Live(ish) from Westerdam Xmas/NY cruise from Auckland 20Dec22

[OzKiwiJJ]

Verdict - Cabin

 

Our Signature Suite, which is essentially a mini-suite, was one of the nicest cabins we've ever been in. It was a different configuration to Princess minisuites (which are long so bath/closet, bed, sitting area, balcony). The Westerdam cabin was wider. Entering our cabin the bathroom was to the right and the left side had three side-by-side wardrobes. Two of these were very clever as they could be configured to suit - the lower and middle shelves could be folded back giving the option of long hanging spaces or extra shelved. The third wardrobe had the safe and fixed shelves. One really nice feature was a heavy curtain that pulled our from a slot at the end of the wardrobes so any light seepage from the door or bathroom nightlight was blocked off from the sleeping area. There were a couple of solid hooks on the wall, one of which worked perfectly for our shoe hanger.

 

The bed was behind the bathroom then a unit with fridge, drawers, shelves, and desk space under a small window. There was a desk with drawers on the wardrobe side, then the very comfortable sofa with the large TV above it (weird!), and a small side table. Floor to ceiling windows and the door to the balcony filled in the remaining side. The whole area felt more spacious but the downside was that there wasn't the spatial separation from bedroom and sitting area as there is on Princess.

 

There was US power points and USB ports at either side of the bed. US and EU power points by the desk and also by the window unit.

 

The bed was the most comfortable I've ever slept in, and the duvet was light yet warm. 

 

The air-conditioning actually worked properly, cooling the cabin sufficiently at night for me on the coldest setting but easily changed to a warmer setting during the day. It coped with a hot Melbourne day with no trouble.

 

The balcony was covered and was large and deep with two very comfortable, cushioned loungers and footrests, plus a decent sized table.

 

The bathroom had a separate shower cubicle, plus a shower over the bath. Shower curtains on both but they didn't cling. I found the separate shower cubicle a bit too small given the shower head faced out towards the curtain so used the shower over the bath for the rest of the cruise. The vanity unit was big, with twin basins and plenty of counter space, a drawer between the sinks, and a low shelf under the whole vanity.

 

The only annoying thing was the extremely bright, white nightlight in the bathroom which came on as soon as the main lights were turned off. It was far too bright and could cause sleep issues for some people (like me). I stuck my cat magnet on it which was just big enough to block all but a little of the light.

 

Entrance

 

Bathroom

 

Left side of cabin

 

Right side of cabin

[onlyslightlymad]

On 12/24/2022 at 9:57 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

This is the Westerdam version of Australian pavlova:

 

 

Ah, there's your issue.  You should have asked for a NZ pavlova.

 

[onlyslightlymad]

18 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Verdict - Cabin

 

Our Signature Suite, which is essentially a mini-suite, was one of the nicest cabins we've ever been in. It was a different configuration to Princess minisuites (which are long so bath/closet, bed, sitting area, balcony). The Westerdam cabin was wider. Entering our cabin the bathroom was to the right and the left side had three side-by-side wardrobes. Two of these were very clever as they could be configured to suit - the lower and middle shelves could be folded back giving the option of long hanging spaces or extra shelved. The third wardrobe had the safe and fixed shelves. One really nice feature was a heavy curtain that pulled our from a slot at the end of the wardrobes so any light seepage from the door or bathroom nightlight was blocked off from the sleeping area. There were a couple of solid hooks on the wall, one of which worked perfectly for our shoe hanger.

 

The bed was behind the bathroom then a unit with fridge, drawers, shelves, and desk space under a small window. There was a desk with drawers on the wardrobe side, then the very comfortable sofa with the large TV above it (weird!), and a small side table. Floor to ceiling windows and the door to the balcony filled in the remaining side. The whole area felt more spacious but the downside was that there wasn't the spatial separation from bedroom and sitting area as there is on Princess.

 

There was US power points and USB ports at either side of the bed. US and EU power points by the desk and also by the window unit.

 

The bed was the most comfortable I've ever slept in, and the duvet was light yet warm. 

 

The air-conditioning actually worked properly, cooling the cabin sufficiently at night for me on the coldest setting but easily changed to a warmer setting during the day. It coped with a hot Melbourne day with no trouble.

 

The balcony was covered and was large and deep with two very comfortable, cushioned loungers and footrests, plus a decent sized table.

 

The bathroom had a separate shower cubicle, plus a shower over the bath. Shower curtains on both but they didn't cling. I found the separate shower cubicle a bit too small given the shower head faced out towards the curtain so used the shower over the bath for the rest of the cruise. The vanity unit was big, with twin basins and plenty of counter space, a drawer between the sinks, and a low shelf under the whole vanity.

 

The only annoying thing was the extremely bright, white nightlight in the bathroom which came on as soon as the main lights were turned off. It was far too bright and could cause sleep issues for some people (like me). I stuck my cat magnet on it which was just big enough to block all but a little of the light.

 

Entrance

 

Bathroom

 

Left side of cabin

 

Right side of cabin

Thank you for posting this.  It's very helpful as we've been considering trying Holland America too

 

[sewgood]

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the cabin. The bathroom looks great.

 

I can see what you mean about the TV above the lounge. We had a obstructed view cabin and the lounge was on the same side as the bed which was better for viewing the TV from the lounge.

 

We found those two wall hooks great as well. Perhaps this is one thing that Princess could add to their cabins.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Verdict - Dining

 

Breakfast

Usually we prefer to have breakfast in the MDR (unless we sleep in later than intended) but after two breakfasts in the MDR we went to the buffet every morning. The breakfast service in the MDR was slower than we liked and there weren't any decent fresh fruit options - the grapefruit was dry and tasteless, and the fresh fruit plate was mostly watermelon and mushy banana (inedible to me). The buffet had plenty of choice of fruit, although no whole fruit was available on port days - I guess they've had problems in the past with people trying to take whole fruit ashore despite the warnings.

 

The buffet was a bit confusing. There were three main hot sections on each side. They all had a few of the same things - scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, hash browns, two types of bacon - but one did poached eggs including Eggs Benedict, one did fried eggs, and the other did pancakes and waffles. If you wanted fried or poached eggs you had to go to the right section. There was also some Asian options at one end, toast at one or two places, cereals, processed fruit, cheese etc. 

 

The bacon is not deep fried! It's cooked on a big hotplate. Not super-crispy but it tasted like bacon. The fried eggs varied depending on who you got manning the hot plate. They cooked them to order but they often ended up a bit messy, and over easy was anything from undercooked to medium cooked.

 

There were tea and brewed coffee stations at each end but no espresso bar - the waiters had to go up to the Explorations Bar to get espresso. Sometimes it arrived in a proper cup, other times in a paper takeaway cup. They kept running out of English Breakfast teabags.

 

The saving grace of the buffet was the great ocean views. The main part of the buffet seating had very large and heavy chairs with wooden arms and it was difficult to move around them without hitting your legs on the arms. Eventually we discovered the Canaletto end of the buffet area which had more comfortable chairs that were easier to move and less dangerous to legs.

 

Lunch

 

We tried the MDR a couple of times. Apart from two daily specials the menu didn't change, and it wasn't a menu that appealed to me being mostly a variation on American salads, burgers, etc. I tried some of the smaller options one day - soup, calamari, and spring rolls (I think) but wouldn't want to eat them every day. I also tried the Croque Monsieur and it was the most disgusting version I have ever tasted. One bite was enough. Thick cakey slices of bread (poor quality brioche?), hot yellow mustard, wafer thin slices of cheese and ham, and gluggy bechamel sauce. I notice a guy at a nearby table also didn't like it.

 

We also tried the Christmas Brunch but it was really mostly fancy breakfast things apart from one roast lamb dish. I tried a mushroom crepe which wasn't very nice.

 

After that we had lunch in the buffet. There was a great salad bar but I quickly learnt to ask for dressing on the side otherwise they would dump a whole ladleful on your salad drowning it. Oddly enough they never had celery or cucumber, but had shredded celeriac which was very refreshing. There were some great curries occasionally but I found the other Asian selections a bit too bland. There were some lovely premade sandwiches and baguettes, and sandwiches could be made to order - they have a yummy egg mix. The pizza was OK but the pasta dish I tried once was tasteless. The hot selections never looked appealing and the few I tried weren't very hot.

 

Afternoon Tea

 

We tried this a couple of times but it was underwhelming. Bland sandwiches, dry scones, and a few miscellaneous sweet selections.

 

Dinner

 

We had Main (late) Traditional Dining and were very lucky both in our table allocation (one of the best overlooking the wake) and our table companions (a Canadian couple  and a Kiwi couple). 

 

In the main the quality of the food was good. There were a only couple of dishes that weren't as nice as I expected but most were tasty. The appetisers were very small, especially compared with Princess ie one tiny crab cake instead of two. The salads were bigger than expected and very fresh. French Onion soup was on the menu almost every day, along with another soup. There was a reasonably good selection of mains and a small selection of desserts, and you could always request a cheese plate which was excellent.

 

Lobster was always available on the menu for an upcharge (Grrr!), except on the New Years Eve dressy dinner where it was offered as surf and turf. 

 

They did a very nice Christmas dinner with turkey and plum pudding, and Christmas crackers on the table.

 

Service was a big problem. Our waiters were lovely and tried very hard but they were clearly overworked as there were too many big tables in their section. On a couple of occasions we had to wait longer than acceptable to have our orders taken. On several occasions they would get the orders wrong and had to quickly rectify them, sometimes having to rush to the kitchen for the correct items.

 

Wine service was also a big problem. We had the Have It All package so were having wines by the glass. It took several days to train our waiters to understand we wanted wines with our food and often a different wine with our main course. Sometimes our first glass of wine would arrive quickly then it would be ages until the appetiser was served. Our table companions just bought bottled wine packages so had the bottles on the table and could top up their own glasses when they liked.

 

The Main dining time was 7:45pm and we rarely left the dining room before 9:45pm, partly due to slow service but partly due to the good company and lively conversations. 

 

Canaletto

 

The Canaletto speciality restaurant is in one corner of the buffet area but closed off at night and didn't appear to get much noise flowing from the buffet. As mentioned earlier it has better seating and more tables for two than the buffet. 

 

We had one complimentary dinner here as part of the Have It All package, but we liked it so much we went back the night we left Melbourne - a wise choice that night as we had fantastic views as we went through the heads of Port Phillip Bay.

 

It has a great menu with lots of tempting choices. The Beef Carpaccio is one of the best I've ever had - I liked it so much I had it both times. The Branzino (sea bass) was excellent, as was the Scalopine alla Caprese. As well as the standard mains they had one dish that varied each day of the week. Rolf enjoyed his selections - I think he tried the Veal and Sage meatballs and the Veal Saltimbocca special the first time, and the Beef Carpaccio and Braised Beef Short Rib Gnocchi the second time. 

 

We did have some service issues with drinks. I wanted a second glass of red wine with my appetiser on the first visit as I'd drunk most of my first glass with the pre-dinner nibbles, however it didn't arrive in time. I was able to change my order to a white to go with the Branzino.

 

On our second visit we got smart and had Bellinis with the nibbles, then ordered a bottle of Barbera for the meal (at $11 discount because we had the package). We ordered Grappa after our meal and they tried to serve us port. Ah no, Grappa isn't red! Eventually they figured it out and it was a decent Grappa.

 

Caneletto was definitely the best dining experience on Westerdam for us.

 

Pinnacle Grill

 

This meal was also part of the Have It All package.

 

The Pinnacle Grill is on one side of the Atrium on deck 2. It's well separated from the Atrium though so should be a pleasant place to dine but unfortunately we were given the worst table in the restaurant. Right next to a service area with no views.

 

We both chose the Lobster Bisque as a starter. The bisque had good flavour but was a little too thick and gluggy for my taste. There were some small dry stringy bits of lobster in the bowl before the bisque was poured in which didn't really add any extra flavour.

 

For a main we both chose the Beef Tenderloin with Lobster Dumplings. This was a standout dish. A superbly cooked thick piece of tenderloin and the dumplings were delicious too. However it was a huge serve and neither of us could finish our portions although we tried our hardest.

 

I had the chocolate souffle for dessert. It was very chocolately but heavier than what I expect a souffle to be, more like a cross between a souffle and a lava cake. Rolf had the Not So Classic Baked Alaska which was very good but nothing special.

 

We ordered two glasses of wine to start. The waiter served Rolf his glass then disappeared. Um, where is mine? Eventually our waiter showed up and immediately saw the problem. It was rectified very quickly. We had no problems getting a red wine to match the mains, thank goodness.

 

Unfortunately the ambiance wasn't the greatest, mostly due to the location of our table, so we didn't linger after our meal. 

 

Overall

 

The dining experiences were a bit disappointing. Good company at dinner made up for the problems there, and Canaletto was excellent despite the minor drinks issues, but the rest was not as good as expected.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, onlyslightlymad said:

Ah, there's your issue.  You should have asked for a NZ pavlova.

 

🤣🤣🤣

 

They didn't have it on the menu!

 

Anyway I have more sense than to order a cruise ship pavlova - that one was ordered by one of our table companions. They did have big ones that looked like they might have been real pavlova in the buffet but, alas, they were thin circles of dry meringue dressed up to look like the real thing.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, sewgood said:

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the cabin. The bathroom looks great.

 

I can see what you mean about the TV above the lounge. We had a obstructed view cabin and the lounge was on the same side as the bed which was better for viewing the TV from the lounge.

 

We found those two wall hooks great as well. Perhaps this is one thing that Princess could add to their cabins.

Yes, it was useful to have a couple of really solid hooks. Our shoe hanger fits in the open Princess closets but was too wide for the Westerdam ones as they had doors on them so one of the big hooks was ideal for that. The other was used when they brought back our laundry. We bring magnetic hooks for light stuff like hats.

[SilvertoGold]

Julie

 

Wonderful review! Very interesting and informative. About the bright night light IN the bathroom?  The photos shows a light in the hallway so I am a bit confused.  I know the Vista ships have a nightlight in the bathroom, but with the door closed it does not impact the main part of the stateroom. The one on the Noordam was very low light and was great.

 

Did you have the long photo-eye night light strip on the floor under the cupboards?

[shuyak]

16 hours ago, paulvdb1 said:

NOTE - try to do these attractions without a tour as the timings on some of those cruise tours are way off. Zeelandia was great but I would've liked another hour - bus driver was too slow and burnt up our visit time. Te Papa was great but tour guide spent too long on unimportant items so we broke off that tour

 

@paulvdb1, can you please clarify if you took an organized excursion to Zealandier and Te Papa?  Is the Te Papa tour you mentioned the 1 hr introduction tour?

 

We plan to DYI  Zealandier (w/ its 2 hr Day Tour) and Te Papa (considering its 1 hr Introducing Tour).

 

Thank you for the feedback!

Edited January 5, 2023 by shuyak

[shuyak]

@OzKiwiJJ, thank you for this very informational thread!

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Julie

 

Wonderful review! Very interesting and informative. About the bright night light IN the bathroom?  The photos shows a light in the hallway so I am a bit confused.  I know the Vista ships have a nightlight in the bathroom, but with the door closed it does not impact the main part of the stateroom. The one on the Noordam was very low light and was great.

 

Did you have the long photo-eye night light strip on the floor under the cupboards?

I didn't notice any light strip under the cupboards. 

 

I didn't take a photo of the bathroom nightlight. It is a small bright white light in the middle of the ceiling, possible an ultra-bright LED light. It doesn't impact the main part of the stateroom but can be a problem for people with sleep issues who avoid turning on bathroom lights if they wake in the middle of the night. I use my Kindle on a low light setting as my night time light source instead. I've heard of people who use LED tealights for the the same purpose but the flickering of those irritates me. 

 

It's a bit complicated to explain but suffice to say if I get exposed to bright lights in the middle of the night it can take 2-3 hours before I get back to sleep and that's the last thing I want if I've got an early start for an excursion on a cruise.

[MMDown Under]

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I didn't notice any light strip under the cupboards. 

 

I didn't take a photo of the bathroom nightlight. It is a small bright white light in the middle of the ceiling, possible an ultra-bright LED light. It doesn't impact the main part of the stateroom but can be a problem for people with sleep issues who avoid turning on bathroom lights if they wake in the middle of the night. I use my Kindle on a low light setting as my night time light source instead. I've heard of people who use LED tealights for the the same purpose but the flickering of those irritates me. 

 

It's a bit complicated to explain but suffice to say if I get exposed to bright lights in the middle of the night it can take 2-3 hours before I get back to sleep and that's the last thing I want if I've got an early start for an excursion on a cruise.

I understand as the same thing happens to me.  I always wake up as bright as a button, which you dont want in the middle of the night.  (Unless you are on Luminosa where you can get a made to order pizza to enjoy with a hot cup of tea.)

[paulvdb1]

4 hours ago, shuyak said:

 

@paulvdb1, can you please clarify if you took an organized excursion to Zealandier and Te Papa?  Is the Te Papa tour you mentioned the 1 hr introduction tour?

 

We plan to DYI  Zealandier (w/ its 2 hr Day Tour) and Te Papa (considering its 1 hr Introducing Tour).

 

Thank you for the feedback!

We did the tour that includes both together - but nowhere near enough time is allocated to Zeelandia. Doing them separately is best. Zeelandia is best unrushed.  The Te Papa tour guide simply hadn't worked out how much time to explain each item so you'd have 30 min explaining their carpet art in one section then 5 min on Kiwi birds - could be different for different guides of course. 

[paulvdb1]

19 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I didn't notice any light strip under the cupboards. 

 

I didn't take a photo of the bathroom nightlight. It is a small bright white light in the middle of the ceiling, possible an ultra-bright LED light. It doesn't impact the main part of the stateroom but can be a problem for people with sleep issues who avoid turning on bathroom lights if they wake in the middle of the night. I use my Kindle on a low light setting as my night time light source instead. I've heard of people who use LED tealights for the the same purpose but the flickering of those irritates me. 

 

It's a bit complicated to explain but suffice to say if I get exposed to bright lights in the middle of the night it can take 2-3 hours before I get back to sleep and that's the last thing I want if I've got an early start for an excursion on a cruise.

In Noordam there was the movement sensored led strip in the hallway, and the VERY bright light in the bathroom. We did however have a curtain to draw across the hallway to limit the affect on others in the cabin. 

[paulvdb1]

16 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Overall

 

The dining experiences were a bit disappointing. Good company at dinner made up for the problems there, and Canaletto was excellent despite the minor drinks issues, but the rest was not as good as expected.

I had been told that HAL was the best for food and a key reason to cruise this line - I have to say I was underwhelmed as well. I could find individual items that were great but many items that just weren't all that well thought out - so not really poor cooking, but more like "what on earth was the head chef thinking?"

[OzKiwiJJ]

54 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I understand as the same thing happens to me.  I always wake up as bright as a button, which you dont want in the middle of the night.  (Unless you are on Luminosa where you can get a made to order pizza to enjoy with a hot cup of tea.)

If you don't use a lighted Kindle to read then I suggest you get a book light that has two settings to use as a torch. The low setting is ideal, just enough light to see where you are going but not enough to disturb your sleep patterns. I used to use one of those before I got one of the lighted Kindles. Never use a phone flashlight! 

 

Incidentally the Kindle lights are a special sort of light layer, quite unique. You can adjust the brightness but I find a setting around 8 is perfect for reading and as a night light when I need one. My sleep has been much better since I bought one seven years ago.

[shuyak]

56 minutes ago, paulvdb1 said:

In Noordam there was the movement sensored led strip in the hallway, and the VERY bright light in the bathroom. We did however have a curtain to draw across the hallway to limit the affect on others in the cabin. 

 

Motion sensor under the closet (across from the bathroom) will lit when one walk by in both Zuiderdam and Nieuw Amsterdam.  Used the curtain as well (pic from Zuiderdam)

 

 

 

50 minutes ago, paulvdb1 said:

I had been told that HAL was the best for food and a key reason to cruise this line - I have to say I was underwhelmed as well.

 

We had exactly same impression on our first HAL Cruise/Tour/Cruise in June, 2022.

Edited January 5, 2023 by shuyak

[OzKiwiJJ]

45 minutes ago, paulvdb1 said:

I had been told that HAL was the best for food and a key reason to cruise this line - I have to say I was underwhelmed as well. I could find individual items that were great but many items that just weren't all that well thought out - so not really poor cooking, but more like "what on earth was the head chef thinking?"

I'm wondering if there have been cutbacks since the pandemic, or perhaps supply issues. After a while the menu choices seemed to be variations on a basic theme rather than well considered dishes in their own right. Some worked, some didn't. There were some very nice menu items though but it wasn't consistent. Even the plating wasn't consistent - one night five of our table of six chose the same appetiser - a very nice salad with blue cheese. There was at least three variations on the plating of that dish.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, shuyak said:

 

Motion sensor under the closet (across from the bathroom) will lit when one walk by in both Zuiderdam and Nieuw Amsterdam.  Used the curtain as well (pic from Zuiderdam)

 

 

That would have driven me crazy! We had something like that on Ruby Princess once, it was so bright it woke me when Rolf went to the bathroom in the middle of the night even though I use an eye mask to sleep. The steward blocked the sensor with towels after I complained.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, paulvdb1 said:

In Noordam there was the movement sensored led strip in the hallway, and the VERY bright light in the bathroom. We did however have a curtain to draw across the hallway to limit the affect on others in the cabin. 

A magnet about the size of a 20 cent coin solves the bathroom light issue. Place it so just a little light seeps around the edge and it's perfect.

 

This cat magnet worked well for me.

[SilvertoGold]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I didn't notice any light strip under the cupboards. 

 

I didn't take a photo of the bathroom nightlight. It is a small bright white light in the middle of the ceiling, possible an ultra-bright LED light. It doesn't impact the main part of the stateroom but can be a problem for people with sleep issues who avoid turning on bathroom lights if they wake in the middle of the night. I use my Kindle on a low light setting as my night time light source instead. I've heard of people who use LED tealights for the the same purpose but the flickering of those irritates me. 

 

It's a bit complicated to explain but suffice to say if I get exposed to bright lights in the middle of the night it can take 2-3 hours before I get back to sleep and that's the last thing I want if I've got an early start for an excursion on a cruise.

Julie  I understand what you are saying. Thanks for the explanation. I've never seen those really bright lights in the bathroom.  Luckily the nightlight in the bathrooms I have seen have been very low light and so, fine for me.  

[SilvertoGold]

Anyone who doesn't like the lightstrip on the floor under the closets can put down a bath towel folded just right and block it completely.

HAL has had a lot of supply chain problems since start-up. Most lines probably have had some, too.

Food portions on HAL are smaller than pre-pandemic for sure and quality has been somewhat affected, too.  As well, HAL was using the same menus fleetwide this summer/autumn and it got old fsst when doing 6 weeks of different cruises.

Not sure if Carnival Corp is trying to fade out HAL, as suggested, maybe combine it into another line?

[boeckli]

4 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Julie  I understand what you are saying. Thanks for the explanation. I've never seen those really bright lights in the bathroom.  Luckily the nightlight in the bathrooms I have seen have been very low light and so, fine for me.  

 

I had a balcony cabin on Westerdam and found the night light in the ceiling just to be the right brightness (certainly not ultra-bright). I found the under-closet lightstrip quite helpful but can see that it may not be for everyone (easy to remedy as described above).

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, boeckli said:

 

I had a balcony cabin on Westerdam and found the night light in the ceiling just to be the right brightness (certainly not ultra-bright). I found the under-closet lightstrip quite helpful but can see that it may not be for everyone (easy to remedy as described above).

Unless you suffer from insomnia you probably wouldn't even notice the brightness of those lights. But once you've learnt about various techniques to help insomnia you become very aware of things like that and you also learn by experience as to what works for you or not. Rolf can sleep through anything and bright lights don't bother him at all but me ...😟

[OzKiwiJJ]

Verdict - Bars, Lounges, Theatre, Entertainment

 

Explorations Bar / Crows Nest.

For some odd reason HAL has put the only espresso machines on the ship into an area with limited seating for the best views forward, a few cafe-style tables and some weird combinations of soft chairs and sofas. Also in this area is the library, or at least some bookshelves, a room set up with rows of seating lecture-style, the games area with big jigsaw puzzle tables, chess/draughts tables, a few other tables, and the Excursions Desk.  

 

Now in my world libraries are quiet areas. Jigsaws and chess are also quiet pursuits. But there were plenty of other noisy games provided as well. Add in the constant noise from the cafe/bar and this wasn't a pleasant place to sit even if you could find a seat somewhere, especially in the mornings when the morning coffee crowd wanted their super-sized takeaway cups of fancy coffee. It wasn't so bad in the late afternoons during sailaways.

 

Now in my world if you have a cafe with espresso machines it's usually expected that the barista know what they are doing. The simplest coffee is a single espresso (short black). It is the basis of all other espresso-based drinks. However it isn't easy to get it right. It depends on the fineness/coarseness of the grind, the amount of ground coffee, and how firmly it is tamped. To add to the complexity temperature and humidity play a part. Ideally the coffee should take 20-30 seconds to run through resulting in a rich liquid topped with a thick crema. A good barista will run a test coffee each morning to ensure the grind is correct, and keep a close eye on every coffee made and adjust the grind if necessary. A short black should always be made into a warmed espresso cup or glass, it should never be made into a glass that has been used to make other coffees then dumped into the espresso cup. Rolf did manage to get that message across to the barista after a few days but even so we never got anything near a good espresso. Of course those with their mega fancy coffees in huge cardboard cartons wouldn't care how the espresso was made as long as it tasted vaguely of coffee.

 

Ocean Bar

Our favourite bar in the evenings was the Ocean Bar on deck 3. Specifically the side where the bar itself is rather than the seating around the Atrium. Usually we could get a seat there and would open the curtains for the view. The Ocean Bar had two wonderful waiters, Aileen and Pang, who were always quick at providing service and remembered that after dinner we liked some iced water with our after dinner drink plus some cans of water to take back to our cabin. The only thing missing was some live music although there was background music playing through the speaker system.

 

Pinnacle Bar

We only went to the Pinnacle Bar once, the night we were dining in the Pinnacle Grill. It's a very small bar and was very crowded the night we went there. Service was slow as the bar also served the Pinnacle Grill.

 

Billboard Bar

We went to the Billboard Bar a couple of times before going to a show. It is directly across from the Casino and I found the flashing lights from the machines quite annoying even when the Casino was closed. On one of the nights the Casino was open and so we had noise from it as well. 

 

Theatre

Westerdam has the strangest theatre I have ever been in on a cruise ship. The front part of the deck 2 level (main floor) was like the Princess Vista/Universe Lounge seating - rows with sofas at the back of the row and chairs and small tables in front of them. The rest of the theatre had bench seating, not individual theatre seats. The bench seating was marked off into seat positions, just a little too close together for these times. The backs of these benches were very hard and straight up and did not suit my back at all.

 

Entertainment

When we booked our cruise there were only two dining options available - Early and Main. We chose Main as we prefer to dine late however this impacted our ability to enjoy some of the entertainment around the ship. The theatre shows were at 7pm and 9pm. Our dining time was 7:45pm so the early show was tight timing for dinner and the late show wasn't possible at all.

 

We made it to two theatre shows and the Xmas Eve crew show but gave up after that, it was too much of a rush for us if we'd been out and about during the day. 

 

Most of the other evening entertainment was on while we were at dinner. There was almost nothing that started before 7:30pm and most were later. We didn't usually finish dinner until 9:45pm - 10pm and by then all we wanted was a quiet after dinner drink before retiring for the night. 

 

The theatre entertainment was very limited:

- 3 perfomances by Cantare (we saw two of those and they were superb)

- 5 performances by Step One Dance (we saw them at the Christmas show, not interesting to us)

- 2 perfomances by vocalist Ali Harper (I would have liked to have seen her show but ...)

- 2 performances by Patrick McCullagh billed as Comedy Magic (I've seen to many bad comedians so tend to avoid comedy shows)

- a couple of other shows - Origin Story and Planet Earth in Concert

There didn't appear to be any sort of production shows unless that's what the last two were. One was on the first night when we were still finding our way around the ship, the other was on Christmas Eve.

 

We really missed having early evening "lounge music" like they have on Princess. There was a piano tucked away in a far corner of the Ocean Bar but we never heard it used.