Noordam 1/27 Cruise out of new York

[emmylou]

Well folks it was a real experience,27ft + waves 47 knot gale force winds

up to 100 mile hour hurricane like winds,got as far as just below Norfolk and the U.S.seaplane kept circleing as we were back tracking towords Norfolk to meet medivac helicopter one of the passengers had a heart attack.The copter couldn't land and had to be taken up in the sling with

the howling winds it was a fete in itself that the copter got to us at all let alone be able to get the gentleman off the ship and on the helicopter.

The seas and wind was so bad that the report on the T.V. from the bridge

kept repeating do not attempt to go on deck for two days and at one point our balcony doors were locked.I don't know how but we couldn't unlock it.

Needless to say we didn't make it to Tortola,first port of call was St.Thomas and at sea for three and a half days. There were a lot of passengers so seasick that when we got into calmer waters and they felt a little better some of them said there was no way they were doing a repeat and going back into the Atlantic to go home and quite a few got

off in San Juan to fly home.

Since we just got home at 1:30 this afternoon will catch you later.

emmylou

[Tristan]

Thanks so much for your review/report.

I am sailing the Noordam next week, and I really hope we have

good weather.

[debsjc]

Thanks for your report emmylou.

 

I was just wondering how were the seas on the way back to New York. We are sailing on the Noordam next month, and all the reports of rough seas has made my mum a bit nervous. :o

[Sea King]

excellent weather report about 1st day or 2:rolleyes:

 

was there something else after the medical evacuation .. maybe I missed it:confused:

 

how was the food? how were the accommodations? how were the ports? what did you think of the ship? how was the dining room? did you go to Pinnacle?

how was the weather once you got to St. Thomas? how many people opted to leave and fly home from San Juan? how did the your fellow pax handle rough weather? did the captain keep you advised?

 

so much unsaid I can help but wonder why the OP began the thread

[Seago2]

WOW! I was wondering how you fared. You got on as we disembarked (7 hours late in NY). I heard something on here about the weather being even worse on the way down than it was for us- sounds like it was twice as bad! I don't know how the crew kept up after our trip. I would like to say it was thrilling, and I got a lot of heat on here about "What did I expect, it's a CRUISE," etc, but hey- it was scary, what can I say? I don't scare easily. Most of the time it was "whee!" but I was definitely scared for the huge amount of elderly people on board. They had some serious trouble walking.

 

I know that the rest of your cruise was probably an A+. A woman on here posted that she and her party might cancel the cruise because of what she read about the weather. All I could think was "Hey, give the tickets to me and the kids!" I would not hesitate to put my 8 year old on that ship- even in January- even with the rough ride- that ship was the best.

[Seago2]

excellent weather report about 1st day or 2:rolleyes:

 

was there something else after the medical evacuation .. maybe I missed it:confused:

 

how was the food? how were the accommodations? how were the ports? what did you think of the ship? how was the dining room? did you go to Pinnacle?

how was the weather once you got to St. Thomas? how many people opted to leave and fly home from San Juan? how did the your fellow pax handle rough weather? did the captain keep you advised?

 

so much unsaid I can help but wonder why the OP began the thread

 

Keep in mind that the OP disembarked... Tuesday? I think it was Tuesday. It takes time to get the house back in shape, answer the mail, get back to work, unpack, etc. My first reviews were about the weather, too. Sorry if you can not handle a review that does not begin in the most glowing fashion. It is not cool to cast aspersions on an OP who said she would "catch us later."

 

I really hate it when people insinuate negative things about someone who is giving their OPINION about something. I just can't help but wonder how many new posters are being scared off.

[Krazy Kruizers]

WOW -- that was really something. Thanks for the report.

[debsjc]

so much unsaid I can help but wonder why the OP began the thread

 

Maybe newbies shoudn't say this, but I think that's a bit harsh. :confused:

[Rahi]

It seems that when you leave 4?hours later, and miss a port they would offer some sort of ship board credit?

[emmylou]

Three days of really rough weather at sea the last half day we were in calmer seas and the temperture started to climb by the time we got to ST.Thomas it was in the eightys.All the Islands are beautifull and the temperature on all were between eighty and eighty four.We had two other passengers taken off by ambulance one in ST.Thomas and I beleive the other was in Barbados for what reason I don't know.One in St Thomas was taken off as we were coming back to the ship.The one in barbados was taken off by stretcher.We saw this from our balcony.

The Noordam is one beautifull ship and when we got into calmer seas we were really able to enjoy it more.The Staff and Crew are among the best we have ever encountered and we have been on several cruise lines and this is not the first of the Hal line but it is my first attempt to do a review.

emmylou

[emmylou]

To answer some of the questions

The Atlantic was rough but it didn't seem as bad coming back as it was going.Be sure to have warm cloths for the first couple of days going and the last couple of days coming back,Mother nature was not kind giving such a low temperture to come back to,after giving us such nice warm temperatures in the Islands.The dining room was quite chilly we really needed a sweater most of the time in the evening.Captains advisory for the most part we received on the t.v. except they repeatedly said do not go out on deck.

We were given an on board credit of 25.per person to off set our paying for snacks due late embarkation and a glass of champaign with dinner and 7.87 port charge credit since we didn't get to Tortola.

carlalena1,debsjc,and Tristan thank you for your support.

One last thing if anyone has VF4020 I hope they have fixed the heat gage as we didn't have any going or coming tthey had someone come up and he went someplace to back off the ac and we did get some heat but it went out again in the middle of the night and by the time we got back to New York we were freezing and as I said before I hope it is fixed now perminately.Those going on cruises have a great time and calm seas be in front of you at all times.Thanks for listening,sincerely

emmylou

[Seago2]

emmylou: I hate to say it but we began to tally up the number of ambulances we saw at every port. Not to wish anyone harm but when you are traveling with a bunch of 70+ people and you start comparing notes about the number of ambulances and "black wagons" you saw alongside... OK, maybe because my DH is a cop and there was another cop at the table... they notice these things... it begins to be a bit surreal.

 

Glad you had a nice trip. This was my best cruise by far! I loved San Juan, loved St. John and Charlotte Amalie, loved St. Maarten, hated Tortola, mixed reviews about Grand Turk. The crew? Fantastic. I am so spoiled now!

[peffi]

The January 27th cruise out of NYC was indeed eventful. The late arrival of the Noordam caused a bit of confusion but eventually the passengers were transported to the Sheraton - there were plenty of shuttle buses. Before boarding the bus we registered with officials and were issued a boarding pass with a number. There were 4 couples in my party and we were able to enjoy a nice lunch at the Carnegie Deli, just a block up the street from the hotel. We then waited in a large room at the hotel with coffee, tea, juice provided. After that we were called by the number on our boarding pass and re-boarded the shuttle bus back to the terminal. We proceeded to board without incident. By then it was time for dinner and we were shown our assigned table. Dinner was excellent as were all meals. We all went to the Crows Nest for the sailaway. New York was spectacular by night and we all agreed that it made up for the late departure.

 

The helicopter evacuation was quite an experience. As we had balconies on the starboard side we had a perfect location to watch as the Coast Guard did its job. It was most impressive to say the least. As previously stated the wind was fierce and the sea was rough and I was holding my breath the whole time. My husband (an old Navy man) could only say (I think about 100 times) "that guy or gal is a helluva pilot." We were later told by Captain Scott that the passenger did not survive. Naturally we were saddened to learn that but the effort made by the crew of the ship and the crew of the helicopter was outstanding and they deserve the highest recognition.

 

And then came the storm! Wow.........it was a doozy. Thankfully none of us became sick, although 2 of the ladies weren't feeling up to par. Actually the worst of it (in my opinion) struck during the night. This was not my first storm at sea but only a typhoon in the Pacific was worse. I think that the Noordam performed extremely well under the conditions - she is a most seaworthy vessel and I would not hesitate to travel on her again. I was surprised to learn that some people left the ship to fly home.

 

I have sailed on other lines but none can compare to the service on HAL. It is outstanding. The ship is beautiful and everything is kept spotless. The dining room servers are terrific as are the crew in the Lido buffet. If anyone complains then they are the kind of folks that can never be satisfied.

 

The islands were beautiful and the weather was spectacular in all the ports.

Looking forward to our next cruise with HAL.

[Seago2]

Wow- I can't imagine how much WORSE the weather got. How about that loud popping noise up in the Lido pool area? As though the roof was going to crash down? We were in 4005- starboard side- and the noise all night- we though something was loose in a cargo area. But I guess it was the waves crashing from the sides. never again will I book a fore cabin.

 

here is my review. Kinda boring but scroll around for my take on the trip we took (we got back the day you left):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=477709