scooter6139

Yes. She just waited for a break in the crowd/line then went and got her coffee order in. When we went up there on embarkation day there was quite a long line.

We did go there twice! Wife ordered an Americano, said it was decent but she liked the machine coffee better.

Didn't see any tuxes on Westerdam last week. Rarely saw any full suites. Some sport jackets, but mostly just nice buttoned shirts and slacks. Most of the ladies looked very nice.

Here is a review of our Westerdam Alaska cruise from August 20th – 27th, 2023 round trip from Seattle WA. This was our 2nd HAL cruise, but it had been a super long time since the previous one, so it was like a new experience for us. Embarkation: We live in the area, so we arrived an hour before our set 12PM check in time, but since we were in a Neptune Suite, I knew we had anytime priority access. Access to pier 91/92 was easy, not much traffic considering both Westerdam and the Discovery Princess were disembarking/embarking at the same time. Short line to drop off luggage, then made our way through security (remove my belt? Really?) and then a super short face recognition check-in and straight onto the ship. Super easy compared to some other embarkations we’ve done (looking at you NCL!) Cabin: Neptune Suite 7068. Rotterdam deck, next to the glass elevators. Originally thought this might be an issue with noise of traffic and the elevators, but once passed the cabin door we couldn’t hear anything. The cabin was super big and easy to maneuver around in, especially at night for the bathroom visits. Lots of storage, as I assume this is for longer cruise itineraries. King sized bed seems larger than our Cali King at home. The couch was a bit firm, as were the chairs, but comfy enough for a reading spot. TV was bigger than I was expecting, however there were several times the TV channels would not come in. Slightly annoying when catching up on the news. Left the dressing area for wife, which she loved and now wants on all our cruises. The bathroom was spacious if a bit dated even after the refurb a few years ago. I barely fit in the shower (6’2”, 300 lbs.) so I opted for the shower/tub. Worked well enough, but wish the shower and tub had glass rather than a curtain. The balcony was very large, and we enjoyed sitting out on it, especially in port or the Hubbard Glacier. Internet: Spotty but worked well enough. Upgraded to the Streaming version to unlock some more accessibility. Sometimes it came super-fast for a ship (30 down and 3 up), other times barely working. Most likely a location issue globally. They’ve done a good job of putting in a lot of wireless boosters/nodes throughout the ship, easily identified by the ceiling mounts. Neptune Lounge: Loved it. Found lots of snacks here and my wife and I would read for hours here. This one was redone in January of 2023, so has a totally different look. Loved their coffee machines. They rotated on the same schedule every day, and wife was super excited that they had Swiss Style Muesli available during breakfast hours. The Honor bar was great and easy, just fill out form (PS – A great cabin fridge stocking cheat is to check out what you want here!) Sheila and Gabriel were super helpful and always checking on everyone. They were some of the busiest concierges I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. Food-MDR: Easily the BEST food I’ve had in any MDR. Far surpasses that of NCL and even Princess. Was so good we ate there almost every night. Had late dinner at 7:30pm, so we had the awesome team of Francis and Alex every night. I’m a picky diabetic eater, so they were very creative in helping me out. Food-Buffet: Tried it 3 times, once was successful. Do not go when it is busy. That is a nightmare. We were all stuffed in the buffet on embarkation, so it was hot, no tables and long lines. I hated it. Next time we tried breakfast but came during a busy time. My scrambled eggs were underdone, but the bacon and sausage were very good. Unimpressed still. Last we tried dinner when the menu in the MDR was sup-par for me. This one worked out well, as it was mostly empty! Loved everything I tried (Steak, Cashew Chicken, Burger, Cod, Cobb salad). Food-Pinnacle Grill: We ate breakfast here most mornings, as it was included with our Suite. No complaints here. One of the places we could get free machine coffee. We also used our HIA dinner here. Shared candied bacon, quite good. The Wedge salad was a nice sized portion and very tasty. However, my first bite of my Halibut had 4 bones in it (I choked on a bone once so I can’t stand bones in fish). The staff was appalled and quickly asked if I wanted something else, which I did and got the Filet Mignon instead. Honestly, probably one of the best ones I’ve ever had. Easily better than NCL’s Cagney’s. Food-Dive-In: I think these were some of the best burgers we’ve had on a ship. The fries were good too, especially with the Dive-In Sauce. And a taco bar? Yes, please. Entertainment: Don’t really know. Never went. There were a few shows we wanted to try, but we felt old and slow after dinner, so we usually just went to bed and read for a while. Since Lincoln Center was discontinued, there wasn’t much we really wanted to see or hear. Ports: We really enjoyed the BBB excursion in Sitka (Birds, Bears and Barnacles). Was scheduled to take the tram in Juneau but I chickened out.(I hate heights). Didn't get off in either Ketchikan (Spa appt) nor Victoria (8-11:30pm? Really?) Shopping: Very impressed. Some of the better shops I’ve seen on ships, and well stocked. My onboard account took some serious hits this cruise. Library: All cruise ships need to follow this model. Lots of choices. My wife went through 3 or 4 books. SPA: Loved it all. Got a couple of things done here, loved it all. Even though the same company does the spas on all mainstream lines (HAL, Princess, NCL, Royal, Celebrity, Carnival etc.), prices here were less than what we paid on NCL and even Princess, which I found odd but appreciated. Disembarkation: Saddest day of the cruise. As independent and suite passengers, we could stay until 9:15 but only did so until 9:00. Straight down from deck 7 to 2, scanned card, walked off ship into building, found luggage and quick scan at Customs and we were out. Less than 15 minutes. Much better that others (looking at your hour long lines again NCL!) We really enjoyed this cruise and will easily cruise with HAL again. We’ve already booked another for next year on the Koningsdam to try when one of their “large” Pinnacle ships. We loved this small Vista class ship, but I do wish we had more food options that can only come with a larger ship. The crowd was mostly older than us (mid 50s) with a few families and grandparents with grandchildren. This suited us just fine after an oversold NCL Bliss in late June with 4800 guests.

Just off the Westerdam and we checked to make sure they were there. I brought my own pair but sometimes both the wife and I will be watching for whales and whatnot. I can hardly believe HAL wants 200 for those 10x42 binoculars, since you can get them on Amazon for well under $100.

We were just assigend a noon time ourselves (group D), but likely will be there earlier. We are in a Neptune, so wasn't that worried about it. When do they usually start letting folks on the ship? 11AM?

I love seeing spreadsheets, but not sure you are quite correct on this one. The NCL model is not quite correct, as all sailing automatically consider basic Free at Sea as part of the sailing. Taking it off only nets a few hundred dollars off at most for a 7 day sailing, especially a cheaper Mexico cruise. So it is a bit misleading to quote a base far then trying to add the cost of Drinks and Wifi, especially on the Free at Sea + (FAS+) booking. My wife and I only sail Alaska and Mexico, and Princess is rarely the cheaper option. We just decide whom to cruise based on what we want at the time.

Where else on the ship can one still claim a public space and get up to wander for 30 minutes and still come back to the same spot?

Depends. Did you save your chair with some personal items, so new arrivals know that a legitimate cruiser is actually occupying that lounger, or did you just leave the towel as your marker? I don't move personal stuff, I ask the staff to do that for me. So I wait like a good cruiser and then happily have it moved after the appropriate amount of time has passed. Princess towel? That there is an open spot! 😉

Ergo watching for a minute. I can usually see the pool or hot tub and make an educated guess. As the OP posted, this was at 8am. Probably not a lot of people in the pool or hot tub, just a bunch of cruisers who want to eat breakfast and think/believe putting down a Princess towel really means anything.

I don't consider a chair "occupied" unless it has someone personal stuff on it. A Princess towel does not count IMHO. I'd watch it for a few minutes, then just take it over. It's like the same folks who "cluster" some loungers together to claim them all.

I had the same question with when I was booking with my PCC on the sister ship Koningsdam. She suggested the best "sleeper/unknown" cabins in the balcony category are V5048 or V5051 on Gershwin. They are classified as "accessible" but not true wheelchair accessible cabins. Unique layout and a super sized balcony. Anyone ever stayed in one of those?

Are you just referring to the Dining Room on Pinnacle class ships or the add-on you can get? Club Orange dining room is just first come, first serve I believe. Neptune Suites don't need to add on Club Orange package as they get most of the same benefits. They do limit the purchase of Club Orange packages, but it's dependent on the ship. Don't know what "services" you spoke to, but they do NOT know what they are talking about.

Me too. Weird.

The Surf and Turf in the Crown Grill costs an additional $10 or so on top of the cover charge, but that was last year. I don't know if it has changed since then.

Uh, you've cruised Princess I see. They do the exact same thing.

Chrome is my default, but it was giving me errors when I tried, so I moved to Edge and it worked there.

Wonder how this works out then with teachers and AARP? The AARP is in my name, teacher is in my wife's name (as she is the teacher). So far the teacher OBC shows up under her name and account.

Will need to ask my PCC about rebooking my Dec 2024 on Koningsdam then to see about getting this OBC added. It was done on the $1 deposit, so if it requires a full deposit now then will just wait until the next $1 deposit day. 😏

Is there any type of 'bonus' to getting FCC onboard? Sorry, might be an obtuse question, but we last bought some on NCL and they have OBC for each one you buy (which, if you don't use onboard, comes off the purchase cost). Does HAL have an inducement to buy onboard?

How many kids did you see onboard? We are in the middle of Summer, so wondering how many we can expect. We just did a late June Alaska on NCL Bliss and the ship was chock full of families (4800 passengers, of the 4000 double occupancy). We know HAL is more adult oriented so guessing there won't be a plethora of mini-humans running around.

Same here. What guarantee category did you book, if you don't mind? We booked an SC (we are fine with any Neptune cabin really) but I think we will likely get an SA (those were the only ones left when I could still see open room for our sailing). Our PCC thinks so too, but we will just wait and see where they put us.

Thanks for the great and honest review! We go in about a month to AK on Westerdam so I love reading about others recent experiences.

We found that with the FAS+, which incudes the top tier beverage package, this all became moot. Our butler on the Joy was happy to put as many soda or beer cans/bottles in our fridge as they were included in the package. Same with bottled water. BUT, from research on these forums, milage may vary for different guests and ships.

I don't cancel anymore, I just move the reservation out for another year or so. Easy peasy.