Westerdam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
I chose this cruise because we live in Vancouver and it would be a no hassle (airports) way to enjoy a leisurely much needed holiday. The first day should have been the omen that would tell us how the rest of the trip would work out. We took 3 hours to check in.. everyone had been instructed to leave because they had to sanitize due to abnormal amount of Nor walk virus.. Many many people got sick...
The entertainment was one step above a school production, social staff clearly did not enjoy their jobs. The library was moved to the top level of the ship where they had exciting activities such as "Napkin Folding". Really? Food was mediocre ..Do not book a set table.. the dining room was very sparsely attended .. we had a table for 8 and NO ONE showed up most nights ... the staff offered no other options in terms of moving us to another table even after we asked.
The sea was rough 10 meter waves etc. Not really the fault of the cruise line but some effort could have been made to reroute into calmer waters ( we sailed the Atlantic and the cruise company we sailed with avoided a huge storm by sailing out of it's path) The stabilizers even malfunctioned coming into Victoria. Bar and Wait Staff seemed harassed and worked very hard but didn't put any extra effort in ..an example of this was ..I ordered a drink and they had run out of the mix they needed but were to busy apparently to send someone to another bar for what was needed .. I honestly do not know how this cruise company functions... We will NEVER cruise with Holland America again.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
Cabin was shabby - Bathroom stunk of mold - variety on television - 2 news channels (both American - same stuff day in and day out) movies were "a hundred years old" - Nothing up to date
Port Reviews
Kauai
We just walked over to the beach here ... again poor place to anchor
Victoria
We are very familiar with Victoria... it was a nice place to have a little walk around October is not tourist season for them .. so there were not a lot of crafts people on the harbour front etc
Honolulu
Honolulu - the port is a long way from Waikiki - the bus service is poor .. and a fairly long walk to get to. Not a lot of assistance at the port and the girl who was doing the shore excursions was not very well traveled and admitted that she had not actually been there.We have been here many times and wanted to get farther up to Diamond Head - much nicer and less like a concrete jungle. We return to the ship early because we were both sick from the Norwalk we enjoyed ..thanks to the ship!