Westerdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

cabin employees were great.  Spa Manager was notified twice that we could not use parts of the spa because other guests were staying for as long as they wanted leaving other guests without being able to use the heated lounges in the spa.  When we mentioned that there were guests that were in the heated lounge recliners for a long period of time, exceeding an hour, the desk clerk  refused to do anything about the situation and we said that we did not want to fight over the lounge recliners and they still refused to do anything.  They wanted us to notify the offenders and we felt that we were their guests and that they should send some one in to rectify the situation and the manager said they would discuss the situations in their next meeting and said she apologized but just sat there and did nothing.  She said she was the manager.  Why should we pay for something we could not use.  It costs $240 for the week and all we kept getting was apologizes. 

     The costs for the excursions were rather high.  In the dining room we sometimes

did not get the salmon cooked well done as we desired.  The entertainment and dancing

were very good.  The staff were very helpful.

I enjoyed our cruise, however, I was disappointed that the port days seemed to have been cut short due to having to be back on the boat at 2:30 most days.  The entire staff was friendly and eager to help in any way.  I did the like the special touch of the crew standing on the gangway saying goodbye at the end of the cruise.

The Westerdam is an older, smaller ship and therefore does not have all the perks the newer, larger  ships have.  Overall our cruise was very enjoyable.  Our cabin, while a little smaller than on the newer ships, was nice.  We had a balcony cabin and really enjoyed having coffee on the balcony most mornings.

The meals both in the main dining room and in the buffet were just okay.  The buffet food was often cold so we ate in the dining room as much as possible.  No lobster tail - what's up with that?

Our wait staff was not the best we have had and had to continually ask for coffee. Often times we did not receive our coffee until dessert was served even though we ask for it when we were seated.

The entertainment was very good and we did enjoy that.  Superbowl Sunday they did not have entertainment or much going on because they used the theater for the football game.  We were upset because we are not football fans and there was not much else to do!!

The casino was too smokey, I thought most ships were non-smoking except for designated areas.

The entire staff was always very friendly and willing to help.  Their team spends a lot of time cleaning and the ship was spotless.  Food was great and there was a wide variety of choices, both in the dining room and at the buffet.  Many activities were offered to keep you busy every day.  It was a very enjoyable 7 days!

This was our first balcony experience as we'd been in the dark in an inside stateroom on our other two cruises and I loved the balcony.  I loved watching the ship sail away, I loved opening the door at night and letting some fresh air in.

This was by far the roughest cruise I've been on.  Some of our dinner mates said it was the worst of 7 or 8 cruises they'd been on.  It was dangerous to let go of a bar in the shower for fear that you'd pitch yourself out of the bathtub/shower.  I did not like that the food closed down often.  On previous cruises I could eat less because I knew I could go back.  I did not like that all of the rolls were very hard.  I understand this is the Dutch style.  We hardly ever got pie, just twice;  The Buffet was more like a cafeteria line.  On Royal Caribbean it was stations that you walked up to.

There was no water slide, nor rock wall, nor outdoor movie theater.  The hot tub closed early.  Some nights there was only one show instead of two, so it was hard to find seating.  There was no food after the first show was over until 10::30 when you could get sub sandwiches.  I wished they'd have had a closing night with the Captain and all the crew dressed up who paraded by.  I was not particularly crazy about the Dancing with the Stars theme.  I did like the magician and the African American former cop comedian.  Our twin beds were comfortable enough and when I asked them to, the staff turned them opposite to where we rocked head to toe with the ship instead of back and forth.  The room staff was very friendly.  The spa was great.  I loved the Microsoft classes and the steel drum lessons.

The excursions were fine.  We took a round the island type tour in each of four places.  I felt like Grand Turk was a very impoverished place.  I loved the BBQ we had at Half Moon Cay, the ship's private island.

I realized today that of a 7 day vacation I spent less than 20 hours not in an air-conditioned ship, bus, or terminal.  I spent less than 45 mins actually watching the surf on shore, although I could see the ocean all the time.  

Going through Customs took over an hour of pushing and dragging all the suitcases every 30 seconds.  Getting off the ship, however, was a breeze.  Glad I went.  Next time I'll just vacation on the beach and for go the cruise.

My wife and i have taken several cruises on other lines. This was our first experience on Holland America. We are in our mid-40s. This is not a cruise line for us for another 20 years! The demographic was much, much older. There is very little night life and the shows are mediocre at best. Our time in each port was at least 2 hours less than other cruises we have taken making our excursions feel rushed and leaving no time for independent sight seeing or shopping. The service was slow a several of our meals. It's a great cruise if you want to sit on the deck, get some sun and read. If you want nightlife and plenty of time to explore your ports of call, look elsewhere.

Nice to  be in the warmer weather.  HAL ships are nice, but the smaller ones seem to be better at some things, such as keeping food hot.  Booking back to back one of the few rooms left as by the elevators, should have known better, will not do it next time.  But the room is nice and the warmer weather a treat.  1/2 way through the second week now,  

Cabin was great, as was entertainment.  Food selections were limited and boring.  Drinks at pool at bars were "watered down" and not a very good value.  Martini bar tasting was best drink option, especially Sam the bartender.  Beverage package was not good value.  Could not get glass of wine at dinner that I wanted (only house wine).  If I ordered a gray goose and cranberry, the drink was extra cost.

Ports of call were nice.

Probably would not use HAL again.

Date: Saturday, January 3 to Saturday, January 10

Cruisers: Husband and Wife

Cruising History: 4th cruise overall- first time on Holland America and first time to eastern Caribbean.

Age: mid to late 20s

Pros: Price, smaller ship, limited amount kids, nice and friendly crew,

and great ports.

Cons: Older ship, not a lot of activities, unimpressive food selection, and miss labeling of food items.

The ports are very beautiful, they are as you aspect crystal clear water. Depending on when you go there might be other cruise ships at these ports;  you can expects a lot of people and crowded beaches.  When we were leaving from the port in Florida we had to wait behind four other cruise ship before we were able to embark on our cruise.

When you get to the ports there are many vendors who give excellent tours and really affordable prices. When we were in Puerto Rico we accepted a tour for $10 each! The tour guides are station outside the gangway and they take you all over Old and New San Juan at a very affordable rate unlike the excursion through the cruise. 

We had an issue with our baloney towards the end of our cruise. We discovered we were under a bathroom after the bathroom drainage pipe started leaking onto our baloney. We reported it to the front desk and they sent  a room attendant. Unfortunately, the room attendant could only put in a work order for a plumber. We waited in our room for most of the day but the plumber never showed. So we paid for a baloney but were unable to use it the last two days of our cruise.

Another experienced we had was a miss labeling of food items. Like every cruise, Holland America had an ice cream station. They have board menu that tells you the different types of ice creams they offer at that particular time of the day. I asked for "chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone" and after leaving and eating into it. I noticed it had nuts and marshmallows in it=Rocky Road. There was nothing on the board menu about Rocky Road at that time. Thankfully, I am not allergic to nuts or have anything against Rocky Road, it's just not what I wanted or asked for. As you can image it was a little concerning. 

HAL did a great job on this cruise - the suite was a lovely change with a large balcony; the food offerings were varied, creative and good; the entertainment was very enjoyable  There were 2 items that were disappointing: 1) Grand Turks had the most beautiful water I've seen, but there isn't much more to see there! 2) Be careful on the shore excursions that are NOT Holland America sponsored - we nearly missed our ship because the excursion leader wouldn't believe us when we kept reminding him what time we needed to be back on-board!

Veranda Suite was spacious and very nice. Dancing with the Stars was very entertaining, Comedian was great! Weather was perfect, and food was delicious. The staff was very friendly and helpful answering any of my questions.

the cruise was fantastic a bonus was dancing with the stars at sea, food the best so far, down side was the pool, someone pooped in pool and it took way to long to clean. they should have drained it right away but waited to long and it was closed all sea day/

Everything was very nice.  The outside entertainment was excellent while the staff programs were too load to enjoy.  Most disappointed in the dining room service.....was way to slow and seemed to be under staffed.

Great cruise!  Food, service, cleanliness, beauty, entertainment!  All surpassed our standards.

(We've been on over 30 cruises.)

Dancing with the Stars was fantastic and I hope to go to the finale again next year.

The entire onboard staff are excellent, and the boat is clean and attractive for it's age. The food in the dining room was average, and the specialty restaurants were excellent ! The entertainment in the bars seemed to be geared to the 80 + year old passengers, and the main ballroom had Dancing with the stars, which was terrible !!!! We had a balcony and unfortunately some of the ( entertainers ?) from the ballroom  were next door, and they made such a racket, that sitting outside to read, or just enjoy a drink was impossible.If you are a senior, and early to bed, this is a great boat !!!

Holland America did an outstanding job.  The crew, the food, the entertainment as terrific.  The ship was extremely well taken care of.  This was our first Holland American Line cruise and it certainly won't be our last.

Good cruise despite less then ideal weather.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This was our third HAL cruise, first in the Caribbean.  Previously we sailed in 2007 on the Oosterdam in the Pacific Northwest and in 2008 on the Nordam to the Mediterranean.

The quality of the food on our previous HAL cruises was significantly better. While the food wasn't bad, per se, it was definitely average.  Lunch at the Lido was too repetitive day after day.  Breakfast was better.  We loved the portion sizes in the main dining room!  Very reasonable and not overwhelming and wasteful.  I was impressed.

I found the entertainment to be of better quality. We had a lot of fun several nights in the piano bar and also enjoyed the BB King club. We heard that people loved Dancing with the Stars, but we were not interested in it.  Trivia rounds were fun and well done. Marriage game (think Newlywed Game) was fun too.

We had a verandah room, 8017.  It was super quiet and the bed was very, very comfortable.

The crowd was definitely in the early retiree range. If you're under 50, don't expect to find peers on the ship.

Half Moon Cay was beautiful.  The beach and swimming area are quite nice.  We were happy with renting a "clam," and it appeared that the more expensive cabanas were not worth the significant fee.  Plenty of bathrooms, which was nice.  We felt nickeled and dimed, however, which was a bit of a shadow on an otherwise great day.  The beverage card, for which we paid $45 a day, was not accepted on Half Moon Cay, which was just ridiculous.  The normal ship cards were accepted by simply writing down your name and room number, and there was no reason they couldn't do so for the beverage cards too.  There were also very high prices for the catamaran, snorkel gear, and other equipment.  It was very off-putting.

I had a so-so facial on embarkation day, but the spa staff was so aggressive afterwards with selling the products, I was horrified.  They wasted 45 minutes of my time trying to browbeat me into purchasing expensive products.

The ship overall was similar in quality to the Oosterdam and Noordam.  Clean, well maintained, relatively easy to navigate.

We have been with Holland America a number of times.  I enjoy that size ship.  We took our daughter and her 3 children with us.  They have never been on a cruise before and they loved every minute.

I usually choose this line because of the computer classes they offer.  This trip there was some problems and the first 4 days there were no classes.

We also found that the staff (especially the upstairs burger grill and the dining room were somewhat inexperienced.  It felt like they came on board when we did.

We are very pleased with Cheap Cruises and will be using you again.