Westerdam, Oh Yeah!

[RickT]

Thank you for your review, we'll be on her in less than 4 weeks and can't wait. This will be our first HAL cruise and we are keen to see how it compares to the other lines we have been on.

 

One question, was there any place that played folk/pop music? We've come to love some of the more modern music (if you can call folk and 70s/80s pop) available on RCCL and X. Hoping there is a guitar player or piano player who plays this.

[Saphire]

One question, was there any place that played folk/pop music?

 

Yes. Up in the Crow's Nest there is a guitar player, his name is Michael Simons. He played some really good stuff like Neil Young and Eric Clapton, other songs we didn't care for like 'Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay' and 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, lol, but he takes requests and it is a cozy atmosphere. He plays from 5:00 pm-10:00pm, and there is 2 for 1 happy hour from 8-9. Check it out!

The piano bar is not our style and I think they play more show tunes type music, but others seemed to really enjoy it. Maybe someone will come by and give a better description. Have fun!

[RickT]

Yes. Up in the Crow's Nest there is a guitar player, his name is Michael Simons. He played some really good stuff like Neil Young and Eric Clapton, other songs we didn't care for like 'Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay' and 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, lol, but he takes requests and it is a cozy atmosphere. He plays from 5:00 pm-10:00pm, and there is 2 for 1 happy hour from 8-9. Check it out!

The piano bar is not our style and I think they play more show tunes type music, but others seemed to really enjoy it. Maybe someone will come by and give a better description. Have fun!

 

Thanks for the quick response. :D

[djhsolara]

Thank you for taking the time to write this wonderful review. It makes me even more excited to board Westerdam in April!!

 

Do you know who is Cruise Director?

 

Thanks!!

 

:) :)

[Oceanwench]

It depends on who is in the Piano Bar.

Some feel they are there to entertain but not engage.

The best ones get the crowd involved and it brings everyone together. It can be a lot of fun.

When we were on the Westerdam last month, Randall Powell was in the Piano Bar. He did two nights of show tunes, but on the other evenings he did all kinds of music by request.

I thought I heard he was getting off the ship Jan. 28 though.

[banfieldspawn]

I was on the same cruise, and loved it, albeit for some additional reasons as well as those recited in the original post.

 

We also got upgraded, and to a midships cabin directly below the Lido, but unlike a review on a different thread, we did not notice any noise.

 

Our cabin was great!! it was even larger than what we thought was a large cabin on the Seabourn Spirit, as was the veranda. We were traveling with another couple in ann adjacent cabin, and at our request our steward folded back the barrier separating the two verandas, effectively doubling the size.

 

The food, the service, and the entertainment were wonderful -- something for every taste. I especially enjoyed the string quartet providing classical music between 6 and 10 every evening (it might have gone on to 11, but I retired at 10).

 

I also took the catamaran cruise. Having been traumatized by "Jaws", I didn't dare the water, by my wife and friends did and enjoyed it immensely, whilst I contented myself with about ten rum punches and an increasingly interesting conversation with a fellow bibulous hydrophobic, prompting our shared philosophy of the ecology of drink (that is, just as wolves increase the health of caribou herds by culling out the weak and infirm members of the herd, alcohol kills off weak and infirm brain cells--hence our agreement that we became increasingly intelligent with each rum punch).

 

Speaking of ecology, an added advantage was HAL's alcohol policy, which permits passengers to bring wine, but not spirits, aboard. Thus, with only the added cost of a very cheap screw-top bottle of white wine, one can, after pouring the dreadful stuff down the sink, pour Ardbeg into the empty bottle and reseal it.

 

One unexpected blessing was the silver lining of the dollar's decline against the looney, as it meant that the cruise attracted many Canadians, all of whom were more attractive, intelligent, educated, and well-informed than a few our our compatriots.

 

The only drawback, for me, was the fact that I had to pay $129 in order to use the steam room after daily exercise in the gym. The extra fee was necessary to use the Thermal Suite, which included the steam room and sauna, some sort of thermal pool and heated tiled chaises longue. I didn't want or need the latter two, annd on RCCL (and, of course, Seabourn) one can steam and shower after exercise without extra payments. If I had any recommendations or requests to submit to HAL, it would be to seal off the steam and sauna from the other parts of the suite, thereby limiting the extra fee for the sybarites who like that sort of thing.

 

 

All in all, it was a wonderful ship and I would heartily recommend it to anyone.