The Most Amazing Family Memories

Item: Westerdam
Rating: 4.7
Author: afpirazzini

Westerdam Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska

afpirazzini

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 67

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Glacier Discovery Northbound (Vancouver To Seward)

Sail date: June 24, 2018

Ship: Westerdam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 4159

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

I again want to bring up the dinner staff (Paulus, Mark Dig, Yohan), our stewards (Paul and Nicky), and Billboard On-board entertainment (Andy and Polina) for making our experience one that our family will never forget. We needed a great experience after the recent loss of my father and this is exactly what we were hoping for so thank you Holland America.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

I think here is where the most improvement is needed. You travel on vacation to get away from the stress at home/work, but we felt so overwhelmed with paperwork (and fine print) at the beginning and when you reach the check in counter, you hope things are explained so that you are not overwhelmed, specifically, the promotions given to us. We knew we were given two promotions ($300 room credit and drink packages). In the fine print in all that paperwork, I do now see where it mistakenly put one member of our party with a drink package. This person has never drank in her life. We did not verify what we set out to be done was performed correctly. We enjoyed our cruise thinking that the right people had the drink package but instead found out that it was mistakenly put on the non-drinker and so we were charged for all of those drinks. We spoke to the person in charge of beverages and were told in the fine print it is non-transferable and there was nothing to be done. He said you can see on your key card the SBP wording to signify that this person had the package and this person did not. This 100% should be explained when you check in. This person has drink package, this person does not, for the person that does not, would they like to and we would have realized our mistake there. We were so upset when we found this out near the end of the trip, it was just a terrible way to end our experience. This obviously was a mistake. I understand we should have verified things were done correctly but for someone else's mistake, we are charged $300. We felt that was unfair and should have been rectified but it was not. I just think at check-in, things that are important like the credit or drink packages, should be explained at the very beginning verbally, not get lost in mountains of paperwork.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

I was very, very, very surprised at the food. The fondest memories we are going to have of this trip is not Alaska itself but the dinners in the dining room with the amazing, wonderful, courteous, friendly staff. The food was great, I did like the buffet options. Really enjoyed the indian food at the buffet. Very happy with that.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Our stewards (Paul and Nicky) and our dinner staff (Paulus, Mark Dig, Yohan) are models for how the world she treat each other. For dinner, I felt I was at Cheers. They welcomed us with huge smiles, excited to see us, and knew exactly what we wanted before we did. Yohan had a great bottle of wine for us at every meal that exceeded our expectations. He performed tricks for the kids. They made us feel like friends, family. Dinner was the greatest family bonding experience this family has had. We came on this trip because our father passed away and we needed to smile again as a family and this helped us tremendously. I can't thank the 3 of them. Just outstanding service. Mark Dig would make flowers for the ladies and animals for the kids with pieces of paper or foil. Paulus, I can't describe how much we appreciated him. We will miss these 3 so much. One of our kids was asked a few days after the cruise "What did you most enjoy about the cruise?" and his response was "Paulus, Mark Dig, and Yohan" and that sums it up. Paul and Nicky were so sweet, so wonderful, and worked so hard. Huge smiles always. We tipped all 5 of them on top of the tips deducted already. They were above and beyond what we expected.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The ship always looked great, day or night.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5