Westerdam Reviews

I only gave a good rating for ports in Alaska mainly due to the weather. We had drizzly days which required a rain jacket. We were told that we were actually lucky it only drizzled. Apparently it rains a lot. Vancouver was supposedly sunny, but the smoke from the fires in BC cast a blanket over the city. Since the fires won't last forever, any other time will allow you to see this great city in all its glory. Be sure not to miss the Granville Market and Victoria was interesting but made for a very long day.

Disembarkation was the worst. We were told by Rosario that we were not on the list for "straight to shuttle" when our luggage was tagged the night before with the correct tags. She turn us over to Harvey who was doing 1000 other things and said he would fix it but abandoned us. Luckily, Pam from the vancover port assisted us in getting off of the ship and to our shuttle.

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.

The suite was well worth the extra cost. The most enjoyable, and unexpected aspect of the cruise was the terrific entertainment. This includes on board-musicians, magician and comedian, as well as the excursions. We did excursions in Skagway, Ketchikan and Juneau and each time our guide was superior or even better. We learned so much more than we anticipated. Highest recommendation possible!

My first cruise and first visit to Alaska were all amazingly beautiful. We had extraordinary sunshiny days and tolerable temperatures. Only one rather rough day at sea (our only rainy day) but the ship provided lots of entertainment choices and good food. Since there are no roads in and out of most of the ports of call, cruising Vancouver to Seward is the best way to go. Met some great people along the way and had a great experience!

This truly was an amazing trip. In addition to the ports we Loved the day we cruised through Glacier Bay. We pulled up parallel to a large glacier and sat there for about 1 1/2 hours giving us plenty of time to see not only small pieces slough off but hear the thunderous cracking and witnessing a larger portion calve off. I would recommend the Alaskan Inside passage cruise heartily. The only downside was the disorganized way that the Vancouver embarkation & disembarkation is accomplished. They shouldn't try to have 4 cruise ships (1 wasn't Holland America) embarking & disembarking at the same time. We also had difficulty when we disembarked as we had a shuttle (not through the cruise line) to take us back to our hotel. No one seemed to know where we needed to catch it. We went to where it dropped us off & were told to go to door D, which was all large buses. From there we were told to go to Door A which turned out to be for taxi service, then Door E which was excursions????????????? Finally found someone who guided us to the street level where we got the assistance we needed.

This was a wonderful trip. Very comfortable state room. Ports of call were very interesting. Food was excellent. Only hassle was getting off the ship in Vancouver. The problem was with Canada Place not with the Westerdam.

I wish the port stays had been longer. I prefer a more in-depth experience. In general it was what I expected and I enjoyed the opportunity to be back in Mexico and Central America as well as Cartagena. The Westerdam is well run from the cruiser's point of view and if I were to do another cruise, I wouldn't hesitate to book with HAL again.

It is worth the money. If you have not seen this part of the world it is a good trip

Cooler than expected and high waves prevented Kaui stop. Otherwise fine.

We enjoyed with wonderful dining room stuff and service. Thank you Bonbon!!

The best of our 8 cruises. Good food, entertainment and very clean. The virtual vessel tour and Q&A with the master were an added bonus.

We thouroughly enjoyed our cruise. I would respectfully submit to HAL that they allow smoking on the rear verandahs for those of us that smoke. This way the smoke will not offend those who do not smoke. We are very concientious smokers, and do everything to keep from disturbing those who do not.

Fun experience to have Christmas at sea. We had a Christmas Carole song along. Ship was decorated nicely.

it is our first cruise experience, the most relaxed vacation ever! We enjoyed so much of the service, the entertainment, and best of all, the food!

Honestly, I do not think I would take another cruise on this ship. Too old (both ship and clientele). Plus the allowance of cigarette smoking in large areas really turns us off. Shopping on board was not good and service staff in these areas were not friendly or helpful at all.

A good cruise line. Services for what was offered was excellent. Daily activity offerings were lacking and could improve. Eight days a sea was long and could have used an additional one or two stops at ports in the Atlantic to break up the lack of anticipation and activities on board. All in all, the stops in Spain were excellent and the cruise was relaxing, just not Fun.

Very pleasant Trans-Atlantic with great course selection, however, spent much of the time out of cabin due to noise and annoying vibrations. Food, service, entertainment, and crew disposition similar and consistant to other HAL cruises. It would have been nice if we had stopped in Funchal on return.

We were happy to have this adventure but mom was exhausted. So much beauty to see. Pompeii was the best excursion for me. The water everywhere was so clear and blue. The mountains so beautiful. MS Westerdam is a fantastic ship and we had an awesome crew.

Wonderful time of year to visit the Mediterranean, weather was great! Would have enjoyed visiting Corfu or Croatia. Enjoyed Retreat cabanas. Staff considerate.