Westerdam Feb 16, 2025 Australia-New Zealand

[Lori334]

Hello

 

We are considering the Westerdam for Feb 16.  We plan on getting 3 Neptune suites.

 

Could someone respond as to the ease to get lounge chairs on deck on sea days?  Also the ease of getting seats at the shows during the evenings.  We had seen a video where it was indicated that there is limited seating for some of the entertainment on board?
 

we are waffling between Celebrity Edge or the Westerdam?   Any thoughts?
 

 

[RuthC]

I've never had any difficulty getting a lounge chair on Promenade Deck whenever I wanted one. However, I was generally by myself, and not with others, so if some or all of you in three cabins are looking for several deck loungers together, that may be a problem. 
Are you aware that if you have three Neptune Suites in a row, the doors between them can be opened, so you can all get together on that deck? 

Seats for the late show in the main theatre are plentiful! But, again, if you are looking for several together, that may be a little harder. 
The early show generally fills up. 
 

I can't speak to how crowded the Ocean Bar or Rolling Stone Rock Room gets these days on that ship. Ocean Bar is usually not jammed after dinner, in my experience. 

[Lori334]

Thank you for your response.  We are concerned that the entertainment might not be the best as well. Do you enjoy the entertainment on the Westerdam?   They don't have Broadway shows do they have comedians?

[OlsSalt]

Celebrity Eye and the Westerdam are apples to oranges - two vastly different on board experiences that will go well beyond just  lounge chairs and entertainment seating. Good you are looking into this upfront before you make your final decision.

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Lori334 said:

We are concerned that the entertainment might not be the best as well. Do you enjoy the entertainment on the Westerdam?   They don't have Broadway shows do they have comedians?

I haven't enjoyed the entertainment on any HAL ships in recent years as I have say, pre-covid shutdown. There are no production shows as in the past; I am not fond of the dance troupe that I saw on the Pinnacle class ship I was on. There were solo performers who I did enjoy, so evenings weren't a total loss. 
Sometimes the main stage 'entertainment' is a lecture on the Origins of HAL, or a movie. Hardly exciting, although the Origins story is good to see once. 

I do not care for the Music Walk on the Pinnacle ships---not my style; nor do I care for the Rolling Stone Rock room on any ship that has it. Too loud! 

[Lori334]

18 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I haven't enjoyed the entertainment on any HAL ships in recent years as I have say, pre-covid shutdown. There are no production shows as in the past; I am not fond of the dance troupe that I saw on the Pinnacle class ship I was on. There were solo performers who I did enjoy, so evenings weren't a total loss. 
Sometimes the main stage 'entertainment' is a lecture on the Origins of HAL, or a movie. Hardly exciting, although the Origins story is good to see once. 

I do not care for the Music Walk on the Pinnacle ships---not my style; nor do I care for the Rolling Stone Rock room on any ship that has it. Too loud! 

 

[kansas2018]

After over 100 days sailing Holland in 2023 we reached 4 star.  With each booking we set our expectation bar lower and lower given all the changes. The entertainment or lack of has been discussed in previous texts and the food though perfectly edible we no longer really enjoy. The staff is good and in most cases try really hard to please but sometimes it is out of their control for instance when Hal does not plan well and provide enough bar staff  (a cutback) in areas that are busy resulting with passengers experiencing long waits or worse yet not getting service at all. So why do we continue to sail with them because we love their itineraries...However, our expectation bar is low enough it is scraping the floor....We have two lengthy cruises booked with Hal in 2024 but are seriously considering other alternatives where they provide better entertainment (we know because we have sailed them) and give their chefs more leeway to design creative dishes. So Hal are you listening...give us some decent entertainment spice up the food and plan ahead for crowds....As much as we love your itineraries we can only read so many books and as a part of that demographic with the big purse and deep pockets that love long cruising I can start to see my Hal loyalty in the rear view mirror and that big purse and deep pockets are starting to shuffle off to your competition ....

Wake UP Hal make some changes for the better before that exit line gets as long as some of the lines you make us wait in....