My first HAL review-- Noordam 10/31-11/10

[cnvh]

Greetings everyone! I've been lurking/posting here ever since we booked this cruise back in January, so even though we're a bit sad to be home, I'm glad I can finally have some first-hand HAL experience now, so I know what all the fuss is about! :)

 

A little background-- hubby and I are both 32 years old, no kids; this is our second cruise (first was 3 years ago, on Carnival Miracle). While we did have a great time on Carnival, we were looking for something a little more "traditional" for our second cruise-- neither of us are really into the wild drunken party thing, so Carnival, while a great vacation, wasn't really the best match for us. Our first requirement for choosing this trip was the embarkation port (we didn't want to have to fly), then duration (preferably over 7 days), then the ship itself; the Noordam was the one best fitting #1 and #2 that also seemed like a good "fit" for our personalities. We booked a VF GTY, and we used the HAL-sponsored motorcoach program to get to the pier, travelling round-trip from Harrisburg, PA.

 

WARNING: I will probably get long-winded with this, so thanks in advance if you choose to read the whole thing through!

 

Okay, so now for the review:

 

EMBARKATION DAY

 

The HAL bus was scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM from Harrisburg, so we figured that if we arrived by 6:30, that should be more than sufficient. As it turned out, out of about 25 other passengers also travelling from Harrisburg, we were actually among the LAST to arrive! For whatever reason, the dispatcher wouldn't allow our driver to leave early even though we had everyone accounted for by 6:45 AM, so we left at 7 AM as planned; our bus was to head to Mt. Arlington, NJ, to pick up additional passengers, and the other bus headed to Stroudsburg, PA, for theirs; apparently there were too many for just one bus.

 

We had an uneventful bus trip and arrived at the pier in NYC at about 11:55 AM; I had expected the ship to begin boarding at 11:30, so I was estimating maybe an hour's wait to go through the check-in process. OH HOW WRONG I WAS. Embarkation was a nightmare, in my opinion; it didn't appear that they started boarding ANYONE until around 12:30. We waited in a 30-minute line to get a number... then waited another half hour for that number to be called... then ANOTHER half-hour wait in line, just to have our passports checked and go through the metal detectors... and then came the BIG line to actually get checked in, which lasted about an hour. We didn't actually BOARD the ship until after 2:30 PM, more than 2 1/2 hours after arriving. We could NOT figure out what was causing the long delays-- the ship wasn't late arriving, and none of the pier staff had any explanation for the hold-up, other than to say they had never seen it that bad before. All I kept thinking was, we're young and in good health, and WE were getting stiff and ache-y, just standing in lines for two hours... how on EARTH do the older and/or less healthier passengers endure such a thing?!?! It was ridiculous. By the time we arrived in the check-in line, people were starting to get noticeably and vocally agitated at the whole thing... is such an experience typical for cruising out of NYC?? Our first cruise was out of Baltimore, and that day our ship was a few hours late getting in, so we ended up waiting for a few hours in a long line of vehicles entering the pier. (But we were in our car, with the radio, snacks, etc.; it was no hardship.) Once we actually got INSIDE the terminal, we were boarded within an hour-- and that was after the delays with the ship getting in. The Noordam did not have a similar problem, so the long delays were baffling.

 

Once we finally boarded, we headed right to our cabin (got upgraded to a VB, cabin 6145) to unwind for a few minutes. The cabin was great-- a little smaller than our verandah cabin on the Miracle, but with a deeper balcony. Our luggage arrived in bits and pieces, but everything showed up before we went to dinner (early fixed seating).

 

Shortly after getting into our cabin, I spotted our cabin steward, introduced myself, and gave him a heads-up that we would be smoking on our balcony, so could he please check the balcony ash tray when doing our room (on the Miracle, this was often overlooked). He immediately brought us a different ash tray, one which you pushed a button after snuffing out the butt, and it would "whirl" the butts and ashes into an enclosed compartment, so they wouldn't blow around if the winds caught them. Ingenious!! (Needless to say, he must have emptied it frequently, because I never had to mention it again.)

 

After the fiasco that was the NYC boarding experience, once we got on the ship, it was as if we had entered a different dimension-- the Noordam crew were all overwhelmingly friendly, courteous, and put us immediately at ease. Aaah, vacation finally begins...

 

 

Next: THE SHIP

[kakalina]

I always board on the West coast and have found it to be quick and painless. There must have been something going on for it take so long for you to board. Looking forward to the rest of your review. Thanks for posting.

[Big Al B.]

cnvh, we were on the group getting off the ship the day you boarded. Our embarkation on the 20th was the same horror story. We left our hotel at noon, got in line at 12:30 and got on the ship at 3:30. Supposedly they had sent e-mails to some folks advising a 1 o'clock embarkation instead of 11. We talked to some people who were on the home port buses and they were sent away from the pier to sit somewhere for an hour or so.

[sail7seas]

:) Welcome Back.

 

So sorry you had such a tiring embarkation. We were fortunate to have breezed through in New York Terminal when we boarded Noordam in January. It sounds like it was really awful. :(

 

Really looking forward to reading more of your comments.

 

[cnvh]

THE SHIP

 

The Noordam is, in a word, STUNNING. Classic, elegant, refined, superbly maintained, absolutely beautiful. Our displeasure with the Miracle was that it felt like a foating Vegas resort, with neon and garish colors everywhere; the Noordam could not have been more different-- she is truly a classy lady.

 

Our favorite haunts onboard quickly became the Explorer's Lounge (we're voracious readers) and the Oak Room (for mid-afternoon and after-dinner smokes). We met quite a few Mariners in the Oak Room and were glad to hear their stories about their previous sailings. Also, I have never encountered librarians as sweet and bubbly as those onboard the Noordam, in the Explorer's Lounge; they were darling and we looked forward to seeing them every day, and they quickly came to remember us and our preferences (hubby is a big fan of the classics).

 

We didn't go to the casino, the night club, or most of the bars, although we did walk through them a few times. We had hoped to watch some movies in the Queen's Lounge, but when we went to our first one on the first sea day, we arrived only about 5 minutes early and discovered that there were no good seats left-- only ones on the far right or left of the screen. We never tried to go after that though, mainly because we were just too busy doing other things, so unfortunately we never got to watch a movie there while onboard.

 

Art auctions seemed to take place on a daily basis, but they didn't inconvenience us, although they did seem to take over the Ocean Bar quite a few times.

 

Our cabin, as mentioned earlier, was more than adequate; there was ample storage space for luggage and clothes, and we wisely heeded advice and brought along an over-the-door shoe holder to keep small things organized. There was storage space everywhere-- adjustable shelves in the closets, shelf under the bathroom sink, mirrored bathroom vanity with door, drawers under the sofa and bed, drawers on each nightstand, a cubby next to the desk (although there was a lot of stuff already there, like the hairdryer, glassware, etc.), and storage in the desk seat, which we didn't use. My only complaint with all the storage was that it was scattered throughout the room; it took some careful planning for where to put clothes, so that we didn't have to keep walking back and forth around the room to get clean clothes to wear every day. I don't know where they would find room for such a thing, but a more centralized drawer storage arrangement (like an actual dresser) would have been nice.

 

The bathroom was quite spacious for one person to use at a time; when we both crammed in to brush our teeth together, it got a bit tight, but that was to be expected. As for the shower, we did have an incident on our first evening; the piece that holds the removeable showerhead in place snapped when my hubby finished getting his shower the first night; it seems to be made of rather cheap chrome-painted plastic. We called the front desk and they had a maintenance man there within an hour; he agreed that it was definitely broken and would need to be replaced. He offered to fix it that night or the next morning, but as it was already about 9 PM and we were tired, we opted for him to fix it the following day, so it was completed by 10 AM the next morning and we had no more problems with it.

 

I DO wish the showerhead could be angled straight down a bit more, as it tends to shoot ACROSS the tub rather than down (hitting the back wall, rather than the floor), but I adjusted the setting a bit and was able to make do. Hubby also preferred Carnival's shower, in that there were built-in dispensers inside the shower for body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. The Noordam shower has no such built-ins and only one small wire shelf for toiletries, so we had lots of stuff sitting on the corners of the tub-- which would then get blasted off the ledge when the shower was turned on and hit the stuff like a fire hose. :( (Again, only a minor annoyance that we managed to figure a way around, although we had to make our adjustments daily as the cabin steward always reset things back to "normal" whenever he cleaned the bathroom.)

 

Bedding and pillows were wonderful. I especially enjoyed finding a nice plaid "throw" in the drawer under the sofa, which became my blanket for my almost-daily afternoon naps; it was the perfect size and weight.

 

As for service, the Noordam crew are just spectacular. Many of them appeared somewhat shy (I suspect that's their culture?), but all were exceedingly friendly and quick to say "good morning" or "hello" whenever you made eye contact with them. They are so, SO very hard-working that one cannot help but to have an enormous amount of respect and awe for each and every one of them... Every single crew member that we had an opportunity to chat with stated (when asked) that they're on their second, or seventh, or fifteenth contract, so the fact that they're willing to come back and continue such hard work despite the long hours, no days off, and LONG contracts really impressed me. There wasn't a single crew member we encountered that I can have anything but the highest praise for; they were all just great in every way.

 

 

Next: THE FOOD

[cruisinbulldog]

 

 

 

 

As for service, the Noordam crew are just spectacular. Many of them appeared somewhat shy (I suspect that's their culture?), but all were exceedingly friendly and quick to say "good morning" or "hello" whenever you made eye contact with them. They are so, SO very hard-working that one cannot help but to have an enormous amount of respect and awe for each and every one of them... Every single crew member that we had an opportunity to chat with stated (when asked) that they're on their second, or seventh, or fifteenth contract, so the fact that they're willing to come back and continue such hard work despite the long hours, no days off, and LONG contracts really impressed me. There wasn't a single crew member we encountered that I can have anything but the highest praise for; they were all just great in every way.

 

 

 

This is where IMO HAL is the best.. It is not just a few crew around the ship.. Everybody is so pleasant..:)

 

Bulldog

[mamaofami]

I too am sorry to hear you had trouble on embarkation. We took the Noordam out of NYC last February and it was a very quick, less than 45 minute deal, and we weren't in a suite.

 

Since I saw on the webcam that you were in port at 8am (and I expect you were there before ..but I didn't look till 8am), I'm surprised to hear that boarding was so delayed. I wonder why?

 

Anxiously awaiting the rest of your review.

[cnvh]

THE FOOD

 

We had early fixed seating in the upper dining room, and had gotten a table for two as requested. We dined every night in the main dining room, and it was a highlight of our day; we enjoy the tradition of having the same servers every day and being able to establish a repoire with them. Service the first night was rather long; we arrived at 5:45 and our first dinner lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, which was a little longer than we would have liked, especially since we almost only ever ordered one starter and entree each, plus dessert. Service did pick up after the first night, and most nights thereafter we were in and out in about an hour and 20 minutes. One strange thing which we eventually noticed was that, despite the fact that we were at a table for two, our meals came out at the same pace as the table for two next to us... and since our table-neighbors always ordered two and sometimes three starters, that meant we were always waiting for our entrees long after we had finished our single appetizers, waiting for our neighbors to finish theirs. But, since we never had plans immediately following dinner, we didn't make an issue of it.

 

Dinners in the main dining room were generally excellent, as good if not better than we had expected. The breads they placed on our table each night were always excellent, fresh and warm. The first night, we each ordered the prime rib-- which is what we often order from restaurants at home, when we go out. Since we eat it so often (and have been "burned" by BAD prime rib too many times to count), we know what's good and what's sub-par-- and the Noordam's prime rib was STELLAR, at least as good as the best prime rib we typically get at home.

 

In fact, the only meal we got in the main dining room that was a disappointment was the chicken cordon bleu-- it was dry, bland, and cooked strangely; it wasn't cold, but the cheese inside (and there wasn't much of it) was never melted. When the assistant dining room manager came around to inquire avout our meals, I was honest and told him that it wasn't so great; he looked nearly horrified and immediately pulled a notepad out of his pocket to make notes on exactly what about it I found lacking. He of course offered to bring me a different meal immediately, but I was pretty full at that point, so I declined.

 

But out of 20 dinners between hubby and I, one solitary sub-par entree was not about to ruin our vacation-- all the other dinners were fabulous.

 

On Dutch Night, I decided to order the Nasi Goreng, since it gets rave reviews from so many CC posters here. As soon as I ordered it, our dining room steward got a big smile; you could tell that he was pleased I had chosen one of their traditional meals. Having never eaten Indonesian food before, I didn't know what to expect, but I'm SO glad I ordered it-- it was TO DIE FOR. As I was enjoying it, I was eyeing to see if anyone else around us had ordered it as well; I couldn't see anyone else with it in front of them, so I can only assume it's not very popular... anyway, when I was halfway through with it, the assistant dining room manager came by to see how I liked it (and it was interesting, because I think he knew ahead of time that I had ordered it and came by specifically for that reason); when I went raving on about how good it was, it was obvious that he was pleased, and he spent quite some time explaining to me how it's prepared, how it's best eaten the next day, etc.

 

As for desserts, I have to say that we were underwhelmed... as good as all the dinners were, the desserts just didn't stand up-- none of them were BAD, but they were mostly just kind-of "blah," not particularly flavorful or exciting. A few highlights were the warm chocolate pudding (which tasted like warm, half-baked chocolate cake-- it was awesome) and the apple crumb pies in the Lido; everything else was just so-so. The cookies were quite good, however-- big, soft... very yummy.

 

For breakfast, we did room service for the first few days; the omelettes were good, but the toasts were cold by the time they arrived, and on the morning which we just ordered cereal, the milk was practically room-temperature by the time our tray got to our cabin... after that, we started going up to the Lido for breakfast instead. The Lido omelettes were a bit too greasy for our taste, so most mornings we either had waffles or eggs benedict (minus the sauce, for me-- I have never liked hollandaise sauce). One of our favorites were the warm danishes near the waffle station-- much better than the room-temp ones near the fresh fruit bar.

 

We went to the Lido every day for lunch; I usually picked one of the daily entrees, and they were all very tasty. Favorites were the roast lamb and polenta with chickpeas. As a matter of fact, ALL the hot roast meats (which is what I usually picked) were really good, nice and juicy and not overdone. Hubby was a big fan of the burgers from the Terrace Grill, as well as the taco bar; I think every single afternoon for a "snack," he either had a cheeseburger, or nachos, or both. :)

 

We never went to the Pinnacle Grill, since I had gastric bypass surgery a year ago and can only eat small portions-- so to spend extra money on a meal I would never be able to finish seemed like a waste. We talked to some other passengers who said the Pinnacle meals weren't really that much better than the main dining room-- the steaks were excellent, but the side dishes were of no higher caliber than the Vista's offerings.

 

Overall, with the exception of the lackluster desserts, we really enjoyed the food onboard the Noordam... and I am happy to report that I DIDN'T GAIN A SINGLE POUND while on vacation, woohoo!! (It wasn't for lack of trying; some days it seemed like we were snacking round-the-clock, and I was definitely NOT careful in choosing "healthier" selections... but we made a point of always taking the stairs everywhere, as well as doing the "Walk-A-Miles" a few times a day-- so NOT gaining cruise-weight CAN be done!!)

 

 

Next: THE PORTS

[Freedom55]

Nice job so far! keep it coming cnvh!!!!

[skibee]

Thanks so much CNVH for spending the time to write this great review. My husband and I are going on the Dec 1 cruise on the Noordam---a repeat trip that we did one year ago....Did you try the lovely coffee drinks in the Explorer Lounge?

[liv2cruise4ever]

This is probably the best review that I have ever read. Thank you so much for your incredible effort.:D A pleasure to read!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Am enjoying reading everything so far.

 

Thanks

[cnvh]

Thanks so much CNVH for spending the time to write this great review. My husband and I are going on the Dec 1 cruise on the Noordam---a repeat trip that we did one year ago....Did you try the lovely coffee drinks in the Explorer Lounge?

 

I'll get back to the "big" review later on tonight, but yes-- I did try the coffee in the Explorer's Lounge (hubby isn't a coffee drinker-- what's WRONG with him?!)... the coffee is good stuff, like what you would expect to get from a coffee house. I just wish they had "sweet" treats in the evenings as well as in the daytime-- during the day, they have danishes, muffins, etc., but at night they have little finger-sandwich thingies instead... it would have been nice to go down for an after-dinner coffee and have a scone or something; do other people REALLY want tuna salad on a mini-bagel at 8 PM?? Maybe it's just me who prefers dessert after dinner... :confused:

 

I was debating before we got onboard whether or not I'd get a coffee card, but I ended up opting not to-- the only thing I usually order are lattes (hot or iced), which are $2.60 for a grande size (about 16 ounces), and I didn't get one every day... so $26 for a coffee card wouldn't have made much sense.

 

I swear, I could go on and on about how awesome the Explorer's Lounge is... we just LOVED that place. Compared to Carnival Miracle's tiny, and often CLOSED, little library is like comparing a hot dog cart to Le Bec Fin. :) In my mind, the Explorer's Lounge, just as a concept, is what sets HAL apart from other lines-- it really epitomizes the notion that cruising is (or at least CAN be) a grand and elegant experience, not just a floating drunken free-for-all like some other cruise lines.

[RuthC]

Ah, yes. Boarding the Noordam in NYC. It seems every year the authorities there have to re-learn the drill. Perhaps they'll get it down pat before the Noordam departs for the last time?

My last time through the delay was due to the computers being down. Could that have been the problem you encountered, too?

I'm enjoying your report and am looking forward to everything you have to say about the entertainment.

[RuthC]

As for desserts, .... A few highlights were the warm chocolate pudding (which tasted like warm, half-baked chocolate cake-- it was awesome)

I presume you're referring to the warm chocolate truffle? Yes, magnificent. :)

Or do you mean the pot du chocolat? Also delicious, but not usually served warm.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

I enjoy your writing style. As I read the 'chapters' I find myself dreamng once again...

 

Thank you.

 

Bob:)

[cnvh]

THE PORTS

 

 

Because (then) Tropical Storm Noel was working her way through the Atlantic, we had to adjust our itinerary for this cruise-- the original schedule was Grand Turk, then Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and lastly, San Juan; the captain had to drop Tortola, add an extra sea day on the way down, and switch the order to St. Maarten, then St. Thomas, San Juan, and ended with Grand Turk. We were disappointed to lose Tortola (as we wanted to see the Baths), but we ended up with more time in the rest of the ports (particularly San Juan, which was originally 7AM-1PM, was changed to 7AM-4PM-- which was NICE), so it ended up being to our benefit. The "compensation" for the itinerary change was unlimited champagne at dinner on our second night, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

The seas going down were pretty rough, especially Thursday night into Friday; access to the outside public decks was restricted due to the high winds, and the pools were sloshing around like washing machines. Sea conditions were listed as "very rough," with 18-foot swells and 45-knot winds at one point. Hubby got some slight seasickness symptoms, but I lucked out and was fine; actually, I didn't see many people looking "under the weather" but there were empty paper bags hanging by all the elevators, which I found to be pretty amusing. :)

 

 

ST. MAARTEN

 

We were the only ship in port that day; hubby and I signed up for the America's Cup Regatta, which was quite fun. There were only 2 yachts racing that day; our team ended up with True North IV, and the other team (who won the coin toss and got to choose) got the Stars & Stripes. Our crew, headed by the captain Ernie, was great; however, even though we were leading for the whole race, Stars & Stripes beat us "by a nose" at the end... and based on the way they talked up Stars & Stripes in the pre-sail talk, and listening to other passengers who have done this race before, I get the suspicion that Stars & Stripes ALWAYS "wins by a nose" in these races... perhaps Dennis Connor has declared that to be the rule??? Heehee... in any case, we had a good time. Unlimited drinks (including beer, which was offered before we even started racing-- I found that to be rather curious) were available throughout the excursion, and there was free rum punch (or plain punch) afterwards. I was assigned an "active" task, as a primary grinder; it involved short bursts of furious cranking with a teammate, but it wasn't so strenuous as to make me sore the next day... although to hear people whine about how hard it was, you'd think they were asked to run the Boston marathon. ?!?! (Here's a tip, though-- if you're female and take this excursion, wear a good sports bra!!!)

 

After the race, we walked to the other side of the harbor and had lunch at the Blue Bitch bar; we had burgers and quesadillas, both of which were very good. After lunch, we took the water taxi back across the harbor and got back onboard the ship, since the beach on that side of the harbor looked a little, how to say, "unclean" (people everywhere but nobody in the water??)and we didn't feel like catching a cab to a different beach.

 

ST. THOMAS

 

When we woke up the next morning, we rolled over to see the most gorgeous view from our balcony window, of the hills of St. Thomas, dotted all over with houses like ornaments on a Christmas tree. What a great way to wake up in the morning! Customs went smoothly; when they called our deck, we were down and back in about 10 minutes, then off to breakfast before our scheduled 10:00 AM excursion.

 

We had wanted to go to Trunk Bay on St. John and had originally planned to go on our own, but with the itinerary changes (and subsequently not knowing if there would be one other ship in port, or six), we decided at the last minute to book through the ship instead-- neither of us had ever been to St. Thomas before, and we didn't want to battle crowds and risk missing ferries if there were thousands of extra tourists milling around. (As it turned out, there was only one other ship in port-- Carnival Destiny, which was docked at Havensight.)

 

The ship's St. John/Trunk Bay Beach tour had us riding over to St. John on a ferry (The Island Girl) which departed just a couple hundred yards from where the Noordam was docked. The tour "host" on the Island Girl was great; he talked most of the way to and from St. John, pointing out different famous peoples' homes, landmarks, and interesting island info along the way. Drinks and snacks were available onboard (bottled water, at $1, was much cheaper than what one could purchase when getting off the Noordam). The whole excursion was about 4 hours, but with ferries and taxis, it only left about an hour and 45 minutes at Trunk Bay Beach-- which at first we thought would not be enough time, but it turned out to be the perfect length of stay for us. Snorkel gear was included as part of the excursion, so we got to snorkel for the first time along the snorkel trail just offshore from the beach, and we still had plenty of time to just play in the awesome crystal-blue water before it was time to return. (We headed off the beach 15 minutes early, hoping to grab a burger or something at the vendor at the beach, but they were processing food orders SOO SLOOOWLY that we didn't have time to wait before our taxi was due to leave.)

 

Since neither of us much care for shopping, when we returned from the Trunk Bay excursion, we just got back onboard and had lunch in the Lido. I've heard lots of people complaining about HAL now docking exclusively at Crown Bay, since at Havensight there is a lot more to do right at the pier; they've been building at Crown Bay, however, and it looks like within a few weeks there will be lots of shops open right at the dock. St. Thomas and St. John were lovely though; we would definitely like to go back another time. The host on the Island Girl said that Sundays through Tuesdays are their "slowest" days with fewer ships in port, but Wednesdays through Saturdays are crazy... we'll keep this in mind when looking at itineraries for our next cruise.

 

 

SAN JUAN

 

Having never been to San Juan before, the trip INTO the harbor was rather interesting-- apparently the ocean depth goes from REALLY DEEP to comparatively shallow very quickly, thus producing some big waves and currents coming into the harbor-- and for a few minutes, the ship was rocking and rolling so much that it almost tumbled me out of bed. Was a good thing, though, because it woke me up and I was able to sit out on our balcony to watch us come into port. :) So far our luck was holding, as we were again the only ship in port that morning.

 

Thank goodness for the itinerary change, which gave us an extra 3 hours in San Juan... We arrived at about 7 AM and hubby and I got off the ship at around 8. When we got through the terminal, we discovered from the taxi drivers that El Morro (and most everything else) didn't open until 9 AM, so we figured we'd make use of the time and walk from the pier to the fort, rather than take a cab. (Gotta work off those calories somehow!) We took the walkway that follows the fortress wall along the harbor, up to the entrance to the fort; it was HOT, but the walk was nice, maybe a mile-mile and a half; the walkway is mostly shaded thanks to some gorgeous trees (don't know what they're called, but we've never seen anything like them) and the wall itself. We got to El Morro and spent about an hour and a half exploring the place; the fort is unbelievably enormous.

 

After El Morro, we headed back towards the pier through town instead of along the harbor; we stopped at La Bombonera for coffee (well, coffee for me and a milkshake for hubby) and some grilled mallorcas, which are "Spanish Danish." My GOD were they good, buttery and rich, and the coffee-- wow, it makes Starbucks taste like dirty dishwater. Thank goodness we don't live in San Juan, or else I'd be wanting to go there every morning for breakfast. :) After that, it was more idle sightseeing; the place reminds me of New Orleans a little, with the cute balconies all over the place. Lots of interesting architecture and monuments to explore; we could have spent a lot more time there.

 

Our only other plan for San Juan was that we wanted to get some real Puerto Rican food for lunch, but it seems that none of the food establishments open for lunch before noon-- no luck getting an early lunch if you're only in port until 1 PM! (I lie-- La Bombonera will give you a lunch menu before noon if you ask-- but non-breakfast places don't seem to open before noon at all.) So we strolled around and did some more sightseeing, then we stopped at a place called Raices (at the recommendation of a local). It's only maybe 3 blocks from the pier, and the food was quite tasty... just don't ask me to tell you WHAT we had, because the dish names were in Spanish-- suffice to say that it's a traditional Puerto Rican menu, the place was crowded with local residents, and the food was great.

 

We got back onboard after lunch, and sometime after we returned but before we sailed away at 4:00, two more ships had arrived in port-- HAL Westerdam and RCL Freedom of the Seas. But since we weren't ashore with them, the extra crowds were not an issue for us. I'm just SO glad we didn't have to be back onboard at 12:30, which would have been the initial schedule-- it wouldn't have left time to do much of ANYTHING in San Juan. Thank goodness for hurricanes! :)

 

GRAND TURK

 

Our plan for Grand Turk was to go to a beach and spend the day swimming, since it was our last chance for some beach time for at least another year. We were again the only ship in port, so we hurried off as soon as we could and hopped in the water right at the pier, at the Grand Turk Cruise Center. It was really neat to be able to be at a beach right next to the ship-- but everyone else had the same idea, too, so the beach chairs filled up pretty quickly. After about 15 minutes of steadily-increasing crowds, we decided to hop a cab to Governor's Beach instead; the fare was only $3 per person. We soon found out why it cost so little-- Governor's Beach is only maybe half a mile from the cruise terminal; you can still see the ship from the beach. The taxi driver warned us that there are restrooms, but no other facilities at Governor's Beach; there are little vendor/bar huts there, however, which were being worked on when we got dropped off; one of the workers said that they'll be open in about 3 weeks. (There were stacks of beach chairs, too, but since they weren't "open" yet, we couldn't get chairs to use; they were still chained together.)

 

Governor's beach was interesting for us-- on the good note, it's gorgeous and we literally had the whole beach to ourselves; we arrived with two other couples who had brought their own snorkel gear, so within a few minutes, they were gone and we had the whole beach just for us. The bad part, though, was that I got stung by a jellyfish within about 5 minutes of getting into the water. :eek: I had never been stung before, and while I've had worse pain in my life, it still sucked-- and it made getting BACK in the water a major feat of determination. I DID get back in (would have been a shame not to), but it took all the fun out of it since I was paranoid about getting stung again and spent every second looking down in the water, trying to spot jellyfish... So after a while we decided we'd had enough of Governor's Beach and headed back to the cruise center. (Since it's so close, we didn't bother with a taxi and just walked back.)

 

On the walk back, we got ambushed by a flock of some weird insect, similar to a mosquito (but they didn't look like any mosquitos I'D ever seen)... the bloodthirsty little devils would land on you and start feeding, and you wouldn't even feel them-- but as soon as you'd see them and swat, you'd be left with blood splatters all over yourself. Hubby and I probably got bit at least 20-30 times each, just on the 15-minute walk back-- and I STILL have little welts from those buggers now, 5 days later. (If we get malaria, I'll know why!) We didn't get bit at the cruise center, just on the walk back from Governor's Beach... So, a tip-- if you go to Grand Turk, bring some bug spray. Yuck!

 

Back at the cruise center, we went to Margaritaville for lunch; hubby is a Jimmy Buffett fan, and we wanted to try the obvious, a "Cheeseburger in Paradise." Now, I knew ahead of time that we'd be paying "for the name" and wasn't expecting the best cheeseburger of our lives, but our meal at Margaritaville was AWFUL. Hubby's ginger ale tasted like Listerine, and my iced tea was old and "skunked." We ordered nachos for an appetizer; what arrived was a plate of cold tortilla chips, topped with a squirt of cheese whiz (and barely any, at that), plus some salsa, sour cream, olives, and peppers, for $10. (A bad start.) The cheeseburgers were even worse-- they looked like the frozen kind you get from a cheap food discount store; hubby's was burned so badly on one side that he could actually chip parts of it off. The so-called Kaiser buns were flat like they'd been sitting on the bottom of a big pile; one can get a better bun at Wendy's. The tomatoes were more white than red. The fries were the only salvageable part of the meal; they weren't fresh-cut, but they were decent. But the whole thing was just so awful that hubby finished maybe half of his-- and for him to leave food, it's got to be practically rancid.

 

As if to add insult to injury, we had to wait a good 20-30 minutes for the waitress to bring our bill afterwards... so there we sat on the upstairs balcony, staring longingly down at the pool on one side and the beach on the other, wanting desperately to get the hell out of that restaurant so we could salvage what was left of our afternoon... Ugh. Margaritaville, or at least the restaurant part, was just awful awful AWFUL. The people by the pool with the DJ seemed to be having a blast, though... so my recommendation would be to enjoy the pool, enjoy the bar, but if you get hungry and don't plan on going into town (since Margaritaville is the only restaurant at the cruise center, not counting some health food smoothie place which I don't know if they even SERVE lunch), then go back onboard to eat and then return to the beach/pool if you wish... In our experience, the Margaritaville restaurant was a colossal disappointment.

 

In all, aside from the jellyfish and awful food, we DID have a good time at Grand Turk... we certainly wouldn't pick an itinerary JUST to go there, but if we ended up there again, we would definitely get off the ship and probably explore further past the cruise center. (I hear Pillory Beach/Bohio Resort is nice?)

 

That's it for ports...

 

Next: ENTERTAINMENT AND ONBOARD ACTIVITIES

[cnvh]

I presume you're referring to the warm chocolate truffle? Yes, magnificent. :)

Or do you mean the pot du chocolat? Also delicious, but not usually served warm.

 

I'm 99% sure it was called "pudding," strangely enough... was about the size/shape of a hockey puck, and it was freestanding, not in a souffle cup or anything. But it was the most interestingly textured thing-- literally like a not-quite-fully-baked cake, or brownie.

 

Whatever it was called, it was delicious... too bad all the desserts weren't that good. Or on the other hand, maybe it wasn't a bad thing-- it kept me from wanting to finish every dessert set down in front of me. (Every cloud has a silver lining, right? Haha)

[cnvh]

ENTERTAINMENT AND ONBOARD ACTIVITIES

 

Hubby and I love cruising because it gives us time to relax and not be overburdened with schedules, so we didn't do a whole lot in terms of onboard activities-- we never once went to the casino, and the only organized activities we participated in were the galley tour, the morning Walk-A-Miles, and the cumulative team trivia on sea days. Other than that, we did a lot of reading out on our balcony and on the Promenade deck, and a lot of afternoon napping in our cabin-- which is exactly what we set out to do for our vacation.

 

We had a BLAST at team trivia. We lucked out and stumbled into a group with two other really nice (and really SMART) couples; our team was called "The Great A&P (Atlantic & Pacific, since we were from both coasts) Trivia Company." and we pretty much swept the competition-- we won 4 out of 5 daily contests, and we won the overall cumulative contest, woohoo! Prizes on the first and second days were HAL keychains, and the third and fifth days' prizes were hats, which came in really handy when we went offshore in port, for keeping the sun off. (We lost Day 4; I don't know what the prize was that day.) The prize for winning the cumulative contest was beach towels... so we did rather well and came home with lots of free loot! :)

 

Between team trivia and the Walk-A-Miles, we ended up with enough Dam Dollars for a baseball hat, plus some extra Dam Dollars to hand out to other people in the redemption line at the end of the cruise.

 

We only made it to three shows: the first was a HAL cast production, called "If These Walls Could ROCK;" I'd heard poor reviews of the HAL onboard entertainment, but the show was pretty good, with some very talented singers and dancers. It wasn't Broadway-caliber, but we're not hard to please, either.

 

We also saw guitarist Justin Miller's first performance and were pretty impressed; he interspersed anecdotes about musical history and tidbits about various famous performers in between songs, so we came out feeling educated as well as entertained. (From listening to other passengers, his show sounded like a cruise highlight; he did a few other performances and lectures later in the voyage, but we only attended the first show.)

 

We also attended the Filipino crew show, which was impressive. They are obviously not professional performers, but how can you not be impressed by the simple fact that they are even able to PUT ON a show, after working such long hours every day?!?!?! We had INTENDED to go to the Indonesian crew show later in the week as well, but we fell asleep in our cabin and missed it... but we made a point to catch it on the TV the next day, as our dining room steward was one of the performers. (I didn't have the heart to tell him that WE were too tired to attend, after HE puts in such long hours day-in/day-out and yet can still find the time to be in the show at 11:15 at night... so at least we were able to tell him the next day that we did indeed see his performance; we just didn't mention that we didn't see it "live," oops!)

 

(Phew... that was a lot of typing for one day. Will have to finish this review tomorrow.)

 

Next: DISEMBARKATION AND SUMMARY

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Cnvh, this is a fabulous review! Are you a professional writer? Your observations are so beautifully organized and articulated. Thanks very much.

[DFD1]

Great review! Fun to read. Makes me want to book the Noordam NOW!

[mamaofami]

I'm loving your review.

 

We have very little time in Puerto Rico...not enought time to do anything but walk around a bit and then head back to the ship.

 

Sure hope disembarkation went more smoothly for you. CAn't wait to read all about it.

[cnvh]

Cnvh, this is a fabulous review! Are you a professional writer? Your observations are so beautifully organized and articulated. Thanks very much.

 

That's so kind of you-- thanks!

 

Nope, I'm not a professional writer-- not unless you count writing scores of case notes at work, haha... But I would certainly be willing to entertain any and all offers that might ever come my way to do so! :D

[RuthC]

I'm enjoying this very much---especially in light of the thought that I may sail the Noordam again on the Voyage of the Good Nuts.

Isn't Justin Miller an excellent entertainer? I'm sorry you missed his other performances. I hope to see him aboard another sailing someday.

You didn't say anything about the HAL lounge entertainment :confused:. I'd be interested in knowing who was playing in the various bars and what you thought of them.

[Comptech]

Great review

What is Walk A Miles and do you get dam dollars for it?