Great Cruise, Wrong Demographic for us

Westerdam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Westerdam

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 25, 2011

Ship: Westerdam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 13 years ago

Review summary

Holland America is great at what they do best: great service and great food. My wife and I are 45, and we have 4 boys aged 7 to 17. Most of the other passengers were 60+, so at times we felt out of place. Our kids still had a pretty good time, but they opted not to enroll in the organized kids programs. They felt it was too much like day care to get them away from the main areas of the ship. Nothing wrong with HAL, but while we are a younger family, we will try some other lines out.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
the coffee was too weak, several other passengers noted this too.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The Barnaby Experience was very entertaining!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Most comfortable beds we have ever enjoyed!

Ports of call

Grand Turk Island

3 out of 5
Beautiful white sand beaches. The town isn't much to look at, but please buy something from these friendly, hurricane-battered folks! I wish we had our Scuba certifications.
Don't Miss: snorkeling. Beautiful reefs and fish!

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

3 out of 5
nice beach right off Front Street (Phillipsburg), but too many pushy beach vendors for our tastes. The shops were great, and we found some great deals on clothing.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5
We skipped the beaches but had a great time exploring the old city. Even the kids were moved by the sense of history here. We loved the food (anywhere).
Don't Miss: Forts!!

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5
Everyone's favorite. Beautiful beach with plenty of fish to gaze at. We even got to watch a very large barracuda feed on a school of smaller fish!
Don't Miss: save your sun tolerance for Half Moon Cay...the best beach experience by far.

Pros: Food, beds, private island

Cons: weak coffee, high average passenger age

Recommends Westerdam? Yes!

Was this review helpful? 8

1 Comment

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.