Westerdam Review April 6-13 Half Moon Cay, Aruba, Curacao
Overview: Our little cruise group this year consisted of 4 women; 2 from New England and 2 from California. Our husbands were minding "the forts." Our age range is 40's to 60's- 3 of us have cruised many times before. However, this was our first HAL cruise- a fantastic cruise on the beautiful Westerdam. I usually don't use the words fantastic and beautiful in the same sentence, but take exception with the Westerdam, which I describe as many works of art within a work of art. Overall, we gave this cruise an A. The ship, the ports, the cabins, the cuisine, and the service all exceeded our expectations and we had high expectations before we sailed. The entertainment had many good offerings, but we only rated it a B+, on this cruise, as most music was too loud for us.
Pre-Cruise: My sister and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on 17th Street. We had stayed there in 2005. The hotel is clean, quiet, and now offers many extra amenities such as a complimentary full hot breakfast, free chilled bottled water, and a mini-fridge and microwave in each room. My daughter and her horseback riding friend flew in late from CA and stayed at the Courtyard Airport in Dania, which they liked.