Just off the Westerdam 2/8-2/15

[TLA]

We had an interesting cruise in that we missed Grand Turk due to high seas, missed St. Maarten for the same reason but substituted St. Thomas, spent 4 hours standing by for a possible rescue mission of a nearby container ship taking on water...

 

I am not complaining about any of these, especially the possible rescue mission. Things happen!

 

Joel Mason was one of the entertainers and he put on a fabulous show, especially the last night.

 

I could definitely see where cuts are being made:

 

No cruise staff for activites so very few activities.

Exercise classes at the gym cancelled for the entire week (we were told that the person who was supposed to teach them missed the ship).

Shower curtain moldy, tile grout moldy, carpets look shabby (coming up at seams).

Fewer bar servers on deck.

Only one dance class but lots of trivia!

Only one walk-a-mile (not hosted).

 

 

Due to the lack of interesting activities, we felt this was a very sedate, older-crowd cruise. Not a bad thing for some people but not to our liking. Our other two HAL cruises did not seem that way.

 

That said - the food was pretty good, the service still excellent. It was great to be out on the water and enjoying the warm weather (4 days of it at least).

 

I am happy to answer any questions!

[spcl4cs_gal]

We had an interesting cruise in that we missed Grand Turk due to high seas, missed St. Maarten for the same reason but substituted St. Thomas, spent 4 hours standing by for a possible rescue mission of a nearby container ship taking on water...

 

I am not complaining about any of these, especially the possible rescue mission. Things happen!

 

Joel Mason was one of the entertainers and he put on a fabulous show, especially the last night.

 

I could definitely see where cuts are being made:

 

No cruise staff for activites so very few activities.

Exercise classes at the gym cancelled for the entire week (we were told that the person who was supposed to teach them missed the ship).

Shower curtain moldy, tile grout moldy, carpets look shabby (coming up at seams).

Fewer bar servers on deck.

Only one dance class but lots of trivia!

Only one walk-a-mile (not hosted).

 

 

Due to the lack of interesting activities, we felt this was a very sedate, older-crowd cruise. Not a bad thing for some people but not to our liking. Our other two HAL cruises did not seem that way.

 

That said - the food was pretty good, the service still excellent. It was great to be out on the water and enjoying the warm weather (4 days of it at least).

 

I am happy to answer any questions!

 

Thanks for your review. Joel is great isn't he. :D Who was your cruise director on your trip?

[Velomom]

Thanks for your review. Joel is great isn't he. :D Who was your cruise director on your trip?

Do you know if Julie Barr was with Joel?

[spcl4cs_gal]

Do you know if Julie Barr was with Joel?

 

Not sure...when he wrote to tell me he would be on the Westerdam I didn't think to ask him about Julie. Sorry.

[TLA]

Just looked up in the programs:

 

The cruise director was Andrew (Noyes?). The comedian was Jim Labriola - he was pretty good. The only times I saw the CD was when he introduced the shows. He did sing a bit in the final show and wasn't half bad!

[wdw1972]

We were also on the Westerdam last week, and had a great time! We were in an SA suite, so life was pretty dam good. I didn't sign up for any fitness classes, as I refuse to pay for what used to be free <g>. We thought the food was very good, and the entertainment excellent! Joel Mason was outstanding, and so was Jim Labriola (in a different way).

 

Our cabin was perfect and I didn't see any dirt or signs of disrepair anywhere on the ship. We did have salt built up on the plexiglass balcony walls the first stormy day but the stewards or someone cleaned it the next day & we were good to go!

 

Wasn't impressed with St Thomas, but never have been....that port's a ship day for me. I wish we hadn't missed Grand Turk, but I fixed that by booking the next cruise with Grand Turk on the itinery....just 9 months to wait!

 

I booked the Eurodam while on board - would love to catch Joel Mason playing there on my next cruise.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/09

[Hollyday]

TLA & wdw1972,

 

Thanks so much for you postings. My DH and I will be on the Westerdam in mid April and it is our first HAL cruise. It sounds like there is a difference in cabin steward quality by the extreme cleanilness differences you both had. Hopefully, the one steward made up for it in personality. I'm thinking I may need to take some Clorox wipes for the shower and curtain just in case.

 

We've done 2 Carnival and 1 Disney (when the kids were younger) and we're used to the high energy games on deck. I'm looking forward to something a little more sophisticated and relaxing than a hairy chest contest with an anouncer you can hear from either end of the ship. Based on our current roll-call of 63, 22 are kids (1/2 teens) so I think this cruise will have a younger crowd due to it being Easter week. We do enjoy socializing with an older crowd though. My husband is a WWII buff and loves to talk to those that were there. So looks like the best of both worlds for us.

 

It's great to hear that the shows are of some quality. Whoever Joel Mason and Jim Labriola are I hope they are booked in April based on your posts.

 

What happened with the ship taking on water?

 

Thanks again for all your info.

[pats75]

I was also on this cruise. The container ship, we were told, was able to restart their engines and try to continue to the DR.

 

I felt for the captain...you could tell he was trying to keep to the schedule only to have incident after incident occur. He seemed to be a good sport in making light of the "adventures" during the Joel Mason show at the end of the cruise. (Let me also give Joel Mason a raving review - he's fantastic! I also had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife, along with Jim Labriola and they were very nice people off stage).

 

As for the ship...I've cruise extensively with RC, Princess, a couple of NCLs and a Carnival or two. The Westerdam was beautiful and I thought well kept. There was one spot of carpet wear that I noticed on a stairway, but the flowers were fresh throughout the ship and the dark wood shone. It's a classy beautiful ship. I had a partial-ob outside, and it was fine. The cabin steward was extra attentive, and the food in the dining room was some of the best I've had at sea. We had a member of our party with special dietary concerns and the dining staff took great care of them.

 

Even with the "adventures"...it was a very good cruise.

[gkny]

My Wife and I were on the Westerdam last Oct and wer'e in our late 40s. Tla your correct on your review especially with having very few activities onboard. I didn't mind that too much since I just really wanted to relax during our vacation. I just read by the library and then later in the day I went to the gym and then went swimming. We were on a b2b and the first week was a much older crowd and the 2nd week there were more people our age and that was more fun. We liked the as u wish dining. The staff and service was very good. We had an inside cabin which was fine. The food was good. Have a nice day everyone, George

[lucille prudden]

Having sailed with HAL, carnival, celebrity, Costa many times in the past, we tried Princess. I was very disappointed with Princess. Too many staff members couldn't help passangers find certain locations. The food was marginal at best, this was a major dissapointment for me. I enjoy food that somelse has prepared for me. The grade of the meat was select or ungraded. The ice cream bar on the lido, served a very low grade which is fine but not worthy of an upcharge. No signed or info as to complimentary versus fee itmes for breakfast or lunch. Coffee is popular in the world today. Crown's coffee was inconsistent in all areas. Once my husband said it tasted burn, another time he tought is was a premix. Entertainment was good, ship is beautiful. However that said the items which set apart one resort/hotel/ship from another is the general attitude and food; unfortunatley this ship fell short.

I am booking a basketweaving cruise for 2/2010 and if we were booked on Princess I would have changed the line once we returned. That's how disappointed I was. In the past I have always had teh attitude that ships are like olympic participants , they are all great; but now I have changed my mind when it comes to Princess

FYI,