The staff were the shining stars of our cruise!

Westerdam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 69

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Westerdam

7 Night Alaskan Explorer With Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 23, 2014

Ship: Westerdam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 1114

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

Loved the staff....everyone was so friendly and helpful! From our waiters and wine servers at dinner to our cabin stewards and Front Desk staff, it was clear that they all went out of there way to be helpful and this produced multiple smiles from us every day. We always looked forward to seeing them.

 

I think more information on sea sickness would have been helpful to be more prepared. I ended up eating breakfast at the same table with one of the singers/performers (Jonathan) and he gave me some great tips about sea sickness and how to deal with it. It would have been great to get that information on the front end and be more prepared because our entire party dealt with that for the first 2-3 days.

 

One of our rooms had 3 people in it, yet we were charged the same amount per person and the 3rd bed was extremely uncomfortable. Having a discount for the 3rd person (who was my 88 year old mom and INSISTED on taking that extra bed) would have softened that blow a bit.

 

Finally, having both some healthier options for food/nutrition (juice bar?) and food with a cover, each of us got "stomach sick" (to put it softly) for at least a day on the cruise due to some sort of bacteria (that's my belief anyway and I washed my hands consistently and work at a hospital) would have been better. I guess large plastic covers so that the guests can still see the food, but it can be more protected from people sneezing or coughing on it would be great.

 

Otherwise, great ship, great sights, great experience.

 

Thanks for asking!!

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Good food, only the issue I mentioned before about the Lido Deck buffet style food.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
The bummer on the few that I went to was that there was always a catch/another agenda. They wanted to sell something. You couldn't just go to an event without obligation.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
I did enjoy the singing dancing, but the Recycle group....I couldn't even stay past 10 minutes. Just not interesting enough.

Children's Programs

Didn't travel with small children.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Kenn was GREAT the first night, after that it seemed mainly like sing alongs...I think he blew his voice out the first night. Jonathan, singer and our primary waiter....unusual name Oh so sorry, forgot it!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Beautiful ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Nice room, but we had asked ahead of time for the beds to be separated; also I stubbed my toe on the chair several times until I moved it to beside the couch. I think that's a better place for it, then someone can move it to the middle if they want.

Ship tip

The lines weren't too bad, anywhere. You've done a good job in having people leave the ship in a staggered manner.

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

3 out of 5
Since it was a Saturday, when we went to Pike Place, it was so crowded that we nearly lost each other and people were very pushy. We CHOSE to go there though. Perhaps some information on time sensitive, fun things to do there.

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5
We went to Nugget Falls. It was beautiful.

Cruise Glacier Bay

5 out of 5
This was one of my favorite things. We were in wonder looking at this amazing sight.

Sitka, Alaska

5 out of 5
Adorable town; friendly people; Fortress of the Bears was wonderful.

Ketchikan, Alaska

3 out of 5
We took a tour and the guide was more interested in giving his political views than telling us about the history of the town, This we did on our own though.

Victoria, British Columbia

5 out of 5
Visited CraigDarroch Castle and went downtown. BEAUTIFUL CITY!!!
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1 Comment

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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