Noordam Review

3.5 / 5.0
829 reviews

Well Done, Holland America!

Review for Alaska Cruise on Noordam
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GradUT
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: May 2017

We booked this cruise for May 21 - 28 in order to take advantage of the drier weather (May is the least rainy month in these ports) and to avoid large numbers of children since school is still in session during the last week of May. We were successful on both accounts--we only had a bit of light rain in Ketchikan and I saw no more than 10 children on the ship. This was our 3rd HAL cruise and our 13th cruise overall.

Cabin--We had a balcony cabin on the port side. The only time we were able to comfortably sit on the balcony was on the day we departed Vancouver. Even with the warm blankets supplied in our cabins, it was just too cold and windy on the balcony. That was a real shame and I would probably think twice about paying for a balcony on an Alaska cruise. There are just so many other places on board you can watch the scenery. The room was spacious; the bed was comfortable; the steward was efficient.

Dining--On our last HAL cruise (the Baltics), we were disappointed in the food in the MDR. There weren't a lot of choices and the food was lackluster. I thought the food in the MDR was very good on the Noordam. I could always find something that appealed to me and it well prepared. My spouse raved about the prime rib, which was served twice on our 7-day cruise. We ate our breakfasts in the MDR as well and that was the only place where I had a poor meal. The Belgian waffle was hard and cold. The waiter seemed genuinely grieved when I said the food was cold and offered to bring me another, but I was done. I did fine with fruit and cereal instead of the cooked breakfasts. I absolutely loved the real ice cream bar in the Lido. It was a treat for me to have a scoop of ice cream slathered in syrup and Butterfinger bits for dessert each afternoon. And the Dive In burgers, hot dogs and fries were out-of-this-world.

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