LIVE from the Noordam (February 6, 2008) - Merger of several threads

[innlady1]

I know that there weren't many kids on this sailing but does anyone know if the kids were affected by the rough seas? I'm concerned about my DD's on the 3/19 sailing should we encounter seas that rough.

 

No idea. There weren't that many children on board. I only talked to adults whose spouses became seasick.

[Jarhead0331]

Interesting to read the mixed reviews. Some people loved it, others appear to have hated it...very few "lukewarms"...

 

Well, my wife and I took the 2/6/08 Noordam cruise too and we had a favorable experience. This is my third cruise, if you count the USS Kearsarge many years ago! The HAL Noordam beats USN accommodations for USMC personnel by far, but it was more comparable to our last experience, which was on the Norwegian Spirit.

 

I had a bad feeling about the Noordam cruise before we even boarded. I took the power outage in the port authority terminal as a VERY bad sign. I was slightly annoyed about the delays caused by this, but I kept reminding myself that it really was not HALs fault. In fact, HAL even ran power cords from the Noordam to give power to the PA and US Customs so that the boarding process could continue. Once the lines started moving again, it went quickly and we boarded in no time at all. On a side note, while we were waiting for the power situation to be resolved, I had a chance to look around at the gathering passengers. I did notice that it was an "older" crowd and I even joked with my wife at the collection of wheelchairs and scooters off to the side. I was warned to expect this so I wasn't surprised, and I didn't really think it would make a difference to my experience since my wife and I are pretty laid back, like to keep to ourselves and just do our own thing. We go on cruises to get away from the hustle and bustle of our professional lives and just like to kick back and be lazy while cruising. Old folks tend move slower, and as a result, they help us move slower too, but I digress...

 

So after boarding, we made it to our room and were pleased with the size and cleanliness. We had a balcony on the 8th floor. I was glad there was a tub (we didn't have on on the Spirit), but I'm always disappointed with the size of cruise ship toilet bowls and the Noordam was no different. I'm 6'3" and weigh about 285, so every time I step into that little bathroom, its like walking into a locker. Anyway, we immediately met our room steward, who was very friendly...and by the way, was stellar throughout the cruise. He was very courteous, considerate and did a great job. He even made towel animals, which my wife absolutely loves!

 

Yes, the rough seas sucked. I don't get sea sick, but those 17ft. waves made me feel quite uncomfortable and uneasy. I just couldn't relax. At one point we went up to the Crow's Nest on the 10th floor. We had to leave right away because the ship as pitching so badly, it was actually hazardous. I can't believe none of those older folks got hurt moving about. It was that bad.

 

So, the weather sucked, it was rainy and cold...what else is there to do but eat? And eat we did...I think my wife had something in her mouth every two hours! Chinese, Sushi, BBQ, cheese fries, ice cream, cheese fries, cookies and more cheese fries. I don't know how she stays so thin, God bless her little stomach. We're not particularly discriminating eaters, so although we thought the food was mostly "so-so", we weren't going to let that stop us. We enjoyed most of the food in the Lido and usually liked our dinners. We had 2nd seating at 8:00. The menus did get a bit annoying after a few days...we found that few items really caught out interest so we'd just end up ordering stuff we had already tried and knew we liked. Erik our waiter was very good so we took care of him at the end. The other support staff, Abdul and Ed as well as that "yum-yum" guy were very friendly and did their jobs well. Food service is something I'm VERY particular about. Bad service in a restaurant is a pet peeve of mine. If I feel ignored or disrespected, the waiter will know...on the contrary, when service excels, I'll make sure I generously tip, compliment the waiter and in some instances ask for the manager as well...just to express my thanks. Our experience on the Noordam with the staff, across the board, met my expectations...

 

The excursions were a mixed bag for us. It all started with a bang with the Grand Turk Helmet Dive. Holy crap that was amazing...I could have stayed on that sea floor forever, it was so beautiful and fun, I just didn't want to come up. I enjoyed it so much, I plan on getting my SCUBA certification in the near future. The shopping in town was standard fare. They, of course, had a Piranha Joe (which I love) so I had to grab some shwag in there...As an aside, my wife and I left our credit cards on the ship and we were short on cash, so I had to run back to the boat to get a wallet. This is when I first learned of the GI outbreak. When I was returning to the ship, the crew member at the gangway asked me to sanitize. Both my hands were full so I tried to brush past him, but he politely asked me to take my time, get my things in order and use the sanitizer. He told me that they are already at Code Red due to a GI outbreak. I wasn't happy to hear the news, but I'm telling this tale so the doubters around hear can see that HAL did take the health of crew and passengers seriously. The guy was not going to let me back onto that boat without scrubbing first with the "goo"...

 

Anyway...In Tortola we did the Virgin Gorda tour. I was not impressed with the general state of the island. It looked pretty run down...Whats the point of taking people on a bus tour through a neighborhood that looks like Berlin after WWII? I exaggerate, but you get the point. The Virgin Baths were beautiful, but the climb to the Devil's Bay was a bit frustrating. First of all, there was no guide, nor were there signs to direct you until you actually get to the damn beach. Where is the logic in that? I learned something though from the hike...damn am I really out of shape...need to lay off of those MS Noordam cheese fries...oh well...

 

Off to St. Maartin we went...this was my absolute favorite time. We took the Rhino Boat tour and loved every minute of it. I felt the need, the need for speed and those little boats zipped us around the island at a steady 35-40 mph. I was the captain and my wife was the navigator. It was a small group of us on the tour and I liked that. Just 4 other couples, all of which were under 40. A vibrant bunch who was out to have a good time. Everyone loved it...Peter our guide was a riot and he took us to all the best sights, including the nude beach and a private dock were multi...I mean MULTI million dollar yachts were anchored. These yachts were all spectacular. Touring the island on the rhino boats was great and really gave us an appreciation for the beauty of St. Maartin that I don't think we would have felt had we toured it by bus.

 

Back to the Noordam we went and off to St. Thomas. Here, we did the Coral World excursion. We were both very disappointed here. The bus accommodations were unprofessional. We were in a fan with a lady that clearly had special needs. She was on a scooter and needed oxygen. These guys just took a row of seats out of the van and just threw the scooter in. According to this lady, she had told them well in advance that she had special needs and they told her everything would be fine...well, they got us there, but if I was her or her husband, i would have been miffed. Anyway, Coral World sucked too...no guide, no interaction with any staff, no shows, nothing. We got to poke around with some sting rays, but big deal...been there, done that, got the t-shirt to prove it...There just wasn't much to do down there...So we walked around, drank some coke, bought a little stuffed animal stingray named Raymond and went on our way...

 

The bus driver that took us back down the mountain to the boat must have been a former fighter pilot...he trucked down that mountain road and got my wife pretty ill. Mind you, those 17 ft. waves and rough seas on the first day of the cruise didn't really bother her, but this guys driving did. So, the only good thing about this was that it actually got us back to the ship faster. We were eager to put St. Thomas behind us and move on to San Juan.

 

We had a good time in Puerto Rico. We didn't have much time ashore, so we decided to just go it alone. It was my first time in PR, and I found San Juan to be a great little city. Clean, and neat mixture of new and old, and convenient too. We took the free trolley up to the Fort at San Christobal. I had a blast walking around in that old fort, looking at views (fields of fire) and just measuring up the strategic position from a military perspective (yes, I'm a geek). After we left the fort, we did some shopping and then just went back to the Noordam for the trip home.

 

On the way back to NYC, and real life, a few events stand out. First, and it may seem silly, but on that first afternoon back at sea, Raymond (remember, the stuffed stingray) turned up missing. We knew he was in the bed when we went to sleep the night before, and then the next day he was gone. At first I feared the worst...A terrorist plot aimed at collecting a ransom for the acquisition of weapons grade fissionable material. But then my wife brought me to my senses when she observed that he may have mistakenly been apprehended by the room steward when the sheets on the bed were changed. This seemed a little more likely to her then my terrorist plot idea (but I wasn't convinced). We spoke with the room stewart who indicated that yes, he had seen Ray, but wasn't sure where he'd gone. He promised us he would look into the matter...in the meantime, our preliminary bill came...I took a look and for some reason, something didn't seem right. It looked too high. I mean, we had fun...but not THAT much fun...so I went through the thing item by item and came across this Spa charge in the amount of $357 for some super freaky beauty treatment. I'm a reasonable guy, so I thought I'd give my dear wife the benefit of the doubt before I lost me temper...good thing I did, because she had no idea what those charges were for. She swore, she had no such beauty treatment. So right away we went to the front desk...good thing it was early too because that line started to snake around the ship. I did not envy the front desk workers on bill day. Anyway, a Supervisor heard us out and was very courteous...she made some phone calls and very quickly got down to the bottom of it. Turns out the passengers in the room next to us had the treatment and it "mistakenly" was charged to our account...this whole issue was sorted out in less than 15 minutes and our account was credited...no fuss, no muss....At the same time the supervisor called us to inform us of the credit to our account, she also gave us the news that Raymond had been located and rescued. To my disappointment, he wasn't recovered by a SWAT team, but by the laundry people who found him in our old sheets...we were glad to have him back, but found it curious that he smelled of cigarette smoke and booze...I'm still trying to find out where he partied that night and why we were not invited.

 

So, to sum things up, we had a great time...we some blue skies and blue water...those Caribbean blue waves always make me chuckle...they are so beautiful and such a contrast from the confines of the four walls of my office. We relaxed, we ate, we met some good people and were served by a good crew. The boat was clean and for the most part, comfortable...We will travel on HAL again, some day, after we've tried a few of the other lines...

 

Just my .02

 

Semper Fi

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this post are expressly those of the author and in no way reflect what may be expected by others should they cruise with HAL and/or the MS Noordam. Personal experiences of other individuals may vary . This means your experience might really suck. In the event of a bad cruise experience, the author expressly disclaims any and all liability occasioned from Noro virus outbreak, bad service, old people and/or rough seas . All other rights are expressly reserved.

[Jarhead0331]

Interesting to read the mixed reviews. Some people loved it, others appear to have hated it...very few "lukewarms"...

 

Well, my wife and I took the 2/6/08 Noordam cruise too and we had a favorable experience. This is my third cruise, if you count the USS Kearsarge many years ago! The HAL Noordam beats USN accommodations for USMC personnel by far, but it was more comparable to our last experience, which was on the Norwegian Spirit.

 

I had a bad feeling about the Noordam cruise before we even boarded. I took the power outage in the port authority terminal as a VERY bad sign. I was slightly annoyed about the delays caused by this, but I kept reminding myself that it really was not HALs fault. In fact, HAL even ran power cords from the Noordam to give power to the PA and US Customs so that the boarding process could continue. Once the lines started moving again, it went quickly and we boarded in no time at all. On a side note, while we were waiting for the power situation to be resolved, I had a chance to look around at the gathering passengers. I did notice that it was an "older" crowd and I even joked with my wife at the collection of wheelchairs and scooters off to the side. I was warned to expect this so I wasn't surprised, and I didn't really think it would make a difference to my experience since my wife and I are pretty laid back, like to keep to ourselves and just do our own thing. We go on cruises to get away from the hustle and bustle of our professional lives and just like to kick back and be lazy while cruising. Old folks tend move slower, and as a result, they help us move slower too, but I digress...

 

So after boarding, we made it to our room and were pleased with the size and cleanliness. We had a balcony on the 8th floor. I was glad there was a tub (we didn't have on on the Spirit), but I'm always disappointed with the size of cruise ship toilet bowls and the Noordam was no different. I'm 6'3" and weigh about 285, so every time I step into that little bathroom, its like walking into a locker. Anyway, we immediately met our room steward, who was very friendly...and by the way, was stellar throughout the cruise. He was very courteous, considerate and did a great job. He even made towel animals, which my wife absolutely loves!

 

Yes, the rough seas sucked. I don't get sea sick, but those 17ft. waves made me feel quite uncomfortable and uneasy. I just couldn't relax. At one point we went up to the Crow's Nest on the 10th floor. We had to leave right away because the ship as pitching so badly, it was actually hazardous. I can't believe none of those older folks got hurt moving about. It was that bad.

 

So, the weather sucked, it was rainy and cold...what else is there to do but eat? And eat we did...I think my wife had something in her mouth every two hours! Chinese, Sushi, BBQ, cheese fries, ice cream, cheese fries, cookies and more cheese fries. I don't know how she stays so thin, God bless her little stomach. We're not particularly discriminating eaters, so although we thought the food was mostly "so-so", we weren't going to let that stop us. We enjoyed most of the food in the Lido and usually liked our dinners. We had 2nd seating at 8:00. The menus did get a bit annoying after a few days...we found that few items really caught out interest so we'd just end up ordering stuff we had already tried and knew we liked. Erik our waiter was very good so we took care of him at the end. The other support staff, Abdul and Ed as well as that "yum-yum" guy were very friendly and did their jobs well. Food service is something I'm VERY particular about. Bad service in a restaurant is a pet peeve of mine. If I feel ignored or disrespected, the waiter will know...on the contrary, when service excels, I'll make sure I generously tip, compliment the waiter and in some instances ask for the manager as well...just to express my thanks. Our experience on the Noordam with the staff, across the board, met my expectations...

 

The excursions were a mixed bag for us. It all started with a bang with the Grand Turk Helmet Dive. Holy crap that was amazing...I could have stayed on that sea floor forever, it was so beautiful and fun, I just didn't want to come up. I enjoyed it so much, I plan on getting my SCUBA certification in the near future. The shopping in town was standard fare. They, of course, had a Piranha Joe (which I love) so I had to grab some shwag in there...As an aside, my wife and I left our credit cards on the ship and we were short on cash, so I had to run back to the boat to get a wallet. This is when I first learned of the GI outbreak. When I was returning to the ship, the crew member at the gangway asked me to sanitize. Both my hands were full so I tried to brush past him, but he politely asked me to take my time, get my things in order and use the sanitizer. He told me that they are already at Code Red due to a GI outbreak. I wasn't happy to hear the news, but I'm telling this tale so the doubters around hear can see that HAL did take the health of crew and passengers seriously. The guy was not going to let me back onto that boat without scrubbing first with the "goo"...

 

Anyway...In Tortola we did the Virgin Gorda tour. I was not impressed with the general state of the island. It looked pretty run down...Whats the point of taking people on a bus tour through a neighborhood that looks like Berlin after WWII? I exaggerate, but you get the point. The Virgin Baths were beautiful, but the climb to the Devil's Bay was a bit frustrating. First of all, there was no guide, nor were there signs to direct you until you actually get to the damn beach. Where is the logic in that? I learned something though from the hike...damn am I really out of shape...need to lay off of those MS Noordam cheese fries...oh well...

 

Off to St. Maartin we went...this was my absolute favorite time. We took the Rhino Boat tour and loved every minute of it. I felt the need, the need for speed and those little boats zipped us around the island at a steady 35-40 mph. I was the captain and my wife was the navigator. It was a small group of us on the tour and I liked that. Just 4 other couples, all of which were under 40. A vibrant bunch who was out to have a good time. Everyone loved it...Peter our guide was a riot and he took us to all the best sights, including the nude beach and a private dock were multi...I mean MULTI million dollar yachts were anchored. These yachts were all spectacular. Touring the island on the rhino boats was great and really gave us an appreciation for the beauty of St. Maartin that I don't think we would have felt had we toured it by bus.

 

Back to the Noordam we went and off to St. Thomas. Here, we did the Coral World excursion. We were both very disappointed here. The bus accommodations were unprofessional. We were in a van with a lady that clearly had special needs. She was on a scooter and needed oxygen. These guys just took a row of seats out of the van and just threw the scooter in. According to this lady, she had told them well in advance that she had special needs and they told her everything would be fine...well, they got us there, but if I was her or her husband, i would have been miffed. Anyway, Coral World sucked too...no guide, no interaction with any staff, no shows, nothing. We got to poke around with some sting rays, but big deal...been there, done that, got the t-shirt to prove it...There just wasn't much to do down there...So we walked around, drank some coke, bought a little stuffed animal stingray named Raymond and went on our way...

 

The bus driver that took us back down the mountain to the boat must have been a former fighter pilot...he trucked down that mountain road and got my wife pretty ill. Mind you, those 17 ft. waves and rough seas on the first day of the cruise didn't really bother her, but this guys driving did. So, the only good thing about this was that it actually got us back to the ship faster. We were eager to put St. Thomas behind us and move on to San Juan.

 

We had a good time in Puerto Rico. We didn't have much time ashore, so we decided to just go it alone. It was my first time in PR, and I found San Juan to be a great little city. Clean, and neat mixture of new and old, and convenient too. We took the free trolley up to the Fort at San Christobal. I had a blast walking around in that old fort, looking at views (fields of fire) and just measuring up the strategic position from a military perspective (yes, I'm a geek). After we left the fort, we did some shopping and then just went back to the Noordam for the trip home.

 

On the way back to NYC, and real life, a few events stand out. First, and it may seem silly, but on that first afternoon back at sea, Raymond (remember, the stuffed stingray) turned up missing. We knew he was in the bed when we went to sleep the night before, and then the next day he was gone. At first I feared the worst...A terrorist plot aimed at collecting a ransom for the acquisition of weapons grade fissionable material. But then my wife brought me to my senses when she observed that he may have mistakenly been apprehended by the room steward when the sheets on the bed were changed. This seemed a little more likely to her then my terrorist plot idea (but I wasn't convinced). We spoke with the room steward who indicated that yes, he had seen Ray, but wasn't sure where he'd gone. He promised us he would look into the matter...in the meantime, our preliminary bill came...I took a look and for some reason, something didn't seem right. It looked too high. I mean, we had fun...but not THAT much fun...so I went through the thing item by item and came across this Spa charge in the amount of $357 for some super freaky beauty treatment. I'm a reasonable guy, so I thought I'd give my dear wife the benefit of the doubt before I lost me temper...good thing I did, because she had no idea what those charges were for. She swore, she had no such beauty treatment. So right away we went to the front desk...good thing it was early too because that line started to snake around the ship. I did not envy the front desk workers on bill day. Anyway, a Supervisor heard us out and was very courteous...she made some phone calls and very quickly got down to the bottom of it. Turns out the passengers in the room next to us had the treatment and it "mistakenly" was charged to our account...this whole issue was sorted out in less than 15 minutes and our account was credited...no fuss, no muss....At the same time the supervisor called us to inform us of the credit to our account, she also gave us the news that Raymond had been located and rescued. To my disappointment, he wasn't recovered by a SWAT team, but by the laundry people who found him in our old sheets...we were glad to have him back, but found it curious that he smelled of cigarette smoke and booze...I'm still trying to find out where he partied that night and why we were not invited.

 

So, to sum things up, we had a great time...we some blue skies and blue water...those Caribbean blue waves always make me chuckle...they are so beautiful and such a contrast from the confines of the four walls of my office. We relaxed, we ate, we met some good people and were served by a good crew. The boat was clean and for the most part, comfortable...We will travel on HAL again, some day, after we've tried a few of the other lines...

 

Just my .02

 

Semper Fi

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this post are expressly those of the author and in no way reflect what may be expected by others should they cruise with HAL and/or the MS Noordam. Personal experiences of other individuals may vary . This means your experience might really suck. In the event of a bad cruise experience, the author expressly disclaims any and all liability occasioned from Noro virus outbreak, bad service, old people and/or rough seas . All other rights are expressly reserved.

[Copper10-8]

Wouldn't it be just dandy to hear how Carnival, Princess, RCI, NCL, Cunard, Costa and the other mass majors handle noro outbreaks on their ships and, specifically, how it affects their pax when they occur:cool: Anybody here sailed under a code red on those bad boys that can 'splain how HAL can learn and not ruin cruises for their pax?

[Copper10-8]

.............And eat we did...I think my wife had something in her mouth every two hours! Chinese, Sushi, BBQ, cheese fries, ice cream, cheese fries, cookies and more cheese fries. I don't know how she stays so thin, God bless her little stomach......

 

Funny as heck!:D Thanks for taking the time and effort to write a review! Good luck with LCpl Raymond;)

Semper Fi!

[rzdj96]

I was quite dissapointed that they closed the hot tubs for the code red. Everyone I talked to said the hot water was just a huge breeding ground for the germs. But, don't you use chemicals in the hot tubs to kill the germs? I was quite baffled by some of the inconsistencies of HAL's method of dealing with it all.

 

It didn't ruin the cruise for us, but why subject ourselves to the same for next year? We are not well off, we save all year to go. Each line seems to have some drawbacks

 

We too will think twice about cruising HAL again. I would think that HAL would take the initiative to not only protect their passengers from the "known" ramp-id NORO outbreaks going around but just applying simple protection from it coming on-board and putting the ship and crew at risk was beyond us. Repeating a simple remark by Dr. Phil is "What are they thinking"? It's correct that all cruises have their pro's and con's. It's also true that some folks don't have cleanliness habits like others do. It's strange that the 2400 passenger GEM sailed Noro free while we with approx. 500 passengers less got nailed. Is it because NCL owns their pier or is it that HAL is afraid to tell the NY Port Authority to clean-up that "dump" they call a terminal? It impresses me that NCL demands boarding passengers to cleanse their hands PRIOR to boarding. You only observed that from HAL "AFTER" the fact. We too don't understand why the hot tubs were shut down. If there's a concern, they have a product called "calcium hypo-chlorate" or "SDTH" that takes care of that problem (and should be used anyway). Don't even get me going on the "food" on-board. Although it was tasty, the portions was the worst we've ever seen. Past passengers even commented to us how the portions were smaller than their previous Noordam Cruise. Three days of "Chicken Cordon Cardboard" was a bit much and it the first cruise (of 8) we've ever seen with frozen "hash browns" vs. freshly grilled. One can go to McDonalds for that a bit cheaper than taking a cruise. They understandably closed the Taco Bar but why cancel it all together? Interchange it with the "sushi" bar some days or something. Two days without "sauerkraut" at the sandwich bar for Rubens. They claimed they were out until I offered to get them a #10 can from the Hamburger stand. "PUFF" on the third day, they had Rubens. It just seems remarkable to me how such a "disorgainized swap meet" exists on such a multimillion dollar operation by using bicycle repair tools.

[bUU]

Interesting to read the mixed reviews. Some people loved it, others appear to have hated it...very few "lukewarms"...

I'm not so sure. I think there were more "lukewarms" versus truly negative reviews. Robbie and I, for example, firmly fall into the lukewarm category. Just read our postings from the ship and you'll see that we enjoyed some of the shows and not some others; that we enjoyed some of the dining experiences and not some others; etc. I think, though, that when discussing the cruise in retrospect, we're more likely to leave out the details about things that were "okay" and focus only on the things that were truly stellar (admittedly, very little) and the things that were bad (admittedly, a significant amount).

 

He even made towel animals, which my wife absolutely loves!

As did mine. I think, though, that having been to Walt Disney World fifteen times over the last fifteen years, I'm no longer excessively impressed by towel animals. For good or ill, they've become something of a "standard item" rather than a special touch, these days.

 

Anyway...In Tortola we did the Virgin Gorda tour. I was not impressed with the general state of the island. It looked pretty run down...Whats the point of taking people on a bus tour through a neighborhood that looks like Berlin after WWII? I exaggerate, but you get the point.

This is a common point of contention, on these forums: Should the condition of the island's economy and how its people (are forced to) live affect our enjoyment of our vacation. While there are some people who do use their vacations to connect with the problems of the world, these days the vast majority of us use our vacations to get away from the real world, and I cannot help but have things such as you've described adversely affect my enjoyment. Incidentally, Grand Turk was much worse. It is a grand shame, no question. Regardless of how much of a Catch-22 situation it is for the good folks of those islands, it definitely deters me from recommending them to folks looking to take a vacation, or folks considering a cruise with those islands on the itinerary.

 

By contrast, St. Maarten is okay, and St. Thomas and San Juan are great.

 

The Virgin Baths were beautiful, but the climb to the Devil's Bay was a bit frustrating. First of all, there was no guide, nor were there signs to direct you until you actually get to the damn beach.

I'm confused. There were three guides, if I recall correctly, and I distinctly remember that the one that led the group to Devil's Bay was named Carla. :confused:

 

I described the big problem we had with this excursion earlier (that the location doesn't have the capacity to accept a tour group with 40 people in it, and never will).

 

Maybe you were on a different tour?

 

Off to St. Maartin we went...this was my absolute favorite time. We took the Rhino Boat tour and loved every minute of it. I felt the need, the need for speed and those little boats zipped us around the island at a steady 35-40 mph.

We were originally slotted into that excursion but wimped out that morning because we were beat from the previous two days. I'm sorry we missed it.

[bUU]

It just seems remarkable to me how such a "disorgainized swap meet" exists on such a multimillion dollar operation by using bicycle repair tools.

Yes, that really crystallizes my concerns with respect to Holland America's reaction to the Code Red.

[Vic The Parrot]

Wouldn't it be just dandy to hear how Carnival, Princess, RCI, NCL, Cunard, Costa and the other mass majors handle noro outbreaks on their ships and, specifically, how it affects their pax when they occur:cool: Anybody here sailed under a code red on those bad boys that can 'splain how HAL can learn and not ruin cruises for their pax?

 

 

 

Allow me, mein dear Sgt ... (requesting permission to speak, SIR! :D)

 

 

When QM2 was in St Kitts last month with Westerdam, word got around that many Westerdam pax were ill with the dreaded bug. Now, imagine a few visitors contaminated (unbeknownst to them, obviously ..) with Noro, roaming around the port of Basse'terre, touching everything in the shops ... mingling with the passengers of QM ...

 

When word spread, the officials on QM went into thier "code red mode", and began going thru the motions of the "Oh no ... not here! ritual ...

 

Removal of salt and pepper shakers ... goo stations at gangway, and restaurant entrances ... no books to let ... etc

 

If you were to enter the Kings Court (Lido) eatery, and refused the gel ... guess what ... no food for you ... go to your cabin and call room service.

(Or go back ashore, and pick up a pizza ;) ) .... BUT!, wash your hands afterwards!

 

 

 

It was like that all the way to St Thomas, and New York. I've never experienced such benevolence in trying to prevent this scourge. So, happily, never heard of anyone on board coming down with Noro.

 

(But ... a few passengers, myself included, managed to come down with the common headcold .... not Noro. Figure that one out ... :rolleyes: So you have to give some credit to the Cunard officers watching over all of us on this voyage.)

 

 

That's my 2 p on this ...

 

If you have any questions, you know where to find me. :D

[sbcs5390]

We headed to the Ocean Bar for pre dinner cocktails and had the opportunity to meet the Chief Environmental Officer, an excellent gentlemen, and very cordial to my family.

 

Hi Rich and Kathy,

 

Thanks for the great live posts. We'll be going on Noordam in a couple weeks. Would really like to have the opportunity to meet with the Environmental Officer, as you did. Did you just chance upon him in the bar?

 

Thanks

[Planetsis]

I can't say where Rich and Kathy met the environmental officer, but we met him walking around on the top observation deck. He was very friendly and took our picture for us. Nice guy!

[innlady1]

I can't say where Rich and Kathy met the environmental officer, but we met him walking around on the top observation deck. He was very friendly and took our picture for us. Nice guy!

 

We met him at the Aft Pool the day the ship went Code Red. I had just grabbed my lunch and joined Fred at the tables by the pool, and he was at the next table, so we started chatting. I asked him if the "high signs" in the Lido meant what I thought they did, and he told me, "yes." Very nice gentleman.

[rzdj96]

I believe I'm "Shaving" with her now. That boat goes back a ways! I remember when I was on the Mount Whitney (a short North Atlantic, staff). Never knew what the identifier "LCC" stood for until I woke up one morning and the marines where all over that ship. Then it hit me "Lets Clean Continually"! You guys deserve allot of credit! Thanks for the post! Rob (USN ACC Retired).

[innlady1]

Interesting to read the mixed reviews. Some people loved it, others appear to have hated it...very few "lukewarms"...

 

Well, my wife and I took the 2/6/08 Noordam cruise too and we had a favorable experience. This is my third cruise, if you count the USS Kearsarge many years ago! The HAL Noordam beats USN accommodations for USMC personnel by far, but it was more comparable to our last experience, which was on the Norwegian Spirit.

 

I had a bad feeling about the Noordam cruise before we even boarded. I took the power outage in the port authority terminal as a VERY bad sign. I was slightly annoyed about the delays caused by this, but I kept reminding myself that it really was not HALs fault. In fact, HAL even ran power cords from the Noordam to give power to the PA and US Customs so that the boarding process could continue. Once the lines started moving again, it went quickly and we boarded in no time at all. On a side note, while we were waiting for the power situation to be resolved, I had a chance to look around at the gathering passengers. I did notice that it was an "older" crowd and I even joked with my wife at the collection of wheelchairs and scooters off to the side. I was warned to expect this so I wasn't surprised, and I didn't really think it would make a difference to my experience since my wife and I are pretty laid back, like to keep to ourselves and just do our own thing. We go on cruises to get away from the hustle and bustle of our professional lives and just like to kick back and be lazy while cruising. Old folks tend move slower, and as a result, they help us move slower too, but I digress...

 

So after boarding, we made it to our room and were pleased with the size and cleanliness. We had a balcony on the 8th floor. I was glad there was a tub (we didn't have on on the Spirit), but I'm always disappointed with the size of cruise ship toilet bowls and the Noordam was no different. I'm 6'3" and weigh about 285, so every time I step into that little bathroom, its like walking into a locker. Anyway, we immediately met our room steward, who was very friendly...and by the way, was stellar throughout the cruise. He was very courteous, considerate and did a great job. He even made towel animals, which my wife absolutely loves!

 

Yes, the rough seas sucked. I don't get sea sick, but those 17ft. waves made me feel quite uncomfortable and uneasy. I just couldn't relax. At one point we went up to the Crow's Nest on the 10th floor. We had to leave right away because the ship as pitching so badly, it was actually hazardous. I can't believe none of those older folks got hurt moving about. It was that bad.

 

So, the weather sucked, it was rainy and cold...what else is there to do but eat? And eat we did...I think my wife had something in her mouth every two hours! Chinese, Sushi, BBQ, cheese fries, ice cream, cheese fries, cookies and more cheese fries. I don't know how she stays so thin, God bless her little stomach. We're not particularly discriminating eaters, so although we thought the food was mostly "so-so", we weren't going to let that stop us. We enjoyed most of the food in the Lido and usually liked our dinners. We had 2nd seating at 8:00. The menus did get a bit annoying after a few days...we found that few items really caught out interest so we'd just end up ordering stuff we had already tried and knew we liked. Erik our waiter was very good so we took care of him at the end. The other support staff, Abdul and Ed as well as that "yum-yum" guy were very friendly and did their jobs well. Food service is something I'm VERY particular about. Bad service in a restaurant is a pet peeve of mine. If I feel ignored or disrespected, the waiter will know...on the contrary, when service excels, I'll make sure I generously tip, compliment the waiter and in some instances ask for the manager as well...just to express my thanks. Our experience on the Noordam with the staff, across the board, met my expectations...

 

The excursions were a mixed bag for us. It all started with a bang with the Grand Turk Helmet Dive. Holy crap that was amazing...I could have stayed on that sea floor forever, it was so beautiful and fun, I just didn't want to come up. I enjoyed it so much, I plan on getting my SCUBA certification in the near future. The shopping in town was standard fare. They, of course, had a Piranha Joe (which I love) so I had to grab some shwag in there...As an aside, my wife and I left our credit cards on the ship and we were short on cash, so I had to run back to the boat to get a wallet. This is when I first learned of the GI outbreak. When I was returning to the ship, the crew member at the gangway asked me to sanitize. Both my hands were full so I tried to brush past him, but he politely asked me to take my time, get my things in order and use the sanitizer. He told me that they are already at Code Red due to a GI outbreak. I wasn't happy to hear the news, but I'm telling this tale so the doubters around hear can see that HAL did take the health of crew and passengers seriously. The guy was not going to let me back onto that boat without scrubbing first with the "goo"...

 

Anyway...In Tortola we did the Virgin Gorda tour. I was not impressed with the general state of the island. It looked pretty run down...Whats the point of taking people on a bus tour through a neighborhood that looks like Berlin after WWII? I exaggerate, but you get the point. The Virgin Baths were beautiful, but the climb to the Devil's Bay was a bit frustrating. First of all, there was no guide, nor were there signs to direct you until you actually get to the damn beach. Where is the logic in that? I learned something though from the hike...damn am I really out of shape...need to lay off of those MS Noordam cheese fries...oh well...

 

Off to St. Maartin we went...this was my absolute favorite time. We took the Rhino Boat tour and loved every minute of it. I felt the need, the need for speed and those little boats zipped us around the island at a steady 35-40 mph. I was the captain and my wife was the navigator. It was a small group of us on the tour and I liked that. Just 4 other couples, all of which were under 40. A vibrant bunch who was out to have a good time. Everyone loved it...Peter our guide was a riot and he took us to all the best sights, including the nude beach and a private dock were multi...I mean MULTI million dollar yachts were anchored. These yachts were all spectacular. Touring the island on the rhino boats was great and really gave us an appreciation for the beauty of St. Maartin that I don't think we would have felt had we toured it by bus.

 

Back to the Noordam we went and off to St. Thomas. Here, we did the Coral World excursion. We were both very disappointed here. The bus accommodations were unprofessional. We were in a van with a lady that clearly had special needs. She was on a scooter and needed oxygen. These guys just took a row of seats out of the van and just threw the scooter in. According to this lady, she had told them well in advance that she had special needs and they told her everything would be fine...well, they got us there, but if I was her or her husband, i would have been miffed. Anyway, Coral World sucked too...no guide, no interaction with any staff, no shows, nothing. We got to poke around with some sting rays, but big deal...been there, done that, got the t-shirt to prove it...There just wasn't much to do down there...So we walked around, drank some coke, bought a little stuffed animal stingray named Raymond and went on our way...

 

The bus driver that took us back down the mountain to the boat must have been a former fighter pilot...he trucked down that mountain road and got my wife pretty ill. Mind you, those 17 ft. waves and rough seas on the first day of the cruise didn't really bother her, but this guys driving did. So, the only good thing about this was that it actually got us back to the ship faster. We were eager to put St. Thomas behind us and move on to San Juan.

 

We had a good time in Puerto Rico. We didn't have much time ashore, so we decided to just go it alone. It was my first time in PR, and I found San Juan to be a great little city. Clean, and neat mixture of new and old, and convenient too. We took the free trolley up to the Fort at San Christobal. I had a blast walking around in that old fort, looking at views (fields of fire) and just measuring up the strategic position from a military perspective (yes, I'm a geek). After we left the fort, we did some shopping and then just went back to the Noordam for the trip home.

 

On the way back to NYC, and real life, a few events stand out. First, and it may seem silly, but on that first afternoon back at sea, Raymond (remember, the stuffed stingray) turned up missing. We knew he was in the bed when we went to sleep the night before, and then the next day he was gone. At first I feared the worst...A terrorist plot aimed at collecting a ransom for the acquisition of weapons grade fissionable material. But then my wife brought me to my senses when she observed that he may have mistakenly been apprehended by the room steward when the sheets on the bed were changed. This seemed a little more likely to her then my terrorist plot idea (but I wasn't convinced). We spoke with the room steward who indicated that yes, he had seen Ray, but wasn't sure where he'd gone. He promised us he would look into the matter...in the meantime, our preliminary bill came...I took a look and for some reason, something didn't seem right. It looked too high. I mean, we had fun...but not THAT much fun...so I went through the thing item by item and came across this Spa charge in the amount of $357 for some super freaky beauty treatment. I'm a reasonable guy, so I thought I'd give my dear wife the benefit of the doubt before I lost me temper...good thing I did, because she had no idea what those charges were for. She swore, she had no such beauty treatment. So right away we went to the front desk...good thing it was early too because that line started to snake around the ship. I did not envy the front desk workers on bill day. Anyway, a Supervisor heard us out and was very courteous...she made some phone calls and very quickly got down to the bottom of it. Turns out the passengers in the room next to us had the treatment and it "mistakenly" was charged to our account...this whole issue was sorted out in less than 15 minutes and our account was credited...no fuss, no muss....At the same time the supervisor called us to inform us of the credit to our account, she also gave us the news that Raymond had been located and rescued. To my disappointment, he wasn't recovered by a SWAT team, but by the laundry people who found him in our old sheets...we were glad to have him back, but found it curious that he smelled of cigarette smoke and booze...I'm still trying to find out where he partied that night and why we were not invited.

 

So, to sum things up, we had a great time...we some blue skies and blue water...those Caribbean blue waves always make me chuckle...they are so beautiful and such a contrast from the confines of the four walls of my office. We relaxed, we ate, we met some good people and were served by a good crew. The boat was clean and for the most part, comfortable...We will travel on HAL again, some day, after we've tried a few of the other lines...

 

Just my .02

 

Semper Fi

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this post are expressly those of the author and in no way reflect what may be expected by others should they cruise with HAL and/or the MS Noordam. Personal experiences of other individuals may vary . This means your experience might really suck. In the event of a bad cruise experience, the author expressly disclaims any and all liability occasioned from Noro virus outbreak, bad service, old people and/or rough seas . All other rights are expressly reserved.

 

The woman you're referring to was on our Homeport Bus to and from Boston. She's a lovely person, and we chatted all the way to NYC and back to Boston again. We ran into she and her husband the next day (after St. Thomas) and we had lunch with them in the dining room...she told me the whole story. Yes, indeed, she had made reservations specifically for that tour because it was listed as handicapped accessible. Small world.