First time on Noordam. Have cruised in the past on the New Amsterdam and enjoyed it greatly. Our main complaint here was that dining arrangements through out the ship were poor. In the main dining room tables for eight or 10 prevailed. If wanted a table for 2 they were normally placed in high traffic areas and often required a wait. The one time we agreed to sit with others, we had to summon the pastry server because he had been to our table before we arrived. We were never offered juice. The staff was generally inattentive and often we didn't know who our main waiter was. A lunch one day my wife ordered a salad as a starter and I ordered a sandwich as my main. I had to watch my wife eat her salad and then she watched me eat my sandwich. Very odd. A particular Maitré Di was particularly unhelpful.

We ended up leaving The Pinnacle Dining room on our one visit after waiting for 10 minutes after our plates were cleared and not being offered dessert.

The Lido was a seating disaster with most tables set for six or four and the few tables for two in high traffic areas. The 6 and 4 person tables quickly filled up with parties of 2 leaving many people searching for a table despite the fact that there were many unoccupied seats at occupied tables. If you wanted wine or a drink with dinner, you had to bring it yourself because service was sparse. I saw several people clearing tables to find a spot. Read more