Westerdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This ship was clean, decently decorated, but a getting a little long in tooth in terms of age. The ports were ok, but we found the entertainment was not strong, and the daytime food pretty redundant and average. Also, if you don't smoke, the casino and open decks are pretty much a loss because this cruise line allows smoking. The Holland line caters to an older crowd, but due to the timing of this cruise, there were a lot of small children on board as well, creating an odd dicotomy of too much noise, crowded pools and a very sedate (somewhat dull) atomosphere after 9pm. Despite the relatively high cruise price, virtually everything was a la carte including yoga classes, soft drinks, wine tasting, the therapuetic whirlpool, cooking classes, bingo, etc. The crew highly recommended every excursion and many shops which offered items basically available in the US at the same or lower cost, leaving us with the distinct feeling that everyone was working on commission.

WE HAD A WONDERFUL TRIP AND WERE IMPRESSED WITH THE STAFF FRIENDLINESS. DID NOT FEEL THE PRESSURE TO PURCHASE THINGS WE DIDN'T REALLY WANT..JEWELRY SALES, AUCTIONS, PICTURES..AS ON SOME SHIPS. THEY WERE AVAILABLE, BUT NOT PUSHED ON US. TOTAL RELAXATION. ONLY PROBLEMS WERE WITH ONE SHORE EXCURSION AND AS YOU LIKE DINING RESERVATIONS.

Good and clean ship

This is our 17th cruise and 2nd with Holland. We chose the Westerdam because of the itinerary which included Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire. The islands didn't disappoint and we were very happy with the locations, just not so much with the Westerdam!

Old, needs refurb! rooms to little. 7th cruise (4 different companies) and liked the rooms the least.

Ship size was good and you could familarize yourself quickly. Not as glitzy as other newer / larger ships, but it had a quaint Dutch charm with intimate spaces throughout the public areas. The itinerary was quite good - Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire. While we didn't realize Aruba was as dirty and depressed as it appeared, the snorkling there was pretty good. Curacao was a suprise gem - reminiscent of both Amsterdam and Charleston, SC. Bonaire was excellent and the snorkling off of Klein Bonaire extraordinary. We benefited from an extra large cabin and lots of privacy on our deck/verhanda that wrapped around the back corner of the ship. Small details were lacking however. For example: - Dining room staff were good at taking your order and bringing you what you asked for...but if you needed a condiment (mayo, ketchup, lemon wedge, whatever...), you had to ask 2 or 3 times...and by the time you received what you wanted, your meal was cold. - Laundry, if collected by 0900, would be back by 5pm next day...unfortunately not consistently the case. - Delivered high tea to the room and provided nice sandwiches, cakes, jam, but no scones...why then the jam? - Entertainment was OK, but quality far less than expected - specialty drinks (coffee or chocolate) where generally incorrectly made - often staff smiles at you when they see you but sigh and frown once going the other way - most work staff seemed overly stressed - food was good, but was not to the level expected of a 5 star ship - wait staff could only repeat a menu item to you when asking about it, no insight about menu was provided - wine stewards inconsistent overall - wine knowledge much less than expected. These small things, however, did not spoil the trip and we did have a great time.

Talked with several other cruisers on this trip who normally cruise with HAL, all agreed the food has gone down hill, also not enough servers at the buffet lines. we all think HAL must be cutting back on the number of crew to save money. All the crew we met were very friendly and helpful but I think over worked. the entertainment was also down from previous cruises. only one semi production show. less pool side music and activities then previous cruises. We are cursing on the Nordam in Feb which is the sister ship to the Westerdam so we will see if this is a HAL problem or just this ship

Food service and quality was a major disappoinment.. waiters and operators spoke poor english and never understood completely your order. beef was extremely chewy. and filled with gristle.. at italian buffet they ran out of pasta.. bar b que was cold. they didn't use sterno. and if you were ashore and had to come back before 8 to get food it was a mess. 6 out of 7 in room breakfasts were wrong.. shore excursions were really below par. Harbor Cay glass bottom boat was absolutely worthless. only thing interesting was when they fed the fish they came . Bus loud speaker in Aruba didn't work, and they took us to their equivalent of Home Depot..what a waste. Curacao was the only thing interesting. On ship they kept pushing the drinks, which had little or no alcohol in them. Couldn't hear anouncements in cabin. Spoke with restaurant manager and he apologized and made sure the last night was ok. He even gave us a great bottle of wine. and waited on us. hand and foot. rooms were delightful and that was great..when they replenished the mini bar. which wasn't too often. They should take a lesson from CARNIVAL.

It was OK but did not stand out.

Holland America Line does it right. You can not go wrong!

SHIP WAS IN POOR REPAIR. MUCH RUST ON IT. FOOD WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT. STAFF WAS OK, BUT NOT OVERLY WELCOMING.

This was our first cruise ever and everything was flawless. The crew and staff are excellent and made sure our experience was magical. The ports of call where exciting and interesting. The private island in the Bahamas was phenomenal!! We are considering another cruise already for next year.

When I go on vacation on like a party atmosphere and lots of activities. This should be very clear what the average age of the passengers are. The entertainment and music was mostly elevator music.

Very nice travel time. very good services,

This cruise was absolutely awesome. The crew made sure we had everything we needed and the cabin was huge (compared to cruise ship cabins).

Had a wonderful time. We had a friend in a wheelchair with us and the staff was very accommodating. Doors were a problem, though because of no automated openers.

Everything was great. We enjoyed it all and were very glad when the Captain changed our itineray and stayed on calmer seas.

The ship seemed old and dated. Although they did do a good job cleaning surfaces like handrails, floors were often dirty. It was not the first class ship that we had anticipated.

Too many old people

We could not see a single whale, bear, etc. There were specific tours on ports to see them, i.e. "Fish Tour." We were never told about this. Otherwise it was an excellent cruise with a lot of beautiful views in Alaska. We wish to have had a longer stay in Victoria, Canada, but we will go back on our own at a later date. For travelers who were flying out of Seattle on a late flight, the Westerdam was not accomodating at all at their Internet Cafe. Our flight out of SEA-TAC left at 10:40pm, the printer at the Westerdam was turned off at 10:00pm the night before, so there was no 24 hour window to print boarding passes