Westerdam Review
4.5 / 5.0
BrownEyez66
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s
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Additional details
Sail Date: Jan 2016
Cabin: Large Outside Stateroom (fully obstructed views)
I have to say it was my first cruise and the ship was beautiful and clean. The room was supposed to be partially obstructed, however it was fully obstructed, unless they count the sky as partially obstructed.
The staff was awesome! Our room stayed cleaned the entire trip, as I said, it was an awesome staff. Now, the food was okay, more bland than I would like. The portions for scallop appetizer were shamefully small. The food portions were also small, but it also depended on what you ordered. The desserts were okay, but not something you want to have more of, or want in the middle of the night, just because you were thinking about it. They did have a Windows 10 person on board to provide training for windows 10, which was excellent! (I know why? I used my days at sea to learn about my new computer, and I sunburn easily, so I found things to do inside.) The instructor was awesome! Bring a flash drive, so you can have a copy of his training.
The entertainment was good, but our trip was charted so we used different entertainment in various areas. (our own DJ, Comedians, and Singer (Patti Labelle, and Ruthie Foster) Now what I didn't like: The staff seemed to only want to use the room key card. I purchased a soda gift card and another for other beverages, I had the room key card and beverage card on a lanyard, and when I wanted a drink I always stated I want to put on gift cards, however they always reflexively used the was room key card. It was annoying to have to go to the front desk and have them remove the charge from room to the gift card. I also felt the massage was entirely to expensive! It was okay, but not worth the cost per person.
Cabin Review
Large Outside Stateroom (fully obstructed views)
Cabin H
Port Reviews
Grand Turk
This was a nice port, however, the water at the beach as soon as you leave the ship was very rocky. It also had many drops within the rocks where you could mess up your ankle. Margaretville was the only restaurant at the entrance and it remained crowded. It is on a beach and has lounge chairs. There is wait service on the beach, however expect a long wait. You will do better going to restaurant and getting it your self. They had a wide range of alcohol and beer to include Guinness Stout. They had pool games, but they were targeted to young adults. The store which you enter and leave through had great prices on alcohol (half price compared to the US) Ship was close enough, so I was able to go have lunch on ship and return to the beach without having to spend any money.
San Juan
We had time to enjoy the video that was very informative and had time to take pictures of the waterfalls and castle. About 90 steps up to the top of castle. There was no rain or mist in the rainforest (go figure?) Great trip. Didn't get a chance to eat the great food during this trip, but next time I hope. Lots of people returned with great food stories.
St. Thomas
We purchased a drive tour with a guide who showed us the ship ports, beach views, and some of the local places where islanders live. He then took us to Secret Harbor, a private beach. There was a bar/grille on the beach and a store that rented lounge chairs $5 and umbrellas. The food at the bar/grille was inexpensive and delicious. They had a hot sweet mango sauce if you are into hot sauces that was extremely hot and apparently delicious for $20 that we purchased. Also, at Secret Harbor is a Hotel that have lounge chairs for their hotel guests for free. I say this, because the chairs are monitored by the hotel staff. The beach is very clean, the waters barely have any rocks and you will see many school of fish swimming next to you. The water is very, very calm. The beach was quiet. You could sleep on the beach with no interruptions.
Half Moon Cay
The beach is private to Carnival and Holland America cruise lines. The water was calm and the water had minimal rocks. The beach was clean and the food provided by the cruise ship was delicious. Loved that we were the only ones on the beach. The shops and the bars did not take any money, only your room key for purchases. There were about 3 bars and 7 stores. There were many activities to do on the beach. The activities were roped off so the waves were very calm in the swimming area.
4 Helpful Votes
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