Westerdam - April 19 - May 10

[Krazy Kruizers]

Westerdam Repositioning Cruise

Originally I was not going to do a review -- but as some of you know -- I belong to several sites -- and after several PM’s from friends encouraging me to do a report -- I was persuaded to change my mind. It is rather long.

Thursday, April 16 -- left for the airport where we stayed the night before our early morning flights.

Friday, April 17 -- Flew down to Ft Lauderdale -- our normal room at the Embassy Suites was ready for us when we arrived in the afternoon. Had 2 ½ hours between flights so got to snack at Delta’s Club. Had dinner at the E-Spot.

Saturday, April 18 -- relaxed by the pool for most of the day. Did go over to Publix to pick up shampoo and a few other items since we are not fans of Hal’s Elemis products.

Sunday, April 19 -- it was a busy day in Ft Lauderdale -- 6 ships: Westerdam, Carnival Freedom, Emerald Princess, Celebrity Solstice, Crown Princess and Seven Seas Navigator. Around 10:45 we got a cab and went to Pier 26 -- quickly went through security and check-in. We were escorted on the ship by 11:15 and taken to our cabin. Met our cabin stewards and walked around the ship -- made certain that our Pinnacle reservations were all in place. That evening we had the suite cocktail party from 7:30 - 8:15 in the Crow’s Nest. Instead of the Lido dinner this evening there was a BBQ from 6 PM until 8:30 PM.

Monday, April 20 - Half Moon Cay -- it was a beautiful day!! Around 10 AM we took a tender over to the island and walked around to see if anything had changed -- still working on the area at the shore excursion booth. Checked the vendors and the store -- walked the beach. Then we decided to have a drink before heading back to the ship for lunch. We usually get a drink at the “I wish I Could Stay Here Forever” bar -- but this time we decided to be different and have a drink at the bar at the Welcome Center. DH likes to have a gin and tonic once in a while so he ordered a Bombay and tonic only to discover that the gin available on the island is only the house gin -- . I wanted a Grey goose on the rocks and had to settle for Gilby. That’s okay. Since we knew the bar tender and he felt sorry that we couldn’t get the liquor we like to order when on the ship he made our drinks a tad stronger than normal. After that one good drink it was back to the ship to have lunch and relax out on our verandah. Tonight we ate at the Pinnacle. DH had the Macaroni & Lobster-- but was very disappointed after my reading reports to him about people raving about it. It was nothing more than macaroni in a SOUP sauce (very runny) with a few bits of lobster on top.

Tuesday, April 21 -- Sea Day -- saw a Yorkie on board the ship -- also had seen one on our Noordam cruise. Our suite lunch was in the Pinnacle at 12:30. Earlier in the morning we attended the coffee chat with the our cruise director Jimmy and party planner Ashley. The first questions that were addressed to them (and from several people) were the show times of 7 and 9. From what we understand the shows times were on this ship were originally 8 and 10. People made it very clear that they did not like the new times. Jimmy tried to explain that on this long cruise, it was more favorable to have them at these times. We made it to only a few shows. We really like the 8 and 10 o’clock shows -- have a nice dinner at 5:45 -- not rushed -- time to freshen up before the 8 PM show. The 9 o’clock shows just don’t work for us -- too long of a wait between dinner and the show -- JMO. We also got to go a cooking demonstration before our suite lunch. In the afternoon between sitting out on the verandah it was trivia. This evening’s production show was Stage and Screen -- which we have seen before -- so we decided not to go to it.

Wednesday, April 22 -- Aruba -- because of the high winds we had during the night -- we got there later than planned -- the ship didn’t clear until 9:50 . The Emerald Princess was already here when we arrived. We have here many times so didn’t need to do a tour or go to the beach so we walked around the town for a couple of hours - no shopping as we don’t need anything. After a late lunch we just sat out on the verandah. This evening’s show was Joel Mason!! We told our waiter and bar server that we were going to skip the appetizer and dessert so that we could make it to the 7 PM. The first thing Joel Mason mentioned was that he would be cutting his show to just 45 minutes as he noticed that on the previous evenings people were dashing out of the show lounge at 7:45 to make their 8 PM dinners -- and he did keep the show just to 45 minutes!! Tonight was the Indonesian Crew Show.

Thursday, April 23 -- Santa Marta, Columbia -- a new port for us. The Enchantment of the Seas was also here. Being as this was a new port for us -- that means we have to take a tour to get introduced to the port. We are firm believers that when we visit a new port -- we have to take some kind of a tour to learn about the port. We chose the City Tour and Folkloric excursion which was 3 ½ hours long. After touring around the city for a little while we arrived at Simon Bolivar’s home and gardens -- we toured the house and gardens for quite while -- everything has been restored. After that we traveled to a hotel to watch a folkloric show -- very nicely done on the beach -- had a choice of free bottles water or a bottle of beer or a can of soda. The tour started to run over time so when we got to the Bank of the Republic’s Gold Museum there was very little time left and we given barely 5 minutes to run through the second floor where most everything is. Our tour guide was excellent and spoke English very well -- as we traveled in the bus he gave us a lot of history about Santa Marta. There were free shuttle buses for those who wanted to go into town. At first they had only 4 mini vans and the lines were quite long. After awhile arrangements were made to provide more buses. The EOS was scheduled to leave at 3:30 and at that time she started blowing her whistle -- and at times -- very long!! Finally she left at 4 PM -- have no idea what the problem was. It was interesting to watch her and then our ship back out of the port -- doing a nearly 360 degree turn. This evening there ½ price drinks from 5 -6 PM in the Crow’s Nest. A lot of people arrived for them but soon discovered that the drinks were only for house brand alcohol and not for drinks of the day or any other specialty drinks It did include domestic beer -- but no wines. Tonight we will move our clocks back one hour.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Friday, April 24 - San Blas Islands, Panama -- another new port for us. Naturally there aren’t any excursions for this port -- but we did take a tender over and explore the island. Walked around all the vendor’s and bought a couple of post cards and token of the island. Most of the vendors sell the same items -- some charge more than others -- so if you ever go there -- walk around -- ask prices until you get the best deal. After walking around for awhile we decided to head back to the ship. The tender behind us broke down -- one of the ship’s command boats tried to pull it back to the ship -- but didn’t succeed. It took another tender to actually pull it back to our ship. The people on tender #13 drifted in the water for over an hour -- and as the people in the cabin next to us mentioned -- it was hot and steamy on the tender. This evening they tried another 2 for 1 Happy Hour in the Crow’s Nest. Now that people have discovered that this special price is only for certain brands -- not as many people showed up. This evening we had the VIP party at 7:30 in the Crow’s Nest. Around 200 people showed up.

Saturday, April 25 -- Panama Canal transit day!! We were up bright and early at 5 AM to watch as we picked up our pilot around 5:30 AM and made the approach to the Gatun Locks. At 7 AM we went to the Neptune Lounge to get our Panama Buns -- WHAT??? -- they don’t have any of the buns!! So I made a quick dash to the Lido where they had a few left -- they couldn’t keep them coming out fast enough. I got several and took them back to the cabin so that we could have breakfast out on the verandah while watching the sights. Love all that vanilla cream and mandarin oranges in them -- so filling. Spent most of the day out on the verandah watching the sights. There was very little traffic so we completed the transit around 4 PM.

Sunday, April 26 -- Golfo Dulce. We have been here several times. The first few times people on shore have come down to the shore line to wave and welcome us but not this time. The scenery here is beautiful. This morning we had another cooking demonstration. From Noon until 2:30 there was the Indonesian Deck BBQ by the Lido pool -- yummy!!

Monday, April 27 -- Costa Rica. Originally we were to have docked at Puerto Caldera but when Captain Harris learned that there were to be several freighters there and we were going to have to anchor and tender in, he was able to get us a docking spot at Puntarenas. We have been to both ports several times so it really didn’t matter to us where we docked. Also since Puntarenas is just about 7 miles from Puerto Caldera there wasn’t any major impact on the tours. In Puntarenas the train/shuttle was operating for those who did not want to walk back and forth on the long pier. We walked into town on our own. There were not as many vendors here as last year. One vendor did set up umbrellas and lounge chairs that you could rent from 9 AM until 2 PM -- $10 for an umbrella and 2 lounge chairs. The ship took on lots of potatoes and onions as well as some other produce. Late in the afternoon we all received letters concerning the swine flu as well as a document about what the swine flu is. At 9 PM we got another letter about keeping in contact with Seattle and CDC and to assure as that there have been absolutely no reported cases of swine flu on any HAL ship. This evening we ate at the Pinnacle. This evening at 9 was the Lido Pool party and at 11 was the Filipino Crew show. Tonight we moved the clocks back an hour.

Tuesday, April 28 - Sea Day -- we are supposed to be on our way to our Mexican ports. People have been watching the CNN news and hearing about the Swine Flu -- later to be renamed H1N1 -- and of course wondering what affect it will have on our cruise. Today was the suite Rijst-Tafel lunch in the Pinnacle. At 1 PM Captain Harris announced that he had been talking to Seattle concerning our next stops and keep us informed about what will happen. We sat out on our verandah most of the afternoon watching the dolphins. At 4:45 the captain announced that we would not be making our 4 Mexican port of calls. We would be heading to Puerto Quetzal tomorrow. I know that some people were disappointed -- and I did read and post on the thread about this. I would rather be healthy than sorry. By 5 PM we had received a letter and the shore excursions that would be available. The letter also assured everyone that all tours booked for the 4 Mexican ports would refunded to the onboard accounts. Tours were quickly put together and the tour office stayed open until 10 PM. While we were dining with the captain this evening, he got a call. When he returned to the table he was happy to announce that after visiting Puerto Quetzal tomorrow we would be heading south to Corinto, Nicaragua the following day. Tonight we moved the clocks forward and hour.

Wednesday, April 29 - Puerto, Quetzal -- not a new port for us - thus no excursions. Because The World was to be in this port for 3 days, they had the main pier and we had the freight pier -- with The Discovery. At 8:20 AM Captain Harris made the official announcement that we would be going to Corinto tomorrow -- and he referred to our cruise now as “The Mystery Cruise“. Now remember everyone -- the captain didn’t have to work to find us other ports -- we could have just had 7 sea days in a row. He worked really hard to make everyone as happy as possible. The ship was finally cleared at 8:45. There were free shuttle buses to take us over to the vendor/shopping area. Even though it was a hot, sticky day -- we joined the crowds just to go over and walk around. Late in the afternoon we got a list of tours available for Corinto as well as a letter concerning the port taxes that would be credited back to our accounts and a letter giving the revised schedule for the remainder of the cruise. We were sitting in the Crow’s Nest around 8 PM when the first round of storms hit us. It stormed most of the night. In fact around 2 AM the lightning and thunder were really bad!! We also noticed today that crew are standing at the dining rooms making certain that people use the Purell machines. Crew members were also standing at the entrances to the Lido -- but this was hopeless cause. People would go to the hamburger and taco area by the Lido and then go inside to find a table to eat at-- problem -- they didn’t have a free hand with which to use the Purell. Tonight we moved the clocks back an hour.

[Krazy Kruizers]

April 30 - Corinto, Nicaragua We have gone back down the coast 221 nautical miles. This was a new port for us -- so naturally we signed up for a tour -- Colonial Leon. We had mixed feelings about this tour -- but after talking to others it was apparent that we were the first cruise ship to visit this port and with arrangements being made at the last minute -- they were not prepared for us. Or maybe there have been smaller ships that have visited here before -- but they weren’t prepared for a larger ship -- I really don’t know. They had very few buses available for tours. We traveled for an hour to Leon where we went to the La Asuncion Church -- here you had the opportunity to walk steep, narrow steps to the roof for the views. I can no longer walk steep steps so DH went to the roof. Within minutes other buses arrives and there was a long line of people trying to get to the roof -- and people had a hard time getting back down to ground level as the passage way was not very large. Originally we were to spend only 15 minutes in the church but because of so many buses here and the lines going up to the roof, we spent more time there than the guides wanted us to. There was supposed to be time for us to roam the Plaza and look at the vendors -- that didn‘t happen. There was only 1 bathroom stall for the men and 1 for the women. Originally our bus was to leave at 10:45 but many of us were still in line at 11 and knowing that we had over an hour drive back to the ship -- we were not getting out of line. One tour guide was trying to get his bus load of people to the front of the line as he kept yelling to let them through that his bus was to leave at 11. By this time people were getting edgy and would not let those in the rear go first. Everyone was back on the bus by 11:15 and off we went back to the pier. The guide told us that the reason he was going to have to cut the tour short by an hour was because the buses were needed for the afternoon tours. Even the afternoon tours were cut short because our departure time was to be at 4. People were permitted to walk the short distance through the freight area to go through the gates to go to the shops and vendors about a couple of blocks away. There wasn’t much to see there. The town itself is beautiful to see. With a little experience, the tours will be more fun to take. The stop was worth the time we spent. JMO
Little did we know that we almost didn’t get to do this port -- more about this when I talk about the Question & Answer session that was held on a later date. But I will tell you that we did not leave at 4 PM. We had a medical emergency on board and a woman needed to be taken to a hospital -- she needed oxygen and the ship did not have a 4 day supply for her to make it to San Diego. We watched as the ambulance sat and sat at the end of our gangway. At 5 it was announced about the woman and that we were just waiting to get the paper work done. Finally she left the ship and we sailed at 5:45. After listening to the type of hospitals here in Nicaragua -- yikes I sure wouldn’t want to go to one of them. There are 2 types of hospitals -- one is for the people who work -- these hospitals have the best doctors and best medicine. The other type of hospital is for the poor who do not earn any money -- these hospitals lack doctors. Medicines, etc. The woman was to stay overnight and then be airlifted the next day to another hospital. I have no idea which hospital she taken to.

Friday, May 1 -- Sea Day Lots of activities today. The captain and cruise director scheduled a coffee chat for this morning -- the Queen’s Lounge was jammed packed!!! The crew was trying to bring in more chairs, people were sitting on the edge of the stage, chairs were set up even in the hallway for people to listen. Several people complained about this not being held in the show lounge. The captain explained that we had gotten a new dance group on in Ft Lauderdale and they were rehearsing for a new production show coming up in a few days. Seeing the mass of humanity, the captain also announced that they would have another coffee chat the next morning -- in the show lounge. We were fortunate to get seats and stayed for the session. People were asking all kinds of questions - like where he lived -- how did he become a captain, etc. In the afternoon we spent time out on the verandah watching dolphins, turtles and a pod of whales. Tonight was the Pacific Nights Pool Party.

Saturday, May 2 -- Sea Day -- you can’t get bored on this ship. As promised the captain and cruise director had another coffee chat at 9 AM in the show lounge -- and the place was packed -- they even had to open up the balcony. We also had Burger Wars between the cruise director and the DJ. In the afternoon there was a dam dollar contest where each group got so many dam dollars for finding one of the event managers, the DJ, the CD and the captain. The event manager and the DJ were found. But no one found the captain. One group talked Chef Andreas into returning with them and pretending that the captain was hiding in him -- Chef Andreas is a BIG man. We also had the Country Bazaar in the afternoon where there was culinary booths showing how to fold napkins, make marzipan flowers, vegetable carving, cheese fondue and samplings of dishes of food from 3 passengers who had submitted their recipes earlier in the cruise. Between all the activities we were able to sit out on our verandah and watch all the sea turtles, tuna and dolphins -- there was usually a report from the bridge whenever there were large pods of anything and also reminding us to look for the wildlife. We decided to go to the show this evening -- Steve Mingolla -- he was suppose to be a comedian with a variety of voices and characters -- worst show we have seen in a long time. Being as this was a formal night there was the Black and White Ball in the Crow’s Nest at 10:30. It was jammed packed!! We got to know the people in the cabin next to us and we all went together to the ball. You couldn’t even move in the Crow’s Nest -- we all left after about 20 minutes. Remember that on the Westerdam about 1/3 of the Crow’s Nest is the Explorations Café. There was a Mariner brunch for those people having sailed with at least 25 days.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sunday, May 3 - Sea Day This morning was the Question and Answer session in the show lounge with the Staff Officers consisting of the captain, HM, chief engineer and CD. One person asked the captain if he had ever thought about doing shows in Vegas because of his great sense of humor -- captain replied that he had never thought about it but after last night’s show…….which was that bad, he said he doubted it. Then someone asked about the woman who had to leave the ship n Nicaragua for medical reasons. When the officials came onto the ship early in the morning, they were not going to clear the ship because they claimed that the woman had the swine flu. After a few minutes of talking our HM Ron Bontenbal gave them the ultimatum -- clear the ship in 5 minutes or we are out of here. If any of you have met Ron -- you know how tall he is --6ft 8in. Imagine someone that tall towering over you and giving you a choice -- you can bet that those officials quickly cleared the ship. Now back to the woman. Throughout the day doctors kept coming to the ship and claiming that the woman had swine flu. Three doctors said this, the fourth doctor said that he couldn’t make a decision. It was finally the 5th doctor who decided that she didn’t have the swine flu and finally permitted her to go to the hospital. Also at the Q & A session the captain explained that we didn’t have a lot of choices for ports when the Mexican ports were cancelled. There had been talk about going to Catalina Island -- but they don’t have any CBP officials there and since we would be coming from a foreign country we all need to go through immigration. The other port that was considered was Santa Barbara which does have a CBP. But they require you apply for visits there at least 6 months in advance, Among the many activities today was also the Amazing Race -- since we didn’t participate in this, I can’t tell you what it was about. There was also the California BBQ at Noon by the Lido pool which consisted of wraps, grilled steaks, baked beans, rice, salad and various desserts. While sitting out on our verandah DH spotted a hammerhead shark. Many of just saw flying fish, a couple of whales and turtles. About 4 PM we passed by Cabo San Lucas. We were close enough that people were out on deck taking pictures of Los Archos. Tonight’s production show was Grand Tour -- had already seen it on another ship so we didn’t go. Tonight was also the Dessert Extravaganza by the Lido Pool at 10. And we turned our clocks back an hour tonight.

Monday, May 4 - Sea Day Our mariner Brunch was this morning. Those receiving medals were presented them while we were all eating. We were told that 450 people were invited to our brunch and 442 showed up. Winds were high today and seas were a little rough -- really couldn’t be out on the deck. Once again there many activities today including the ship building contest and a scavenger hunt.

Tuesday, May 5 -- San Diego What a morning!!! All non US citizens were asked to go through immigration starting about 8 AM. Announcements were made about ½ hour apart for them to report. Even at 10:05 they were asking the non US citizens to please report to immigration. They kept reminding people that the ship could not be cleared until all non US citizens reported. There was even a reminder about people needing to catch airplanes. At 10:20 names and cabin numbers were announced to proceed to immigration. One particular name was addressed in German. At 10:40 the final name and cabin was made in English and Dutch -- finally the ship was cleared. Yes, there were some people who missed their flights. We sat out on our verandah and watched people from the Star Princess leaving their ship around 9. There tours offered for those leaving the ship and for the intransit guests -- which all got started late. We waited until the majority of the people got off the ship before we left. Things were so late that the immigration people didn’t even want to see our passports as we left the terminal. We took the complimentary shuttle down to Seaport Village and had lunch at the Harbor House (have eaten there a few times). Here we learned that in the days prior to our arrival, quite a few ships had to stop in San Diego to get refueled. We were among them. At the Q & A session our captain told us that when we arrive in San Diego we would have just 60 tons of fuel oil left -- that’s cutting it a little close. We also learned that San Diego had plans for any ship that did stop at a Mexican port -- quarantine for a week!! After lunch and walking around for while checking out the shops, we took the bus back to the ship. In the terminal all Westerdam and Star Princess passengers had to go through customs before going through security and getting on the ships. Here we had to show our passports and ID cards. The lines moved slow as many of the Star Princess people did not have passports!! At 4:15 there was a lifeboat drill for the little over 600 passengers who got on the ship today. We passed a couple of them in the hallway and they were complaining about having to attend the lifeboat drill while others didn’t. This evening there was another BBQ at 6.
Quite a few crew left the ship today including our assistant waiter in the dining room and one of our cabin stewards.

Wednesday, May 6 - Avalon, Catalina island -- broke our rule and did not sign up for an excursion. They had kayaking, rafting and snorkel tours which we aren’t into. There were walking tours -- no sense in signing up for this -- we walked the town on our own. Very pretty little town. We had lunch at the Busy Bee -- right on the water front.

Thursday, May 7 - Sea Day -- still lots of activities for everyone. There was even another session of Hide and Seek -- we didn’t participate this time so I don’t know who the “hidden” people were. Today there was another Suite lunch at the Pinnacle. Several of us have gotten to know each so will sat together. This evening’s Production show was Stage & Screen -- again.

Friday, May 8 - Sea Day -- if anyone got bored on these sea days -- it was their own darn vault.

Saturday, May 9 - Vancouver -- busy day here -- Millenium and Zuiderdam were already here and the Star Princess arrived at 9:55. There was a note in the terminal that due to high winds after leaving San Francisco, Star Princess passengers wouldn’t be embarking until -- I think it said 2 PM. There were 1252 passengers that got off our ship and 1119 passengers that got on. For those of not disembarking here, we asked to remain on the ship until the disembarkation process was completed. The last colors and numbers were called at 10:25. We waited a few minutes before we left the ship. Having been here several times we just walked into town and checked out the steam clock -- it’s still working. And then walked down to China town and back to the ship. Since we would be leaving the ship tomorrow -- where did those 21 days go?? -- we packed 2 suitcases in the morning and a third one in the afternoon. We had been given the choice of putting our luggage out at 1 AM or 6 AM -- we chose the 6 AM time. Tonight’s Production show was Grand Tour -- again.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sunday, May 10 -- Time to leave the ship. We really didn’t want to -- it was a fabulous cruise!! The food was great!! I am not a fan of soups but I did fall in love with the chilled soups. Everyone was called by colors and numbers after the self disembarkation people left. It was stressed that you should not get off the ship before you were called as your luggage would not be on the pier. We were called around 9 AM and were off the ship quickly. Went through customs quickly -- they barely looked at our passports. But trying to get a porter was another matter. Pier 91 has a lot of details that need to be addressed. There were very few porters there and it was hard to get one. After about 10 minutes we were able to flag one down. As we left the terminal we handed our customs declaration slip to the person at the door and called for our limo. The line-up for taxis is something else!! Instead of having the taxis pick you up near the entrance to the terminal, they have you walk down quite a long line of taxis until you get to the head taxi. This is should be reversed. Limos and cars are in another lane -- headed in the right direction -- pick up is near the terminal. But too many people just plain parked and wouldn’t keep moving around the circle until their friends came off the ship. Our limo driver had to actually block another lane as there was no place for him to pull over and pick us up. It was about a 35 minute drive from Pier 91 to the Airport Hilton where we stayed the night before our flight home.

Monday, May 11 -- Flying home -- very uneventful -- when we booked our flights nearly 10 months ago we had over 2 hours between flights. A month before we left for Ft Lauderdale we were down to 58 minutes between flights. Thankfully Seattle had good weather and took off on time and made our connection in Phoenix. Because we got into Pittsburgh late in the evening we stayed at an airport hotel and drove home the next day.




Some random notes:
On all 5 formal nights the dining room had the chairs covered and the candles were on the tables.

The food in the dining room was the best we have had in a long time. I am not a soup eater but the chilled roasted peach and the chilled apricot soups were to die for.

The ship still has Park West.

In the Lido for lunch -- the 2 sandwich sections have been replaced with salad bars. The cold mixed salads and cheeses and breads that used to be at the beginning of the buffet line before the hot dishes has been moved to where the old salad bar was -- across from the water and iced tea. The sandwich area is now at the where the cheeses and bread used to be. I am not certain if this is a good idea or not. The area where the sandwiches used to be allowed for 2 workers to make sandwiches at the same time -- now only 1 worker is there. A few times when we went for sandwiches the lines were quite long.

At the waffle station -- there are more toppings than we have seen on other ships: chocolate sauce, mango sauce, strawberry sauce, mixed berries sauce, cherry sauce and of course syrup.

Several evenings during the cruise from 5 - 6 PM in the Pinnacle Wine Bar a wine tasting for $15 + 15% gratuity where you got to sample 4 wines (about 1 ounce each) from the following list:

White Wine and Sparkling Wine:
Chase Limogere Sparkling Brut, CA
Domaine Ste Michelle Sparkling Chardonnay, WA state
Santa Carolina Chardonnay, Chile
Beringer Pinot Grigio, CA
Alice White Chardonnay, Australia
Calitera Chardonny, Chile
Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay, WA state
Caliters Sauvignon Blanc, Chile

Red Wine:
Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile
Rose mount Estate Shiraz, Australia
Three Blind Moose Cabernet Sauvignon, CA
Alice White Shiraz, Australia
Robert Mondavi Merlot, CA
Laboure-Roi Pinot Noir, France
Beaujolais Villages, France

Every day there were 7 - 8 liquors offered for your ice cream.

You could also buy 187 ml (about 8 ounces) bottles of Woodbridge wines at lunch time for $4.75 plus 15% gratuity. There was a choice of chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

In the Lido there are 2 machines where you can get either lemonade or orange-passion fruit - guava cocktail. One machine was out of order most of the cruise.

[tompeter]

Hi KK, Had been waiting for your review. Always enjoy your perspective.
Thanks for taking the time.

[calteacher]

Thanks for such a great report. My Journal has a few days missing, so I may just use some of your info to complete the journal. We were privileged to be on the cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego. Our friends missed their flight in San Diego due to the persons who failed to clear immigration. Because we live near LA, the late disembarkment was of little consequence to us.

We sensed that, while some passengers were unhappy about missing the Mexico ports, most were accepting of the situation especially since Capt. Harris was able to obtain some alternative ports--ones which we would probably never see. We agree that Capt. Harris was a great comedian. To bad he didn't do the night show. We should have been warned when hearing someone exit from the first show say, "I'd rather sit through a 30 minute funeral that listen to him."

I, too, fell in love with the chilled soups. Any idea how we can get the recipes?

Again, thanks for a very thorough and very fair report.

[takemewithyou]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I, too, fell in love with the chilled soups. Any idea how we can get the recipes?

.

I would also love the chilled soup recipes -- don;t know where to get them.

[Solo Cruiser]

Thanks so much for the review. Sounds to me like you had a terrific time and that's what counts the most.

[orangearmy]

Thank you for posting your review. We were also on that cruise and it's great to relive it by reading your review! I also loved the chilled soups and dearly miss them. One of the cooking demos was for Chilled Mango Soup.I missed the demo but I did get a copy of the recipe. I haven't tried it yet. Soon!

CHILLED MANGO SOUP (serves 10)

5 cups mango
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 Tablespoons honey or sugar
1/2 cup Triple Sec or Quatro

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. If there are still too many lumps, strain with a small sieve.

Notes I got said you can use frozen fruit.Add 1/2 cream first,blend to puree and then add the rest of the cream.You can substitute other fruits and the orange liquor goes well with strawberry, kiwi, raspberry etc.

Darn, now I'm hungry for my chilled soup!

[our turn]

I enjoyed your review very much. So glad you had a great cruise.

Kim

[LAFFNVEGAS]

First here is an Official Welcome Home KK although I know you have been home a while. Your cruise left just 2 days after our Statendam did although we had less port stops. But with the H1N1 some of the things you encountered mirrored ours :-)
Originally I was not going to do a review -- but as some of you know -- I belong to several sites -- and after several PM’s from friends encouraging me to do a report -- I was persuaded to change my mind.
I am glad you did ;)

Since we are about to board the Westerdam next Sunday I was extremely interested in reading what you had to say. We have not been on the Westerdam since her Inaugural year in 2005 and whiel we were in an SA suite that cruise we felt that the service was the worst we had ever had and to this day when we have ranked HAL ships we always ranked the Westerdam at the bottom so we are returning to allow the Westerdam to be redeemed :D Since you have returned to her several times I know you must like her and we look forward to ranking her much higher than we previously had;)

That evening we had the suite cocktail party from 7:30 - 8:15 in the Crow’s Nest.
I have to admit I do not remember ever reading and of course we have not every had the first night Suite Welcome Party held in the Crow's Nest but then it does get rather crowded some times in the Neptune.

Earlier in the morning we attended the coffee chat with the our cruise director Jimmy and party planner Ashley. The first questions that were addressed to them (and from several people) were the show times of 7 and 9. From what we understand the shows times were on this ship were originally 8 and 10. People made it very clear that they did not like the new times. Jimmy tried to explain that on this long cruise, it was more favorable to have them at these times. We made it to only a few shows. We really like the 8 and 10 o’clock shows -- have a nice dinner at 5:45 -- not rushed -- time to freshen up before the 8 PM show. The 9 o’clock shows just don’t work for us -- too long of a wait between dinner and the show -- JMO.

Oh I so totally agree with you. We prefer the 5:45 dinner as well. Well actually would prefer it to be the old 6:15 but this works out OK too. But these new times absoultely stink. 9 PM is just to late for a show when you get done with dinner close to 7. Often we found if we went back to the cabin we would end up staying, where if the shows would have been 8 and 10 then the 8 was perfect and we would go have a drink then go to the show. I am so hoping that for Alaska they change the times back. Although last year on the Amsterdam they had these terrible times but yet this year on the Eurodam and the Oosterdam we have had the 8 and 10 times.

This evening’s show was Joel Mason!! We told our waiter and bar server that we were going to skip the appetizer and dessert so that we could make it to the 7 PM. The first thing Joel Mason mentioned was that he would be cutting his show to just 45 minutes as he noticed that on the previous evenings people were dashing out of the show lounge at 7:45 to make their 8 PM dinners -- and he did keep the show just to 45 minutes!!

This is so very unfortunate because his show is so good. He had to do the same thing last year on the Amsterdam. But yet the year before when he was on the Noordam for Alaska he did his Full show and it was great. I am looking forward to seeing he and Julie Barr again and hope for the longer show.

Costa Rica. Originally we were to have docked at Puerto Caldera but when Captain Harris learned that there were to be several freighters there and we were going to have to anchor and tender in, he was able to get us a docking spot at Puntarenas.

We did go to Puerto Caldera but we tendered because of those same freighters. Soulds like it might have been better to go to Puntarenas.

San Diego What a morning!!! All non US citizens were asked to go through immigration starting about 8 AM. Announcements were made about ½ hour apart for them to report. Even at 10:05 they were asking the non US citizens to please report to immigration. They kept reminding people that the ship could not be cleared until all non US citizens reported. There was even a reminder about people needing to catch airplanes. At 10:20 names and cabin numbers were announced to proceed to immigration. One particular name was addressed in German. At 10:40 the final name and cabin was made in English and Dutch -- finally the ship was cleared. Yes, there were some people who missed their flights.

This sound exactly like what happened to us :eek: I am trying to figured out what has changed in this past year causing this to happen. Our last several sailings especially getting off in San Diego this as occured. It has never happened before and we have been going out of San Diego frequently for many years. My thinking is that in the past the Custom Officials may have still cleared ths ship even if some did not report and figured they would grab them as they left but now Custom Officials are cracking down causing everyone to be delayed.

We also learned that San Diego had plans for any ship that did stop at a Mexican port -- quarantine for a week!!

Well thankfully they did not think of this earlier :eek: The Statendam did go to two Mexican ports we made it to Huatulco and Acapulco and arrived on May 1st in San Diego. It was the day of the earthquake in Acapulco that we got to experience that HAL did not allow the Ryndam to stop at Mazatlan the following day which was a sceduled Sea Day for us and I knew then that we would not be stopping in Cabo based on that.

Thanks so much for your review :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hi Lisa

Glad you enjoyed my report.

When we did thr Alaskan cruise last year after the repostioning cruise our dinner hours were changed to 5:30 and 7:45 -- but the show times were still the same 7 and 9 PM.

We have seen Joel Mason / Elton John several several times -- and really felt bad that he had to shorten the 7 PM show -- first time that has happened to us -- but he was honest why he felt compeled to do so.

We have also sailed quite a few times out of San Diego and nevered experinced anything like this. Even last year when we had 1200 passengers getting off the ship -- we were cleared quickly.

Puntarenas -- even though it is not a fabulous dock/port as some were expecting -- it is much better than Puerto Caldera where you either tender into or dock in the freight area. The few times we have been to Puerto Caldera we had to walk through a freight house where sevedral vendors were set up. Don't know whta they do there now.

I know that you have paid for an upgrade -- what category and where are you located now?

[bjbear]

Thanks for taking the time to do the great review, I enjoyed it.

Sue

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I know that you have paid for an upgrade -- what category and where are you located now?

We will be in an SA 7054. You may have even had that cabin before ;) One week from right now will be Sail Away :D

[earl_m]

thank you for the review. Very interesting!!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

SA 7054 -- we were in that cabin on the Noordam.

[OCruisers]

Wow! KK ... I'd hoped you would to a report on your cruise. Sounds like you had an excellent cruise even with missing some of the planned ports! Lots of good information!

Silly question ... but ... how many bathrooms did you have in your suite?

[Flying-Dragon]

I would also love the chilled soup recipes -- don;t know where to get them.

We were on the cruise too, from FLL to Vancouver where we live. I really enjoyed your review - thank you for it.

We bought the HAL :"Taste of Elegance" cookbook on board and it has four of the chilled soups in it:

Chilled summer gazpacho with shrimp and basil
Chilled cucumber soup
Mixed berry soup (day 17)
Chilled banana and coconut soup (day 11)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wow! KK ... I'd hoped you would to a report on your cruise. Sounds like you had an excellent cruise even with missing some of the planned ports! Lots of good information!

Silly question ... but ... how many bathrooms did you have in your suite?

One BIG main bathroom and 1 guest bathroom that has just the sink and toilet.

[OCruisers]

Having that extra half bath must have been extremely convenient at times! :D

KK, it does seem you enjoyed this cruise MORE than any you've taken recently! :)

Thanks again for all of the helpful information on your port stops!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We really enjoyed the 2nd part of our Noordam cruise when we had friends cruising with us -- constantly getting together -- so that made that cruise special.

There were so many improvements on the this cruise compared to the same one last year -- many more activities -- the crew really participated including the captain in activities. And the food was SO much better. Last when we did this cruise nearly every function -- Mariner's lunch, suite lunch (both held on the same day and we could only go to one) -- VIP party -- were all over by day 6. This year everything was spread out over the 21 days.

If it were not for the fact that the Westerdam is going to Europe next and participating as a hotel for the world soccer cup next summer -- we would have have booked this cruise/ship again.

[Krazy Kruizers]

On my -- I forgot to mention that when we were in Corinto, since 2 tours returned to the ship at about the same time, the lines were long to get back on board.

So a crew member walked the length of the line several times offering umbrellas for those who wanted some shade. And he also brought trays of cold wash clothes to us knowing that it would take serveral minutes before we even got near that station by the gangway.

The day was extremely hot and humid.