Westerdam Review

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Review for Alaska Cruise on Westerdam
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barb186
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Sep 2016

Let me start with this trip was a 71st birthday celebration for my husband. A cruise to Alaska has been on our bucket list for some time now. So here’s the good, bad and ugly about our Holland America trip to Alaska last week aboard the Westedam. The good – the Pinnacle restaurant was fantastic! The food, service and personnel were all outstanding! The rooms were quite spacious with lots of storage space and a large bathroom. Alaska itself was beautiful. Glacier Bay was breathtaking and the whale watching excursion that we went on was amazing.

The bad – Constantly pushing the shopping. There was a huge push to buy diamonds and jewelry from their onboard shops and within the ports we went to. We were told the cruise line owns the jewelry store in port. Every day there was more information in our mailbox outside our door about shopping, shopping, and more shopping. I didn’t go on a cruise to shop! Way over the top. The food in the cafeteria style dining room was ok but nothing to write home about, you have to fight for a table on the Lido deck and it's hard to get service there. My other pet peeve is that there was not enough time in the ports to see Alaska. Most of the time was spent on the boat.

The ugly (and it was ugly) There were drawers under the foot of the bed. I know this because one night about half way through our cruise the housekeeper didn’t close the drawer all the way and I ran into it barefoot breaking one of my toes. The break was confirmed via x-ray by my podiatrist as soon as we returned with an 8 week recovery time. It happened at night right before bed and when I woke in the morning I could not put any weight on my right foot. We had an excursion that morning and my husband went down to the excursion desk to cancel since I could not walk. No one was there so he left a note and then we called and left messages but no call back that day. I called down to the infirmary and was told that there was nothing they could do for a broken toe. I asked if they had crutches they said they recommended a cane. My husband went down, since I was unable to walk, to get a wheel chair, they didn't have any, so he got a cane instead and asked for some adhesive tape to stabilize my toe and foot. He was unable to get any tape from the infirmary or ships store. My husband spoke to many people on the phone and in person trying to get a wheel chair and trying to get a refund for the tours we were not able to go on. Everyone took an "I am not authorized" posture. You would think that the safety and satisfaction of their "valued guests" would be of utmost importance but that was clearly not the case. At every turn the response was “how do you know you didn’t leave the drawer open” or “we are not authorized to do that”. Very disconcerting. So I spent the day Thursday in my room with my foot propped up and my poor husband running around the ship trying to get me some help. I had my husband take pictures of my discolored and swollen foot on the ship so there would be no question of when it happened. I tried to include them here but couldn't.

Cabin Review

Cabin Don't know the cabin category

The cabin was large with lots of closet space. Our room was at the very back of the Westerdam with a large veranda.

Port Reviews

Seattle

Loved Seattle - Pikes Market is great. Went to the Chihuly museum and was able to actually meet Dale Chihuly himself. Great place to walk around with great restaurants.

Ketchikan

We were supposed to take an excursion in Ketchikan but I had a broke my toe onboard and was unable to go. The excursion manager would not refund the cost of the excursion even though we cancelled prior to the trip due to my injury. Very disappointing experience. We booked through the ship and they were very quick to take our money but not very understanding or compassionate in refunding due to my injury. Very poor customer service.

Victoria

Again we had an excursion booked but I was unable to go due to broken toe. Same response from front office staff. Beware of booking through Holland America.

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