Big Al's Review Westerdam Thanksgiving Cruise in FULL this time....

[big al]

Having cruised on Carnival,Princess,RCL,Celebrity,and NCL,my wife & I decided to try HAL & their latest Vista Class ship,The Westerdam for the Thanksgiving hoilday week,11/20-27.I booked an "S" cabin back in January on the Upper Verandah deck-392 sq.ft,100 of which was the verandah,292 which was the cabin itself (although I have doubts about that-cabin seemed more like about 225 sq.ft.later on that)..Yes,I have been told that HAL,similar to Celebrity is often(though not always) older in it's passenger median age area....I am 53 and my wife 51,so we are not youngsters anymore.You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know both HAL & Celebrity are KNOWN for being slightly more mature in this area and certainly not known for being "party" cruises.And that's fine-we are no longer dancing in the discos till 2 or 3 AM..those days are gone.We like to dine early,see the 1st show seating,take a walk outside maybe,have a night cap,then back to our cozy cabin..Those plans all went downhill and I'll get to those in a moment..First,a comment:I notice on many cruise line boards,people don't like it when you "slam" their favorite cruise line or ship.Some people even made a comment on my other post of my sneak preview of the cruise,"to go with an open mind and you'll love the Westerdam""...NOBODY I know is more open minded than me.I am not conservative in ANY way and was looking forward to this cruise despite reading far too many bad reviews in the months prior to our sailing.My cut off number is 70% for an approval rating;that is,out of asking 100 people about the cruise,if 70 said they liked the cruise overall,and 30 or less did not like it,that's pretty safe to me.50/50 IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!! I admit I almost cancelled the cruise,but we decided to try HAL for 2 reasons: 1)We never cruised with HAL and wanted to try it, and 2) We liked the itinerary,especially Tortola,which we had never been to,as well as HMC,which I heard was terrific (which it was!)..I am a Pharmaceutical Rep for 17 years and a P/T cruise agent selling out of my home for 8 years.Here comes the 1st problem:In June,5 months after we booked our cabin,I heard about the cabanas on HMC and decided to rent one.I called HAL and the agent told me "it was way too early to book cabanas and call back maybe in September" .Okay...the day after Labor Day,I called HAL and guess what-that's right,the cabanas were SOLD OUT!! Then the lady told me I was mis-informed about not being able to book the cabanas..she said I should've been able to do that and she was sorry....I was pretty P.O'd,considering I blabbed to my wife that we were going to have a cabana...that was September.Then 5 days (here comes BIG problem #2) before we sailed,I called HAL to find out my dining arrangements.They said "table for 2,as you requested,and 5:45 first seating"..I asked if 6:15 was available,they said no.So we were set,right? Wrong! When I got on the ship,I went to the Explorer's Lounge (that's where you go to check dining) and the man there checked my cabin # and said,"Yes,Mr & Mrs.Benson-table for 2,8 PM..." I just about freaked out.."8 o'clock!!??" I said.."who switched us-we were set for 5:45!" I had told them about my diabetes and I liked to eat early to avoid my suger dropping rapidly (and at home we eat 6-6:30 every night).Just as important,my wife gets up everyday at 5:15 AM,falls asleep on the couch every night about 9

PM,needs her 7-8 hours.That meant we would have to see the shows (which she loves) at 10:30 now-WAY too late....I was very angry and did not look forward to telling her.And she was angry too,now.So here we are on the so-called new HAL ship,known for it's service & food & elegance.They put us on a waiting list,we were # 15 at 5:45,but as you can guess,nothing happened...Bad start.Here we go...ship is beautiful,very clean.We had cabin #6076.Nice cabin,great balcony with nice chairs,teak table.Big enough for 6-8 people.Bathroom w/ jacuzzi tub and shower stall,though if you're 6"4 and 250 lbs., I wouldn't want to be in there.Water pressure very weak.Double sinks.Closet space a little tight,but not bad.A/C fantastic.I keep the cabin like the arctic circle,especially when we sleep.Cabin Steward Farid was terrific,one of the top 2 or 3 we've ever had.LIDO BUFFET:this was very good,better than average.There are sections you can go to,I.E.,Italian,Chinese,French and lines were not bad.We found beverage service a bit slow at lunch time.Vista Dining Room: Nice looking,2 tiers.Dinnerware very nice.Main waiter Gede was also very good and friendly...Wine steward very good as well.Food was overall bland and very small portions,probably smallest we've ever seen on any ship.Rack of Pork 1st night was mediocre.Turkey dinner on Thanksgiving was fair and side portions of stuffing,mashed potatoes,etc., were the size of a quarter.Because we were starving by 6-7 PM,we often went to the Lido to grab a slice of pizza to hold us over,more importantly,to get my sugar level up..Bread very good.Desserts not bad,but I find 95% of desserts on cruise ships are not to my liking(chocolate,key lime pie,coconut cream pie,uuumm,that's my style-except the sugar part!!).That's OK,I don't cruise for desserts and they're bad for me anyway......All the other cruise lines I mentioned we felt had better food. Entertainment: The main shows were OK,but the smaller lounges & bars were pretty bad.Illusionist Leo Ward from England was very good and funny.There was a black female R & B singer who did lots of Motown,Whitney Houston,Bette Midler,Steisand,etc.I thought her best number was Judy Collin's "Send In The Clowns".I thought many of the senior passengers were not exactly thrilled with her because she had a loud,somewhat wailing type voice that some people find that it is screaming more than singing..many either left or we saw about 6-7 people near us asleep......The 2 main shows by the cast were good,not great.I liked the 2nd show better,a trip through alot of broadway/movie famous hit songs.I sang karoeke,and dedicated it all the CC people I had met Monday in the Crow's Nest at 2PM,not sponsored by HAL,despite urging from a few CC members who met with Michelle,the CD,who apparently did absolutely nothing for CC (sad with 77 cc members and lots of $$$ ).. Pool area: A big weakness and her's why-we usually on all other cruise ships lounge a deck above the main pool deck because it's easier to find lounge chairs AND not as crowded.Guess what?No 2nd pool deck!! Why?The main pool has a rectractable roof,so there are tracks upstairs and NO place to sit..I was stunned..1st time that's ever happened for us.So we went to the aft pool.Nice layout,but if you don't get there early (same as main pool too),the TOWEL HOGS will shut you out....The 2 hot tubs in the aft area were the smallest I've ever seen.Room for 2 adult men,maybe 3 women(though I doubt it)..of course it was filled with small children most of the time,but here's the problem:both hot tubs were broken( no jets working,just like a bathtub) 75% of the cruise,and one was broken 95% of the time.I told a dozen people,2 of whom were officers..all said the same thing,"I'll tell maintenence"...never fixed,but I like sitting in a hot tub,and NOT with 20 kids in a bath of tepid water.....service was not bad at the aft pool...

Bars/lounges...there were several nice lounges/bars on the Westerdam.The Explorer's Lounge was nice and most nights they cook flambe there about 7-8 PM don't miss it,it's scrumptious!!Piano Bar lounge was nice,had a singer in there who did trivia,Elvis,Beatles,Billy Joel,etc...Northern Lights was the disco & karoeke area,nice but a bit small & tight for me....Casino also small and Blackjack dealers were incredibly lucky,too lucky for me-I played 10 hands,realized they were not beatable,lost $30 and left,never played again.Dealers from Hell.......Forgot to mention the Pinnacle Grill.Ate there twice.First night wonderful service,had the porterhouse steak(huge),crab cakes for appetizer (very tiny!) and the legendary Volcano Cake for dessert.Let me tell what a dissapointment that cake was.I am a chocoholic,and although I don't eat it as much now because of my diabetes,ONCE in a while,I let it rip!!!!It was small and very mild.Kind of more like a chocolate sponge cake.I can safely say I've eaten dozens and dozens of chocolate desserts better.TooJays,a local chain Deli here in South Florida,has much better desserts!!Second night we ate,service was VERY SLOW...how's 45 minutes for our salad!! 60-70 minutes till our entrees!!I had Filet Mignon-good news is it was perfect!!Well worth the measely $20 PP.....The P.G was 10 times better than the main dining room.If you're not patient,this place is not for you..

I won't go over the islands,but I will say The Baths in Tortola was wonderful,though the actual beach there is rocky and overrated .St.Maarten we went to MAHO Beach,the beach by the airport and quite an experience.If you don't like loud noises (like the jets coming down right above you!) this is also not for you.Best liqueur prices anywhere..Bailey's 1 leter $12.95!! Vodka $5!!! Cointreau $15!!!HMC was absolutely magnificent!!Water crystal blue and sand so soft!!!

Finally the Cruise Director Michelle.This is a bit of a sore point for people on my other thread.BUT I will say it again-She was nothing special,she was NOT funny (at all),laughed at her own lame jokes (all of which I had heard),and although seemed nice enough,I would NEVER tell anybody not to miss her because she's dynamic,entertaining,etc...John Heald,who was on the Carnival Triumph when we saw him,was so funny,I bought his video of his routines & games at the end of our cruise.Some people say a CD does not/should not be entertaining or funny.Well,that's good because she was neither......my wife,who loves these cruise shows,said Michelle was sweet,but boring.The guy on the AOS in May was probably worse.To me,the CD represents the ship and their entertainment-coming out and saying,"so are you having a good time?" or "did you have fun today in Tortola?" is not my idea of of entertainment. It sounds more like a teacher talking to 2nd grade students...Neither is telling me what's going on tonight in each lounge.I can read,I want someone to either make me laugh,or give me info I don't already know......This is getting long and I'm sorry..if you have any specific questions let me know.Hi to all my CC people I met..Hope you like my 'Wanderer" song I di in karoeke..they asked me to be in the Superstar finals,but it was too complicated and very late for my wife (11:30 PM)..good news is several people told me I might've won.I've won before on Carnival & NCL (one for stand-up comedy,one for singing)..REMEMBER-these are solely my opinions and observations-can't speak for anybody else.We had a good time.We love cruising.We love the high seas.Each cruise line & ship has it's strength and weaknesses.Most of the things that went wrong or we thought were weaknesses are very important to us.To make up for the 2 big mistakes I mentioned at the beginning,HAL will have to lure me with something very special if they want us to cruise with them again-They owe us one.....

 

Big Al

Still Cruising After All These Years

[rubrrick]

Big Al..........again thanks for the review. Two things, first, and I know that you corrected yourself on another thread, you had an "SS" cabin, not an "S" cabin. As a TA you know the difference.

Second, what did your documents show for your seating time. I know that when I receive my documents, I go over every detail of the cruise. If your documents had shown "early main seating" and they gave you 8:30, why didn't you show your ticket to the maitre'D, and if he couldn't help, I would have been at Guest Relations, then to the Hotel Manager.

My DW and I will be aboard on 12/4 and will be interested in comparing notes. This will be our 3 HAL cruise and 36th total. We are having our own CC get together, doing a sail away from Nassau. Hearing what you have said about the CD, I won't waste my time contacting her.

We look forward to some relaxation and, as always, are excited to be cruising again.

 

Rick

[HeatherInFlorida]

Big Al, I mean no disrespect whatsoever because I'd really be interested in reading your review, but your format with no paragraphs at all and often no spaces between sentences is virtually almost impossible for some of us to read so I'm going to have to skip it.

 

I'm disappointed, but I really do wish you'd broken it up just a bit.

[grannynurse]

I agree with Heather. Reading was very difficult because of the lack of breaks.

 

I, too, wonder why you didn't check your cruise documents for your assigned seating. There is also in-cabin confirmation of your seating, and recently they have started telling you at check-in at the pier.

 

As a TA, you should know that follow-up is important. Medical conditions should be accompanied by a letter from your physician stating your need for early seating.

 

I'm sorry that you were disappointed with your cruise.

GN

[gizmo]

Big Al,

 

Thanks for the full review. :)

[Oceanwench]

I have to agree with Heather.

 

When something is written in such a run-on fashion with no paragraph breaks, it is difficult to read.

 

As far as dining times, you should have been accommodated due to your medical condition. HAL has a whole department dedicated to working with people with special needs.

 

DH has to eat early due to similar circumstances, and we have always been able to book the early seating. If there had been some error in our assignment, we would have gone to the appropriate person to have it changed. HAL has always gone above and beyond to meet our needs, which is why we continue to sail with them.

[Cruisin Kay D]

Big Al, why don't you reprint your review with the suggested paragraphing so it can be read? I too have not waded through it. Our B2B on W 11/6 & 11/13 was our 1st & 2nd HAL cruises with 12 previously on Prin & RC and everything was nearly perfect for us!!

 

My only (minor) complaint was the high price of internet at 75 cents per minute, when I've been on other lines using it at 25-35 cents per minutes or lower!!!! HAL has contracted with an outside vendor that is totally insensitive!!! Although I was on ship for 2 wks I found their "packages" outrageous offerings and something that would be hard to use up!!! PLUS it was "out of order" for half the 2nd wk.

[DMorris]

Thanks for the review...

 

For those that are having an issue reading it... just a suggestion, you can copy and paste in word to double space it for easier reading. It was great reading.