Westerdam. Good food at Vista Lounge?

Just got off form the Westerdam yesterday after a seven day Caribbean cruise. The ship is beautiful, although we did not like some of the decor. It is ultra modern.The staff was great, real friendly and efficient. The matresses fantastic, we slept like babies. The cabin was smaller than similar ones on other ships we have been, but the space is well utilized. The food in the Lido was good; however, the food in the Vista Lounge was very disappointing. In particular, some of the main courses were frankly bad. The meats and fish we ordered were very dry and tasteless. The lobster tail was the smallest we have ever seen and also overcooked. Most people we talked to had the same complaint. We do not cruise only for the food, but dining on a cruise is supposed to be at least a pleasant experience. Just for this, we will not go back on the Westerdam.

Our concern is that prior to going on this trip, we booked another one on the Statendam for the Hawaii cruise in October of this year. We had never been with HAL before. I do not know if the food in this other ship will be about the same, or if there is a difference from one ship to another. Anyway, we are thinking about cancelling this next trip. This is a 15 day trip, and we do not want so many days of bad food!

We have not cruise extensively, but we have been on Celebrity and Cunard (both the QM2 and the QE2) and the food on both was superior, both in quality and variety. In fact, there was nothing we ate on those ships we did not like.

Would appreciate any comments. Anyone with similar expereince?

Joal

Hmmmm - never tried eating in the Vista Lounge...

Perhaps it's better in the Dining Room?

;)

What you describe sound like kitchen problems. Certainly our recernt cruise on the Oosterdam (sister ship to the Westerdam) had good quality, well prepared food in the DR.

Sorry you had a less than ideal experience, but it does sound like an aberation (previous Westerdam cruisers hadn't reported it) so your Statendam cruise shouldn't necessarily be similar.

Vista Lounge is what the dining room is called in the Westerdam. Probably the same name in all the new "Vista Class" ships. That is what I am talking about, the dining room.

Never could understand the confusing "Vista" names to distiguish the lounge from the DR. The brochure shows the "Vista Lounge" as being located forward and is the showroom entertainment center. At the rear of the ship, the DR is called the "Vista Dining Room".

Happy cruising....

Yes, the showroom is the Vista Lounge. The DR is the Vista Dining Room. You'd think they could have afforded two different names!:rolleyes:

We too were on this cruise, thought the ship was lovely (would not call it ultra modern, more classic, I'll leave modern for the Celebrity ships). Cabin was great (we were in a cate S), and the food in the main dinning room was just fine. Yes the lobster was small but they gave us two tails plus a filet on the same plate (almost a pig like portion!), and they were perfectly done (though I would have love to have some drawn butter with them vs the bernaise sauce: ah, such problems!). No complaints on food and as always the Lido remains the gold standard for casual eating on the seas. The Westerdam was a great value and class act in this price range. The upgrades were lovely (the embarcation packet, the dis-embarcation packet: excellent presentation, the beds: heavenly) and all the suite amenities were glorious (the Neptune lounge is a highlight). Overall on of the better 7 day cruises we ever sailed.

PS: sailed QM2 twice last year, thought the food was comparable, though Todd English can not be beat for an alternative venue.

Avalon:

We must have eaten in different DR on the Westerdam. I am glad you had such a great experience, so different from ours!! I am sorry to disagree, but the food on the QM2 and QE2 is much better. Both the quality and variety, as well as the level of their cuisine. No comparison. The food at the Pinnacle was great though.

Joal,

We had a similar experience on our Westerdam cruise in Feb. We thought the food wasn't that great. The lobster tails were so small that I ate 3 of them and I'm not a big eater, but that nite I ate 3 to fill me up. We also agree that some of the meats were undercooked they were floating in blood, we did not order them that way! It seems we are in the minority. I'm sorry folks but we've eaten out at many restaurants and we just didn't enjoy the dinners that were served that week (Feb. 6-13). Joal, if it were us, we would cancel the next trip and try another cruise line, at least one where you already enjoyed delicious food. Of course, this is just our opinion, it's your money. Whatever you decide have a great vacation!!!!!

Hate to tell you all but it has to do with your chef at the time, not the cruise line. Maybe is was the dinner seating, we had 8:00 upper level. We were in a large group of all suites, and the matre d came by non stop and made sure everything was piping hot. Also, here is a tip, we pre-ordered our dinners each night with our specific wants and needs (ie: a different sauce, slightly different preparation) so maybe our food was more personally prepared. For the price paid, the Westerdam was great. Not Silversea quality (which we usually sail), but not as dorm like food wise as Royal Caribean or Princess. Food in the Neptune lounge was very nice as well. I guess its up to your personal taste. We sail about 6 cruises a year and in the Premium Mass Market category, Holland America has always given us a fine cruise.

May I suggest Radisson? Sailed them in Dec and the food was lovely.

Joal, I have to agree with you. This was our fourth HAL cruise and by far the worse food we ever encountered in the Dining Room definitely not the standards we were use to. The Lido and Neptune were excellent as always but something was lacking in the Main Dining Room. With the exception of a few items that were excellent I think there seems to be a problem on the Westerdam. Mostly service an food quality is just not consistant. I would not reflect this toward the whole HAL line I think it is just this ship. I am expecting the Maasdams to be up to the standards HAL is know for like the Oosterdam and Ryndam was for us last year.

My sister and BIL just returned yesterday from the Zuiderdam, and they said it was their worst cruise to date. They said the food was absolutely awful in the dining room. They said many, many people were complaining. They wound up eating dinner in the Pinnacle Room every night after sampling how bad the food was in the dining room. She said service was lacking as well. They booked a suite, and had to constantly ask their room steward for standard things, such as clean towels. She was shocked because although she never cruised HAL before, she had higher expectations. And one thing she thought was "nickel and diming" was the fact that they spent $40 every night ($20 pp) to eat dinner in the Pinnacle Room, and they brought two bottles of wine with them (they were sharing with another couple). They were charged $30 ($15 per bottle) every single night for the corkage fee. She felt that since they were patronizing the restaurant every night, it would have been nice if they opened at least one bottle one of the nights without charging them the corkage fee.

She has cruised Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess before, and she thought the food selection and quality was the best on Carnival, with Princess a close second. But she thought HAL was by far the worst.

Also, they were renewing their vows and another couple they met on the ship decided to attend. They paid the extra fee for the other couple (covers the cost of champagne and hors doerves). No problem. However, the other couple had a 7 year old daughter who just wanted to watch the ceremony, and then leave and go to the kid's program. My sister asked if she could watch without paying the fee. They said no, she had to pay the full adult fee to watch the ceremony. I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that my BIL pre-ordered many things as this was an anniversary cruise (champagne and caviar, delivered on embarkation day instead of the day of their anniversary as he had stipulated), a dozen long stem roses, a gift certificate for my sister for a day at the spa, etc. They weren't opposed to splurging a bit on this special cruise, but it just didn't live up to their expectations at all.

One positive; she said the weather was terrific!

JerseyGirl:

Sorry to hear your sister had sov much to complain about - any chance they could come here and post a review? It's always much appreciated if people could go a little deeper into the problems rather than a simple "the food was absolutely awful." THat could mean poor selection, poor quality, poor service, or so many othe things.

This was the first cruise we have had on HAL and were on the Westerdam - cruise date was the end of Feb. We have been on Carnival and Celebrity lines before that. Whereas I agree that the food on HAL is not quite as good as the food on Celebrity, it is still way way better than anything I could cook at home. Mind you, we have not been cruising for a while and went on Celebrity before it got taken over, so I have no idea what the food is like now. That being said the quality and quantity of food in the Vista DINING room was never below par in any way. Yea, I admin the lobster tail was small, but the steak with it was huge and done to perfection - again I prefer medium rare beef. My wife's most memorable memory was the watermelon pie she had, it sounded weird but was really excellent ice cream/sherbert thingy. I am an avid lamb connoisseur and the lamb served in different variations was excellent. We had the second early sitting and have no complaints at all about the service, again way way above any standards set by Carnival - I don't mean to start a flaming post, but our experience with Carnival was okay, but if that had been our only cruise it would not have been very memorable.

As far as the the room stewart, my wife joked about the old saying that on HAL if you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night the bed is made when you come back - seemed to be correct, he was fast efficient and very courteous. We actually had to hunt him down to take a photo of him - that is the way room service should be - transparent - except when you need it. We only had one minor complaint about the room and that was solved within minutes of my phoning the "front desk". Both the room stewart and his supervisor came up to see what happened. Again a pleasent surprise.

Not to start a flaming post war, but this ship was as clean as Celebrity lines and maybe in some cases cleaner, you never saw drink glasses lying around in any deck or public areas. Certainly a far cry from Carnival ( the old Sensation) and the mess we encountered on that ship.

So, unless other folks had a different set of staff members and chef then we had, I am not sure what the complaint is. This cruise was at least as good as the last Celebrity one and maybe in some ways even better.

So, unless other folks had a different set of staff members and chef then we had, I am not sure what the complaint is. This cruise was at least as good as the last Celebrity one and maybe in some ways even better.

A lot of the dining room complaints, I believe, can be attributed to two sources - the passenger's expectations and the work of the DR steward. A minor contributor can be table size.

People who expect a 5* experience in a cruise ship DR are simply asking to be disappointed. It's banquet food, and banquet service, albeit with a lot more elegance. As such, it's probably the best banquet food you'll ever have. The steward can contribute a lot to the success or failure of the experience simply thru his efficiency and personality. An experienced steward knows, almost instinctively, the right order to do things in to insure that the meal goes smoothly while allowing a bit of time for pleasant chat. I think table size can contribute to this because it's easier to accomodate a small table, especially when the diners all are related or good friends than it is to handle a large table of relative strangers.

Still, the debates will range as long as there are cruise ships!

Dakrewser, my sister isn't computer savvy at all, but I will ask her specifically what her complains were regarding the food and post it here. It will be a few days, though, before I will be able to post it, as I'll be away from the computer until possibly the end of the week.

As I recall, her biggest complaint was that food in the dining room was often served cold, and was rather tasteless. The desserts were unimaginative. She ordered a cheese plate for dessert, and she said the cheeses were nothing special, just your typical, run of the mill cheeses like cheddar and brie. She said the meats were very tough. I don't think they had unrealistic expectations, as they are fairly experienced cruisers, so they don't expect 5 star meals. They were at a table for 4 so I don't think the table size was a problem for their server. They did love the Pinnacle Grill; she raved that the food there was excellent.

As far as overall service, she said the staff were rather impersonal. They never seemed to want to go out of their way. She couldn't believe she had to ask her cabin steward for clean towels. She said he was very pleasant, but he never went out of his way to do anything. He got by with the barest necessities required. Her husband had ordered champagne and caviar to be delivered to their stateroom on the evening of their anniversary, and instead it was delivered when they embarked the ship in Ft. Lauderdale. They attempted to send it back, as that's not when they wanted it. But it was such a hassle, they wound up taking it then and not having it for their anniversary.

She just said that overall, it was not a cruise she would go on again. It's not that they had a terrible time, it just wasn't very good. Their other experiences have been on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess, but she said this was by far the worst of all of them. She put Carnival's food selection first, Princess food quality first, and Royal Caribbean's food and selection second. She said HAL was a very weak third.

If I can find out more specifics, I will post them.

Thanks jerseygirl3.

Hi all!

We we're on the Westerdam for back to back 3/6-3/13 and 3/13-3/20. The dining room was very inconsistant. Poor service in the lower dining room, table 136 at the 8:30 seating. Inattention is the right word. The quality of the food was also very inconsistant between the two cruises. What was terrible the first cruise was better the second. And what was good the first time around was lacking the second time around. Never saw a Maitre'd either cruise. The lobster was overcooked, dry and tiny. The steak served with it was inconsistant, one was like pot roast the next was too rare. I like rare beef but not when it is poor quality beef. Fish tasted fishy and soups were luke warm.

BUT.

The Pinnacle Grill was excellent! So we all know that good food is able to be had on the ship! Dining room needs to get its act together though.

Still a great cruise. I will post more comments on a separate thread soon.

Hopefully, the dining room will have gotten it together by the time we cruise in December. I thought it was reasonable last December.

I do have a question to ask of recent cruisers.

Last cruise, we ate at early lower seating. This year we are slated for the main upper seating. Do they have any shows before dinner for main seating guests? They did on our Carnival cruise and it was very pleasant. We got to see far more entertainment than we had in the past.

Roberta

I am glad to see that so many of you agree with me regarding the poor quality of food in the Westerdam DR. Exactly, the lobster tail was tiny, tough and dry. The "steak" that came with it was simple pot roast and very small too.The fish was tasteless and the desserts yes, unimaginative. No one is sugggesting that we should all expect a five star-like dining experience every meal. However, I do expect a GOOD meal. Also, I do not believe it has anything to do with the seating or whether you are in a suite. Who cares where you are! This is not a class ship like the QE2 or QM2 where there are different DR according to your cabin category. This is simply a case of bad food. Regarding the service, we found it very good. The steward was efficient and friendly, and the food (although many times bad) was served promptly. We are booked on the Statendam for Hawaii in October. We have even thought of cancelling and booking with Celebrity which is having an even better offer now.

I have friends sailing the Westerdam right now and they say the food is fine (3/20 sailing). Maybe peoples expectations are too high. Actually I found the food on the Millenium last year worse than we had on any of our HAL cruises in the past year, Celebrity tried a bit too hard and failed in our book (they rest so highly on their food). We will stick to our favorite restaruants in LA and NYC for fine dinning, on a mass market cruise ship I would expect good food which the Westie provided. Also we found the crew on the Infinity terribly cold in personality. Holland Americas Lido also make Celebrity's casual eateries look sparse and poor food wise.

Did anyone with poor food experiences speak to their dinning room supervisor or Matre D?

Well, thank you all for your contributions and opinions. I really do appreciate your response to my posting. At this point I think we have said everything there is to say with regard to this topic.

I thought, that it would be a good idea to let management know how some of us felt about the food in the Westerdam DR. Thus, today I sent a registered letter to Mr. Stein Kruse, CEO of HAL. I took the trouble because we (my wife and I) really enjoyed the trip, and this was the only complaint we had. I know,from personal experience, that letters addressed to CEOs are indeed read by upper management and taken seriously. I think,they ought to know how we feel and hopefully they will try to solve the problem. I will let you know if I get a response from them.

Thanks again,

JL