Westerdam Review
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Family of three sailed on Westerdam March 21-28, 2015. This was our first HAL cruise. We’ve cruised Princess, Royal Caribbean, & Carnival. We prefer Princess, but this experience has turned us into loyal HAL customers. We can’t wait to book our next HAL cruise. This was a very special cruise for our family. We celebrated Mom’s birthday and also celebrated the success my sister had this past year battling breast cancer at the age of 33 years old. This was a cruise to celebrate life and how special each day is we have to enjoy.
The following comments are not to be arrogant, but to help you understand my point of view. I am 41 years old and consider travel has one of my hobbies. Family is fortunate to have traveled extensively to various parts of the world. We enjoy traveling. I’ve held elite status with various airlines and hotels. I’ve stayed in amazing properties and some outright terrible properties. My expectation with service, food, and accommodations is very high. My friends say I am a “snob”. Then if what HAL provided us this past week on the Westerdam makes me a snob, then I am a proud “cruise snob”! We had an amazing week. The entire cruise exceeded all my expectations. The many positive reviews across many sites were true. I see why the Westerdam and HAL have such a loyal following.
I conduct lots of research before I travel. This was no exception with this cruise on the Westerdam. Cruise Critic, Cruise Critic forums, Ship Mate, and halfacts.com were great resources. Please make sure you understand the negative comments. I am convinced if 1,900 people are on one cruise and only 1-2 people have harsh, negative comments, then you need to carefully consider those comments. And the same for the positive comments. The many, many positive comments about the Westerdam I read all proved to be accurate. The ship is absolutely beautiful and well maintained by a diligent, hard working crew. The environment is sophisticated and elegant. The entire cruise was very relaxing. That was exactly what my family wanted.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
The room was not set up for twin beds as reserved, but the stewards corrected that quickly. The room was a verandah stateroom and very comfortable for 3 adults. I slept on the sofa bed. It was fine. Great linens and pillows. The balcony was a very nice size and offered great seating. The stateroom has plenty of storage in closets, cabinets, and under the beds. Our stateroom stewards worked very hard and always had our room spotless and well maintained. They were great to accommodate our requests for ice, bathrobes, etc. The bathroom tub made the space feel roomier and the tiles on the wall were a nice touch.