Home from my first HAL Cruise

WOW. Does HAL understand customer service! This was my second cruise; my first was 2009 on the Star Princess to Alaska with dear hubby. We loved Alaska and were pleasantly surprised to find we liked cruising. Needing a vacation badly - one that would take minimal planning and be restful - led me to consider another cruise. This time with my 32 year old daughter and, after discussion, decided on another Alaska cruise. Wanting a Saturday to Saturday itinerary RT Seattle, we decided on HAL's Westerdam. Loved the ship - loved the staff. Really loved the staff. Everyone was so cheerful and seemed to really love their jobs. And, that ship was clean; there was always someone Windexing glass, disinfecting handrails, making the ladies rooms sparkle. DD especially liked knowing the day of the week from the elevator carpets - nice touch. I was impressed with the Verandah suites and all of the storage spaces tucked here and there - comfortable beds and bedding, too. Good food - better than decent. We enjoyed the PG and I felt it was as good as any of the steakhouses here in NYC. We also tried Le Cirque, which we enjoyed but both felt that the regular PG menu had better selections (I will say the lamb chops were very good, indeed). We traveled with 10 bottles of fine wine and felt the corkage was reasonable - and the wine stewards were attentive and friendly. We are late eaters so did not take part in any of the entertainment except for the show that the Indonesian staff presented for Indonesia Independence Day which was good natured and a lot of fun. We had rough seas on the transit from Glacier Bay to Sitka but the Captain prepared us for it and the myclazine (sp) helped my DD survive the night. Neither of us was crazy about Sitka - maybe our expectations for the Slavic influence were too high (our name is Baran and this is Baranof island, after all :)). I would have enjoyed more time in Juneau and Ketchican. Since I did so many excursions in 2009, I did none this cruise but my DD had a ball ziplining in Juneau. Two girlfriends who also decided to take this cruise with us really enjoyed their canoe excursion to a glacial lake in Ketchican but felt their kayak excursion in Juneau was overpriced. I really liked the size of the ship which I felt was conducive to meeting people and staff. By weeks end, there were so many friendly faces and conversations. Unlike the Star on which I felt anonymous, on Westerdam I felt more community. We all spent a massive amount of time in the Spa and had the Thermal Suite package for the week - purchased on embarkation day and very reasonable for $249 for two. Between the Thermal Suite, massages, facials and acupuncture (I've been curious about trying this for years) I left the ship totally relaxed. The 7 days did wonders and I can't wait until I cruise again on - as they say - one of them dam ships!!:D

So glad you had a great time! One of the reasons we keep returning to HAL is because of their staff-we love them.

Thanks for taking the time to share with us your getaway.

Please tell me more about the thermal spa package!

Thanks for the review. We have an Alaskan cruise on the Westerdam booked for next July. This will be our first cruise and are very excited about it.

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Thanks for your post. We will be on our first HAL cruise next year. We will be on an Alaska itinerary as well. Can't wait! :D

Thanks for your review. I hope that any tips you received here on CC were helpful in making your cruise a memorable one.

Welcome home from your wonderful Alaskan cruise.

Sounds like your cruise was wonderful. Your comment about leaving the ship relaxed reminded me of a woman I worked with many years ago. She used to say people came back from vacation looking as if they'd had their faces ironed. (fewer wrinkles)

So, since you had a good time, are you thinking about your next cruise? It does get addictive. ;)

Welcome Home

Thank you for your review.

So glad you enjoyed your first HAL cruise and everyone had an enjoyable time.

It is true -- HAL has cut back on port times to save on fuel -- cruising slower to get from one port to the next one.

Thanks for the great review- we will be on Westerdam in 2 weeks. Did you happen to notice if Clifford (server) is still in PG? He's quite a character and hard to miss. We're hoping he is still on board.

My first HAL cruise was on the Westerdam, as well. I felt the same way as you about the ship. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the review!

Thanks for a great report. I'm so glad you loved the Westerdam - I cruised on her in April, and everything was absolutely perfect. Shortly after I was reading negative posts about the ship and could not believe it was the same one!:eek: I felt it was a well-run and happy ship.

Thanks for the great review- we will be on Westerdam in 2 weeks. Did you happen to notice if Clifford (server) is still in PG? He's quite a character and hard to miss. We're hoping he is still on board.

Frank, I heard Clifford went home on leave in July. He is quite unique!

Thanks for your pleasant review! We will be on the Westerdam in January and are really looking forward to it.

I'd like to hear more about the thermal suite package also. What is included in the $249.00 per couple?

Frank, I heard Clifford went home on leave in July. He is quite unique!

I heard that too then a month or so ago someone said that he told them he was on until the end of Alaska season. We were hoping :)

So glad you enjoyed your cruise !! Thank you for posting.

Since there have been two questions and the OP has not yet responded I will tell you about my own thermal suite experience because I never understood what it was either until I finally signed up for one on the Osterdam. The experience is different on the smaller ships which do not have the large Vista class spa pool, but have more like a larger hot tub.

They put a sticker on your cruise card which you turn it at the spa desk in return for a locker room key and access card to the thermal spa. Mens and women's locker rooms with towels, hanging space for your clothes, enclosed showers with shampoo etc, and dressing room cabinets. Then you have a choice of several places to go - the heated ceramic loungers or the large heated spa pool.

The thermal spa is a very large whirlpool affair on the Vista class and higher ships with a center area of bubbles and jets, lounging bars where you can lay underwater in the bubbles, and a fairly large area in between where you can paddle around in the warm, bubbly water. It is about four feet deep so you can do some good stretching exercises too. There is a button outside the pool that regulates the jets and bubbles that is on a timer so it can go off during the time you are in the pool -- just reach up and turn it back on if no one else knows what to do.

There are loungers and towels outside of the pool but I did not see them in much use. The seductive loungers are the ceramic ones in the other spa area. You put a towel down on the ceramic base and just lay back in their warm embrace, and either watch the water go by from the large windows or close your eyes and just drift off. Be sure to not over stay if there are others waiting, or if they are all filled up. This room also has aroma scented showers and attendants to help you with that.

No special order in how you use either room - one or both, heated lounger first or last. I used them late in the afternoon after 5pm and they were mainly empty at that time. I would spend about half hour to 45 minutes and use the locker room shower to wash hair and start the process of getting ready for our dinner at 8pm. Other times might be more busy. I think they are open until 10pm, but need to check on that.

So once you are done with using the spa pool or heated loungers, you get dressed (or robed) and take your locker key and card access back to the spa desk and get your room key back and feel all pink, warm lazy and relaxed. Good time to go to sleep I always thought, but in our routine it was time to go to dinner.

Enjoy. BTW: I used it every day in the beginning and then less so later on. Just like a gym membership. :cool:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Thanks for your review! Glad you had a good time!

We were on the ship the week before you and had a great time. I was going to write a review too, but now I feel like too much time has passed and it is old news :confused:

Thanks for the review. We are new to HAL as well. Some questions on our recent booking. We have a guarantee for Neptune suite on NA cruise in Jan 2016 - when can we expect cabin assignment? We got explore 4 but where do I find the benefits - bev package and OBC in the reservation? How long do I have to transfer to a TA? Does the military OBC automatically transfer from Princess or do we need to resubmit? Just some early questions and I am sure I will have more. Looking forward to our first HAL cruise.

WOW. Does HAL understand customer service! This was my second cruise; my first was 2009 on the Star Princess to Alaska with dear hubby. We loved Alaska and were pleasantly surprised to find we liked cruising.

 

Anybody know if the ship dispenses meclizine during rough seas? We're Alaska bound next month and my friend hasn't sailed before. We can't buy Bonine or generic meclizine in Canada and I find it has been the perfect assist when the waters are rough. Any help is greatly appreciated,

Anybody know if the ship dispenses meclizine during rough seas?

Yes, they do. The pill pushers will fill a basket and place it at the Front Desk. You can also get fistfuls of the packets in the Infirmary.

Thanks to all on your good wishes!

CrewNews - yes, CC posts helped me plan; I found it so helpful

GloriaLagos and EbayCruiser- OlsSalt gave a great description of the Thermal Suite. We four, however, never lost interest and used it more than once a day, every day. Loved,loved,loved it!

3rdGen - oh yeah. Already thinking of the next cruise. I could never coordinate with the FCC (HAL should really have more than one consultant or have longer hours)

frankC - I'm sure Clifford is a wonderful person. We were assigned Merdy for our first dinner (Le Cirque) and requested him for our second.

lizzie68 - an apt description..."well run and happy ship"!

Thanks for your review.

Keith

Thank you for reviewing your Westerdam cruise.