Live from the Westerdam-March 29th

[marle7]

Sorry folks, I ran out of internet minutes on the ship so I figured I'd finish this up when I got home. I'll do this in two parts. The last couple of days, and then a summary of what we thought.

 

So, the first of the last two sea days, was our anniversary as noted. We once again played the slot tournament, and although I didn't place in the finals, my husband and one of my friends did. We had a little over an hour to kill before the finals, so we headed to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner.

 

The three of us decided to skip appetizers, and just have the burger. So how long does it take to cook a burger? Apparently more than an hour. They even had a brownie dessert on the menu that I would have had, but as it was, we got our burgers, (after asking a couple of times where they were and being told, "there was nothing they could do"), about 10 minutes before we had to be back in the Casino. Lesson learned. Do not go to the Pinnacle Grill for lunch if you have anything else to do that afternoon.

 

After the tournament, (neither of them won), we headed back upstairs to get ready for the ceremony. Of course, we had champagne in the room first and the obligatory hor's d'houvres.

 

The ceremony was held in the Piano Bar at 7:30. We had Pinnacle reservations for 8 p.m., but they knew to expect us to be late.:)

 

There were 3 couples renewing their vows. A couple at 50 years, with a very large entourage of family, a couple at 30 years, and us, the babies of the group at 10 years.:D

 

We were served champagne, and (wait for it) more food.

 

The ceremony was lovely, with the Captain calling up each couple, although the rest of us could certainly hear everything. At the end of the ceremony, the Captain and the party planner Ashley, toasted all the couples and cake was served. We had the cake sent to our room as we hadn't had dinner yet!

 

Dinner at the Pinnacle was lovely as usual, and at the end of it, they brought us (wait for it), more cake! It was a lovely chocolate mousse cake, but we really had no room for it.

 

The next sea day was spent packing and lying in the sun. The aft pool was a bit crowded as they had closed the Lido pool to drain and re fill it. We did get to watch the ship building contests which was kind of fun!

 

This morning arrived all too early and it was time to get ready to disembark.

 

I loved being able to order room service and get ready in a reasonably lesiurely fashion. We left the ship at 9:45 and took the 5 minute cab ride to the airport, where we had our "hurry up and wait" day.

 

Our flight wasn't until 2:45, which meant we couldn't check in for a couple of hours. There was a place to store bags for $6 per bag, which we did, so we could go and eat. The flight was fairly painless, and we arrived home at around 7 p.m.

 

I'll follow this post in a bit with some final thoughts.

[mrsltg]

Happy Anniversary! My husband and I are planning to renew our vows on our anniversary cruise in November. I have a few questions - were you able to use your own vows? Were you given a choice of date? What did you think of the renewal? Was it personal or very cookie cutter?

 

Thanks, and welcome home! I was on the Westerdam with you for the first leg of your trip. I've been in a sort of withdrawal all week but it seems to be clearing now...

 

Erin

[marle7]

Happy Anniversary! My husband and I are planning to renew our vows on our anniversary cruise in November. I have a few questions - were you able to use your own vows? Were you given a choice of date? What did you think of the renewal? Was it personal or very cookie cutter?

 

Thanks, and welcome home! I was on the Westerdam with you for the first leg of your trip. I've been in a sort of withdrawal all week but it seems to be clearing now...

 

Erin

 

Thank you!

 

You can certainly use your own vows. The couple with 50 years did so.

 

Not to be too confusing, but it was both personal and cookie cutter. I would have preferred a private ceremony, rather than having strangers listen in, but I understand that isn't really practical, and the Captain did do his best to make it private and personal.

 

There is no choice of date or time. The Captain decides when this will be done. Ours was done on the second formal night of the cruise, and you will be advised a couple of days in advance.

 

The upshot is the package. The price includes, a bottle of champagne, a boquet of flowers for the room, the ceremony, two corsages to wear the night of. (these will be given to you when you enter the room), dinner for two at Pinnacle Grill, and a photo of the even, plus a certificate.

 

The photo came with a really nice album and not only was the certificate included, but a copy of the vows we repeated as well. The album has room for several "memories" to be written in, and other photos. We received a photo of the two of us, and one of us with the Captain.

[coho ken]

marle7, Thanks for your b2b review. We enjoyed the 1st and only week on the Westerdam.

[Copper10-8]

.................. We once again played the slot tournament, and although I didn't place in the finals, my husband and one of my friends did. We had a little over an hour to kill before the finals, so we headed to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner.

 

The three of us decided to skip appetizers, and just have the burger. So how long does it take to cook a burger? Apparently more than an hour. They even had a brownie dessert on the menu that I would have had, but as it was, we got our burgers, (after asking a couple of times where they were and being told, "there was nothing they could do"), about 10 minutes before we had to be back in the Casino. Lesson learned. Do not go to the Pinnacle Grill for lunch if you have anything else to do that afternoon.

 

After the tournament, (neither of them won), we headed back upstairs to get ready for the ceremony. Of course, we had champagne in the room first and the obligatory hor's d'houvres.

 

The ceremony was held in the Piano Bar at 7:30. We had Pinnacle reservations for 8 p.m., but they knew to expect us to be late.:)

 

.........................

 

That first one (the one with the burgers that took more than an hour to cook) was a lunch, correct?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Welcome Home Marlene :) I enjoyed following along with you cruise.

Hopefully I will be able to send you an email tomorrow, time is flying and I am not getting anything done.

[marle7]

That first one (the one with the burgers that took more than an hour to cook) was a lunch, correct?

 

yes. Apparently my fingers are still on vacation!:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home.

Enjoyed following you on your cruise.

[marle7]

Welcome Home Marlene :) I enjoyed following along with you cruise.

Hopefully I will be able to send you an email tomorrow, time is flying and I am not getting anything done.

 

No worries, Lisa! I am actually flying to New York tomorrow for 10 days, but I won't have any trouble posting the daily ship sightings.:)