travelingmcmahans
August 21st, 2004, 09:18 AM
I had never been on a cruise before, and despite lots of reading online and questioning of family members who have cruised, I wasn't sure what to expect. We had booked a category "B" room (I think), which was smaller only than the Mini-Suite, with a queen bed and windows on the upper promenade of Holland America's MS Noordam for an August Baltic cruise. Our typical travel style is more backpacking, trains and public transportation than ocean liner, but my husband and I were looking forward to a new adventure for my 30th birthday.
http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/ship/happy-on-the-cruise.jpgWe boarded in Copenhagen, where my first stereotype was proven wrong. We were able to board in a matter of minutes, since we had completed our immigration forms online. Our cabin was ready - at first I was dismayed at the tiny room, but after later seeing "normal" size cabins, I realized we were fortunate. Our window looked straight out the front of the ship, so we were o have amazing views throughout the trip. Our room steward was very helpful, and was able to locate a fan (can't sleep without one) and extra pillows. My first impression of the room décor was somewhere between cheap Florida motel and old Las Vegas, which I guess may be a little harsh, but it was not to my style. It ended up being perfectly comfortable, except for the temperature, which was never quite cool enough for my preference.
The ship itself I thought was in general very clean. With no basis of comparison, I can't say how it stacks up to other ships. Old Las Vegas and reruns of the Golden Girls were what the style was reminiscent of . Again, not me at all, but fun in its own way once I got over being snobby about it. I thought the size was nice. Big enough to feel like you can roam around, but not so massive that it takes forever to go anywhere.
http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/ship/images/escargot.jpgOK, the food. I was quite disappointed when we sat down to lunch in the Lido. Very mediocre cafeteria food, the ice tea was brewed (gross) and the water tasted like pool water. However, dinner in the dining room made up for that experience. I am fairly "discerning" we will say, and in addition, fish is the only meat I will eat. However, without fail, every night in the dining room I ate till I was stuffed, generally all five courses. There was always a nice fruit appetizer, and some other favorites were the Thai shrimp, escargot, and caviar. The soups were quite nice - most night I had a chilled soup. The salads were mostly good quality with dark greens. Main courses always offered 1 or 2 nicely prepared fish courses as well as one pasta or other vegetarian meal. And then of course there was "Yummy Yummy" time, with a wonderful array of desserts and a cheese course to choose from. Our table steward was exceptional. Always smiling and happy, with a wonderful attitude. Although I was uncomfortable with the whole concept of two nationalities waiting on generally Caucasian American and European passengers, they did an incredible job, and work very hard to make passengers happy. I would rather they pull up a chair and sit with me and just talk than pull out my seat and put a napkin in my lap, but from what I understand, this is a means for them to make life better for their families at home. Nevertheless, this was something I struggled with throughout the cruise.
Other staff: No one in a white suit was of any assistance when I complained about joggers in the middle of the night outside my window keeping me awake. The port lecturer was a poorly disguised salesman, congratulation those who purchased ship excursions, and "highly NOT recommending" that the rest of us do basically anything that was not an official ship function. In fact, while we were waiting for our guide in St Petersburg outside customs (we were early), he questioned us quite intently, and a little disrespectfully I thought, about our arrangements for Russia. We had visas and a guide, and frankly I thought it was none of his business. The games staff were great though. Once we discovered the competitive team games, we played a lot, and they were fun.
Overall, I thought the ship was well run, plenty of entertainment was offered, and the food was very good. It was an excellent way to see that part of the world, and certainly was a more relaxing way to be transported from one country to another.
I have a small photo gallery here... http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/ship/
My trip report (thus far) and a slide show of the trip is here... http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/europe.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/ship/happy-on-the-cruise.jpgWe boarded in Copenhagen, where my first stereotype was proven wrong. We were able to board in a matter of minutes, since we had completed our immigration forms online. Our cabin was ready - at first I was dismayed at the tiny room, but after later seeing "normal" size cabins, I realized we were fortunate. Our window looked straight out the front of the ship, so we were o have amazing views throughout the trip. Our room steward was very helpful, and was able to locate a fan (can't sleep without one) and extra pillows. My first impression of the room décor was somewhere between cheap Florida motel and old Las Vegas, which I guess may be a little harsh, but it was not to my style. It ended up being perfectly comfortable, except for the temperature, which was never quite cool enough for my preference.
The ship itself I thought was in general very clean. With no basis of comparison, I can't say how it stacks up to other ships. Old Las Vegas and reruns of the Golden Girls were what the style was reminiscent of . Again, not me at all, but fun in its own way once I got over being snobby about it. I thought the size was nice. Big enough to feel like you can roam around, but not so massive that it takes forever to go anywhere.
http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/ship/images/escargot.jpgOK, the food. I was quite disappointed when we sat down to lunch in the Lido. Very mediocre cafeteria food, the ice tea was brewed (gross) and the water tasted like pool water. However, dinner in the dining room made up for that experience. I am fairly "discerning" we will say, and in addition, fish is the only meat I will eat. However, without fail, every night in the dining room I ate till I was stuffed, generally all five courses. There was always a nice fruit appetizer, and some other favorites were the Thai shrimp, escargot, and caviar. The soups were quite nice - most night I had a chilled soup. The salads were mostly good quality with dark greens. Main courses always offered 1 or 2 nicely prepared fish courses as well as one pasta or other vegetarian meal. And then of course there was "Yummy Yummy" time, with a wonderful array of desserts and a cheese course to choose from. Our table steward was exceptional. Always smiling and happy, with a wonderful attitude. Although I was uncomfortable with the whole concept of two nationalities waiting on generally Caucasian American and European passengers, they did an incredible job, and work very hard to make passengers happy. I would rather they pull up a chair and sit with me and just talk than pull out my seat and put a napkin in my lap, but from what I understand, this is a means for them to make life better for their families at home. Nevertheless, this was something I struggled with throughout the cruise.
Other staff: No one in a white suit was of any assistance when I complained about joggers in the middle of the night outside my window keeping me awake. The port lecturer was a poorly disguised salesman, congratulation those who purchased ship excursions, and "highly NOT recommending" that the rest of us do basically anything that was not an official ship function. In fact, while we were waiting for our guide in St Petersburg outside customs (we were early), he questioned us quite intently, and a little disrespectfully I thought, about our arrangements for Russia. We had visas and a guide, and frankly I thought it was none of his business. The games staff were great though. Once we discovered the competitive team games, we played a lot, and they were fun.
Overall, I thought the ship was well run, plenty of entertainment was offered, and the food was very good. It was an excellent way to see that part of the world, and certainly was a more relaxing way to be transported from one country to another.
I have a small photo gallery here... http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/ship/
My trip report (thus far) and a slide show of the trip is here... http://home.earthlink.net/~danamcmahan/europe.htm