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Just back Westerdam Dec. 14-21, 2013

classicwhaler

By classicwhaler,
in Holland America Line

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classicwhaler

classicwhaler

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Wrapping up the December 14-21 eastern Caribbean cruise on the Westerdam, it's been a great week on the "Westy." Now sailing under the skilled hands of Captain Noel O'Driscoll who celebrated his birthday this cruise, we had a wonderful week of weather.

Grand Turk was an interesting stop as we had never been there. Walked off the ship and wandered the terminal, then booked a local taxi for transportation to town. Lots of construction rebuilding from a hurricane. Carnival has built a new reception center in town ready to open in 2014 that will impact the area in a positive way. Our favorite shop was The Dizzy Donkey and our favorite purchase was the Turks and Caicos SPCA 2014 calendar.

The St. Martin stop was interesting to say the least with 8 cruise ships including Oasis in port at the same time. The seven ships docked at the pier created a great wind tunnel the captain had to skillfully navigate to just dock. A portion of our shore excursion was scrubbed due to wind and poor undersea visibility, but HAL let us know before we headed out and refunded half the excursion cost. Lots of vehicle traffic!

San Juan was nice and hot! We walked around Old Town, then hopped on the free trolley and toured the island. The ride was bumpy, but fun.

The ship is very tidy, folks are in a festive holiday mood, and a good mix of young and mature cruisers made for a lively bunch of guests. The only problem I encountered all cruise was a difference of opinion on rules of one slot machine with the casino staff. The bold print said one thing, the fine print another. We got it worked out though and I ended up contributing to the profit margin of the casino.

Was nice to see Hazel and Spencer in the Neptune Lounge, and they took great care of us. Our room stewards Nur and Nis were attentive and always had the room spotless in short order after we put the service sign out.

We originally booked a suite guarantee, but took advantage of an upgrade offer and bought the Penthouse as a Christmas present to each other. Waterford crystal, lots of space. See the pics to check out the luxury.

We ate four dinners in the Pinnacle Grill, and had four excellent meals including Le Cirque. We are not fans of the MDR and never ate dinner there, but had an excellent Mariner's Luncheon there. We got room service meals and were pleased with the food and service, and grazed the Lido and Terrace Grill for most lunches.

Half Moon Cay was nice, and we had a blast on the AquaTrax jetski outing, then chilled on the beach before returning to the ship.

image.jpg.f46e274dee75886fa18adea3aab81b8b.jpg

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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Failed to mention that our Meet and Greet went very well, with the captain, hotel manager, cruise director, executive housekeper, and brand manager all in attendance. A big thank you to these busy officers for taking time to join us for the gathering!

 

 

Thanks for your report. Have to agree, the Penthouse is lovely. A nice treat, for sure.

 

I'm curious....... what is 'brand manager' you mention attended your M & G? I'm not familiar with that position.

 

Welcome back. :)

 

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HokiePoq

HokiePoq

Posted
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Wrapping up the December 14-21 eastern Caribbean cruise on the Westerdam, it's been a great week on the "Westy." Now sailing under the skilled hands of Captain Noel O'Driscoll who celebrated his birthday this cruise, we had a wonderful week of weather.

Grand Turk was an interesting stop as we had never been there. Walked off the ship and wandered the terminal, then booked a local taxi for transportation to town. Lots of construction rebuilding from a hurricane. Carnival has built a new reception center in town ready to open in 2014 that will impact the area in a positive way. Our favorite shop was The Dizzy Donkey and our favorite purchase was the Turks and Caicos SPCA 2014 calendar.

The St. Martin stop was interesting to say the least with 8 cruise ships including Oasis in port at the same time. The seven ships docked at the pier created a great wind tunnel the captain had to skillfully navigate to just dock. A portion of our shore excursion was scrubbed due to wind and poor undersea visibility, but HAL let us know before we headed out and refunded half the excursion cost. Lots of vehicle traffic!

San Juan was nice and hot! We walked around Old Town, then hopped on the free trolley and toured the island. The ride was bumpy, but fun.

The ship is very tidy, folks are in a festive holiday mood, and a good mix of young and mature cruisers made for a lively bunch of guests. The only problem I encountered all cruise was a difference of opinion on rules of one slot machine with the casino staff. The bold print said one thing, the fine print another. We got it worked out though and I ended up contributing to the profit margin of the casino.

Was nice to see Hazel and Spencer in the Neptune Lounge, and they took great care of us. Our room stewards Nur and Nis were attentive and always had the room spotless in short order after we put the service sign out.

We originally booked a suite guarantee, but took advantage of an upgrade offer and bought the Penthouse as a Christmas present to each other. Waterford crystal, lots of space. See the pics to check out the luxury.

We ate four dinners in the Pinnacle Grill, and had four excellent meals including Le Cirque. We are not fans of the MDR and never ate dinner there, but had an excellent Mariner's Luncheon there. We got room service meals and were pleased with the food and service, and grazed the Lido and Terrace Grill for most lunches.

Half Moon Cay was nice, and we had a blast on the AquaTrax jetski outing, then chilled on the beach before returning to the ship.

 

Glad you had a good cruise! Did they by chance say how old the captain was? He was the youngest looking captain on any ship we've sailed.

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thesea4me

thesea4me

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I'm sailing on 1/4/14 on the Westerdam and am waiting for an upsell offer for the penthouse. I'm curious what the offer was for your cruise. My only experience was an upsell offer for $1500pp on the Veendam to Bermuda which was a more expensive cruise.

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