Great destinations & excursions, but very poor staff

Item: Westerdam
Rating: 3.2
Author: TCP82

Westerdam Cruise Review to Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East)

TCP82

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 16

Overall rating:

3.2 out of 5

Verified Review

14 Night Japan Taiwan & The Philippines (Yokohama To Hong Kong)

Sail date: October 28, 2023

Ship: Westerdam

Cabin number: 5187

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 months ago

Review summary

If you go, its about the destinations. Mostly this ships crew needs a lot of work

Embarkation

1 out of 5

We walked into the terminal and saw a woman with behind a lineup of queue stanchions. It had a sign saying this line was for suites, pinnacle club and 4- & 5-star mariners. We and everyone else continued to the check-in line. Only to find out we had to go back and see that woman for a group number for boarding. So instead of using our boarding pass which has a boarding time and a group letter A, B etc. We now have another piece of paper to get called by for check-in. As a consultant this kind of thing drives me crazy. Of course, what happens next is people try to use the paper number to check-in and then they try to give it to security while boarding the ship, so everything takes twice as long as they look for what they should be using.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

The food quality was very good. Service was not very good. Lido restaurant was always overwhelmed with no seats available inside. Food service was very challenged to keep up with the long lines. We were supposed to have a assigned table for 2 in the restaurant and that did not happen. Poor response when reported

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Nothing particularly note worthy

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

We have done 4 Holland America in the last year and have felt their crews are friendly, outgoing, responsive and know their business. This fifth one is the exception. They were overwhelmed in the Lido and training seemed to be lacking elsewhere

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Maintenance: The last week of the cruise, all we heard about at the captain’s, engineers talks etc. is about the failure of the air-conditioning. Our room was fine, but when we had dinner in the Canaletto, it had to be 85 degrees. Deck 9 lido on a number of days was too hot to eat there. Sometimes Deck 2 and 3 were absolutely freezing, so there is definitely a problem here. Public restrooms: The first time I used one it had real towels, but that was also the last time. There were no actual towels or paper towels for the rest of the cruise. They were putting boxes of Kleenex in where the towels/paper towels were supposed to be. Kleenex does not work for drying your hands.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The balcony on this cabin at the back of the ship is huge. It is covered as well. Deck 5 has exposed balconies that may be bigger but not as nice

Ship tip

I would recommend Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordham, Zaandam over this ship. The destinations and tours are the only reason to book this one. Another day or two in Manila would be better than Boracay (beaches only and by tender which took hours). Puerto Princessa is not much better, but at least you are at a dock

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