Review of Westerdam Alaska sailing

[toodycat]

We're back! The cruise was mostly at HAL's usual high standards, but it still left me with some mixed feelings. Oh, yeah and Donald Rumsfeld was onboard.


http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=88245

[kazu]

Thank you for a thorough review - I do not know where else you travel or cruise, but my experience has been that private tours are much more relaxing (and no worries about your incidents). Thanks again:)

[aliaschief]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

[tcook052]

Thanks for the review! I was docked next to Westerdam in San Juan and it looked like a fine ship. The southern Caribbean itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale has caught my eye but who knows when I'll make that happen.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

I am sorry that the incidents occurred with those passengers.

[secretcastle]

Toody,
We were on the same cruise with you! I think I even know who you are talking about! LOL
I have written a review as well, but I think it takes a few days to show up.
We were so lucky with the weather, Hubbard was just amazing.
Julia

[malibu2]

Enjoyed your review....we will be on the Westerdam in about 6 weeks . Will have to think about an Alaska cruise after reading all your excursions.....:)

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[igraf]

I will be boarding the Westerdam this weekend with several family members, so thanks for the timely review! I hope that we get to see the Hubbard glacier as well as you did.

I have learned (fortunately not the hard way) never to share an elevator with a scooter. I will leave an elevator if a person with a scooter suddenly wants to get on, even if it is not my floor. The truth is that my wife and I would rather take the stairs anyway to work off the last meal. :-)

It is a pity that we will not have more time in Victoria.


Quick question: Was the TV channel that shows the ship position working? I ask because it was not working on my last cruise.

igraf





We're back! The cruise was mostly at HAL's usual high standards, but it still left me with some mixed feelings. Oh, yeah and Donald Rumsfeld was onboard.


http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=88245

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the link -- I will go and check it out.

[toodycat]

Thanks all! You are all so nice. Overall, it was a classic HAL cruise with all their signature touches.
TCook052-- We cruised the Southern Caribbean on the Westerdam last year. It was great.
Kazu---I prefer private tours as well. Last time we were in Juneau in 07, we booked with Harv and Marv for whale watching and it was excellent. On that same cruise, we did a private kayaking excursion with Southeast Kayaks in Ketchikan. In the Caribbean on St. Thomas, we chartered Captain Max's sailboat for a day which I highly recommend.
Secretcastle---Julia, I'm looking forward to your review. The weather was unbelievable. We stayed on deck almost all day taking photographs. Last time we cruised in Alaska in 07, it was way too cold and windy and we had to seek shelter.
igraf---I've been avoiding elevators with scooters since that happened with the exception, of course, of my mother's scooter. At least I know she's a careful driver! I am pretty sure the TV channel was working, but we didn't watch it very much.

[StartrainDD]

We're back! The cruise was mostly at HAL's usual high standards, but it still left me with some mixed feelings. Oh, yeah and Donald Rumsfeld was onboard.


http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=88245

We sailed the Westerdam in March and really loved the ship. We also did the hydrospa, love that pool! I will admit that on two occassions I fell asleep on the thermal lounge and do not know how long I was there! (I really do try to adhear to the limits.)

Regarding your ports, if you ever get back to Sitka (we really loved Sitka) the experience of watching the Salmon jumping over each other going up the stream in the National Park and seeing Eagles "Picking out" their lunch from the stream are something we will never forget. We didn't take an excursion, just walked on our own. My brother and his wife went to the Eagle center and greatly enjoyed that.

It's a shame about your late arrival in Victoria. We did Butchart Gardens on our own but our cruise was a month earlier in the year so daylight lasted until nearly 10:00. Victoria is a great place to visit!

[toodycat]

Derek---Wow! Hell hath no fury like a musician. I have to say that I understand your rage, even though I'm not a musician nor am I exceptionally fit---though I do work out regularly. The incident has been haunting me like I was witness to a car accident or something. I just feel so awful for the victims. Again, I don't know if the woman who fell was drunk or under the influence of medication or just clumsy. The only thing you can't blame this on was the ship which was not rocking in any way at all.

StartrainDD---Returning to Victoria is very much on my agenda. It looked fabulous. We wanted to go hiking on the Herring Cove Trail in Sitka, but DH had pulled a muscle at martial arts class earlier in the month and we weren't sure it would be a good idea.

[Hobbsey]

Derek---Wow! Hell hath no fury like a musician. I have to say that I understand your rage, even though I'm not a musician nor am I exceptionally fit---though I do work out regularly. The incident has been haunting me like I was witness to a car accident or something. I just feel so awful for the victims. Again, I don't know if the woman who fell was drunk or under the influence of medication or just clumsy. The only thing you can't blame this on was the ship which was not rocking in any way at all.
.

Who knows - perhaps she was ill.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your review.

Kirk

[toodycat]

Hobbsey---I don't think she was sick because she did get up and go to dinner at the table next to ours. When it first happened, I thought she had a seizure, a stroke or a heart attack and my friend ran over to help her, but he said she was completely non-responsive to his assistance.

[musicismylife]

Thanks for your review, it looks like you had a great week like we did.

As a cellist I was reading your review with my mouth agape in shock. That instrument was probably worth tens of thousands of dollars, I REALLY hope that HAL will help replace it because it could never sound the same even if repaired.

[Hobbsey]

Hobbsey---I don't think she was sick because she did get up and go to dinner at the table next to ours. When it first happened, I thought she had a seizure, a stroke or a heart attack and my friend ran over to help her, but he said she was completely non-responsive to his assistance.

OIC, didn't remember reading that. Odd then. Especially that she was totally unresponsive and then soon after sitting at table having dinner. It sounds more medical than medicinal, but, how was she behaving at dinner.

My son is a professional muscian and I can certainly feel for the loss of the instrument. I hope it was covered by some kind of insurance.

[jschm27]

Hi Toodycat!

I was on WESTERDAM the week before you. We were the group that could not go into Hubbard due to wind and ice. Glad you got in.

Thanks for the review. We are in agreement on many things. They do serve ALOT of salmon on this particular cruise. We did Veendam in 06 and they served alot then too. My DMIL is alergic to salmon, so she tried to avoid it. Unfortunately, apparently they cook the king crab legs in a fish broth. From her reaction, we believe they used salmon in the broth. Our service was spotty and slow at times, but looking around the MDR, I believe it was due to our server rather than across the board.

We found Sitka to be one of our favorite ports, mostly because it was "sleepy" and not overrun with a bunch of shops selling cheap trinkets made in China. The town has been able to keep much of it's Russian and Native American hertitage. I toured the Russian Bishops House then walked next to the small boat harbor to the National Historic Park. It was very interesting. A previous poster mentioned the creek full of salmon. I walked through the woods and found the creek. It was loaded with salmon. They day I was there, there was only one bald eagle at the creek and there was sign of bear. Back at the visitor center, there were a couple of bald eagles in a tree. My DW and DMIL very much enjoyed shopping in Sitka buying Russian craft items. Oh yah, because we missed Hubbard, we got into Sitka early. I was one of the first off. With few in town, I got some great photos of two bald eagles sitting on the Russian Orthodox Church.

Victoria - I agree with you. We got in early and we had about 45 minutes of light at Buchart Gardens. But even with that, it was still not enough. Our bus driver also told us to be back at a certain time or he would leave us. A couple did get left but there was another bus that was to follow us. I don't know why these bus drivers are in such a hurry unless their working is cutting into their sleep at home :confused:. The ship arriving so late in port certainly doesn't allow much time to see the sights. I think that there is a US law that requires a foreign flag vessel to stop in a foreign port before returning to the US. I would certainly recommend HAL to look a rescheduling somehow so that an earlier arrival in Victoria was possible. Overall, I think our itinerary for our previous Alaska trip was superior to this last one. More time in ports and resonable arrival and departure times. The only reason we went on this one was to see Sitka.

I regret hearing about the Adadgo Strings incident. We certainly enjoyed them. I think the cellist was excellent and I hate to think about her damaged instrument. Was the lady who fell drunk or was the ship moving or ????? :confused:

Finally on the entertainment. I would have rated the entertainment a 5 out of 5 based on the shows, particularily Joel Mason's show. Sorry you missed that.

John

[toodycat]

John---We missed Joel Mason this time, but we have seen him on several other HAL cruises. I agree that he is a lot of fun. Another thing I forgot to mention was the Marriage Game. Jason, the cruise director, was very funny and the couple who had been married only a week were adorable.

I guess there's salmon in a lot of things. We stopped at Tracey's Crab Shack in Juneau and I ordered the crab bisque. It was excellent, but I wound up needing to take a Benadryl immediately after. I guess there's salmon in the broth.

You are correct about the law that mandates the ship stop in a foreign port. If I had it to do over again, I would have just walked around Victoria. It looked like a beautiful city with a lot of nice restaurants and shopping.

I don't claim to know what was wrong with the passenger who fell. The ship wasn't rocking. She may have been drunk or just clumsy. I broke my foot last year when I "fell off my shoes" at work, so I know you don't have to be under the influence to fall.http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[vbmom87]

Thank you for your review. Sorry Butchart Gardens did not live up to your expectations. I have read many different points of view on the gardens. Many have said they really enjoy the gardens at night with the lights. I went on the ship's tour in daylight and we had a great time, however, I thought 2 hours was too short. Others have told me they thought 2 hours was just right. Others that 1 1/2 hours was plenty. We thought we could have used three hours. We are all different, that is for sure.

I hope someone reported the bus driver you had. What a shame he wouldn't go back after you told him about the couple not on the bus. There is not excuse for that kind of behavior, but I would not blame the cruise line for that. However, I surely would have reported it.

[jschm27]

I guess there's salmon in a lot of things. We stopped at Tracey's Crab Shack in Juneau and I ordered the crab bisque. It was excellent, but I wound up needing to take a Benadryl immediately after. I guess there's salmon in the broth.

Hi Toodycat!

I had Tracey's Crab Shack crab bisque also. I was too full at that time to have the crab legs. I had just gotten back from the Glacier Overflight and Taku SALMON Bake shore ex. I think I did rather well this cruise --- I only gained about three pounds ;)

John

[toodycat]

That was some tasty bisque, in spite of the allergies. They actually had an award for third place in a chowder competition as well. I really didn't gain any weight on this cruise, though I did get a little puffy looking from the salt in the food. But, Dh and I tried to work out every day.

[aussiedisneyfan]

Toodycat, if you ever have another Pinnacle Grill meal planned perhaps let them know when booking/boarding that you would like a particular dessert alcohol free. We took our 13yo to the PG on the Volendam and the Maitre D' said it was no problem to specially cook the volcano for her. It does mean that you can't decide at the last minute what you feel like though.