Westerdam Trip Report & Pictures (12/17 - 12/24)

[WILLVINO]

We have appreciated this site so much that we thought we would post a bit of a review.

We were on the Westerdam Dec 17 – Dec 24. This was the first Holland America cruise for us. It is only our 2nd cruise ever. The first was on the Golden Princess (Southern Caribbean).

Embarkation:

Getting to FLL was not easy from the mid west after a few cancelled flights and being able to get on a different airline we arrived at FLL at 2 am the day before our cruise. The next morning was very hectic with many passengers trying to get to the port. I ended up forgetting our documents at the hotel and had to take a cab back to pick them up. Found all of our documents intact and were back on the way to the pier.

Left our bags with the porters who were very pleasant, I tipped them, not sure if that made a difference but our bags were in our room when we arrived.

There seemed to be many people at the terminal but since we had our immigration forms completed we were able to go to what seemed a longer line but it was moving much faster than the other. Once at the counter, gave our credit card, immigration forms, showed our passport, they took a quick picture and we were handed our keys. Went through the x-ray machine. I had a water bottle with me and was able to take it on. They asked me to take it with me rather than putting it through the machine since it had been opened. We had 7 bottles of wines that we brought with us and those went through the machine as well.

Wine:

We enjoy certain wines and have a bit of collection so we usually travel with wine. Due to the new restrictions we are no longer able to carry this on board so this was the first time that we actually packed the wine in a suitcase. We ended up having one suitcase with wine and snorkeling stuff and one with clothes. Just went over the 50lb limit per bag by 8 pounds on one and due to our flights being cancelled they decided to waive the $50 penalty (although I was prepared with an extra bag in case we needed to check a few other things separately).

We packed the wines in a styro shipper within the box. I also wrapped a little bit of bubble wrap around the bottles so that it would not move within the shipper and placed it in the suitcase. We had 7 bottles and a 6 pack shipper which meant that we had to pack one bottle separately. I wrapped it in bubble wrap and put it in the middle of the suitcase protected by my wet suit. All of the bottles made it just fine. Once at the hotel we took the bottles out and put them in our carry-on and took them on the ship with us without any problems.

The Ship:

The ship is beautiful and well kept. There are many places to relax including the Crow’s nest and if you are a smoke the cigar lounge next to the Crow’s nest. Very comfortable chairs. The wrap around walking track is very nice. The ship is easy to get around and you never waited for an elevator very long since they have so many although we took the stairs most of the time which was good exercise. I do have to say that the dark carpet blended in a bit too much and it was hard to see the stairs in certain places. So watch those steps. There were Purell dispenser every where and we used them often. No noro-virus issue that we knew of just the usual questionnaire before boarding and the warning in the room about the symptoms etc.

Room & Balcony:

We had a Superior Verandah Suite - SS8046. This was an excellent room with the exception that we could hear the tables and chairs being moved around above us after events. I would not stay in this deck again. The bathroom was huge (bigger than some hotels). It included a separate shower and bathroom (see pictures below) as well as double sinks. It was nice to be able to get ready and not trip over each other.

Temperature was very pleasant and air conditioning worked fine. It got a bit hot on a couple of days out on the balcony but it was beautiful most of the time. I can’t say enough about getting a balcony. We also had a balcony on Princess but it was on the Baja deck and much smaller than other balconies plus the bathroom was too small.

The balcony on Westerdam was huge. We had a full size round table, two chairs, a small cocktail table and two lounge chairs which were very comfortable especially after putting a pillow on it. Because we had a suite and a full size table we decided to eat most of our meals on the balcony. I called guest services and asked for a menu each day and each day it was delivered promptly.

Food:

Overall the quality of the food was excellent with few exceptions that I will list below. We ordered room service from the dining room menu each day and it was wonderful. We tipped the room service person $5 each day. I think next time we would tip a little less given that we don’t adjust our $10 per day tip.

We also went to the Pinnacle Grill one night. Our food was excellent and worth the extra money in our opinion. It was a very intimate setting. I would recommend making reservations right away. We waited until the 2nd day of our cruise and the only times available were very late on formal nights and one very early one. It seems very popular. Also, I appreciated the previous posts about the fact that there is no place for a tip on the bill so bring cash for that.

We found the dining room menu very good and varied. There was always something for each of us to eat, although in one respect I liked the way Princess always had certain things on their menu, salmon, steak and chicken. I found the entrees to be very good except for the paella which was the worst I have ever tasted. The parmesan crusted chicken, surf and turf, steaks, roasted chicken, Atlantic Cod, etc… were all delicious. The salads were ok (I didn’t like their dressings much – I think that Princess had some interesting home made dressings), the soups were ok although a bit fishy on occasion. The appetizers also were very good. Portions are adequate although my husband and I usually ordered an extra entrée to taste certain things. Desserts were, again, very good. Overall we think the food quality was better on HAL than on our previous cruise on Princess.

We ate breakfast and some lunches at the lido. They have sushi which is fairly good. The pizza was excellent and the lunch entrees were made to order and excellent. We enjoyed the made to order omelets but did not like the waffles (a bit bland and soggy). They would accommodate any request, for example for turkey bacon, which was fabulous. The turkey sausage was terrible. The pasta sauces were the exception and were bland and watery.

The coffee place was very good and reasonably priced. You pay for the coffee but the pastries are free. There was high tea and although we did not join we walked by a couple of times and thought it looked good.

Menus:

There are a couple of menus with my pictures but I will try and scan them all and post them on this board in the next couple of days.

Service:

We found the service to be excellent. We had a very pleasant experience. Our cabin steward’s name was Budi. He was very attentive. He didn’t seem to speak much English, but we seemed to get along fine. He was very accommodating and left a cute towel animal each night.

David in the buffet dining area was very funny and pleasant.

Willy was the room service order person and he was excellent. He got 100% of our orders right and was excellent on setting delivery times for us. We hoped that he was getting tipped some how.

Activities:

We didn’t do many activities yet we enjoyed being able to walk all around the ship and see the many things going on. There was trivia, card tournaments, etc. The casino did not seem very busy most days. I did join a 5K walk for breast cancer which was very rewarding and a good way to get some exercise.

The gym was a bit smaller than on Princess but of course this is a smaller ship.

Ports of Call:

Unfortunately we didn’t like our ports of call much. This is actually the only reason we will be trying Princess again next year. They have a few more ports of call that we are interested in.

First stop was Half Moon Cay. There isn’t much to do there unless you book an activity or want to lay out on the beach and drink. The sand is the most beautiful sand I have ever seen and felt. It was very soft. We rented a beach clam but ended up cutting it short and taking a walk. This is a tendering port and they have boats that are very nice and fairly large so very easy to get on board. We waited until there wasn’t a need for a tender ticket and then had no troubles getting a seat and getting to the island. We walked around the trails which were nice but a bit hot so bring water and a hat. Went over to the sting ray place and you can see the rays right off the pier without having to do the excursion. Found the trinket shops to be just like the ship and expensive in my opinion. The island bbq is not that great just deli food it seemed and the grilled mahi mahi was very fishy. If you want to just bake in the sun and look at the ocean this is the place to do it.

2nd stop was Grand Turk. We had a dive tour booked for 1 pm so we took a cab into town just to see it. It cost $5 a person one way. There isn’t anything to see so I really don’t recommend it. You have to walk through a duty free store which is very nice but also expensive. The best buy is pearls and silver at a couple of the recommended shops. Remember to ask if that is the final price as it seemed like everything marked was never the price and there was always a 20% - 40% discount somehow. We went diving here (2 tanks). The first tank my husband went and I didn’t as it started to rain and conditions got a bit bad although my husband told me it was very calm under water so I should have gone. Visibility was very good. These are all wall dives which are cool. We saw a very large barracuda and grouper. The dive operation was very nice but a bit amateur. We had two divers that ended up on another boat, an equipment malfunction when an octopus hose was bad and came apart when the diver jumped in as well as a rope that got caught in the propeller and had to be cut. This is not a tourist place yet and it seems they are just trying to get things together.

3rd stop was Grand Cayman. You have to tender to port and Holland America uses their own tenders which is so much nicer than the ones in port. I remember seeing the lines for the other 5 ships there and could not imagine waiting for an hour or more for a tender. We waited a bit to get in line for a tender and it only took a few minutes to get a ticket and to get called. We had stayed in Cayman before so we rented a car and drove to the other end of the island but there wasn’t much time so we had to return fairly quickly. If you are interested in a car rental Budget does what they call an all inclusive which includes, gas, insurance etc for a flat fee. They will pick you up and drop you off at the port which is very nice as well. There were so many cruise ships that Georgetown was very crowded.

Last stop was Costa Maya. Horrible tourist trap. There are shops at the port which are very expensive and vendors are very aggressive. I didn’t like it at all. They had Cuban cigars which were more expensive than in Grand Cayman if that gives you an idea of the type of prices. When you get off the ship you will see armed guards with M16s. I know they are there to ensure that there aren’t any problems but it is just a bit of a reminder of how less safe a place like this can be. We seemed to be missing a couple of passengers at this stop so were a bit late getting out. I assumed that they found at least one of them as the 2nd page was just for one person.

Photos:

Below are room and ship pictures.

http://WILLIAMSVINO.smugmug.com/photos/sspopup.mg?AlbumID=2335963

We did not have any pictures taken by the photographer as we are fairly private individuals and seemed like the pictures were a bit expensive.

Disembarkation:

We had the color black and group 4. This meant we got off the ship last as our flight was not until 4 pm that afternoon. We stayed in our balcony until they called our number and then went off to find our luggage which was very easy.

If you do stay in your room just know that you may have people wanting to come in and get things ready for the next guest. We had the mini bar guy stop by and open the mini bar for the next guest. We had someone deliver a welcoming gift package to the room etc. This was no big deal as we know they have very little time to get things turned around for the next set of guest.

Overall we loved Holland America, but just didn’t like the ports too much. We are going on the Crown Princess next December so we will see what that is like. A BIG THANK YOU to everyone on this board who helped out with so many answers and who provide so much input. All of the information is very valuable and it is great that people take the time to do this. I am happy to answer any questions.

Mr. & Mrs. WILLVINO

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for sharing your review of the Westerdam. The Transatlantic on the Westerdam is calling me. hee hee

 

We love HALs wine policy. We only had one corkage fee on our last trip (in the PG), the wine steward in the dining room was very friendly and helpful. also the breakfast room service is great, Princess seems to only provide a limited continental breakfast. You picked up a nice feature.

 

Again thanks for your reviews.

[Chesapeake Charlie]

Thanks for the review!! We went on that same trip, and I agree with most everytihng you said - except I did enjoy the ports, because I like to sit around, soak up the sun and drink!!

 

We had a great experience at the Pinnacle Grill too. We ate there the last night, and there were seats around us open the whole time, so maybe that is a good day to book ,if you are late getting reservations.

[Odd Ball]

Nice Review and great pictures.

[doone]

GREAT pictures, thanks so much for sharing, I enjoyed them as well as your review.

[cruizmama]

Thanks for the review, it sounds great.The pictures were beautiful. We are going in March. Can you tell me did they let you bring the wine to your room. Did you bring your own corksrew? Thanks

[lawyerrose]

Thanks for the review and photos! We're going in March and will be in the room right next door to where you were. 8048. What a treat to see the room and hear your opinion of it. I'm getting so excited.:eek:

[WILLVINO]

In answer to the wine question. We brought our own wine from home and our own corkscrew so we were able to enjoy them in our room. We did take a bottle to the Pinnacle grill for dinner and paid the corkage fee which was $15 plus 15% gratuity automatically added. We are not wine snobs but we like certain things so this works out well. We checked it in our baggage for airline purposes and then carried it on the ship wihtout a problem.

 

In answer to cabin 8048 you will love it as we loved 8046. I think you will like Budi as well since he will be your steward the only things is he does not speak much English and is very quiet yet very polite. I remember he asked for our fruit order and I said pear and oranges and we got banana and apple (maybe that is all they had) then eventually we got pear and orange.

 

Enjoy to both of you -

[hammybee]

Thank you for your well balanced review. You both sound like you enjoyed your cruise. Shame the ports did not please. I enjoyed all the pix too. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

[I&J Cruisers]

Thanks for the review and the great pictures. We are leaving on an Eastern Carribean itinerary on the Westerdam in 3 weeks so it was very helpful.

[I&J Cruisers]

Thanks for the review and the great pictures. We are leaving on an Eastern Carribean itinerary on the Westerdam in 3 weeks so it was very helpful.

[Crusing Bob]

We have appreciated this site so much that we thought we would post a bit of a review.

 

We were on the Westerdam Dec 17 – Dec 24. This was the first Holland America cruise for us. It is only our 2nd cruise ever. The first was on the Golden Princess (Southern Caribbean).

 

Embarkation:

Getting to FLL was not easy from the mid west after a few cancelled flights and being able to get on a different airline we arrived at FLL at 2 am the day before our cruise. The next morning was very hectic with many passengers trying to get to the port. I ended up forgetting our documents at the hotel and had to take a cab back to pick them up. Found all of our documents intact and were back on the way to the pier.

 

Left our bags with the porters who were very pleasant, I tipped them, not sure if that made a difference but our bags were in our room when we arrived.

 

There seemed to be many people at the terminal but since we had our immigration forms completed we were able to go to what seemed a longer line but it was moving much faster than the other. Once at the counter, gave our credit card, immigration forms, showed our passport, they took a quick picture and we were handed our keys. Went through the x-ray machine. I had a water bottle with me and was able to take it on. They asked me to take it with me rather than putting it through the machine since it had been opened. We had 7 bottles of wines that we brought with us and those went through the machine as well.

 

Wine:

We enjoy certain wines and have a bit of collection so we usually travel with wine. Due to the new restrictions we are no longer able to carry this on board so this was the first time that we actually packed the wine in a suitcase. We ended up having one suitcase with wine and snorkeling stuff and one with clothes. Just went over the 50lb limit per bag by 8 pounds on one and due to our flights being cancelled they decided to waive the $50 penalty (although I was prepared with an extra bag in case we needed to check a few other things separately).

 

We packed the wines in a styro shipper within the box. I also wrapped a little bit of bubble wrap around the bottles so that it would not move within the shipper and placed it in the suitcase. We had 7 bottles and a 6 pack shipper which meant that we had to pack one bottle separately. I wrapped it in bubble wrap and put it in the middle of the suitcase protected by my wet suit. All of the bottles made it just fine. Once at the hotel we took the bottles out and put them in our carry-on and took them on the ship with us without any problems.

 

The Ship:

The ship is beautiful and well kept. There are many places to relax including the Crow’s nest and if you are a smoke the cigar lounge next to the Crow’s nest. Very comfortable chairs. The wrap around walking track is very nice. The ship is easy to get around and you never waited for an elevator very long since they have so many although we took the stairs most of the time which was good exercise. I do have to say that the dark carpet blended in a bit too much and it was hard to see the stairs in certain places. So watch those steps. There were Purell dispenser every where and we used them often. No noro-virus issue that we knew of just the usual questionnaire before boarding and the warning in the room about the symptoms etc.

 

Room & Balcony:

We had a Superior Verandah Suite - SS8046. This was an excellent room with the exception that we could hear the tables and chairs being moved around above us after events. I would not stay in this deck again. The bathroom was huge (bigger than some hotels). It included a separate shower and bathroom (see pictures below) as well as double sinks. It was nice to be able to get ready and not trip over each other.

 

Temperature was very pleasant and air conditioning worked fine. It got a bit hot on a couple of days out on the balcony but it was beautiful most of the time. I can’t say enough about getting a balcony. We also had a balcony on Princess but it was on the Baja deck and much smaller than other balconies plus the bathroom was too small.

 

The balcony on Westerdam was huge. We had a full size round table, two chairs, a small cocktail table and two lounge chairs which were very comfortable especially after putting a pillow on it. Because we had a suite and a full size table we decided to eat most of our meals on the balcony. I called guest services and asked for a menu each day and each day it was delivered promptly.

 

Food:

Overall the quality of the food was excellent with few exceptions that I will list below. We ordered room service from the dining room menu each day and it was wonderful. We tipped the room service person $5 each day. I think next time we would tip a little less given that we don’t adjust our $10 per day tip.

 

We also went to the Pinnacle Grill one night. Our food was excellent and worth the extra money in our opinion. It was a very intimate setting. I would recommend making reservations right away. We waited until the 2nd day of our cruise and the only times available were very late on formal nights and one very early one. It seems very popular. Also, I appreciated the previous posts about the fact that there is no place for a tip on the bill so bring cash for that.

 

We found the dining room menu very good and varied. There was always something for each of us to eat, although in one respect I liked the way Princess always had certain things on their menu, salmon, steak and chicken. I found the entrees to be very good except for the paella which was the worst I have ever tasted. The parmesan crusted chicken, surf and turf, steaks, roasted chicken, Atlantic Cod, etc… were all delicious. The salads were ok (I didn’t like their dressings much – I think that Princess had some interesting home made dressings), the soups were ok although a bit fishy on occasion. The appetizers also were very good. Portions are adequate although my husband and I usually ordered an extra entrée to taste certain things. Desserts were, again, very good. Overall we think the food quality was better on HAL than on our previous cruise on Princess.

 

We ate breakfast and some lunches at the lido. They have sushi which is fairly good. The pizza was excellent and the lunch entrees were made to order and excellent. We enjoyed the made to order omelets but did not like the waffles (a bit bland and soggy). They would accommodate any request, for example for turkey bacon, which was fabulous. The turkey sausage was terrible. The pasta sauces were the exception and were bland and watery.

 

The coffee place was very good and reasonably priced. You pay for the coffee but the pastries are free. There was high tea and although we did not join we walked by a couple of times and thought it looked good.

 

 

Menus:

There are a couple of menus with my pictures but I will try and scan them all and post them on this board in the next couple of days.

 

Service:

We found the service to be excellent. We had a very pleasant experience. Our cabin steward’s name was Budi. He was very attentive. He didn’t seem to speak much English, but we seemed to get along fine. He was very accommodating and left a cute towel animal each night.

 

David in the buffet dining area was very funny and pleasant.

 

Willy was the room service order person and he was excellent. He got 100% of our orders right and was excellent on setting delivery times for us. We hoped that he was getting tipped some how.

 

Activities:

We didn’t do many activities yet we enjoyed being able to walk all around the ship and see the many things going on. There was trivia, card tournaments, etc. The casino did not seem very busy most days. I did join a 5K walk for breast cancer which was very rewarding and a good way to get some exercise.

 

The gym was a bit smaller than on Princess but of course this is a smaller ship.

 

Ports of Call:

Unfortunately we didn’t like our ports of call much. This is actually the only reason we will be trying Princess again next year. They have a few more ports of call that we are interested in.

 

First stop was Half Moon Cay. There isn’t much to do there unless you book an activity or want to lay out on the beach and drink. The sand is the most beautiful sand I have ever seen and felt. It was very soft. We rented a beach clam but ended up cutting it short and taking a walk. This is a tendering port and they have boats that are very nice and fairly large so very easy to get on board. We waited until there wasn’t a need for a tender ticket and then had no troubles getting a seat and getting to the island. We walked around the trails which were nice but a bit hot so bring water and a hat. Went over to the sting ray place and you can see the rays right off the pier without having to do the excursion. Found the trinket shops to be just like the ship and expensive in my opinion. The island bbq is not that great just deli food it seemed and the grilled mahi mahi was very fishy. If you want to just bake in the sun and look at the ocean this is the place to do it.

 

2nd stop was Grand Turk. We had a dive tour booked for 1 pm so we took a cab into town just to see it. It cost $5 a person one way. There isn’t anything to see so I really don’t recommend it. You have to walk through a duty free store which is very nice but also expensive. The best buy is pearls and silver at a couple of the recommended shops. Remember to ask if that is the final price as it seemed like everything marked was never the price and there was always a 20% - 40% discount somehow. We went diving here (2 tanks). The first tank my husband went and I didn’t as it started to rain and conditions got a bit bad although my husband told me it was very calm under water so I should have gone. Visibility was very good. These are all wall dives which are cool. We saw a very large barracuda and grouper. The dive operation was very nice but a bit amateur. We had two divers that ended up on another boat, an equipment malfunction when an octopus hose was bad and came apart when the diver jumped in as well as a rope that got caught in the propeller and had to be cut. This is not a tourist place yet and it seems they are just trying to get things together.

 

3rd stop was Grand Cayman. You have to tender to port and Holland America uses their own tenders which is so much nicer than the ones in port. I remember seeing the lines for the other 5 ships there and could not imagine waiting for an hour or more for a tender. We waited a bit to get in line for a tender and it only took a few minutes to get a ticket and to get called. We had stayed in Cayman before so we rented a car and drove to the other end of the island but there wasn’t much time so we had to return fairly quickly. If you are interested in a car rental Budget does what they call an all inclusive which includes, gas, insurance etc for a flat fee. They will pick you up and drop you off at the port which is very nice as well. There were so many cruise ships that Georgetown was very crowded.

 

Last stop was Costa Maya. Horrible tourist trap. There are shops at the port which are very expensive and vendors are very aggressive. I didn’t like it at all. They had Cuban cigars which were more expensive than in Grand Cayman if that gives you an idea of the type of prices. When you get off the ship you will see armed guards with M16s. I know they are there to ensure that there aren’t any problems but it is just a bit of a reminder of how less safe a place like this can be. We seemed to be missing a couple of passengers at this stop so were a bit late getting out. I assumed that they found at least one of them as the 2nd page was just for one person.

 

Photos:

Below are room and ship pictures.

 

http://WILLIAMSVINO.smugmug.com/photos/sspopup.mg?AlbumID=2335963

 

We did not have any pictures taken by the photographer as we are fairly private individuals and seemed like the pictures were a bit expensive.

 

Disembarkation:

We had the color black and group 4. This meant we got off the ship last as our flight was not until 4 pm that afternoon. We stayed in our balcony until they called our number and then went off to find our luggage which was very easy.

 

If you do stay in your room just know that you may have people wanting to come in and get things ready for the next guest. We had the mini bar guy stop by and open the mini bar for the next guest. We had someone deliver a welcoming gift package to the room etc. This was no big deal as we know they have very little time to get things turned around for the next set of guest.

 

Overall we loved Holland America, but just didn’t like the ports too much. We are going on the Crown Princess next December so we will see what that is like. A BIG THANK YOU to everyone on this board who helped out with so many answers and who provide so much input. All of the information is very valuable and it is great that people take the time to do this. I am happy to answer any questions.

 

Mr. & Mrs. WILLVINO

 

Willvino- I never found the copies of the menus you had posted. Can you post them separately. I think you had over 200 pics so I must have missed them. Thanks, Bob