Westerdam Review Feb 18-25th - Long!

[steviek49]

First let me tell you a bit about us. We are a family of 4 (2 daughters ages 17 and 14). This was our 6th family cruise but first on HAL. We chose HAL/Westerdam because of price and itinerary. We have previously cruised Carnival Imagination (4/97- 7 night West Carib), NCL Crown (8/98 - 7 night Bermuda), Sky Princess (7/00-11night ALaska), Carnival Victory (8/03-5 night Canada), and NCL Dawn (4/04-7 night Fla/Bahamas). We enjoyed each one of our cruises including this one. We generally try to take 2 family vacations a year and enjoy land vacations as well. Traveling, we feel, makes nice memories and keeps the family close.

We flew in a day early from NY on Southwest and took a cab to the Residence Inn in Plantation Fla. We chose this hotel because we used Marriott points and it served a complmentary Buffet Breakfast. It cost about $25 for cab from airport to hotel and $25 from hotel to Westerdam. There was a closer Courtyard Marriott with a complementary shuttle from airport to hotel but no breakfast. We chose the residence Inn because it was a jr. suite as opposed to a room. Hotel was fine.

Embarkation: It was a breeze! We got there about noon and we were eating in the Lido at about 12:30pm. We've been lucky- we've never had to wait long on Embarkation days. Lido was nice but on this "sold out" cruise it was pretty crowded at the most popular eating times. We bought a soda card for my youngest daughter for $18 ($20.40 with included bar tip). It included 20 fountain sodas and I found it to be a good value (although I have been known to carry on sodas in the past-an even better value). 2 Comments- On Embarkation day on the NCL Dawn we were seated and served in one of their main dining rooms-WE LIKED THIS BETTER! Also on the Dawn there was a "smoothie card" for the older daughter which was not available on Westerdam. Our cabin was not ready when we boarded but was ready by a very reasonable 1:30pm.

Cabin: We booked a VD catagory 4155 Oceanview w/ balcony stateroom. We were actually thinking about, and asked for opinions on this board, about taking a balcony stateroom plus an inside on Caribbean Princess for the same total price as this one balcony cabin quad on the Westerdam. We finally chose Westerdam because of the itinerary. In retrospect we might have been better off on Princess because we felt that this quad had a poor set-up/design. Instead of 2 pull down beds which the cabin steward can fold up -this cabin had one fold down bed(off the wall) above our bed and one sofabed which was located next to the verandah. Let me tell you, when that sofa bed is out there is very, very, very little room to move. Also I should mention that our cabin steward was not very good. Don't get me wrong- he was polite and did everything we asked BUT we had to ask over and over again. On our other cruises we rarely saw our cabin steward. Our rooms always had proper number of towels, room was made up at a reasonable time, and properly set up for sleep while we were at dinner. Even a towel animal each night on most cruises. On Westerdam our balcony windows were dirty as was the deck upon check in, the cabin was only set up for 3 at turn down and there were only 2 towels in the bathroom. We politely informed him of each problem and they were corrected. BUT twice we came back from excursions (late morning to mid afternoon) to find our cabin not made up. Proper number of towels had to be reminded several times and balcony was always sticky- so we had to ask him to please wash . Nothing terrible and he was always polite (as were we) but just not as "automatic' as previous cruises.

Food/service: Let me begin by saying that although we were quite content with the quality and quantity of food and (with a few exceptions) service on our previous cruises, my entire family felt that Westerdam food and dining service was a cut above. Our waiter (Fireman) busboy (Acka), bar waiter (Manny) and Head Waiter (Janar) were very good and very friendly. They made dining a pleasurable event. Food/timing/service were terrific.

There was a problem however and this is probably the reason we can finally say (as a family) that we will probably prefer the non-traditional cruiselines (NCL and Princess) in the future. During our first dinner (5:45 upper sitting), and only after 15 minutes we asked our Head Waiter for a table change. Our family cruises well, we never had sea sickness before and we take a dramamine each day. But on this day the sea and Westerdam was a bit ROCKY. We were seated at table 24 at the very, very back of the ship. My daughters were struggling and lost their appetite. A few minutes later, our Head waiter, janar, came around to our table to introduce himself to us and asked if there is anything he can do for us -to please let him know! PERFECT!!!! I politely asked him if he could change our table because of the rocking and the vibration(more about this later) our daughters don't feel well. He was very sympathetic but said "I'm sorry but the ship is sold out and the 5:45 pm sitting is the most popular and we don't have any other tables for you". he said he will see if anyone wants to trade with us or he can try to place us at a different table each night when he finds out who is eating at the Pinnacle. He also said he will forward our request to Deepah, his boss.

I have a problem with this. Although I did request the early sitting- I do not get to choose the table! I believe if someone should realize right away, on the first night that there is a problem with the table placement then there should be a system in place to accomodate (within reason of course). Deepah(his supervisor) did come during the second night to tell us although he could not change our table we could be changed to the 8:30 sitting. That offer was just not good for our family. The 2nd night was also a bit rocky and our kids were still a bit queezy but we managed. Hey, they were very polite and they came to see us about the problem in a timely manner- but with Princess or NCL I would have just gone to another restaurant. To be fair- as it turned out, the seas got calmer and the dining experience worked out by day 3 and we enjoyed the rest of our meals.

Ports of Calls: Ok- I've already told you we chose Westerdam because of the Itinerary. Well because of 9 foot swells and windy conditions the Captain had to cancel our Port of call at the last minute as we arrived at Grand Turk.

We will now have to be on this ship from Sunday noon to Wednesday without a Port Stop. But the Captain did a great job of keeping the guests informed and was able to add 5 hours to our stop in Tortola the following day. We were in Port from 9am to 10pm. Tortola turned out to be like many other caribbean islands. Nice beaches, nice weather (88 degrees-sunny) and a few places to see. Since we had to cancel our shore excursion (Helmet Diving) on Grand Turk we decided to go to Cane Garden Bay Beach via taxi@ $6 pp each way. Nice beach -rented 3 chaise lounges and 1 umbrella for $17. We stayed until 2pm and headed back to ship for Lido Lunch and then did the Dolphin encounter. This encounter was inferior to the one on Nassau but at the same cost. Overall- we had a nice visit.

Saint Maartin: We chose to take a taxi to Dawn Beach also $6pp. Dawn was even a nicer beach than Cane Garden bay. It was also next to the "new" Westin hotel so we strolled over to visit a family that we know who was staying there. We returned to the ship at about 2pm and ate luch and then the girls went shopping .- Also a nice visit.

Half Moon Cay: We've only been on one other private island (NCL's Great Stirrup Cay) and was not looking forward to HMC. BUT, BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!

This place was beautiful. It was probably the clearest water I have ever seen!

Until HMC the clearest water I have seen was Cancun in 1984 and Bermuda in 1998. It looked actually clearer than my swimming pool at home and I keep a very clean pool. The island was also attractively set up and spread out. We never felt crowded as we did on NCL's island. We snorkelled and rented a mat and stayed in the water for hours. Unfortunately, our parasailing excursion was cancelled (11am) due to 20 knot winds.

Entertainment: I've never really enjoyed the onboard entertainment on most cruiseships. This may due because I'm a New Yorker and see alot of Braodway Shows and Concerts or maybe I'm just hard to please. We missed Julie Barr (comedianne) twice. We saw the opening show(forgot the name but typical dancing, singing and costumes) but was bored and unimpressed. However the crowd gave them a standing ovation- so maybe it's me. The juggler was entertaining. But Joel Mason (the Elton John impersonator) was about the best show I've seen on the seas. He was good and quite funny. We even enjoyed him(and others) on the last night-new show- as well.

Passengers: Many People have told me in the past that we would probably not enjoy HAL because it caters to an older crowd. I took this into account before I booked Westerdam. But after reading the many comments on this board I was convinced that the Vista class vessels and the fact it was a holiday week - that we would have enough things to do and that there will be plenty of kids and people in their 30s 40's and 50s on board. Well I may be challenged on this but I would estimate that of the 1900 or so passengers on this cruise- there were probably 100-200 kids, and maybe another 200 or so adults younger than 60. But that leaves about 1500 passengers in their 60s, 70s and 80's +. Don't get me wrong- most of the senior citizens on board are delightful people and I felt thoroughly enjoyed their cruise. They are polite, great travelers, are treated well and from what I saw the HAL staff makes a special effort to make sure their needs are met. I will be in their shoes in the not too distant future and hope to enjoy my vacations as much as I witnessed most of them doing. But I must add that I feel HAL has a way to go before coming close to providing the same "family cruise" experience as Carnival, Princess, NCL and from what I'm told Royal Caribbean.

The Ship. Westerdam is a beautiful ship. She is clean, well tended to and easy to navaigate. The magradome pool area is well designed. The aft pool was delightful. I wish that they did not charge (NCL does not) to use thie indoor hydropool and lounges. The Lido gets a bit crowded but was superior in design and service and food to the other ships i have been on. Although I'm sure some people prefer the quaint 3 story attractive atrium- my family enjoys the centerpoint soaring 6-9 story atriums of the Carnival, Princess -NCL (and I'm told) Royal Caribbean ships.

One last comment and then a final word: I've read on this board many times people complaining about the vibration at the back of the ship. This, IMHO, is a problem and I can't believe that HAL has not corrected this problem with 3 new Vista ships built after Zuiderdam. Now I'm not a cruise ship expert but there must be some way that they could fix this problem.

My Final Word: Despite a few problems, we had a very pleasant cruise vacation on the Westerdam. Would we cruise with HAL again? If the price and itinerary was right ? yes! But after 6 family cruises i can finally say that although we enjoyed all of our cruises- our family prefer dining choices and would probably prefer Princess or NCL. BUt HAL has a great product and for most people, especially senior citizens- it is a wonderful choice. It's food, cleanliness of ship and excellent service should provide most people with an "upscale' cruise vacation.

I believe I gave this cruise a fair evaluation and would be happy to answer any questions.

[lippylulu]

We cruised same week same ship along with you. Yes, the seas were rough much more often than we expected! And yes, there were certainly dining room problems which just should not be. Too bad you had a dud of a room steward. Ours did an ok job but ws not superb as we had experienced previously. Like you, we enjoyed our cruise but think we also prefer Princess for the dining flexibility and large open spaces.

 

I didn't hear a word aboutu anyone with the novovirus thing all week but woke up disembarkation day with a raging fever, sore throat and total head congestion. Did you hear anything about a respiratory virus going around the ship? I hope I didn't infect the entire plane the flight home. I pretty much sat in the last row with a blanket over my head.

[jerseygirl3]

Thank you for your thorough review. We were on the Westerdam a few weeks ago (different itinerary....Aruba, Curacao, HMC). We thought it was one of the best cruises (out of 18 on different cruiselines) we've ever taken. The only thing I take issue with you is your comment that HAL has a ways to go before they become a "family oriented" cruiseline like Carnival, NCL, Princess, etc. I'm not sure HAL wants to go there. I got the impression during our cruise that the staff actually prefers to keep it the way it is. They don't want to be family/kid "unfriendly", but they definitely like catering to an older, more traveled clientele.

 

My husband and I are in our late 40's/early 50's and while we loved every minute of our cruise on the Westerdam (especially the fact that each time we met a staff member once, they immediately remembered our names the rest of the week...amazing!). We probably wouldn't take our four sons (ages 22, 23, 24, 25) on HAL. I think they'd be bored. But for what we look for in a winter cruise (lots of relaxation and pampering), HAL fit the bill to a T. The next closest is Celebrity, which we also love.

 

We considered HAL for next winter, but the prices for a 10 day were over $1,000.00 more pp than a 10 day on Celebrity, so we're doing the Constellation next winter. But we've already booked the Westerdam again for a 7 day in Oct. '08.

[steviek49]

Hi Lippylulu,

I'm sorry to hear that you became sick at the end of the cruise.

I did hear of one child being sick with similar symptoms but did not hear about any kind of major norovirus on board.

I hope you feel beter!

Concerning Princess vs HAL, they both have good products but we finally realized after this, being our 6th family cruise, that we don't like not having a real choice about dining.

I can understand it a bit more (but still not entirely) if we chose this table and then changed our minds. But we are not given a choice of where we dine. We can only "request" what time and how big a table we want. And then if, for whatever reason, the seating is not acceptable- I can only change to an 8:30 sitting? I, after spending thousands of dollars on a family vacation, need more choices than that.

I do know many people still prefer traditional dining and cruising but I believe more and more cruise lines will be moving toward "freestyle" or Personal Choice" dining. I believe i read of these board that HAL is even experimenting with the idea.

Again, I hope you feel better soon.

[steviek49]

Hi jerseygirl3,

I think you make a great point. I also got the feeling that they genuinely enjoy the older guests. In addition I saw many instances on board that tell me that the feeling is reciprical.

I guess I was reacting to the many comments I have read on these boards as well as the Fodors and Unofficial guide to cruises, Berlitz - that stated that HAL built this class of ship (Vista and soon Signature) to attract a younger crowd and more families. IF that is true I still feel they have a ways to go.

My girls stated cruising with us when they were 8 and 5 years of age. now they are 17 and 14. They started out in kid's clubs and then when they didn't want to do that anymore they went on the "waterslides" etc and looked forward to the many ships with their parades through the huge mall like atriums, bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, rock climbing, and almost "waterpark" environments. On the Westerdam, my wife and I got rest and relaxation and although the girls were a bit bored they (like many teenagers) worked on their tans (with sunblock, of course).

[hammybee]

Thanks for sharing your observations with us.

 

The one and only time we popped for a suite, in Alaska we too would return to an untended cabin, well into the afternoon. This bothered me and then I realized, someone has to be last and this time, it's me. And with that, I let it go.

 

What do you think HAL should have done to accommodate you and your family at dinner? There are only so many tables, per seating.

 

Like you, I sail many different lines and NCL often works better for families or self contained groups. And if you sail on any of their ships designed for freestyle dining, the wait time is insignificant, if at all. If you can find a bargain on airfare and can handle the lengthly flight, their cruises in Hawaii are great values.

[DixieCaribe]

that is the thing we've noticed about HAL - it accomodates children without catering to them. The rock walls, massive slide pools, child dominated ships are not fun. The ships and the line are designed for either couples with children gone, couples with older children, or couples like us - no children! The day Holland America caters to the kiddie crowd (Disney) or the drunk crowd (Carnival) is the day I bid farewell to my favorite line!

 

One question steviek49 - I understand you chose the early seating for dinner, that you spent thousands of dollars on this cruise, and that there were no available tables due to a full ship (which makes sense) - but if there we're available tables for the late seating (which I always thought was preferred anyways) why not take it if the other table was unacceptable?

Regards,

Dixie

[steviek49]

Hi Dixie,

 

We chose not to move to the 8:30 seating because my youngest daughter retires rather early and has problems eating that late.

Although it "makes sense" that there would not be another table available for us because the ship is sold out- I feel that that 1) what is the chance that everyone is going to like their assigned seats- these dining rooms should have a "plan B" for a small percentage of passengers. 2) It's probably a reason why more and more people prefer choices in dining and more and more cruiselines are thinking of going in that direction.

Finally, I do believe that Traditional cruising is here to stay with some cruise lines. I hope that your preferred line stays that way for you.

[bluegrass grannie]

Stevie--thanks for your very thorough and well written review. My cruising days began well after my children were grown but I can understand the challenge of selecting any family vacation that appeals to all, especially teens.

 

One of my sons and his family with two little ones 5 and 7 are cruising for the first time on RCL Mariner in April hoping that will be a good match for them. I have only cruised Celebrity and HAL so can't advise.

 

Since we leave Sunday on Westerdam, I am hoping the seas calm down! Looking forward to HMC--thanks for your port info.

[steviek49]

Hi Dixie again,

 

After reading over my reply to you I realized that I may not have made my point very well.

I believe that there will always be a line that will feature Traditional Cruising.

But I did have a problem with not having a hand in choosing the location of my table (you may request time but not table location) and then having a problem (being placed in the very back of ship where motion is felt the most +vibration) and then being told that we could not be moved because the ship is sold out. Dining is a very important part of the cruise vacation and I feel there should be a system in place that can deal with some moves for some passengers. I did not find that moving my time from 5:45 to 8:30 was an acceptable answer.

What if Traditional Cruising, instead of allowing to to pick your cabin catagory/actual cabin and location, only allowed you to pick your catagory (ie. inside, outside, outside w/ balcony or suite) ? Then when you board the ship they give you a cabin (lets say outside w/ balcony) in the back of the ship (which is more prone to motion sickness). You request a change of cabin and they say "I'm sorry the ship is sold out but the best we can do is put you in an inside cabin in the middle of the ship". It may sound reasonable but unlike a land vacation where you can just say no thanks and go to anoither hotel, (or in the case of seating in the dining room- if it were on land I would just go to a different restaurant) you are stuck on the ship. You must either grin and bare it or move to a catagory of cabin which you donot desire.

Of course that example is pure fantasy because thankfully you CAN choose your own cabin and catagory. But the answer I get from many Traditional Cruisers when discussing this was "That's what it's always been like for Traditional Cruising."

A more realistic analogy (although not a great one) was about 15 years ago when restaurants were playing with the idea of becoming smoke free. I remember many smokers(including friends and family members) saying "the day that restaurants forbid smoking is the day I say good bye to dining out."

A more humerous example came when I was a young father and I went to purchase my first minivan. I was surprised that it only had a right side sliding back door. I asked the various different dealers how come there is no left side sliding back door? Why do the back passengers all have to scoot over and climb over eachother to get out of the one door? The answers I got ranged from "That's the way minivans/vans were always made" to "the only want children to enter and exit the sidewalk side of the car." I would then ask, if that were the reason -then why don't they make 3 door family sedans?

Anyway my point is that there should be some flexibility on location of your table if there is a legitimate problem with your seating - if they arrange it for you. Obviously dining seems to be playing a major role in cruise ship building today- first with the addition of alternative restuarants on just about every ship these days and more recently several cruise lines changing to Freestyle and Personal Choice Dining (not to mention HAL experimenting with "As you wish dining option).

The result was my daughters adapted as the seas became calmer so it turned out fine in the end and we have a nice cruise on Westerdam.

In addition many restaurants are now smoke free and all minivans now have sliding doors on both the right and left side.

Since we never had a problem like that before on any of our 5 previous cruisers- I found it interesting that there was not an easy solution to my problem.

Finally an interesting comment came from a fellow veteran cruiser toward the end of the cruise. He said "If you would have given a nice "tip" to the Maitre D (*supervisor) you would be surprised how fast your problem would be solved." Hmmmm.

[barriedavis]

I was on the same cruise at the same time. Having sailed on the Westerdam twice before, I have noticed that there seem to be fewer dining room staff who have more tables to deal with. Similarly, the room stewards seem to have more rooms to clean and it was often the case that rooms were not done until later in the day. However, I enjoyed everything. I just used the other dining options. The price, itinerary and "feel" were excellent. Joel Mason puts on the best show I have seen on a cruiseline and HMC is probably the best priviate beach available. I know of no notifiable disease on board (I looked having been very ill on previous cruises) as there was no yellow flag flown at any time we docked. After cruises on Cunard (too old and snobby), P and O (too old and a little less snobby, also poor service), Princess (14 times but a little too much nickel and diming now) Celebrity (good staff attitude but poor dining options) NCL (strangely designed ships and poor buffets), my last 4 cruises have been on HAL Vista class and it gives the most for me.

[lysolqn]

Sorry your children weren't feeling well, but it sounds like the maitre d' did what he could to accommodate your request for a table change. Early seating was full and short of tossing some diners out of their seats, there was no place to move you other than late seating. So for what it's worth (not much, I'm sure!), I think it's unfair to fault the cruise line for that - it can't offer you space it doesn't have.

Re wanting to have a hand in dining where and when you wish - well, that's not traditional dining; that's what freestyle/anytime is all about about. Traditional dining is, well, traditional - you choose the time, the cruise line chooses the location. If that doesn't sit well with you because you want to be more hands on, you'll have to choose one of the alternative dining options.

[steviek49]

Hi lysolqn,

 

Well stated! Like I said in my review, I think we finally realize that we would be most happy (with our values) on either Princess or NCL because of their dining options.

But I do believe that HAL provides a nice, upscale cruise. If the price is right and we like the itinerary, I would not hesitate to take another HAL cruise.

[Jen&Joe]

"Young" cruiser here...I'm 29 and have been on 2 HAL cruises so far (with 3 and 4 booked for this fall!). I have to say that we totally prefer the environment that HAL offers over the more "party" ships. We have never been bored (even on an 18 day cruise for our honeymoon this past fall), sometimes we find we can't even keep up with those who are twice our age!