at both the PG & MDR.

[G&G]

RedneckBob, did you find out the name of the Rock in Legend singer ?

[Oceanwench]

Don't know about your rock legend entertainer, but you had the one and only Jimmy Maddox in the Piano Bar.

We go two hours early to get seats when he's playing!

 

Our server in the MDR was cute - told us how he had all our info on the tablet, so he knows where we are all the time while on the ship!

[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

Thanks for your review.

They are always so funny, and in these times we can all do with a laugh. :)

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for your review.

Glad you had an enjoyable cruise.

[RedneckBob]

Thanks for your review.

They are always so funny, and in these times we can all do with a laugh. :)

 

Thanks Cruiser 4 Life 66.

 

I try not to be too serious; like Andy of the Andy Griffith Show once said, I just put a little jam on that bread when I'm telling a story.

 

But don't get me wrong; everything I said it my review actually happened while during the cruise.

 

Sometimes these threads get way too serious of confrontational. Who going to argue about that long stem rose tattoo :D