Thinking About Noordam SeaFarer 10-Night for Fall/Spring 2011 or 2012

[snorkelingsearchers]

I wanted to see who was done this ( I have read the reviews) and what their thoughts were.

temperatures, water temperatures, balcony?, ports etc. ( we love to snorkel and we like HAL)

Thanks for any insight you can lend! Needed to distract myself from work!

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos; Cruising Bahia de Samana; Samana, Dominican Republic; Kralendijk (Bonaire), Antilles; Willemstad (Curacao), Antilles; Oranjestad, Aruba

[KirkNC]

I can only speak to the ship, we had a wonderful cruise this summer in the Med on the Noordam. The crew and service were the best. You will enjoy it no matter where it goes!

Kirk

[wdw1972]

I'm interested as well - I plan to book this cruise for November 2011 while onboard the Zuiderdam next month. It'll be my first visit to Bonnaire & Samana & I like most of the other ports.

Sue/WDW1972
Zuiderdam 11/23/10
Eurodam 3/5/11

[eldercruser]

All I can say is we took that cruise in February 2010 and enjoyed it so much we are going again in February, 2011.

The weather can vary by the day of the week, however, we had very good weather las February.

The Noordam is a great ship.

[gigianne]

We did the Seafarer beginning of March 2010. The weather was cool for the first couple of days - not much swimming on HMC or Grand Turk. We did not get off the ship in Samana and did not hear good things from some of the passengers who did. The ABC islands were fabulous - second time for us in Aruba and Curacao - first time in Bonnaire. I love those islands - great for swimming/snorkelling. We didn't have time to do the 20 day cruise then - so, we are cruising again next month - this time the Wayfarer on the Noordam - love that ship!!

[Love the beach]

Did this cruise in January---loved it. Especially love Curacao---didn't care for Samama at all. We had great weather and LOVE that Noordam--we have 2 more cruises booked on her. Enjoy your cruise :).
Marge

[cruiseapril]

Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire are three favorites of ours. Very nice and different in many ways even though they have the same climate and desert like land. Wonderful swimming and snorkeling at all.

We spent the morning at Blue Bay Resort in Curacao from the Westerdam. One of the good snorkeling sites.

Hope you get to do this cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have sailed on the Noordam -- she is a great ship.

We did your itinerary a couple of years ago -- only port new since then is Samana -- and that is the only port we have not been to yet. All the other ones we have been to many times.

[CruiserTarheel]

We are trying to decide between this cruise and the 10 day partial Panama Canal Zuiderdam. Any opinions would be appreciated.

[snorkelingsearchers]

Is this a trip that it would be worth it to get a balcony? Or otherwise put, if you booked a balcony on this itinerary (or one with similar ports) - did it (the balcony) get a lot of use?

Can anyone comment on the air and water temps for this time of year fall/spring?

Also, interested in the answer to Jim's Question, we are leaning towards this one because of more port time in the ABCs, but the 10 or 11 day sunfarer also look tempting. Thanks!

[LordSpain]

We did this cruise last January and loved it - the only port we didn’t care for was Samana. The weather was a bit cool at that time which made swimming at HMC nearly impossible and it didn’t start to warm to our liking until we got a bit south of the Dominican Republic. This year we’re taking the 20-Day in March hoping the weather will be a little a little warmer. We’ll also be taking a snorkeling excursion in Samana that should take us away from the dirty port area out to some cleaner water.

As to your weather question, once you get down to ABC you’ll only be 12 degrees north of the Equator so it will be warm. If was for us even in January.

We’ve always sailed with a veranda and use it quite a bit. There’s nothing quite like sitting outside at night, stargazing while sharing a bottle of wine.

Bruce & Pat

[RetiredMustang]

Is this a trip that it would be worth it to get a balcony? Or otherwise put, if you booked a balcony on this itinerary (or one with similar ports) - did it (the balcony) get a lot of use?

Can anyone comment on the air and water temps for this time of year fall/spring?

Also, interested in the answer to Jim's Question, we are leaning towards this one because of more port time in the ABCs, but the 10 or 11 day sunfarer also look tempting. Thanks!

We took this itinerary in Feb 2010 as part of a Collectors cruise. We had a balcony, and used it quite a bit, for relaxing after shore excursions, coffee in the morning, etc. At least for us, it was worth the price.

Air temps were quite warm, although it was windy in Curacao. Water temps were great for snorkeling, although Half Moon Cay can be a bit cool at times, so we did not snorkel there, although we have in past visits.

The best snorkeling on this route is at Bonaire. We did a two-site trip for experienced snorklers, and went to sites off the smaller island of Klein Bonaire. Fabulous.

In Aruba, we took a snorkel/beach excursion, and the snorkeling was fine, although not a good as Bonaire. We did not snorkel in Curacao, St. Lucia or Martinique, but took land trips instead. We did not snorkel this time at Grand Turk, although in the past we found the stingrays fun at Gibbs Cay, but the snorkeling was better the time we went to a boat snorkel at Round Cay.

At Samana, we took the whale watching trip and got very lucky and were able to see whales.

I did a live blog (or as live as connections allowed) of February's trip that has more detail if you would like to read it: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1143462

Hope this helps,
Dave