Westerdam July 17-25. Semi-live?

[rubytue]

Well, we have arrived in Seattle and Rainer was out to greet us. My understanding from locals is that is a good sign for the day. Or a pleasant surprise. 
 

as promised, I will review the cabin at the end. I have a slight bit of guilt that I wasn’t able to say hi to @Cruise Suzyin person. But, to go with that internet addict since 1992 thing, I also have a weird quirk that I have my internet persona (Ruby) and my real life me. And despite the fact I fly all my everything online, I like to pretend it’s internet anonymous. You won’t see me as an Insta Influencer 😂

 

So we were in 8138. After right under sky view pool deck. We had limited chair noise, but that’s probably an Alaskan thing. They didn’t have the loungers out until the last day. We were between a suite and a group that opened three cabins of balconies. So, there were often groups on the balconies together. It’s not that anyone was loud or doing anything outside the norm, but the H was saying it wasn’t “balcony quiet.”  Overall, I found the cabin quieter than expected. But I also sleep with ear plugs. 
 

This cabin was different that every other balcony we’ve had in that the bed was closer to the window and the sofa and desk were by the bathroom. We were able to tuck the table into a space between the sofa and closet so, it didn’t get in the way for those midnight trips to the loo. I’m 80% sure the cabin is a bit shorter and the back wall with the window is not square. It’s subtle. But that is why I think things are reversed. 
 

I *loved* the motion sensor lights under the closet and that the bathroom had a built in night light! Perfect for said midnight trips. 

Edited July 24, 2022 by rubytue
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[rubytue]

Our flight home is tomorrow. My brother in law is picking us up at 9am and we are going hiking. Somewhere, not sure where. But, since we will be off the ship in an hour or so, I think I will conclude this semi-live/actually live travel log. 
 

years ago, I worked for the DoD, and there was this one guy who ended every presentation with the following phrase, that is popping in my head:

 

This concludes the briefing; questions now. 

[BetsyS.]

10 minutes ago, rubytue said:

Our flight home is tomorrow. My brother in law is picking us up at 9am and we are going hiking. Somewhere, not sure where. But, since we will be off the ship in an hour or so, I think I will conclude this semi-live/actually live travel log. 
 

years ago, I worked for the DoD, and there was this one guy who ended every presentation with the following phrase, that is popping in my head:

 

This concludes the briefing; questions now. 

Thank you so much for the excellent reporting and beautiful pictures!  I enjoyed them.

Have a good day today and safe travels home.

[BetsyS.]

20 hours ago, Cruise Suzy said:

It may be that we are docked in Victoria for only 4 hours instead of 6 and for 30 minutes less in Ketchikan?????

 

Wish I had checked our account balance before going to the Shops to spend OBC on souvenirs for DGDs. Now I have to go back for another small shopping spree. Darn, life is hard!

 

Yep, today is the saddest of cruise days. Packing. We don't fly until Monday - 7AM flight.

 

 

 

Thanks for all your great reporting. Safe travels home.

[Kristal Blade]

18 hours ago, rubytue said:

Honestly, me neither. It’s an American booze size. Maybe a 5th of a gallon? Google says it’s 750 ml. So, I guess that’s why he said a liter was 25% more. 😂 I don’t do liquor. 

Thanks, bottle sizing is strange here. Wine is in 750ml bottles. Spirits in 700 ml or litre bottles. Milk comes in pints or litres!!

 

But I think we will probably buy a couple of bottles of spirits on board. They may do offers with deals on 2 bottle purchase. They did that on QM2 but we weren’t tempted at that time.

 

Thanks for your report, it really got us excited for our cruise. Safe journey home.

[Cruise Suzy]

We selected the 4th from last luggage group (Gray 3) so we wouldn't arrive at our hotel too soon for free early check-in. All went smoothly until the group of 6 immediately ahead of us didn't have their passports ready. Good thing we weren't in a hurry! Seattle Express uses a bus for those heading to the airport and a van for those heading to hotels. A couple from the Discovery Princess and we got the grand SEA-TAC tour of hotels as we were the last ones dropped off. DH and I were in our room at 10:38. Just going to lounge around today and do a little repacking.

 

Had a great time. Any questions that haven't been asked????

[BetsyS.]

46 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

We selected the 4th from last luggage group (Gray 3) so we wouldn't arrive at our hotel too soon for free early check-in. All went smoothly until the group of 6 immediately ahead of us didn't have their passports ready. Good thing we weren't in a hurry! Seattle Express uses a bus for those heading to the airport and a van for those heading to hotels. A couple from the Discovery Princess and we got the grand SEA-TAC tour of hotels as we were the last ones dropped off. DH and I were in our room at 10:38. Just going to lounge around today and do a little repacking.

 

Had a great time. Any questions that haven't been asked????

I'm sorry if my question has been asked before and I missed the answer.

           If you order room service  dinner from MDR and you have the 

HIA package, are the drinks covered by HIA or are you charged for the

drinks? 

          Thanks in advance for answer.

           I enjoyed all of your reports. Thank you.

           Safe travels home.

[Cruise Suzy]

20 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

If you order room service  dinner from MDR and you have the HIA package, are the drinks covered by HIA or are you charged for the drinks? 

We ordered meals from MDR thru Room Service but got our drinks from a bar. We were just a few doors from the aft elevators and the Sea View Bar was very handy. Got pre-dinner drinks, then ordered meal and had time to go one at a time for drinks to have with entree so there would be someone in the room to let the server in.

 

The beverage packages aren't supposed to cover In-Room Dining. No way for the server to scan your keycard.

Edited July 24, 2022 by Cruise Suzy

[BetsyS.]

1 minute ago, Cruise Suzy said:

We ordered meals from MDR thru Room Service but got our drinks from a bar. We were just a few doors from the aft elevators and the Sea View Bar was very handy. Got pre-dinner drinks, then ordered meal and had time to go one at a time for drinks to have with entree so there would be someone in the room to let the server in.

Thanks very much. I appreciate it.

[Cruise Suzy]

Did you see I added a couple of sentences? 

[BetsyS.]

7 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

Did you see I added a couple of sentences? 

Yes. Thank you. Good to know.

[USN59-79]

I have enjoyed reading of your experiences on the Westerdam.  Mainly to get a feel for the condition of the ship after her long out of service layup.  We were on her for 43 days in 2019 and started a 42 day cruise in 2020 when we were stranded in Cambodia.  We like the ship and have booked another 42 days starting this March, Yokohama back to Seattle.

So your info and pictures are helpful and reassuring that she is still in fine shape with a helpful crew.  Thanks again.

Ray

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Enjoyed your review. And I never knew those tables were adjustable. Thanks for that point.

[JesseLivermore]

3 hours ago, Cruise Suzy said:

We selected the 4th from last luggage group (Gray 3) so we wouldn't arrive at our hotel too soon for free early check-in. All went smoothly until the group of 6 immediately ahead of us didn't have their passports ready. Good thing we weren't in a hurry! Seattle Express uses a bus for those heading to the airport and a van for those heading to hotels. A couple from the Discovery Princess and we got the grand SEA-TAC tour of hotels as we were the last ones dropped off. DH and I were in our room at 10:38. Just going to lounge around today and do a little repacking.

 

Had a great time. Any questions that haven't been asked????

 

Great thread! how is group order (Gray 3) determined? 

 

How was Seattle Express ? debating whether to Uber etc since we will be 6 of us. 

Edited July 24, 2022 by JesseLivermore

[JesseLivermore]

On 7/20/2022 at 9:11 PM, Cruise Suzy said:

 

4 - While there haven't been any really "rough" seas, not all are what I'd call calm. 

 

Will be staying in Observation deck balcony. Will  it  be that much choppier, compared to say middle? Should I ask to switch. Will pack my pack my bonine..

[Cruise Suzy]

13 minutes ago, JesseLivermore said:

Great thread! how is group order (Gray 3) determined? 

 

How was Seattle Express ? debating whether to Uber etc since we will be 6 of us. 

 

The first ones off are those who carry ALL their luggage themselves - no luggage tags needed as they don't put bags out by midnight. Then groups A, B, C, D. Then they started with Pink 1, Pink 2 Pink 3. (At least I think Pink was first.) Then Brown, Gray and Yellow each had 3 numbered groups.  Different ships use different colors. Passengers get to choose which color and group they wish to be in. Those in Neptune & Pinnacle Suites don't have to go to Guest Services to select their tags. Passengers are given a list of colors and corresponding approximate disembarkation times.

 

Seattle Express worked great. (If you are a member of AAA there is a discount.) They can take you to the airport but cannot pick you up there. They can pick you up at airport area hotels and also return you there. You select pickup and return points separately. Many go from hotel to terminal and then from terminal to airport. Or you can reserve a one-way. If you use a ride share (Uber) you must walk a much longer distance to get to their area from the terminal. Seattle Express was far enough - position R, with space A being the closest to the terminal. Porters are available. Taxis are able to pick you up very close to the terminal.

 

 

 

 

[Cruise Suzy]

32 minutes ago, JesseLivermore said:

Will be staying in Observation deck balcony. Will  it  be that much choppier, compared to say middle? Should I ask to switch. Will pack my pack my bonine..

 

While you will feel more motion in the Deck 10 forward cabins than mid-ship on lower decks, it will depend upon the weather how much choppier it is. Open seas can be very calm one day and very, very choppy the next. On an Alaskan cruise, you will notice it more when there are no islands to the west of the ship to act as a buffer.

[JesseLivermore]

24 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

While you will feel more motion in the Deck 10 forward cabins than mid-ship on lower decks, it will depend upon the weather how much choppier it is. Open seas can be very calm one day and very, very choppy the next. On an Alaskan cruise, you will notice it more when there are no islands to the west of the ship to act as a buffer.

 

darn paid extra for the view/ fewer cabins on 10,  thinking that inside passage should be calm vs open seas.

 

Also wanted the extra space since we're fam. of 4. 

 

Fingers crossed or I might just call to switch, which would help get our parents get a better value too (havent' booked)

 

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by JesseLivermore

[Cruise Suzy]

1 minute ago, JesseLivermore said:

thinking that inside passage should be calm vs open seas. Fingers crossed

Are you leaving from Seattle or Vancouver? Seattle departures go west of Vancouver Island.

[JesseLivermore]

2 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

Are you leaving from Seattle or Vancouver? Seattle departures go west of Vancouver Island.

Seattle.  

[JesseLivermore]

Are there public wifi areas? or free access sites/terminals?

[cbr663]

On 7/20/2022 at 10:16 PM, rubytue said:

Seems I’m talking mostly to myself, and @Cruise Suzy, but I’m seeing the hearts, so I know someone is reading. 
 

While I’m thinking about it, I wanted to report on the room service. I was a bit concerned because when we were on the eurodam, we could not get MDR dinner. It’s been no problem here. We call at 4:45 most nights. Sometimes the person taking the order has to fumble for the menu. But then they tell us it’ll be 6:15 or so. Which would be fine. And it shows up at 5:30. Then they call at about 6:30 to make sure we got it and it was good. We love this! And the tray they bring fits perfectly on the oval coffee table (which, if you don’t know, lifts up to table height). When we are done, we put the tray outside (at the request of our room steward, we specific asked him what to do when we are done. And discussed trays in the hall and scooters. But this was what he wanted).  Then we move the table over next to the couch. It fits perfectly there and frees up floor space. 

Love this table.  We always move it out to our balcony to enjoy our room service breakfast every morning.  Actually, this is the number one reason why we will not be returning to the Pinnacle class ship as these tables are not on the Pinnacle class ships.  For us, a quintessential cruise experience is a hot breakfast on the balcony and we really missed it on the K'dam.  So happy to see they are still on the Westie.  

 

Wonderful review.  Thank-you so much for your generosity sharing your adventure.

[oaktreerb]

1 hour ago, JesseLivermore said:

 

darn paid extra for the view/ fewer cabins on 10,  thinking that inside passage should be calm vs open seas.

 

Also wanted the extra space since we're fam. of 4. 

 

Fingers crossed or I might just call to switch, which would help get our parents get a better value too (havent' booked)

 

 

You will not be in the inside passage sailing out of Seattle.  The seas can be rough until you enter the Alaska inside passage between the islands.  You may feel rougher seas on deck 10 forward.  You will also have a smaller balcony on deck 10.  Mid ship locations provide the smoothest sailing.  However, if the seas are rough you will feel them wherever you are on the ship.

 

Vancouver itineraries sail the inside passage between the mainland and Vancouver Island.  That route generally offers the smoothest sailing.

[JesseLivermore]

10 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

You will not be in the inside passage sailing out of Seattle.  The seas can be rough until you enter the Alaska inside passage between the islands.  You may feel rougher seas on deck 10 forward.  You will also have a smaller balcony on deck 10.  Mid ship locations provide the smoothest sailing.  However, if the seas are rough you will feel them wherever you are on the ship.

 

Vancouver itineraries sail the inside passage between the mainland and Vancouver Island.  That route generally offers the smoothest sailing.

 

thx, good to know for future trips

 

I will see if I can switch to lower deck balconies for this trip. Any advantages to Deck 10 that I'm giving up?. I thought it was good for easy access to kids club and sports deck  and fewer cabins?

 

 

[rubytue]

13 hours ago, JesseLivermore said:

 

Are there public wifi areas? or free access sites/terminals?

 

The WiFi with the HIA package worked from almost everywhere. Except the bathrooms near the explorer lounge. But it’s not free. Not are there free terminals. If you don’t have HIA, you will be paying for internet access