cricri7
January 15th, 2012, 08:36 AM
Hi guys.....I sailed on January 2nd on the Westerdam going to the Carribean. I am a woman in my early 40's and used to cruising solo. I cruise with friends and family, but also by myself and this one was solo. It is my 5th cruise on Holland, I also sailed with Celebrity and Carnival, so I can compare with a few others.
To start off...
Cabin: I booked an inside on which I got a really good price, around 50% rather than 100% like the usual when you cruise solo. It is on the small side, I sent pictures to Joanie for those who are interested, but quite okay for 1 person. I will talk about the stewards in the category staff later.
Food: It was good....not outstanding, but good. I had dinner twice in the Pinnace grill and it is excellent there. It is worth the 25$, especially if you get a big steak!
Entertainment: I can't talk about it since I went on this cruise to relax... I read 6 books in my 10 day vacation!!
Staff and clientele: I was disappointed....I am used to a much higher standard from Holland but the staff looked exhausted! I am talking about the staff with the clients onboard because I think it goes together. I will go down in flames probably for this, but I have never seen a more obnoxious crowd on a cruise!! People were very demanding from the staff and not at all polite. I saw people go in the Lido barefoot just going out of the pool dripping wet and being impolite with the staff that asked them politely to dress up! I saw people go in the dining room in cutoff ripped jeans and flipflops!
As for the "adult" pool, the rule was never enforced by the staff. I firmly believe that if you are a parent and you help your kid to transgress rules, you are not doing your job. I saw someone tell a parent, in front of the kids, that it was an adult pool and the parent completely ignoring the person. The kid gets the message that he can do whatever he pleases.
The room stewards are always so nice and hard working on Holland cruises and I almost never saw mine. My room was never really made up in the morning. I don't mind since I am alone but I just found it different than what I am used to.
Since it was a time of year where people get vacation time, there were lots of families and big groups of friends traveling together. I traveled once with my family and we never roam the hallways yelling and laughing. It was the case here. There were lots of young guests (mid 20's) that were doing bombs in the pool....walking around and yelling about all the drinks they had the night before....it was not really relaxing!
Disembarkation: Total chaos!!!!! The plank did not want to level with the ship so we were late getting off. The problem was that there was no staff to handle the unruly guests!!! People were bunching up with their suitcases instead of following the line that was forming. It was complete hell!!! No staff was there to enforce a line, to explain what was happening....nothing....I never saw that before on Holland.
Conclusion: I met some very nice people....some of the staff were very nice....and I read and went to the spa....All in all, it was a great cruise but with many bumps.
To start off...
Cabin: I booked an inside on which I got a really good price, around 50% rather than 100% like the usual when you cruise solo. It is on the small side, I sent pictures to Joanie for those who are interested, but quite okay for 1 person. I will talk about the stewards in the category staff later.
Food: It was good....not outstanding, but good. I had dinner twice in the Pinnace grill and it is excellent there. It is worth the 25$, especially if you get a big steak!
Entertainment: I can't talk about it since I went on this cruise to relax... I read 6 books in my 10 day vacation!!
Staff and clientele: I was disappointed....I am used to a much higher standard from Holland but the staff looked exhausted! I am talking about the staff with the clients onboard because I think it goes together. I will go down in flames probably for this, but I have never seen a more obnoxious crowd on a cruise!! People were very demanding from the staff and not at all polite. I saw people go in the Lido barefoot just going out of the pool dripping wet and being impolite with the staff that asked them politely to dress up! I saw people go in the dining room in cutoff ripped jeans and flipflops!
As for the "adult" pool, the rule was never enforced by the staff. I firmly believe that if you are a parent and you help your kid to transgress rules, you are not doing your job. I saw someone tell a parent, in front of the kids, that it was an adult pool and the parent completely ignoring the person. The kid gets the message that he can do whatever he pleases.
The room stewards are always so nice and hard working on Holland cruises and I almost never saw mine. My room was never really made up in the morning. I don't mind since I am alone but I just found it different than what I am used to.
Since it was a time of year where people get vacation time, there were lots of families and big groups of friends traveling together. I traveled once with my family and we never roam the hallways yelling and laughing. It was the case here. There were lots of young guests (mid 20's) that were doing bombs in the pool....walking around and yelling about all the drinks they had the night before....it was not really relaxing!
Disembarkation: Total chaos!!!!! The plank did not want to level with the ship so we were late getting off. The problem was that there was no staff to handle the unruly guests!!! People were bunching up with their suitcases instead of following the line that was forming. It was complete hell!!! No staff was there to enforce a line, to explain what was happening....nothing....I never saw that before on Holland.
Conclusion: I met some very nice people....some of the staff were very nice....and I read and went to the spa....All in all, it was a great cruise but with many bumps.