Excellent itinerary and superb experience
Noordam Cruise Review to South Pacific
Review summary
we loved this cruise and enjoyed the many visits to new and interesting places. We even loved the large number of sea days as HAL had the best entertainment and specialty programmes of any of our past cruises. We deeply regretted the lack of communications by the Captain when the ship had a mechanical problem in Napier and the lack of communication and inaccurate communications was both unnecessary and unacceptable. We missed one day in port (which was fully understandable) but we missed two important stops on our itinerary which was unacceptable! We had planned on meeting friends in Auckland who had offered to drive us to their summer place in Bay of Islands to rejoin the ship--- a two year plan that was abandoned by the Captain--- as we missed both stops! The financial payment by HAL was insufficient to say the very least compared to the loss of two very important stops which were abandoned. Despite this incident, we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and we continue to recommend HAL to our friends. We would also note that HAL, like all commercial enterprises today, have significantly increased the work of its excellent Indonesian and Philippine crews--- it seems our teams had more rooms to clean and more tables to serve than in the past! This did not reduce the quality of service....it was just evident that the crew was often overloaded with work!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
The Noordam is an excellent ship and its size Is "just right". We regret the excessive efforts to market, market market its customers ....jewelry, art work, souvenirs! But the crew is absolutely superb and makes cruising ideal. Note, however, the reservations we had about the Captain.
Ports of call
Cruise Fjordland National Park
Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand
Waitangi, Bay Of Islands, New Zealand
Sydney, Australia Did not visit port
Mare Isle, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia