geoherb
April 12th, 2009, 12:57 PM
We had a great cruise on Holland America’s Westerdam. This cruise was a last-minute impulse, booked about eight weeks before sailing. Since my partner teaches at a community college, we are hindered by his school’s calendar. Spring break cruises usually cost too much. This year, the prices on some cruises went down after the final payment date. This was our 16th cruise in 20 years.
The itinerary for this cruise attracted us as much as the price: Half Moon Cay, a day at sea, Aruba, Curacao, then two days at sea. We had not sailed to Aruba or Curacao before. I like that Holland America alternated the Westerdam’s itineraries between eastern, western, and southern. A co-worker friend was on the Westerdam itinerary four weeks before our cruise. He summed it up nicely: “A first-class ship.”
This cruise was our second on Holland America. We sailed five years ago on the Maasdam on a Christmas cruise from Norfolk. In between, we had taken a few cruises on Princess and Celebrity. After this cruise, we will look to any of these three cruise lines for our next one.
Precruise in Fort Lauderdale
Since it was a spring break weekend, hotel prices were sky high for most hotels. I ended up booking us for one night at the Holiday Inn Express in Plantation through Hotwire. The hotel was very nice but not very convenient. The cab fare from the airport was $40 including tip. A shuttle van took us to the port—also $40 with tip. Overall, the difference in cost between this hotel and ones closer to the port more than made up for the cost of transportation. If we stay there again, however, I will rent a car at the airport so we will be able to enjoy Fort Lauderdale more. We enjoyed the pool area of the hotel. The free breakfast in the morning was also very good. There are restaurants, a grocery store, and a drug store within walking distance. The grocery store (Publix) does not have an extensive wine selection. We bought a couple of 1.5 liter bottles to take and enjoy in our cabin.
Embarkation Day
The check-in process was one of the easiest we’ve had. I had filled in all the forms on HAL’s website ahead of time. Within 30 minutes of getting to the port, we were on the ship. Since we were there before our cabin was ready, we were told to go to the buffet for lunch on the Lido deck. Chairs and tables were at a premium, but we found an unoccupied table outside near the aft pool. After eating a very good lunch, we took went to explore the ship a little to free up the table for someone else to use.
The first place we went was the Culinary Arts Center. I had heard that the cooking classes filled up. Ashley, the party planner, was at the Culinary Arts Center. She had the schedule of the events for the week. I immediately went to the front desk to sign up for the first cooking class. After that, we waited around the Atrium Bar until the announcement was made around 1:30 that passengers could go to their cabins.
Our cabin was 5097, a VE balcony. Unfortunately, our cabin stewards had not finished cleaning our cabin. We found one of them in the corridor, and he came back in a few minutes to empty the trash and vacuum. During the course of the week, the cabin stewards were very friendly, but I think they had too many cabins to take care of. They did not get around to our cabin until mid-morning at the earliest, and several days it was after lunch before they had cleaned.
The cabin was very nice. We had not had a balcony cabin in several cruises. This one had adequate closet and shelf space for our clothes and other items. The small minibar refrigerator had enough room for us to add a couple of cans of Diet Pepsi and to keep a small carton of milk if we needed to. We did not want to bother our cabin stewards by asking them to store the other contents. The beds were comfortable. I asked for and received two extra feather pillows. The bathroom had a lot of space. The tub was very small, and we would have been just as happy to have had a shower without the tub.
Our balcony was right beside the glass elevator on the side of the ship. When we were at the railing, we could see the people in the elevator—and vice versa. When sitting down, we could not unless we were at the far end and close to the railing. The balcony furniture consisted of two plastic rattan-like chairs and ottoman. We used the ottoman to hold the breakfast tray. A taller table would have been nice. There was a taller oval table in front of the loveseat in the cabin, but we never bothered to move it outside for breakfast.
We saw the Space Shuttle Discovery launch a few hours after sailaway. It was spectacular. I was afraid we wouldn’t have a good view from the ship. It started off small, but gradually it was easier to see. I’m glad both of us had binoculars. I would not have wanted to share mine. Around a hundred people were around the aft pool watching the launch.
Food
We enjoyed the variety of options on this ship. The Lido buffet has several different stations. There are also a poolside grill and buffet that featured different items. For dinner, we had traditional late seating in the main dining room. Our table for eight as conveniently located near the entrance but behind a partition, which kept us out of the path of travel. One of our tablemates met a woman on the bus and asked if she could join our table. It fit nine comfortably. Our waiter Zen and his assistant Rony looked after us well. Aaron, the wine steward, also helped them out whenever possible. We purchased a 20-punch wine card from him, which was enough to get us through the week.
Dinners in the main dining room were very good. Some of the highlights of the week include a snapper with tarragon sauce and arugula, jerked chicken, and the surf and turf (lobster tail and filet mignon). I was disappointed in the desserts and salads. There was not much variety to them. The appetizers were very good. I did not eat many soups. The two I tried were both too salty. My DH loved the cold soups.
We had room service breakfast for five out of the seven days. We did not receive the cards to order the night before on the last two nights when the ship was in Code Red for the norovirus. I’m not sure if that was a ship-wide measure or just an oversight. We managed by eating in the main dining room one morning and in the Lido buffet the last morning. The room service was usually right on time delivering our order. One morning, however, the server came early. Two of our tablemates gave up on ordering room service breakfast because they said it always came early.
I was successful in requesting an item not on the room service menu card: smoked salmon. It’s one of the things I like for breakfast almost every morning on a cruise. Our biggest problem with having breakfast delivered was trying to get the tray cleared away when we finished. They put a card on the tray every day telling us to call room service to have it removed when we finished. When I called, I got a response that our cabin stewards would clear the dishes and tray whenever they cleaned the room. Unfortunately, one of the things about having the smoked salmon is that it comes with a couple of slices of onions that I don’t eat. One morning, the smell of the onions got to my partner. When he called room service and received the same answer about waiting, he told them he was going to leave the tray by the elevator. Someone came right away that time.
We managed to make one afternoon tea. It’s a lovely and relaxing way to enjoy a few finger sandwiches, pastries, and a cup of tea. Afternoon tea is one thing that Princess and HAL do much better than Celebrity.
Activities
I loved the Culinary Arts Center. I went to many of the demonstrations, the trivia contests, and of course the cooking class. Das, the chef from the Pinnacle Grill, led the cooking class. Ashley, the party planner, was there to get things started—but she left after he had things under control. There were 11 of us in the class. We broke into two teams of four and one team of three. Each team had a dish to prepare. Some of the prep work had been done. Das was there to give us pointers, but the team members did most of the work. My team made shrimp with a curried mango butter. Another team cooked pork medallions with an olive salsa. The final team cooked grilled pineapple and made a rum-caramel sauce to go with it. There was already a nut bread to serve the pineapple, and Das brought out vanilla ice cream when it was time to eat dessert.
We finished cooking in about an hour and then spent 30 minutes eating, drinking wine, and listening to Das talk about some of what goes on behind the scenes. Each participant also got an apron to keep. The cooking class cost $29, and they did book up quickly. Sign up the first day if you want to be sure to get in.
On the first day, we entered the spa raffle. You have to be present to win. My partner won a day pass to the thermal suite and hydrotherapy pool. I won an oxygenating facial. We were able to use the value of the day pass as credit to the purchase of a week-long pass. The hydrotherapy pool was nice—but not as nice as the one we had experienced on Celebrity’s Century before it was refurbished. My partner enjoyed the heated tile loungers. They were relaxing, but I preferred the scented steam rooms and the aroma-mist showers.
One of the steam rooms was scented with eucalyptus and mint essential oils. It was the largest one. The smaller steam room had an indiscernible scent, sometimes stronger than at other times. This room was very hot, and I could not stand it for more than a few minutes at the time. There was a third steam room that was not working properly. I detected the scent of lavender in it.
The aroma-mist showers are near the steam rooms and tile loungers. The unfortunate thing about them is that they are in a co-ed location. I felt funny showering with my swimsuit on. But after being in the steam rooms, I needed a way to cool off. The mist function was scented differently for each shower. My favorite smelled like oranges. There is a regular shower head mounted on the wall. You can adjust the temperature to your liking. Then there is a button to push that activates a cool mist from a small head on the ceiling. Two of the showers also have chromatherapy connected to the misting system. Different colors of light shine while the mist comes down.
Our second favorite activity on cruises is taking part in trivia. Kerry, the cruise director, led most of the big trivia sessions. He follows quizzes that have come from HAL’s main office. A lot of passengers remember the answers to these questions after taking a number of HAL cruises. We did not do very well. But we had fun and met some nice people. The teams could have up to six people on them. There were 32 teams participating at the last trivia—probably a record number of people.
The itinerary for this cruise attracted us as much as the price: Half Moon Cay, a day at sea, Aruba, Curacao, then two days at sea. We had not sailed to Aruba or Curacao before. I like that Holland America alternated the Westerdam’s itineraries between eastern, western, and southern. A co-worker friend was on the Westerdam itinerary four weeks before our cruise. He summed it up nicely: “A first-class ship.”
This cruise was our second on Holland America. We sailed five years ago on the Maasdam on a Christmas cruise from Norfolk. In between, we had taken a few cruises on Princess and Celebrity. After this cruise, we will look to any of these three cruise lines for our next one.
Precruise in Fort Lauderdale
Since it was a spring break weekend, hotel prices were sky high for most hotels. I ended up booking us for one night at the Holiday Inn Express in Plantation through Hotwire. The hotel was very nice but not very convenient. The cab fare from the airport was $40 including tip. A shuttle van took us to the port—also $40 with tip. Overall, the difference in cost between this hotel and ones closer to the port more than made up for the cost of transportation. If we stay there again, however, I will rent a car at the airport so we will be able to enjoy Fort Lauderdale more. We enjoyed the pool area of the hotel. The free breakfast in the morning was also very good. There are restaurants, a grocery store, and a drug store within walking distance. The grocery store (Publix) does not have an extensive wine selection. We bought a couple of 1.5 liter bottles to take and enjoy in our cabin.
Embarkation Day
The check-in process was one of the easiest we’ve had. I had filled in all the forms on HAL’s website ahead of time. Within 30 minutes of getting to the port, we were on the ship. Since we were there before our cabin was ready, we were told to go to the buffet for lunch on the Lido deck. Chairs and tables were at a premium, but we found an unoccupied table outside near the aft pool. After eating a very good lunch, we took went to explore the ship a little to free up the table for someone else to use.
The first place we went was the Culinary Arts Center. I had heard that the cooking classes filled up. Ashley, the party planner, was at the Culinary Arts Center. She had the schedule of the events for the week. I immediately went to the front desk to sign up for the first cooking class. After that, we waited around the Atrium Bar until the announcement was made around 1:30 that passengers could go to their cabins.
Our cabin was 5097, a VE balcony. Unfortunately, our cabin stewards had not finished cleaning our cabin. We found one of them in the corridor, and he came back in a few minutes to empty the trash and vacuum. During the course of the week, the cabin stewards were very friendly, but I think they had too many cabins to take care of. They did not get around to our cabin until mid-morning at the earliest, and several days it was after lunch before they had cleaned.
The cabin was very nice. We had not had a balcony cabin in several cruises. This one had adequate closet and shelf space for our clothes and other items. The small minibar refrigerator had enough room for us to add a couple of cans of Diet Pepsi and to keep a small carton of milk if we needed to. We did not want to bother our cabin stewards by asking them to store the other contents. The beds were comfortable. I asked for and received two extra feather pillows. The bathroom had a lot of space. The tub was very small, and we would have been just as happy to have had a shower without the tub.
Our balcony was right beside the glass elevator on the side of the ship. When we were at the railing, we could see the people in the elevator—and vice versa. When sitting down, we could not unless we were at the far end and close to the railing. The balcony furniture consisted of two plastic rattan-like chairs and ottoman. We used the ottoman to hold the breakfast tray. A taller table would have been nice. There was a taller oval table in front of the loveseat in the cabin, but we never bothered to move it outside for breakfast.
We saw the Space Shuttle Discovery launch a few hours after sailaway. It was spectacular. I was afraid we wouldn’t have a good view from the ship. It started off small, but gradually it was easier to see. I’m glad both of us had binoculars. I would not have wanted to share mine. Around a hundred people were around the aft pool watching the launch.
Food
We enjoyed the variety of options on this ship. The Lido buffet has several different stations. There are also a poolside grill and buffet that featured different items. For dinner, we had traditional late seating in the main dining room. Our table for eight as conveniently located near the entrance but behind a partition, which kept us out of the path of travel. One of our tablemates met a woman on the bus and asked if she could join our table. It fit nine comfortably. Our waiter Zen and his assistant Rony looked after us well. Aaron, the wine steward, also helped them out whenever possible. We purchased a 20-punch wine card from him, which was enough to get us through the week.
Dinners in the main dining room were very good. Some of the highlights of the week include a snapper with tarragon sauce and arugula, jerked chicken, and the surf and turf (lobster tail and filet mignon). I was disappointed in the desserts and salads. There was not much variety to them. The appetizers were very good. I did not eat many soups. The two I tried were both too salty. My DH loved the cold soups.
We had room service breakfast for five out of the seven days. We did not receive the cards to order the night before on the last two nights when the ship was in Code Red for the norovirus. I’m not sure if that was a ship-wide measure or just an oversight. We managed by eating in the main dining room one morning and in the Lido buffet the last morning. The room service was usually right on time delivering our order. One morning, however, the server came early. Two of our tablemates gave up on ordering room service breakfast because they said it always came early.
I was successful in requesting an item not on the room service menu card: smoked salmon. It’s one of the things I like for breakfast almost every morning on a cruise. Our biggest problem with having breakfast delivered was trying to get the tray cleared away when we finished. They put a card on the tray every day telling us to call room service to have it removed when we finished. When I called, I got a response that our cabin stewards would clear the dishes and tray whenever they cleaned the room. Unfortunately, one of the things about having the smoked salmon is that it comes with a couple of slices of onions that I don’t eat. One morning, the smell of the onions got to my partner. When he called room service and received the same answer about waiting, he told them he was going to leave the tray by the elevator. Someone came right away that time.
We managed to make one afternoon tea. It’s a lovely and relaxing way to enjoy a few finger sandwiches, pastries, and a cup of tea. Afternoon tea is one thing that Princess and HAL do much better than Celebrity.
Activities
I loved the Culinary Arts Center. I went to many of the demonstrations, the trivia contests, and of course the cooking class. Das, the chef from the Pinnacle Grill, led the cooking class. Ashley, the party planner, was there to get things started—but she left after he had things under control. There were 11 of us in the class. We broke into two teams of four and one team of three. Each team had a dish to prepare. Some of the prep work had been done. Das was there to give us pointers, but the team members did most of the work. My team made shrimp with a curried mango butter. Another team cooked pork medallions with an olive salsa. The final team cooked grilled pineapple and made a rum-caramel sauce to go with it. There was already a nut bread to serve the pineapple, and Das brought out vanilla ice cream when it was time to eat dessert.
We finished cooking in about an hour and then spent 30 minutes eating, drinking wine, and listening to Das talk about some of what goes on behind the scenes. Each participant also got an apron to keep. The cooking class cost $29, and they did book up quickly. Sign up the first day if you want to be sure to get in.
On the first day, we entered the spa raffle. You have to be present to win. My partner won a day pass to the thermal suite and hydrotherapy pool. I won an oxygenating facial. We were able to use the value of the day pass as credit to the purchase of a week-long pass. The hydrotherapy pool was nice—but not as nice as the one we had experienced on Celebrity’s Century before it was refurbished. My partner enjoyed the heated tile loungers. They were relaxing, but I preferred the scented steam rooms and the aroma-mist showers.
One of the steam rooms was scented with eucalyptus and mint essential oils. It was the largest one. The smaller steam room had an indiscernible scent, sometimes stronger than at other times. This room was very hot, and I could not stand it for more than a few minutes at the time. There was a third steam room that was not working properly. I detected the scent of lavender in it.
The aroma-mist showers are near the steam rooms and tile loungers. The unfortunate thing about them is that they are in a co-ed location. I felt funny showering with my swimsuit on. But after being in the steam rooms, I needed a way to cool off. The mist function was scented differently for each shower. My favorite smelled like oranges. There is a regular shower head mounted on the wall. You can adjust the temperature to your liking. Then there is a button to push that activates a cool mist from a small head on the ceiling. Two of the showers also have chromatherapy connected to the misting system. Different colors of light shine while the mist comes down.
Our second favorite activity on cruises is taking part in trivia. Kerry, the cruise director, led most of the big trivia sessions. He follows quizzes that have come from HAL’s main office. A lot of passengers remember the answers to these questions after taking a number of HAL cruises. We did not do very well. But we had fun and met some nice people. The teams could have up to six people on them. There were 32 teams participating at the last trivia—probably a record number of people.