Westerdam Review - June 21 to 28 - Alaska

[sctexan]

Fantastic cruise! This was a 20th anniversary trip with our son and we had been planning this trip for about six months.

 

We started our vacation at the beautiful Fairmont Olympic for two nights prior to the cruise and loved it. Even better is that we were able to get onto the Holland America bus right from the hotel and didn't have to worry about transportation. The hotel is beautiful and our son loved the indoor pool. The staff was fantastic! We would definitely stay there again.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We were at the pier and on the ship within 30 minutes, I would say. Stateroom was ready so we dropped our things off and went to explore and eat. :) I thought the ship was beautiful and has been well tended. I didn't see anything other than what I would consider normal wear and tear from thousands of people on a weekly basis. The walls of our cabin were a little marked up and there were two strange stains on the walls but that didn't detract from our overall happiness with the cabin. We were in 6060 and had plenty of space for two adults and one 8 year old.

 

Cabin was wonderful and spacious. We chose that location to be somewhat close to elevators and stairs but not so close as to get the noise from either. We thought it was a very quiet location and the view from the verandah was great! Cabin was on the port side which I thought was great because in both Juneau and Ketchikan we were facing the cities and in Sitka we were facing the ocean. Beautiful views! Upper Verandah deck was great for us too. Since we had our son with us and spent quite a bit of time in the Lido area and taking him to Club HAL it was just a short walk up the stairs. Explorations Cafe was also a short walk for coffee every morning. All in all a great cabin and location! Our stewards were fine as well. We honestly didn't see them much and a couple of the issues we had were taken care of quickly.

 

We purchased our two excursions from HAL and couldn't be more pleased. We did the Best of Juneau (whale/wildlife watching, salmon bake and Mendenhall Glacier) and loved the glacier and whale watching. We were lucky enough to see whales bubble net feeding and were within feet our our boat. We could have taken or left the salmon bake at Orca Point Lodge. The lodge and it's location were beautiful but the food was just ok and we felt rushed. We also did the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour on the Aleutian Ballad. I'm a fan of Deadliest Catch so that was a treat for me. It's really a show on board the Aleutian Ballad and all the players do a great job. An unexpected treat was traveling to a spot where about 20-30 bald eagles are nesting and getting some amazing pictures while the guys on the boat fed them fish. That was worth the price of the excursion alone.

 

Dining on board was just ok for me. I was not particularly impressed with any of the food but it was certainly edible and fairly plentiful. The Lido did run out of several things at lunch most days most notably fruit and ice cream. As part of our Explore4 promo, we received a free Pinnacle Grill dinner. Unfortunately, they first scheduled us for our day in Juneau when we wouldn't be back until late. Rescheduling was a bit of a pain. I first rescheduled for the night after but that was a special wine maker's dinner and they rescheduled us again for the next night at a time when Club HAL wasn't open. So we tried to reschedule again only to be told there were no other times available. Eventually, we were able to get a reservation for Le Cirque and only paid the difference between a Pinnacle night and the Le Cirque night which was $20 per person. Thankfully, that was all it was because had I paid the full price I would have been even more disappointed. Le Cirque was not good and I will never do it again. The amuse bouche was bad and it didn't get much better than that. Even our server stated that at the server tasting prior to opening the amuse bouche (foie gras on top of a weird chutney) was not liked by most of the staff. It was gross! The highlight of the meal was the butternut squash soup with toasted pumpkin seeds and truffle oil. Awesome! Other than that my chateaubriand and my husband's cod were nothing to write home about. I hate to say it but most of the other diners were ship staff and very few cruisers. Now I know why. :) Breakfast in the main dining room is a must however. Everything we had was great and it was usually never crowded.

 

My son loved Club HAL and towards the last few days actually requested to go which is unusual for him. So I would say that was a win for him.

 

We didn't attend any shows but heard they were pretty good. I did enjoy the guitarist in the Crow's Nest.

 

Overall we had a great time and very, very few complaints. But we are pretty laid back people and don't demand much. We hadn't been on a cruise in 10 years prior to this (and never one with a child) and had never sailed on Holland America before so we didn't know exactly what to expect and tried to go on board with an open mind and flexibility.

 

I think we would definitely sail HAL again and Alaska is a bucket list destination for sure!

Edited June 30, 2014 by sctexan

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[happythoughts]

Thanks for your review. Any chance that you still have the kids club dailies? Any particular activities that your child really enjoyed at Hal kids club??

[sctexan]

Thanks for your review. Any chance that you still have the kids club dailies? Any particular activities that your child really enjoyed at Hal kids club??

 

Unfortunately, we threw those away .:(

 

He loved playing gaga ball which was a sort of dodge ball. He loved the Junior Ranger program during the Glacier Bay day. He loved elephant ball (another ball game :)) and free time when he could play the XBox games. He also loved the last two nights which were an un-birthday party and a pajama party. I was pleased with the kids' club counselors too.

Edited June 30, 2014 by sctexan

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Glad you enjoyed your first HAL cruise and your son enjoyed Club HAL.

Alaska is beautiful.

[KirkNC]

Happy 20th anniversary! Thanks for the report.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review/report.

 

Congratulations on your anniversary.

 

Keith

[brazilgirl]

I was on this cruise and concur with almost everything you said.

[sctexan]

Happy 20th anniversary! Thanks for the report.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write this review/report.

 

Congratulations on your anniversary.

 

Keith

 

 

Thank you both! We were very fortunate to be able to go. :D

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your Westerdam Alaskan cruise. Sounds like you and your son had a good time. Happy 20th Anniversary. :)

[sctexan]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your Westerdam Alaskan cruise. Sounds like you and your son had a good time. Happy 20th Anniversary. :)

 

Thank you! I would be remiss if I didn't say my husband had a great time too! I think he was just happy to be on vacation but I did get lots of thanks from him for planning it which made me happy too.

[erewhon]

Thank you for this review of your Westerdam cruise.

 

Congratulations on your 20th Anniversary.