Reservations about continuing with a booking on Westerdam in 2023

[allanb888]

I am seeking feedback from others that may have been on Westerdam recently.

My wife and I have booked on a back to back 27 day cruise starting in Japan on October 15th, 2023, and finishing in Hong Kong, but are prepared to cancel if certain of the activities have been stopped.

We have some reservations about the HAL Westerdam and the direction that HAL is heading, after being on board Westerdam in January 2023 for a cruise from Sydney to Singapore. That was our third HAL cruise out of 20 total cruises.

The January 2023 cruise had no enrichment lectures, no guest lecturers, and there was talk that BBKing and Lincoln Centre were going to cease. Also the main shows were scaled back into small productions.

In the past, I felt that what differentiated HAL from the other cruise lines was the music walk, educational activities (including Microsoft Centre and American Test Kitchen) and theatre entertainment.

Can anyone who has been on Westerdam recently please give some feedback on these issues?

[cruisemom42]

Lincoln Center Stage ceased on Westerdam in mid-April and more recent reports say there is no classical music aboard.

 

We had no ATK nor even any cooking demos on 28-day Westerdam around Japan. One enrichment speaker aboard who spoke several times, basically reading outdated slides.

 

The BB King band was good (but a bit loud, so not a "go to" every night for me. The World Stage was dark (or featured a movie) every 4 days or so on average. Can't really address future plans.

 

Hopefully things will look up for Westerdam... 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

There is a huge floating around by several people that were on Westerdam in March and April.

 

ATK has been taken off all the HAL ships, quite a while ago, before Covid, I think.

[OlsSalt]

Since this is your itinerary - it is very heavy port, port, port, port, I suspect any lack of evening entertainment will not be noticed. I also recommend doing  a lot of homework ahead of time learning about this large variety of stops, as there will be little breathing room while on board.

 

 Enjoy - you picked an incredible survey of Japan, entry level Philippines and even get Hong Kong thrown in at the end too.

 

 

Sunday, October 15	Tokyo (Yokohama), Japan		7:00pm
Monday, October 16	At Sea
Tuesday, October 17	Miyako, Japan	8:00am	5:00pm
Wednesday, October 18	Hakodate, Japan	8:00am	11:00pm
Thursday, October 19	Aomori, Japan	8:00am	8:00pm
Friday, October 20	At Sea
Saturday, October 21	Sokcho-si, South Korea	8:00am	4:00pm
Sunday, October 22	Sakaiminato, Japan	10:00am	6:00pm
Monday, October 23	Sasebo, Japan	Noon	11:00pm
Tuesday, October 24	Nagasaki, Japan	8:00am	5:00pm
Wednesday, October 25	Kagoshima, Japan	8:00am	5:00pm
Thursday, October 26	Kochi, Japan	10:00am	8:00pm
Friday, October 27	At Sea
Saturday, October 28	Tokyo (Yokohama), Japan	6:30am	5:00pm
Sunday, October 29	Osaka, Japan	4:00pm
Monday, October 30	Osaka, Japan		5:00pm
Tuesday, October 31	At Sea
Wednesday, November 1	Okinawa (Naha), Japan	8:00am	6:00pm
Thursday, November 2	Miyako-jima, Japan	8:00am	4:00pm
Friday, November 3	Taipei (Keelung), Taiwan	8:00am	5:00pm
Saturday, November 4	Kao-hsiung, Taiwan	8:00am	5:00pm
Sunday, November 5	At Sea
Monday, November 6	Manila, Philippines	8:00am	6:00pm
Tuesday, November 7	Boracay, Philippines	8:00am	3:00pm
Wednesday, November 8	Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines	8:00am	6:00pm
Thursday, November 9	At Sea
Friday, November 10	At Sea
Saturday, November 11	Hong Kong	6:30am

[cruiseaholic78]

There have been some negative reviews about the Westerdam but as most are about night life we are not worried. We will be on the second part of your cruise boarding in Yokohama and disembarking in Singapore, great itinerary.

Here is another thread with some positive reviews of the Westerdam, don’t let a few people stop you taking a fantastic cruise. Do join in the roll calls, there are three in total one for each leg and one for the combined Yokohama Singapore.

Happy planning

Rosalyn

 

[Ottawa traveller]

As OlsSalt mentions, you have a lot of port days in a row. I was on the Westerdam in April on two back to back cruises around Japan. We had 11 port days in a row in the middle. Shore excursions does not do port talks on port days so they videotaped excellent programs to be watched on the room TV showing what was to be seen in each port, how far away the places were, how to get there on public transportation or how long it would take by taxi.  They even had entry costs for some places.  The staff made themselves available in the evening for questions.  I personally choose my cruises because of the itinerary, and I make the most of being in each port. I was too tired in the evening to worry about entertainment. However, there were some who did want the entertainment and they seemed to be a bit disappointed. 

[REOVA]

HAL planned stopping ATK and Microsoft before shutdown as the contracts expired. They also did away with onboard production team and went with new agency for Step One, Cantare, BBC, etc. Many of us feel this was a wrong direction. Add to this 40% of its crew and entertainers did not return to cruise ships. HAL is reviewing its programs and I would expect any passenger reviews prior to June will be far different from reviews between now and October. (They just announced new things for Alaska -which is easiest for them to implement- and hopefully ecpand to other sailings. But the past few years HAL was caught up in splitting focus as well as the effects of the shut down (and I believe the forgotten child of CCL). Aussie and SE Asia cruises were the last to restart so we've seen a drag on things. Supposedly there are new Step One routines (although on a 27 day BTB expect repeats) and a new "jazz" trio playing on ships. Also while BB King will be replaced by Rolling Stone Rock, some of the former songs are supposed to be incorporated into the music sets. (That is if the band learns them and selects to play them). Your final payment is probably due next month so it's not likely you'll know by then what may be new but if ATK and Microsoft is key reason to cruise, neither will be on the ship. Enjoy the itinerary and expect the worst onboard, maybe you'll be surprised with something different.