Just back from the Westerdam

[woodburykt]

MS Westerdam
Voyage #32
Feb 13 - Feb 20
Deluxe Veranda Suite 7076

Well friends, we just returned home last night after spending a wonderful week on the ms Westerdam through the Western Carribean.

This was our 3rd HAL cruise and I'm happy to report that aside from one or two small issues, we had a terrific time.

2 of the photographers on this ship were downright rude and arrogant and we stated such on our questionares. The hotel manager called one of us on the last night and apologized for any inconvenience or problem that occured. What happened? As we were walking on the pier in Cozumel to our shore excursion, these two actually made fun of the 3 of us and started laughing at us while they were taking a photo that we did not want or ask for especially since one was taken as we first stepped off the ship. Enough said.

Our cabin steward, Bang, was great and we were so sad to have to say good bye to him yesterday morning. Our dining stewards, Neo and DeDe, were very good but so over worked. They need more bodies in the dining room. So many of these guys are married with children who have signed a contract to work for a YEAR and therefore they don't see their families for quite sometime and gosh, they work so hard, they really do.

The food and service on the ship was terrific and the Pinnacle Grill rest was very, very good. We ate there twice. The desserts on the Lido were really yummy and my tray usually had 3 or 4 of them at lunch time!

We're not the kind of people that are so hyper critical to actually sit here and type dumb things like...."when we were in the Pinnacle Grill the steward placed our dinner roll upside down on the plate"....(yes friends, someone actually typed that on a review of the W'dam a while ago)

Jamaica was not our favorite port of call because of the agressiveness of the locals.......they make you walk through a straw market thing at Dunns River Falls to get to the exit............it was not fun....some sellers were actually grabbing us by the arms to their huts to have us buy something........one gentlemen told us that evening that he was made to pay $20 to use the bathroom.....yikes! Lets just say that on our next cruise that has Ocho Rios as a port of call, we'll be staying on board!

In Cozumel, we did the 4x4 Tropical Safari............what a blast!! Our guides, Rod and Antonio were great and the tour was really a lot of fun.

Well, I think I've already typed too much... rambled on too much, but again, we had an awesome time and can't wait for our next cruise!!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!!

woodburykt
Woodbury, Connecticut

Nordic Prince/Apr 1989
Zuiderdam/Feb 2003
Oosterdam/Feb 2004
Westerdam/Feb 2005

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks for you review. I have a couple of questions. Others have reported that in previous weeks of the Western Carib on the Westerdam they DID NOT have a "Infomal Night" Just 2 Formal Nights and 5 Casual. Was this the same for your week? Also I do not know if we will be lucky enough to still have Joel Mason the guy who does Elton John when we go but if he is still there what night did he perform? Thanks so much.

[woodburykt]

Hi Lisa,

No, they did NOT have the informal night, and we had packed extra sport coats for it. 2 formal nights and 5 casual.

No, the Elton impersonater was not there and I'd heard so many good things about him that I was scanning the daily activity sheets looking for him in the Vista lounge, but I did not see him posted.

Hope this helps and enjoy!

[jhannah]

Jamaica was not our favorite port of call because of the agressiveness of the locals.......they make you walk through a straw market thing at Dunns River Falls to get to the exit............it was not fun. That is common in many ports - the Caribbean and Turkey especially. The straw market in Nassau is much the same way. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. The real bummer is having to come home, right? ;)

[Balliett]

we saw joel mason in the FLL airport on the day we disembarked from the Westerdam (2-6). He was flying home to his wife I kids (I recall him saying during his show).

[spcl4cs_gal]

Gee I wonder when he'll be back on a HAL ship....maybe next month on the Zuiderdam? :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your report.

Sorry to hear about the pushy photograghers - the ones we had on the Westerdam weren't pushy. Glad you reported them.

That's a shame that Joel Mason was on the ship for such a short time. He got on Jan 16 and then left 3 weeks later.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I had read a review about there being just 2 formal and 5 casual nights on the western itinerary. And I confirmed this when we got back the third week of January.

DH still needed his sports jacket for the first week and whenever we went to the Pinnacle.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

KK, Yes DH will still bring his sport coat since we plan to go to the Pinnacle on Sunday and Friday night. I even went this past Sunday shopping and bought 2 new dresses to wear at the Pinnacle and a new Formal Dress:) . I needed to get some new dresses or all the cruise pictures starting looking the same:eek:

[ruthiegirl]

To WoodburyKT:
We also had DeDe as our Waiter, wasn't he the greatest! He was so funny. We were on the Westerdam Feb. 6-13. He told us he just get married and his wife was having a baby in April and he wouldn't be home until December to see the baby. He's having a little girl. He was sooooo proud. We gave him something extra to send to the baby, he was so appreciative.

[woodburykt]

ruthie,

Yes, DeDe was very funny and we too tipped him something extra for making our dinner enjoyable and for working so hard. We really had fun with him as he was trying to practice his english.........a lot of laughs

[macable]

MS Westerdam
Feb 13 - Feb 20
Deluxe Veranda Suite 7086

Woodburykt, Sorry we didn't get to meet.This was our first on Hal & won't be our last!
We wanted a relaxing voyage & were able to have one. Throughly enjoyed
the ship & our cabin, and were most impressed with the crew in general. There wasn't a request or need we had that wasn't satisfied.
I agree with you're opinion of the photographers, I thought they were very pushy & agressive, so we basically ignored them. I figured if they wanted to waste the film that was their problem. If we didn't want to stop we just kept on going. I wonder if they have the brains to know that if a guest wants photos
they will volunteer for them!

We debarked in Ocho Rios, only to purchase a curling iron after mine quit the first night!! I was grateful that the Jamaican policewomen were there to direct us to an approved driver & that the gate kept out the troublemakers.
Our driver Bill, was a sweetheart! He took us to three pharmacies before I found what I needed & then on a tour of the island, ending with Coyoba Gardens. He left us in the care of "Happy" a well informed guide, who gave us a super tour. We were with Bill for 2 1/2 hrs for a charge of $70.

We too had DeDe and Neo as Dining Stewards Neo played the part of the White Monkey in the Indo crew show. Both were really wonderful & always remembered our special requests. We extra tipped them as well as the maitre'd, our room Steward Anan, and the staff in the Pinnacle.
While the meat in the Pinnacle was superb, we thought the dining room food was good as well. We ate in the Pinnacle twice.

If we were disapointed with anything it was the weather in FLL & the cloudy days at sea, but now that we are home & looking at 20 inches of new snow & temps in the 20's I'd like to have the cloudy Carribean back!

[woodburykt]

macable,

Yes, I am truly sorry that I did not follow up on getting to meet you and we must have been right near each other in the dining room if we had Neo and DeDe as our servers.............we were at table 86, which one were you at?

[macable]

We were at table 66 upper after being changed from an 8:30 lower.

One thing I forgot to mention was the mistake we made in booking the Hyatt Pier 66 for a post cruise stay. We disembarked the Westerdam at 9:30AM, very smoothly, taxied to the hotel only to be told our room wouldn't be ready until 2PM. We stored our luggage, & hopped on the water taxi to kill time. The room was a deluxe tower & was ready at 1PM. We didn't like it at all!! Enjoyed our stay at the Marriott Marina pre-cruise & wished we had gone back there.
It was fun watching the ships leave again on Sunday from the Hyatt revolving lounge, & the staff was great, we just didn't like the room.

[Gardendog]

You said that you did not like the pushiness of the locals at Dunn River Falls. Did you go on a cruise tour or did you schedule with someone else?

Did you meet anyone who had done the catamaran to the falls and then the beach visit? I'd like to know how that one is.

[woodburykt]

Hi Greta,

We booked the HAL shore excursion, Enchanted Gardens and Dunns River Falls.

The garden tour was nice, very pretty, as was the falls, just wasn't prepared for the locals.

But hey, it was better than being at work!!

[Disnyfan83]

In Cozumel, we did the 4x4 Tropical Safari............what a blast!! Our guides, Rod and Antonio were great and the tour was really a lot of fun.


Did you get to drive your 4X4? My teenage son and DH would love this, but only if they were behind the wheel!

[woodburykt]

Hi Disney,

Yes, your DH or son can drive. We were 3 to a jeep and I sat in the back. They want 4 if not 3 per jeep. It was really fun. The jeeps were bouncing around a lot and the guides kept asking us...."do you like the mexican massage?" si, mis amigos, nos gusta mucho! (yes, we like it a lot!) It was a fun way to spend the day as you drive to the other side of the island where they serve you a nice little lunch as you sit on a very nice beach.

I've posted pictures in the photo gallery of our trip and several are from this excursion, so feel free to check them out.

if you can't find the link, let me know and i'll post it here in a reply to this thread.

let me know if you need any other info.......enjoy!!