Why are my jeans so tight? AKA - The Westerdam - 11/1

[mrsltg]

Hi All-

Mike and I returned from our week on the Westerdam last night. We were on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary and we had a wonderful time! The seas were rough a few times and I felt it even though I never do. Oh well, this is why Dramamine was invented!!! We missed Half Moon Cay due to the weather. The seas were high and the wind was strong and in my uneducated opinion, the captain did the right thing. We were disappointed but quickly (as in, 30 seconds!) recovered. I will list the highlights and things which could be improved upon.

Highlights:

The Pinnacle Grill. We ate there four times and really enjoyed ourselves. We had great wait service and the food was fantastic. The wine stewards were amazing and we really enjoyed the pampering.

Joel Mason - WOW!!! He is great. I really don't think there is anything else to be said about him.

Julie Barr (comedienne) - We really enjoyed her! Her hair is shocking pink and it definitely suits her. Her shows were funny and she was a doll in person. She reminds me a lot of a good friend and I got a huge kick out of her. Don't miss her show if you have the chance to see her!

The crew - AMAZING!!! Smiles, hellos, kindness, humor, etc. These are great people. Stop and smile at them and speak to them. You'll be amazed at what you learn when you take the time to ask!

The ship - She's just beautiful! I really love the art on board (not the auction, the actual ship's art) and enjoyed the IPOD tour. The ship is being continuously maintained by the crew and it shows. Yes, it's time for her dry dock, but there is nothing that screams "CLEAN ME!!!" or is in need of anything more than some simple sprucing up.

The Mariner's Embarkation Lunch - A lot of discussion has taken place surrounding this topic. Mike and I attended the lunch and enjoyed it very much. We were seated with a Dutch couple who were on a back-to-back. We were served a fixed Indonesian lunch with many of the foods you all have mentioned which have recently been taken off of the regular menus. These included the Bami Goreng and some others which I don't remember off hand. The couple we dined with said these were authentic to what they get at home. It was great! Definitely give it a shot if you get the chance!

The High Tea - Again, wonderful!!! I had not done the tea on HAL before. The food was great and we were seated with a lovely couple. I would definitely do it again!

Elery at the Front Desk - We ordered two drink cards, one rum and coke package, and $800 in OBC. When we boarded none of these items were reflected on our account. I had brought my receipts as well as a consolidated list from HAL sent to me the week prior. The first staff member told me I did not have anything but $250 in OBC. She was not particularly helpful but said she would have accounting look into it. By the end of the day we had received gift cards totaling $950 in our stateroom. I went back to the desk and said we did not have the drink cards or the rum and coke and the OBC seemed to be wrong. Elery reviewed my receipts and my account. He could see the drink cards and rum and coke package, but not the OBC. The crew member I had dealt with earlier in the afternoon stepped over and said snippily, “I told you I’d have accounting look into it!” Elery turned to her and told her we had obviously purchased these things and he was going to be sure it was straightened out.

While it was not done before bed time, by mid-morning on Monday we had everything we had purchased. I did receive $150 more in OBC than I had purchased. I pointed this out to Elery and he said it may have been a travel agent perk for booking a suite. He essentially told me to just leave it alone. While I am not one to keep a single penny more than I am owed, in this case, I left it alone. The issue had taken several trips to the front desk to resolve and I had no if I was owed the money or not? Oh well.

On Tuesday night we returned to our room to find a plate of truffles on our coffee table with a lovely note. Elery had sent them as a good will gesture to thank us for our patience in the delay of receipt of our items. He more than satisfactorily resolved the issue and the truffles were unnecessary but much appreciated.

Room for improvement -

Our stewards - They did the minimum and that was it. This is fine. We don't make a mess and basically all our room entailed was making the bed. HOWEVER, on the first day we requested ice be filled during each service. We also asked for water glasses to be left. My husband had the rum and coke package and wanted to be able to make drinks in the room. I like to drink ice water throughout the day and night. On four nights we had to call to request ice and glasses after turn down. A couple of times we brought our own clean glasses back from the Lido during the day as we were hopeful there would at least be ice. We left the glasses on our tray, upside down, and they were removed at turn down! It got to be ridiculous. Also, on the last night, the chocolates were dropped on our bed. There was no towel animal. Is it a big deal? No. But it sort of went along with the "Here's your hat, what's your hurry," vibe we were getting on the ship.

Jason, the Cruise Director, and Captain Van Zaane – The atmosphere, beginning Thursday, felt to us like, “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” When we docked in St. Maarten, Jason came on the PA to tell us the pertinent info. He then said something to the effect of, “This is our last stop before heading back to Ft. Lauderdale.” Now, this was Thursday morning of a seven day cruise ending on Sunday. There were more comments along the same lines throughout the next couple of days. It was just strange. Normally the CD is stressing how much vacation is left on a seven day cruise. It’s very much a “The party’s not over till we dock!” feeling. Similarly, the Captain came on to tell us we were missing HMC. Fine. I don’t need to fall between the ship and the tender to realize the man knows what he’s doing!!! However, here again, the Captain said, “We’ll continue on now to Ft. Lauderdale.” This was strange. I’ve missed ports before, even on the last day of a cruise, and the captain talks about how he’ll find the good weather and get us there or how much great stuff there will be to do instead. Nada. Nothing. Zip. It was a different experience from any other cruise I have been on.

Product Placement – This was ridiculous! Upon return to the ship on Thursday afternoon there was a ‘Red Bull’ drink party on the back deck. Jazzy was there pushing hard for people to buy these concoctions. He was not discussing other drinks, just the Red Bull drinks. He sounded like a cheesy late night informercial salesman but with none of the zeal those people have. It was inappropriate and really seemed very un-HAL like. I don’t know if HAL is getting ad dollars from Red Bull or what but wow! They really are missing their target market on HAL!!! Most people on deck wouldn’t even try the free samples. There were temporary red bull high-top tables placed by the pool and it was just weird. I hope HAL does not continue with this.

Onboard gifts – Well, this was detailed in the ‘great’ section thanks to Elery’s hard work. However, I won’t be buying these again. The nonsense it took to receive what we’d paid for was ridiculous. Being treated like we were lying when we had the receipts in our hands was really angering. It worked out well but next time I will save myself the trouble.

Finally, the worst… Passengers. I am happy to report that rudeness is not generationally, geographically, racially, or ethnically confined. It’s alive and well across the board!!! Here’s a tip, when someone, I don’t care whether it’s the person passing you in the hall, the President of United States, or the man scraping gum off of the street, smiles at you and says, “Hello,” the right answer is to return the courtesy!!! I witnessed a woman waiting at the waffle station in the Lido. When the man working the station appeared he said to her, “Good Morning! How are you today?” Her answer? “Get me two waffles, and it’s after 7, you should have been here when I got here.” The crew member, God bless him, smiled and gave her her waffles. I, on the other hand, had a special place to put her waffles for her…. This was one of the many incredibly despicable acts I witnessed. My husband and I spoke with a waiter and the subject of rudeness came up. It turned out this waiter was a professor at home. However, he could make a lot more doing this for a few years. The man was obviously intelligent and was also very nice. We discussed how he has to put up with this. He told us he just smiles and does whatever. He wants his job. HOWEVER, he thinks these people generally paint an ugly picture. We ran into this same waited in one of the ports and had time to speak with him as people instead of in a service atmosphere. He is an amazing person. So, basically, while the crew is there to give great service, they are not there as punching bags. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how superior you believe you are, you are not more than these people. Think about that before the words, ‘Get me…’ escape from your mouth. Please and thank you are not optional regardless of the situation.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Erin,

Enjoyed your review. Well written. Sorry to hear of your problems with OBC - makes me rethink trying to do that on our upcoming Maasdam cruise. Guess we will charge up and pay later. Also saddened by the insensitivity of other passengers. HAL crew work so hard at being pleasant and helpful that it is irriitating to see how some people treat them.

Barbara

[Cruising-along]

Thank you for your well balanced review! Sorry to hear about your OBC problems and the one employee at the front desk -- but Elery sounds like a class act!

I just have to commend you on your last paragraph. Nothing bugs me more than rudeness. I work with the public, the good, bad and the ugly. So many times I just want to slap someone when he/she growls a response, or doesn't respond at all, to my cheery "good morning" (but of course I don't). I really do not know how the crew can keep their smiles all day and stay cheerful. It bothers me too when I see passengers being rude to them.

[canadianbear]

Great review.....loved reading all about it.

Regarding the rudeness: I so agree that the rudeness and way some passengers treat the workers on board the ship is horrible. We always try to say please, thank you, and of course smile as they work very hard to please.

Thanks again for a great review.

[pipedreams62]

However you missed earning those bonus points. If only you made the rude woman wear the pancake batter

[sevenseasnomad]

Like so many of you, I dislike hearing or witnessing rudeness, espcially to the crew who work so hard to please. I am particularly saddened to learn that it is happening on HAL.

The worst abuse we witnessed was aboard Celebrity once. Ship full of kids out of school for a winter break in February. We witnessed one parent curse an officer because the officer had removed this man's 15 year-old son from one of the nightclub venues. It was 1 o'clock in the morning! The father was asleep when he was awakened to come up to the lounge & get his son who had attempted to punch the officer. By this time, there were about 5 officers standing there, all of whom tried to reason with this guy. Nothing doing. He screamed and yelled abuse at them for 15 minutes & could be heard over the DJ's music.

We never heard if this family was asked to leave the ship or not.

[Oceanwench]

What did you think of the gymnast?
I found his act terribly cheesy ... and the farewell show would have been better with just Joel and Julie and the singers/dancers.

It was my third time seeing Julie, second seeing Joel -- can't say enough good things about them both!

I did not find the pax as rude as I have on some of my past cruises, particularly on a 10-day cruise on the Volendam. I've seen nastiness directed toward the Lido servers before and it makes me cringe.

The Westerdam crew is outstanding!
Everyone was wonderful - can't say enough about the Pinnacle staff.

I am so over Jason, the CD. This was my second or third time encountering him. I heard him make some sarcastic comment to a little old lady in the Lido who said she was disappointed in missing HMC. Something about how he caused the waves on purpose so we couldn't go there! I was shocked.
Sarcasm seems to be his style of humor, but it doesn't always translate well.

We were very disappointed in the piano bar singer. She was not as talented as the ones we've encountered on HAL in the past, and we chose not to go there after the first night.

Did not have a problem with the Captain's announcement about missing HMC. It was early - maybe 8 a.m.? He's not going to go into "fun and games" at that point. And I don't think he was going to find us any good weather - it's still rough here on the coast of Florida today! I thought he was just being matter-of-fact and giving us the facts.

I do agree about Jason, however, acting as if the cruise were already over when it was only Thursday! A big what-the-heck?? moment for me. Don't know that I've ever heard a CD talk about "this is our last port on the cruise," when there are still two full days of cruising left.

[suse]

People can be rude. No kidding, last week, at my office, no less, I had to call Police 911. Uh, why, you are wondering maybe. This man, cannot call him gentleman, was threatening me because I told him that he needed to do something before he was seen. Called referral. He flipped out. Can you imagine; I guess you can.
Anyway, I was afraid. And I am never afraid. Saavy chick that I am. But, it's true, it happens. Not before to me, tho.

[IRL_Joanie]

Thank you for the HONEST and very straight foward review.

Unfortunately, it does not sound much like my Westerdam in regards to the lack of courtesy and service from some of the crew to you!!!

The Westerdam I was on with Captain Peter Harris at the helm in May was a well oiled machine and was a wonderful cruise.

Was Capt. Henk Keijer you Captain??

Do not get me wrong, please... I BELIEVE YOU!! And I trust your judgment and honesty 100%!!

What I am saying is that it sounds like things may be going to Hades in a hand basket aboard my favorite ship

From The missing of ports of call, drink cards, incorrect OBC, lack of courtesy at the main desk, to lack of ice and throwing of chocolates onto the bed, this is NOT what HAL is supposed to be.

Sounds like there may be a tempest brewing aboard her. And I sure hope they get their attitudes fixed before they lose customers.

I am so unhappy to hear that your cruise was DEFINITELY not what it should have been and I hope the next cruise goes 1000% better.

Welcome home to you and Mike both!!

Joanie

[flrose]

Thank you MrsLTG for your very fair and balanced critique of your recent Westerdam cruise. As you can see from my signature I am going on the Westerdam next month. It has been 8 years since we cruised HAL...this will be our 7th cruise and the reason we haven't cruised on HAL were some of the issues you mentioned. After many years of loyal cruising, we found our 10 day cruise back in 2001 was disappointing due to the apathy of some of the staff. Our stateroom wasn't tended to as it used to be, and other little things were a struggle to resolve. Our expectations are always realistic so we decided to give HAL a rest and experience other cruise lines.

I hope our experience next month is better than what we dealt with 8 years ago, and better than what you experienced recently. As far as the poorly mannered individuals, well it's too bad they love misery so much. Having a good time, in my opinion, is a choice and a mind set. Those ugly people are an annoyance, nothing more. BTW we always chat with the waiters/waitresses, stewards and all the other staffers onboard...they are so interesting!!!

J

[VermeulT]

Thank you for taking the time to share...

[mrsltg]

Originally Posted by IRL_Joanie

Thank you for the HONEST and very straight foward review.

Unfortunately, it does not sound much like my Westerdam in regards to the lack of courtesy and service from some of the crew to you!!!

The Westerdam I was on with Captain Peter Harris at the helm in May was a well oiled machine and was a wonderful cruise.

Was Capt. Henk Keijer you Captain??

Do not get me wrong, please... I BELIEVE YOU!! And I trust your judgment and honesty 100%!!

What I am saying is that it sounds like things may be going to Hades in a hand basket aboard my favorite ship

From The missing of ports of call, drink cards, incorrect OBC, lack of courtesy at the main desk, to lack of ice and throwing of chocolates onto the bed, this is NOT what HAL is supposed to be.

Sounds like there may be a tempest brewing aboard her. And I sure hope they get their attitudes fixed before they lose customers.

I am so unhappy to hear that your cruise was DEFINITELY not what it should have been and I hope the next cruise goes 1000% better.

Welcome home to you and Mike both!!

Joanie

I wouldn't worry, Joanie. The Westerdam is beautiful and the crew is fantastic. I actually took to writing crew member names down so I could mention them on the comment card - that's how good they were!!! The list of great crew is long and the ship is really magnificent. She's ready for her dry dock but with the 1800+ people per week, I can understand!

Honestly, this was our best vacation ever! There were hiccups along the way but they in no way affected our travel. We met wonderful people and really enjoyed ourselves for one solid week. If there was a way for me to get back on this ship next week I would do it. I offered to row but no one took me up on it!

Oceanwench - I am sorry I didn't get to meet you! I wasn't feeling well on the day of the meet and greet and only stayed for a short time. I am glad I wasn't the only one slightly put off by Jason - it was weird! My CD on my last HAL cruise was great. I ran into him at Northern Lights on the last night of the cruise at midnight. He was as happy and chatty then as he had been on embarkation day. Jason was definitely off. Oh well.

[IRL_Joanie]

Originally Posted by mrsltg

I wouldn't worry, Joanie. The Westerdam is beautiful and the crew is fantastic. I actually took to writing crew member names down so I could mention them on the comment card - that's how good they were!!! The list of great crew is long and the ship is really magnificent. She's ready for her dry dock but with the 1800+ people per week, I can understand!

Honestly, this was our best vacation ever! There were hiccups along the way but they in no way affected our travel. We met wonderful people and really enjoyed ourselves for one solid week. If there was a way for me to get back on this ship next week I would do it. I offered to row but no one took me up on it!

I just know that you do not complain and to me the comments about the CD and Captain's remarks put me off. A shocker.

I am so happy it was a good cruise overall

I'll keep my expectations high now that you've said it will be ok

Joanie

[Bakincakes]

We had friends on that cruise. I asked them to keep a log as they are not CC members. I wanted them to pass on their experiences to me so I could post them here.

I'm hesitant to post their review. They had some great moments and some real stinkers. I know how negatives are sometimes received, especially by people who are loyalists to one line.

I'll take their comments and write something up and then post it later this week and see how it goes.

I will say they thought embarkation was chaos!!

[IRL_Joanie]

Originally Posted by Bakincakes

We had friends on that cruise. I asked them to keep a log as they are not CC members. I wanted them to pass on their experiences to me so I could post them here.

I'm hesitant to post their review. They had some great moments and some real stinkers. I know how negatives are sometimes received, especially by people who are loyalists to one line.

I'll take their comments and write something up and then post it later this week and see how it goes.

I will say they thought embarkation was chaos!!

Bakincakes, I am a lover of anything Oosterdam and Esterdam, preferably Westerdam. That said, I want to know everthing good and bad of both ships.

I can take the bad reviews of Westerdam and all HAL ships and will not flame any review of them.

The honesty is what most of us are looking for. So please do not hesitate to post their review.

As you can see from the review here that MrsLtg posted, it was not all good and she has not been flamed.

Please post your friend's review, I for one, wish to read it!!

Joanie

[mrsltg]

Originally Posted by Bakincakes

We had friends on that cruise. I asked them to keep a log as they are not CC members. I wanted them to pass on their experiences to me so I could post them here.

I'm hesitant to post their review. They had some great moments and some real stinkers. I know how negatives are sometimes received, especially by people who are loyalists to one line.

I'll take their comments and write something up and then post it later this week and see how it goes.

I will say they thought embarkation was chaos!!

The embarkation was a problem but it did not affect us. We arrived at the port at about 10:30 and were onboard by 11:45. The problems began when we were on the gangway and it was a computer glitch. There were about 10 or so people in front of us and the scanners stopped working. The security folks had to enter passport numbers manually to let you board the ship. When there are 10 people in front of you this process takes about 5 minutes. When there are 250 people in front of you... At any rate, I heard from friends that they were significantly delayed in boarding. I am sure the process disintegrated into chaos as the day wore on. I am sorry your friends got caught up in the mess!

Please post a review on behalf of your friends. I take the good with the bad and will happily admit that I love HAL and booked another cruise while onboard. However, there is always something which can be improved upon and I would love to hear your friends' take on the situation.

[elycelynne]

Was she really awful? Was it her performance, song selection or repertoire? What type of music did she play? In another post on a thread for a recent Westerdam review, Oceanwench said they were so disappointed that they didn't go back after the first night. I'm sailing on December 6th and was hoping to spend a lot of time being entertained (as opposed to tortured) in the piano bar. I'm sailing solo, so going dancing at night isn't an option. Did anyone like this piano player?

Oops, I just realized I posted in this thread instead of starting a new one. I'm going to also start a new one so others will see it as well, so please disregard this if you see it again.

[Bakincakes]

Here is the beginning of their thoughts:

Embarkation: As they entered numbers were being thrust at them and they were then directed to go through security. They arrived about 11:30 at the port.

They were then directed to a larger room where pax were supposed to sit until their numbers were called. Didn't happen. My friends were walking to seats and a large group of pax were behind them..pushing them into the line that was going through the next door to customs.

Suite pax, who were in that line, were furious that "interlopers" were breaching that line of priority embarkation. One suite pax actually put his arm out to prevent anyone from getting ahead of him and he directed "regular" pax to get away from the priority line. there was no where for my friends to go as they were being pushed from behind by a now growing group of pax who were ignoring HAL requests to sit down and wait.

In the customs room forms were given out to be filled out. Pax were not given pens and now a frantic search for something to write with ensued. They then entered the line for customs, which seemed to go pretty well.

Finally they got to the "waiting" area to board. The Pa system was NOT working and HAL had an older woman who was trying to get pax to sit down and wait for their numbers to be called. Her voice was very low and she could barely be heard. Baggage was all over the place and one man kicked my friends carry-on and told her to "Get her damn bag out of the aisle".

A woman was standing and actually retching as if she was going to be sick. She claimed that the lack of "air" was making her sick. HAL personnel ignored her. She continued to do that until her boarding number was called. Was she telling the truth? Who knows...but she was allowed to board. Most who were watching her antics felt uneasy and were wondering if she was indeed just having issues with the closeness of the room or if she was ill and was boarding anyway.


Will post more later...

[Bakincakes]

Cabin: They had an SY cabin on deck 6. Very roomy and they loved the size of the balcony. The beds were comfy and the room nice and clean. They had a whirlpool bath/shower and an extra shower stall which helped with three in the room. Their only complaint about the cabin/balcony was that the ottomans on the balcony were in serious disrepair. They had to put towels on them to keep the weaving from poking them in the foot or ankles. The room steward told them he could not replace them.

One pax in the cabin was diabetic. She asked the room steward, numerous times, for a sharps container for her used lancets. On the third day she finally called the front desk and the container reached their cabin that afternoon. Odd because she informed HAL over 90 days ahead that she was diabetic and would require the container in her cabin.

The room steward was adequate. The room was kept clean but was made up at different times each day. Twice the steward wanted to make it up early in the afternoon so they sat on the balcony and waited for him to finish as he didn't want to enter the room while they were there and they weren't in the mood to leave and walk around the ship so he could do his work.

The hairdryer worked sporadically and was checked twice by maintainence. They had no hot water one morning. It was fixed that afternoon.

There was ample closet space and they were delighted to find that there was plenty of room under the bed to store their suitcases. On other lines there was no room and bags had to be stored in the closets.

They were instructed NOT to take their lifevests to muster. Muster went quickly but there were many straglers who arrived late..and many of those had full glasses from the bars in their hands.


More to come...

[Bakincakes]

LIDO: They enjoyed breakfast very much in the LIDO. They had early excursions and ate there each morning. They loved the omelets and the waffles were great. They were impressed with the selections offered and thought the staff were friendly and helpful.

Lunch was another story...they felt the selections weren't great and they sometimes found it difficult to find something appetizing. They did have a wonderful Asian dish of Chicken with Cashews..but found the Italian selections to be poorly made. The sauces were "watery". They did hear other pax complain about the overall "saltiness" of the foods offered. They also felt the pasta to be undercooked...beyond the al dente many prefer. They did specifically mention an avocado and crabmeat slection offered one day as "very delicious". They also said that the pizza was tasty but not as a daily diet all the week.

They can't comment on dinner in the LIDO as they ate in the MDR or Pinnacle.

More....