Reflections on our Aust/NZ Noordam cruise

[Stratheden]

We have just returned from our 14 day Australia/NZ Discovery on the Noordam and we are waiting for our disembarkation number to be called. I was concerned prior to our cruise by some of the negative comments about the Noordam - whether or not to sail on her.

 

Embarkation took about 90 minutes at White Bay Cruise Terminal. Certainly a lot longer than last year at Civitavecchio when we boarded the Zuiderdam. Our cabin (Signature Suite) was ready and we went to the Mariners Embarkation Lunch.

 

We tried to book a table for two for any time dining at 7.00pm for that night. Not possible. Either 6.00pm or 7.45pm. Any other time just turn up. So we settled on 7.45pm. for the next 3 nights. What we didn't understand was that we were not guaranteed the same table and the same waiters at 7.45pm, just the time. As one night we were at the back of the dining room and the noise from the motors was so bad that we had to shout to be heard we decided to not make any future bookings and just take pot luck. Compared to the Zuiderdam last year, the dining room management have a lot to learn in seating and controlling the dining room. Sur'eat from the Zuiderdam is a hard act to follow.

 

Dress on the first formal night was mostly jackets and ties. Very few tuxedos and a few no ties and a few no jackets. There were long dresses, short dresses, nice pants and sparkly tops on the ladies. Smart casual nights were very casual. Very few jackets at all Lots of polos and casual shirts. Ladies wore slacks, shirts, tops, dresses and sandals. We were at Cannaletto on the second formal night and we did not go to the third formal night so I can't comment on those nights.

 

We had three sea days at the beginning of the cruise and we found the library to be a wonderful place. When we weren't on our balcony we would be in the library. You had to be early to get your favourite chair.

 

We only went on one excursion - to a sheep property in Akaroa. We really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to anyone going to NZ. We had been to NZ on a 3 week land tour previously and had been to most large cities before. At the other ports we would just get off the ship and head off into town and do our own thing. Most of the cruise terminals are temporary terminals set up in timber or container ports and passengers are not allowed to walk on the pier. Shuttle buses take you from the roped off terminal to the town/city centre. Some we had to pay for, some we didn't. The most we paid was $10 return pp.

 

As I mentioned elsewhere we developed a problem with the starboard Azipod. My understanding is that the circuit board was giving the Azipod the wrong information and a new circuit board (that was onboard) had to be fitted. This required an extra 24 hours stay in Napier. The result of this extended stay was that we lost two ports. (Auckland and Bay of Islands). The captain explained that we didn't have time to stop in these ports and still get back to Sydney on time. There are many doubters onboard. The port of Tauranga which was the only port that we went to after the malfunction was the port with the expensive excursions. Some of these excursions were almost 9 hours long. This required us to stay in Tauranga until 10.30pm. in order for these excursions to return.

 

We were refunded our Port and Taxes fees - but it was quite miniscule - I would imagine that 2 nights in Napier would have eaten up most of the refunds. Had we had two more ports and not just the one, would we have been behind the eight ball with the Port and Taxes fee? Just playing devils advocate here.

 

On Tuesday one of the crew members was evacuated by helicopter for urgent surgery. We have since heard that he is recovering well. I believe it was an appendix problem. That created an exciting hour or so, with the forward section of the ship having to be evacuated. We were fortunate to have a verandah, aft of the glass lifts so were able to see a bit of the helicopter evacuation.

 

I have to say that we have been very disappointed with the food onboard. Everything tastes the same. They have certainly cut down on the quality of the food in the MDR since our Mediterranean cruise last year. The sauce/gravy/jus tastes the same no matter what you order.

There is absolutely no imagination in the desserts at all.

 

I did have one of the ready made sandwiches - it was a beef,turkey,salad combination. The dressing had soaked into the bread and it was so soggy it was inedible. I quickly learnt to get my own bread/roll and go to the carvery and just get sliced hot meat and make my own sandwich. I had hot roast beef, hot roast lamb, hot roast belly pork with their accompanying sauces in my own rolls along with some salad from the salad bar. I was disappointed that the salad bar did not offer avocado. Now, the chips from the Dive In. They are so delicious and moreish. (Sp).

 

I am not sure if the Lido Market Place is an improvement or not. It is nice to sit down and have cutlery and glass at your place. It would be great if the staff then offered to fill your glass with something. They didn't. They were too busy cleaning up tables and resetting them to run around asking if you wanted iced tea with or without ice, lemonade with or without ice, water with or without ice. It was so much easier to just get it yourself. When clearing your dirty dishes, they then wanted to get your tea or coffee. Quite honestly, only I know how to make MY tea. If you just constantly want your black coffee topped up, that's fine. If you ask for sugar with your coffee, you will get the sugar but no spoon to stir it. To me there are too many variables for the staff to cope with. I am unsure what beverage the Indonesian waiters drink themselves but to cope with so many nationalities of passengers drinking different beverages they are expecting far too much from these already busy waiters. One of the Melita coffee machines was out of order for the entire voyage. There were two urns with coffee and decaf at that station.

 

Our Room Stewards, Heri and David were absolute treasures. Our room was kept spotless and they were very professional and friendly. We had two problems that they dealt with as soon as we advised them. Our shower did not drain. The base just filled with water and slowly trickled out over a period of time. They checked with us the next morning to make sure that it was fixed. Thursday morning our toilet overflowed. Water was running into and over the top of the pan and onto the floor of the bathroom and then down the drain in the floor. Within 15 minutes of advising them, the Room Stewards had an 'engineer' in our room who stopped the water flow and unblocked it. We then had the friendly extraction team come in and clean and sanitise our bathroom. All of this probably took about three quarters of an hour. We were very impresssed with the service.

 

Thursday was a pretty boring day all around. Our third sea day in a row and we had gale force winds. Lots of folks wearing seabands. Every lounge, bar and chair on the ship was occupied. Most people that I spoke to were glad to be getting off the next day. I was certainly happy that I was not continuing on for another 24 day South Pacific Crossing.

 

The kiosk in the Atrium for printing your account has not worked since boarding the ship, but the office staff have been very pleasant and have printed our account whenever we have asked.

 

One thing I must mention - dialing 90 to report a problem is absolutely useless. We discovered that we were not the only ones to report that one of the soft walls/windows on one of the lifeboats was flapping and banging all night in the wind. Just about everyone close to that lifeboat reported the noise - the wall/window is now on top of the lifeboat under about six inches of water.

 

Sorry this is so long and disjointed but I have just written things as I have remembered. I have all of the 'On Locations' and will scan them and forward them to Kazu when I am organised.

[Louise sail]

I am sorry to hear about the problems on your cruise,the Noordam was our first Holland America ship we sailed her in the Med and we had a perfect cruise but that was eight years ago.I hope you had a good holiday anyway and that the suits at HAL will read your report and institute some improvements in their service to their customers.The excellence they used to talk about is sometimes sadly lacking.Thank you for your report.

[SilvertoGold]

OP: excellent, informative review! Thank you so much.

 

The next time your ship toilet overflows, push the large flush button in and hold it. That will unstick the valve.

 

Then call in the troops!

Edited April 8, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[RMLincoln]

Welcome home! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, the good the bad and the ugly. Sorry that you had so many issues with this cruise, hope the next one is more near perfect. m--

[Lizzie68]

Thank you for a very informative review, and also for letting us know that the crew member who was airlifted is making a good recovery. I really like your idea about making your own sandwich - I shall have to try that. Sounds like your voyage had more than it's share of problems.:(

[jmps]

Thanks for posting your review and info about the crew member recovering. We were on the sailing just before yours. We overall had a very good cruise. I sure would not have enjoyed all the sea days at the end because of the pod problem.

 

Comparing the two sailings three negatives are in common:

 

1. We liked most of the changes in the Lido and got our glasses filled right away. Perhaps the difference was our sailing was not full. We do agree about the sandwiches, the condiments should be left off for sure until you take them. They were either soggy or had something on them we didn't care for.

 

2. Dialing 90 in the cabin wasn't even answered several time for us.

 

3. We, too, had rough seas crossing the Tasman Sea and wouldn't do that again.

 

We did get a very nice picture of the Noordam passing under the bridge when you left Sydney.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

 

DH tried those pre-made sandwiches on both the Eurodam and the Westerdam -- soggy -- just like you described.

 

Sorry your cruise ended on a bad note with the azipod problem.

[Heartgrove]

Certain locations on the globe are noted for fair to rough seas, the Tasman Sea being one of them. That said, I can recall leaving Panama on the Pacific side one morning where the Pacific was as calm as a small pond. I can also recall standing on the fantail for Noon muster, midway between the West Coast and Hawaii on a bright sunny day with 20 foot seas, barely able to stand in formation.

 

I guess that is why I enjoy sea days.

[KirkNC]

As I have posted elsewhere, this apizod problem puzzles me as they said it was "assembled incorrectly ". I hate it had such a negative impact on your cruise, missing two ports would be disappointing.

 

I am hoping that HAL gets enough negative feedback (or just gets tired of throwing them away) that the pre made sandwiches die a natural death. I have yet to hear one single positive comment on them.

 

I appreciate the comments on "gala" dress as we are gathering facts to determine how to dress under this new code.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Thank you for your thoughtful review.

[stickey_mouse]

How was the overall condition of the ship? Did you frequent the casino?

[rkacruiser]

Would you care to inform us of who was the Captain, the Hotel Director, and the Executive Chef?

 

One positive word for the pre-made sandwiches: I have enjoyed a few on more than one HAL vessel. I prefer the made to order deli sandwiches, but have not been disappointed in the pre-made ones that I choose. Maybe, once again, whomever is in charge makes the difference?

Edited April 8, 2016 by rkacruiser

[Stratheden]

Would you care to inform us of who was the Captain, the Hotel Director, and the Executive Chef?

 

One positive word for the pre-made sandwiches: I have enjoyed a few on more than one HAL vessel. I prefer the made to order deli sandwiches, but have not been disappointed in the pre-made ones that I choose. Maybe, once again, whomever is in charge makes the difference?

 

Captain - Henk Draper

Hotel Director - Jessica Schumann

Executive Chef - Thomas Schumann

[rkacruiser]

Captain - Henk Draper

Hotel Director - Jessica Schumann

Executive Chef - Thomas Schumann

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

I am glad to see that the Senior Management of the Noordam is different from when I sailed on her during January, 2015 in the Caribbean. Neither the Master nor the Hotel Director seemed to have much interest in us guests.

 

On the Amsterdam's World Cruise for the past several years, the Hotel Director and the Guest Relations Manager are married. Have experienced both with no complaints whatsoever. But, assigning such couples to the same cruise, I wonder, is this a good idea?

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your review/trip report.

 

Keith

[Ferry Beach Kayaker]

We did a B2B cruise from Sydney to Auckland and then back from Auckland to Sydney right before your cruise. I loved this cruise except for the Tassman Sea crossing. On the way to New Zealand, we had three sea days crossing the Tassman Sea and then one sea day scenic cruising in the Fiords. On the way back from New Zealand we had one scenic crusing day in the Fiords followed by two sea days crossing the Tassman Sea. On the way over, the three day crossing was too long and I did feel that the ship was trying to make revenue on the sea days. I think the ship cruised at 12 Knots. They had bingo and paid wine tasting, and mixology classes and art auctions and the speciality restaurants which all were busy. They did have free trivia and a culinary art show which was fun but I was glad I brought a board game to play and a book to read. I wished they had some lectures about the history and geography of the area we were traveling in. It was cold and damp on both crossings so we didn't lounge on the Lido deck and we didn't use the gym the second crossing because the ship was rocking and rolling due to high waves and winds. The Lido Restaurant was always chaotically busy for breakfast and lunch and it was hard to find an empty table. On the port days we always did room service since it seemed like everyone was in the Lido at the same time and we ate lunch in the ports. We had a fabulous time at dinner in the MDR especially the second cruise where we had fantastic table mates. Dinners for the most part were very good in the MDR. We ate one lunch and one dinner in the Pinnacle. I did love the trip, the ports were excellent especially the New Zealand ports, Holbart Tasminia and Melbourne. This cruise is a great way to see New Zealand.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Ferry Beach Kayaker

[knittinggirl]

Thanks for the good review! We're booked on Noordam for 2017. We've been warned about the ports. Do they offer WiFi in the tents like they did in Canada?

[Ferry Beach Kayaker]

Thanks for the good review! We're booked on Noordam for 2017. We've been warned about the ports. Do they offer WiFi in the tents like they did in Canada?

 

We had no trouble finding wifi. Some but not all of the port areas had wifi but I left that for the crew since it does get slow when a zillion people try to log on. The White Bay Terminal in Sydney does not have free wifi and also does not have many amenities. It is stuck out in a suburb with not much around it. At all the ports, we found free, fast wifi at museums in both Australia and New Zealand (most of the museums were free) also free fast wifi in Federation Square in Melbourne.