Westerdam 12/19 review

A little background.........We have been on the Zuiderdam twice and really enjoyed sailing both times as well as, sailing with RCCL and Carnival. HAL is my favorite cruise line. They did not disappoint, we were treated very well by the crew. They are very hard working folks.

We arrived at the port at 11:30. It was a good time to get there. They had opened the doors already and the check-in was very smooth, maybe a total time of less than 45 minutes and then sitting in the lido having lunch....:)

The lido crew including cooks, servers, etc do an excellent job and the food is very good. I think HAL has a great salad bar. Everything was always fresh and clean. We ate dinner in the lido several nights. The food was always good and cooked to order. They serve similiar food in the lido as in the dining room. Never made it to the dining room. By the way, the carrot cake is so good.

After reading several reviews of poor service in the lido, I was especially attentive to see if it was true. I did not find that at all. When we put our trays and dishes to the side, the guys would come over and take them in less than 5 minutes and the lido was always busy.They came around with coffee , tea, and water. If I asked for something, I received it in a timely manner. The crew is very respectful and polite.

On the ship there was music playing in the background, it was pleasant and not loud at all.

We went to the Pinnacle Grill on the first night and on Christmas night. Both nights were excellent. We enjoyed the good food and good service. On the first night, our servers were outstanding. They work 2 to a team. I like that arrangement. One young lady was especially friendly and efficient. On Christmas night, we decided to go at the very last minute. They said we were on a waiting list and would be notified at around 5:00. The Maitr d' called around 4 and said they had an opening at 6:30 which was perfect for us. This time, we had a different team of servers. They were friendly and efficient. The volcano cake was delicious as ever. I had the lamb which I enjoyed. For anyone who orders the lamb, you might try the mustard horseradish sauce. They ordinarily serve it with the ribeye. That sauce is so good. The ribeye was excellent.

We enjoyed the entertainment. There are 14 singers and dancers. While attending an informal chat with Jason, the CD, he said that a company that Barry Manilow owns, finds all the talent in Los Angeles. They rehearse together for 3 or 4 weeks, then come to the cruise ship to perform. They are under contract for 6 months at a time. They performed 3 shows, we saw 2 of them. The first one, Bob Mackie designed all the costumes. It really showed, the outfits were beautiful. The second show was just not my taste, but many of the folks enjoyed that show. There was an illusionist, which to me can get old, but Leo, was outstanding and amazing. His illusions were excellent. A singer who I really enjoyed was Alfreda Gerald. She is a vocalist for Yanni. That woman can sing. The CD introduced her show as a diva show. She sang song that divas made popular........Gladys Knight, Whitney, Ella Fitzgerald and Tina Turner. Her family was there for the holiday cruise, which made it even more special.

We were in an SS suite, cabin 6099. Last Zuiderdam cruise we had an SS, also. I enjoy the bigger balcony. The cabin was in a convenient location. A little too close to the casino........lol. The room steward was efficient and nice. He was prompt in cleaning the room when we left. We would leave and come back an hour later and the room was made up. That was nice. He did a good job.

The CD, Jason, did a nice job. He is young, 25, but poised beyond his years. He is quite young to have such a responsiblility, but he handles it well.

We had nice weather up until the last day, so we were not able to go to Half Moon Cay. Of course, that was a disappointment, but there was no choice. The workers from Eluthera were not able to leave their dock. The seas were pretty rough and it got worse over night. I think the Westerdam sails better than the Zuiderdam. When we did have rough seas, the ship handled it well. I also think the captain did an excellent job.

Room service was prompt and they always got the order correct. We left the card on the door at night for breakfast in the morning and they were always on time.

This was the first time we attended the Mariner's Society party in the Vista Lounge. It was a very nice get together and well attended. There were free drinks and hors devours.

It was a nice day in Key West and much cooler than usual with the cold front that came through. We had to put the heat on in the cabin......lol. By the way, we're from South Florida.

I knew there were going to be alot of ships in Grand Cayman and was a little bit concerned over the tender situation because of what I had read. We had absolutely no tendering problems even with 6 ships in port. Now, the town was jammed packed. Too crowded for me. We snorkeled at Eden Rock, walked around a little and got back on the tender.

In Cozumel, they are doing major reconstruction of the roadway downtown. The main road in the downtown shopping area is shut down, so the taxis and cars take the next street over. A bit of warning........if you have difficulty walking you have to be extra careful because alot of the sidewalk is chopped up and with a wheelchair, I would not advise it at all. A few years ago I bought a leather purse in Coz and now I wanted to replace it, but the prices were too high, so I passed on the purse. I found a beautiful ceramic plate, a ceramic vase, and a pretty onyx bowl at Cinco Soles. We stopped for a snack of chips and salsa in the downtown square. It was nice to rest and people watch.

Montego Bay is quite an interesting place. We took the shuttle bus for $3 p/p, $6 round trip, to the city center shopping area. They have jewlery and assorted souveniers. We decided to go to the crafts market which was about a 15 minute walk. Basically, the way it works is a local comes up to you and asks you where you want to go. Then, he escorts(walks) you through town to the market. We ended up having 2 escorts, still not sure where the 2nd young man came from. The day we were there the downtown area was very crowded. Just a bit of information, to be on the safeside, if you want to go to the crafts market, which I recommend , go, just make sure you have a local escort. Your escort does expect a tip which we were happy to do. I purchased some nice mahagony items from the crafts market.

The Westerdam is a wonderful ship and the crew worked hard to make sure all areas of the ship were clean.

Disembarkation was a breeze. We ordered room service and stayed in our cabin until our color was called.

All in all, it was a fantastic cruise with a great staff and crew. The crew did everything they could to make an enjoyable cruise for all.

I love cruising because it is such an easy, fun, and enjoyable way to spend a vacation. Can't wait to go again on the Zuiderdam in May if all goes well.

I really enjoyed reading this! You told me just about everything I could want to know about the ship's food and entertainment (even naming the performers; I like that), and the ports.

I'm not a fan of the Vista-class ships (too big for my taste; I think), but your report certainly made we long to be there.

Thanks for posting.

oceanlov1, thanks for your great review. I do have a Question. Do you remember which nights were your Formal nights and Informal night? I know you ate mostly in the Lido but I was hoping you would remember. I am guessing that Tuesday and Thursday were the Formal nights doing the Western Caribbean.

Thanks,

oceanlov1

Thanks for the great review. We sail the Westerdam on 1-9.

One question...do you remember what movies were playing in the theater? We are taking our 12 year old daughter with us and she loves to go to the movies!

 

Montego Bay is quite an interesting place. We took the shuttle bus for $3 p/p, $6 round trip, to the city center shopping area. They have jewlery and assorted souveniers. We decided to go to the crafts market which was about a 15 minute walk. Basically, the way it works is a local comes up to you and asks you where you want to go. Then, he escorts(walks) you through town to the market. We ended up having 2 escorts, still not sure where the 2nd young man came from. The day we were there the downtown area was very crowded. Just a bit of information, to be on the safeside, if you want to go to the crafts market, which I recommend , go, just make sure you have a local escort. Your escort does expect a tip which we were happy to do. I purchased some nice mahagony items from the crafts market.

Why would you recommend these so called "escorts"?

Acapulco had them also and we told them "No Thank You" but they latch on to you and keep following you. It was almost kind of creepy. We managed to loose the guy in a church, by sneaking out a side door.

oceanlov1, thanks for your great review. I do have a Question. Do you remember which nights were your Formal nights and Informal night? I know you ate mostly in the Lido but I was hoping you would remember. I am guessing that Tuesday and Thursday were the Formal nights doing the Western Caribbean.

 

Thanks,

The December 19th cruise was an 8 day cruise so the Formal nights were not the same as you would have on a 7 day cruise. Friends just got back and they said 1st formal night was the Tuesday - ship left on Sunday and then Christmas Eve (Fri) was formal/informal and Christmas Day (Sat) was Formal .

Oceanlov1 - I also don't know why you had the escorts in Montego Bay. You were lucky they didn't rob you. We have been there before and were told by the Police outside the terminal not to wander around anywhere on our own. You took a big chance doing this and were very lucky that you were not harmed. We had the same experience as Gizmo in Acapulco and politely told them "no thank you". You have no idea where they are going to take you.

oceanlov1

Was Montego Bay listed for your Westerdam itinerary? Ocho Rios is listed for ours? Just wondering if this was a schedule change.

You are lucky that you didn't get robbed in Montego Bay.

In Acapulco we had the same thing - a man started to walk with us and wanted to show us around - kept pointing to his "official" picture and ID. We told him that since we had been to Acapulco many times before we had seen everything and walked into a store just to get away from him. Anyone can get something to look like an official and call themselves "escorts".

Montego Bay was always listed as the port for the Xmas cruise - was not a schedule change.

Laffnvegas,

yes, esme is correct regarding the formal/informal nights.

sea-n-me,

don't remember the movie titles, but they had 2 different movies every day.

gizmo,

we didnt know where the craft market was, so the guy who came up to us said he would take us. looking back it could have been a dangerous situation. let me tell you the full story.

the 2 guys escorted us to the craft market, no problem. he told us he was first going to take us to his sister's shop. i bought something there from her. after walking around a little more, we heard what sounded like a gun shot. the guy, johnny told us that the police were trying to stop someone. after that, we decided we better leave the market. then, they took us to the church. as we left the church, one of the guys asked for a tip. he said it was not a good thing for them to be seen taking money and it would be best if we gave them the tip now. i told them i appreciated their service, but i would give them the tip when we got back to the city center. they we ok with that. we got back to the city center and gave them both a tip. the unbelievable part was that they complained about how much we tipped!! we were with these guys for less than 1 hour and they wanted $20 each. mind you, in the beginning, they never mentioned money. i told them how dissapointed i was with them and walk off. never saw the guys again after that. looking back, now i'm not sure i would recommend going to the craft market escort or not, even though we did enjoy the experience of walking through town, seeing the sights and seeing how the folks in montego bay live.

krazy kruiser,

montego bay was on the original schedule.

Thank you for an excellent review.

Ocho Rios is about the same as Montego Bay. It really doesn't feel safe to get off the ship unless on a tour, and even then we felt some resentment from the tour operators/guides. It is a shame, such a beautiful island.

There were several movies including Raising Helen, I-Robot, Princess Diaries II and Elf. I can't remember all the titles, but as it was a Christmas cruise the movies may have been aimed a bit more to the younger crowd. The main movies play all day (4 different movies each day) on two different channels on you cabin TV. There is also a channel with a "classic" moves, a cartoon channel as well as CNN (International).

The formal nights were the two "at sea" nights.

Thanks for the answer to the movie question mcduck!

Thanks so much for the review. Sorry you had to miss HMC but sounds like you had a great time anyway. We'll be on the Westerdam in just over 3 weeks and can't wait.