Noordam Review March 10 - March 21

[turia]

First of all I would like to say thank you to all of you for your helpful advise, you truly are a great bunch.

 

Embarkation went smoothly and our cabin was perfect. We didn't catch any of the shows so I have no info there. She is a beautiful ship and kept exceptionally clean. Our steward Aman was amazing always guessing our every need.

 

The food was OK but I understand that is made for a large amount of people and for an older pallet as well as John and I are spoiled by his mom as she was a chef in her day. I would agree with the other poster about nothing after midnight other then room service, it would have been nice if they had had something other then the cold club sandwich with potato chips. We did not eat at the Pinnacle but did have breakfast in bed daily which was nice.

 

We did not do any of the shore excursions as we choose to find our way around ourselves. The Islands were beautiful, San Juan being our favorite for History and Dominica for natural beauty and would have gladly given up Barbados to spend more time in San Juan. The people of Dominica are so beautiful and friendly and are very humbling, it amazed me to hear people still whine and B**** about mundane things when we got back to the ship and not be thankful for all the blessings we have.

 

The crew is incredible and are the main reason we will travel again on the Noordam. Jazzy entertainer of the year, Kori the piano man and Chris the travel guide will receive special mention here the kept me informed and in stitches most of my trip and I can't forget Annabel or the bar staff of Northern Lights who did not get much sleep the last couple of nights so be gentle with them.

 

The CC meet and greet went well and we met some wonderful people there I just wish we had a chance to meet more of them.

 

We were a bit afraid the first night as everyone went to sleep early and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into but it livened up nightly and we had so much fun.

 

Disembarkation was very smooth and quick I just wish they had lockers to leave our luggage so we could have toured NY a bit.

 

Thanks again

 

Turia

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your report.

[hammybee]

Turia, I am glad that your cruise worked out well for you and that you may return again. Thanks you for sharing your perceptions with us.

 

Are your babies happy to have mom and dad home again?

[turia]

Yes they are happy to have us home but they miss their sitter as he takes them jogging twice a day for an hour and they now have to settle for a run in the park.

[sab490]

Welcome to the Noordam fan club. I am so glad you had a great cruise! :D

[DOC & BABE]

we thank everyone for all the information posted for this ship, everything and everyone, all info was a great help in enjoying our cruise. My husband and I were surprised with the ship, we find the decour really over the top (not in a good way). The staff makes holland american cruise line a pleasant experience. The food is okay in the vista dinning room, service was rated at a 10. The pinnacle grill was very good food and service, but what an ugly room. The lido was okay, but missed the ability to be great due to some small but important variety not offered. The cabin was really great veranda 8th floor and the room steward was wonderfull. Why can't we get excited over the trip, I am still asking myself that question. Last time we sailed was the X Millen. venice-barcelona and this was a great ship and trip. We loved the ports on both ships, but we felt it was a struggle to get deck chairs, tables in the lido, and to find entertainment worth our time. Our favorite room was the explorers lounge. The enitre ship seems to be on the edge of gaudy. I guess we were expecting the same classy type of ship we were on before and activity or music on the ship was a ghost factor. The band by the pool was almost never there, the whole 11 nights and 12 days we heard 3 songs. Thank goodness for Kori in the piano lounge, he was the best on the ship. Again, the staff of holland american is the only reason we would go back on a cruise, :cool: with this line. would love to hear some other opinions about hal vs other cruise lines.

[sab490]

we thank everyone for all the information posted for this ship, everything and everyone, all info was a great help in enjoying our cruise. My husband and I were surprised with the ship, we find the decour really over the top (not in a good way). The staff makes holland american cruise line a pleasant experience. The food is okay in the vista dinning room, service was rated at a 10. The pinnacle grill was very good food and service, but what an ugly room. The lido was okay, but missed the ability to be great due to some small but important variety not offered. The cabin was really great veranda 8th floor and the room steward was wonderfull. Why can't we get excited over the trip, I am still asking myself that question. Last time we sailed was the X Millen. venice-barcelona and this was a great ship and trip. We loved the ports on both ships, but we felt it was a struggle to get deck chairs, tables in the lido, and to find entertainment worth our time. Our favorite room was the explorers lounge. The enitre ship seems to be on the edge of gaudy. I guess we were expecting the same classy type of ship we were on before and activity or music on the ship was a ghost factor. The band by the pool was almost never there, the whole 11 nights and 12 days we heard 3 songs. Thank goodness for Kori in the piano lounge, he was the best on the ship. Again, the staff of holland american is the only reason we would go back on a cruise, :cool: with this line. would love to hear some other opinions about hal vs other cruise lines.

 

We have been on Summit and Noordam. I liked the decor on Summit better, particularly the interesting and quirky artwork througout the ship. But I did not find the decor on Noordam over the top at all...thought it was very tasteful. The food in the main dining room was excellent on both, but Noordam was a bit better and more consitant. The food, service and decor were much better in the Normandy than the Pinnacle. (I also really didn't like the PG decor and found those chairs to be very uncomfortable.) I liked the food (selection and quality) at the Lido better on Noordam and we never had a problem finding a table. I thought the entertainment on Summit was better and yes, the pool band on Noordam was rarely playing. We are not pool people, but just from observation it looked like there were far more chairs available on Noordam than Summit. While the service on Summit was excellent, the service on Noordam was extraordinary! Overall I give Noordam a slight edge, but these happen to be our two favorite ships and our two best cruises to date!