trufflelab
November 11th, 2007, 06:53 PM
About Us: Couple in our mid 40s traveling with our DS 14 years old and DD 9 years old. Our first time on a cruise. We were traveling with my 2 parents, My sister & her two children who are the same age as mine. My Aunt & Uncle.
Leaving NY: We had no problem because we arrived early before 12 pm. We were # 32. The poor lady that was trying to make annocements had a hard time because her microphone was broken so she had to scream and people could hardly hear her. Those who arrived later had to wait on really, really long lines because of some sort of glitch (computer glitch??).
Leaving the Noordam: No problem.
The Ship: Very handsom ship. Nicely decorated. Looks much better in person then it does on the internet. All entertainment areas, our room, everywhere was really nice.
Entertainment & Activities: Was good, not great. It was great if you were over 60. Some of it was a little campy. Some of it reminded me of that scene from Dirty Dancing when the sister was singing in the talent show. Could use a little more entertainment for us middle-age people and children. We heard a lot of people complaining on board and off the ship about the entertainment. People wanted to kidnapp the DJ from Margaritaville on Grand Turk and bring him back on board. He played a lot of games for the kids as well as the grown-ups. Not to mention good music.
I'll start with what we liked. We really liked the That's Vegas Show towards the very end. The four main singers also did a few Broadway hits together in a separte show Broadway Moves to Queens. That I really enjoyed. The first show, If Walls Could Rock arragement was a little off and way too much fast dancing. I felt like I was watching my son's fast action video games. I do have to say that the dancers are really good though. I honestly thought they would drop any moment.
Impressionist Carnie was good. I'm sure most people under 45 had no clue who he was impersonating. I did, because I was involved in theater and hung out with a lot of musicans and artist. Not to mention that my Italian father tells the same jokes he did. It was like listeng to dad.:D
Other family members really, really liked comedian Jim Labriola. I missed him. :(
I also missed Sally Jones who I heard was really good. So I missed two good entertainment shows.
Other family members thought Magician Phil Hitchcock was ok.
I was soooooo looking forward to hearing kettle drums on a ship going to the carribean. The one guy that was playing with the band near the pool looked like he was held back from really playing those steals. You could barely hear him. :( More music needs to be near the pool please!
My family thought that there could have been more pool games for the kids and especially for the teens.
My family enjoyed the kitchen tour.
The art on board is beautiful. I did the art tour with the i-pod. Unfortunately it only covered most of the first 2 floors. I would have loved to hear about the history of other pieces of work on board. Maybe more could be added.
CLUB HAL & THE LOFT: There were less then 40 kids on board this cruise. A lot were really young so they were not in Club Hal. There were maybe 3-4 kids in the club when my daughter and neice were there including them. My daughter loved Club Hal. Yanna (not sure how to spell her name) was good with the kids. My DD loved being there and doing the activities. She received a few things to take home.
The Loft was another story. The few teens (maybe 4-5) that were on board were hiding somewhere. My son really wanted to meet some kids to hangout with. He was really bored most of the time on the ship. Not sure if this is the cruise for teens.
FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD: Foodies this is the cruise for you. I tried lots of new food on this cruise that I never had. I tried the chilled soups and they were great. I had the Asian buffet three days in a row asking for a spoon of everything and actually liked everything. DH & I ate at the Pinnacle one night and loved everything. No complaints here.
A lot of people who were used to fix sitting were complaining about the Any Time You Wish Dinning. We had no problems except one formal night when my mother did make reservations for all 12 of us to dine together and the reservation was lost, forgotten or whatever. That was a disapointing.
The Staff: The staff was great! These men and women are such hard workers. They work over 12 hours a day and always have a smile on their faces. They are always polite. One woman was so obnoixous to one of the waiters that my son gave her a look of disgust. I don't know how they do it. Our cabin stewart, Hery was great he was there when you needed him. He had to put up with my very mess disorganized son.
Fellow Passengers: Met some really nice people on board. Matt & Kitty you are great! It was a pleasure meeting you. One older man gave us a face as we were looking for a seat near the pool because we had the kids with us. He made it clear that he did not want kids near him. I was told by several people that my kids were well behaved. They did not splash all over the pool like other kids. They did not run up and down the halls pressing the elevator buttons like other kids. I am not one of those parents that believe that kids could behave however they want. I try to teach them to respect others. However sometimes they do have to be kids.
Leaving NY: We had no problem because we arrived early before 12 pm. We were # 32. The poor lady that was trying to make annocements had a hard time because her microphone was broken so she had to scream and people could hardly hear her. Those who arrived later had to wait on really, really long lines because of some sort of glitch (computer glitch??).
Leaving the Noordam: No problem.
The Ship: Very handsom ship. Nicely decorated. Looks much better in person then it does on the internet. All entertainment areas, our room, everywhere was really nice.
Entertainment & Activities: Was good, not great. It was great if you were over 60. Some of it was a little campy. Some of it reminded me of that scene from Dirty Dancing when the sister was singing in the talent show. Could use a little more entertainment for us middle-age people and children. We heard a lot of people complaining on board and off the ship about the entertainment. People wanted to kidnapp the DJ from Margaritaville on Grand Turk and bring him back on board. He played a lot of games for the kids as well as the grown-ups. Not to mention good music.
I'll start with what we liked. We really liked the That's Vegas Show towards the very end. The four main singers also did a few Broadway hits together in a separte show Broadway Moves to Queens. That I really enjoyed. The first show, If Walls Could Rock arragement was a little off and way too much fast dancing. I felt like I was watching my son's fast action video games. I do have to say that the dancers are really good though. I honestly thought they would drop any moment.
Impressionist Carnie was good. I'm sure most people under 45 had no clue who he was impersonating. I did, because I was involved in theater and hung out with a lot of musicans and artist. Not to mention that my Italian father tells the same jokes he did. It was like listeng to dad.:D
Other family members really, really liked comedian Jim Labriola. I missed him. :(
I also missed Sally Jones who I heard was really good. So I missed two good entertainment shows.
Other family members thought Magician Phil Hitchcock was ok.
I was soooooo looking forward to hearing kettle drums on a ship going to the carribean. The one guy that was playing with the band near the pool looked like he was held back from really playing those steals. You could barely hear him. :( More music needs to be near the pool please!
My family thought that there could have been more pool games for the kids and especially for the teens.
My family enjoyed the kitchen tour.
The art on board is beautiful. I did the art tour with the i-pod. Unfortunately it only covered most of the first 2 floors. I would have loved to hear about the history of other pieces of work on board. Maybe more could be added.
CLUB HAL & THE LOFT: There were less then 40 kids on board this cruise. A lot were really young so they were not in Club Hal. There were maybe 3-4 kids in the club when my daughter and neice were there including them. My daughter loved Club Hal. Yanna (not sure how to spell her name) was good with the kids. My DD loved being there and doing the activities. She received a few things to take home.
The Loft was another story. The few teens (maybe 4-5) that were on board were hiding somewhere. My son really wanted to meet some kids to hangout with. He was really bored most of the time on the ship. Not sure if this is the cruise for teens.
FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD: Foodies this is the cruise for you. I tried lots of new food on this cruise that I never had. I tried the chilled soups and they were great. I had the Asian buffet three days in a row asking for a spoon of everything and actually liked everything. DH & I ate at the Pinnacle one night and loved everything. No complaints here.
A lot of people who were used to fix sitting were complaining about the Any Time You Wish Dinning. We had no problems except one formal night when my mother did make reservations for all 12 of us to dine together and the reservation was lost, forgotten or whatever. That was a disapointing.
The Staff: The staff was great! These men and women are such hard workers. They work over 12 hours a day and always have a smile on their faces. They are always polite. One woman was so obnoixous to one of the waiters that my son gave her a look of disgust. I don't know how they do it. Our cabin stewart, Hery was great he was there when you needed him. He had to put up with my very mess disorganized son.
Fellow Passengers: Met some really nice people on board. Matt & Kitty you are great! It was a pleasure meeting you. One older man gave us a face as we were looking for a seat near the pool because we had the kids with us. He made it clear that he did not want kids near him. I was told by several people that my kids were well behaved. They did not splash all over the pool like other kids. They did not run up and down the halls pressing the elevator buttons like other kids. I am not one of those parents that believe that kids could behave however they want. I try to teach them to respect others. However sometimes they do have to be kids.