Noordam Review

First Visit to Alaska

Review for Alaska Cruise on Noordam
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3K9night
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jun 2017

We don’t generally plan our vacations way in advance, and this was no exception. We started looking at our options around February. We were looking at Mediterranean &/or Greek Island Cruises, Canary Island cruises or a return trip to Hawaii. Not sure why we threw Alaska into the mix, but everything we’d ever heard from people who’d been there was how great a trip it was. We finally settled on this cruise, which we booked about six weeks before the sailing date. Our first cruise on HAL was last September aboard the Rotterdam from Boston to Montreal, which we enjoyed immensely, so we did not hesitate to book another cruise on this line.

Maybe it’s because the Rotterdam is a smaller ship, or maybe it’s because it was a less busy cruise, but we weren’t as pleased with the Noordam as we were with the Rotterdam. That is not to say, we didn’t enjoy the trip. It was fabulous! It’s just that the ship didn’t quite meet our expectations. The ship itself is lovely, in good condition, and the crew and staff were very friendly. The Captain was great – we enjoyed listening to his instructions and commentary over the loud speakers.

Our biggest complaint is with the dining experience. Food in the main dining room was just okay. Pretty much the only meat choice at dinner was beef, which we don’t eat, so we ate a lot of fish. Mostly it was tasty, but it tended to be dry – probably overcooked. Except for the freshly made omelets for breakfast, food in the Lido was no better than a cafeteria. We ordered room service for breakfast twice – this wasn’t bad – it was delivered timely and was hot and fresh. Since we were celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary on this trip we splurged on dinner at the Pinnacle Grill one evening. It was much better than the dining room, but we wouldn’t give it a five star rating as we would some other specialty restaurants on, say, Celebrity. Our biggest issue with dining was the service in the main dining room and especially in the Lido. The waiters and staff were friendly enough, but service was poor, as both venues were definitely understaffed. We blame this on HAL management. Perhaps after 14 cruises we’ve just become a little fussier and more critical.

Cabin Review

We chose the guaranteed cabin option when booking to keep our cost down. We generally choose an inside cabin for this reason and have never had an issue. This was no exception. The cabin was fine for us: the bed was comfortable; the bathroom was a typical cruise ship bathroom – small but adequate with decent plumbing and good lighting; storage was more than adequate. And after three nights in the land of midnight sun in hotels where the curtains didn’t adequately block the daylight, I was very happy to spend nights in the dark! The cabin steward did a good job of keeping the room clean and tidy, she responded promptly to any request we made and she remembered that we preferred the dark chocolates after we told her this on the first evening. The only complaint about the cabin was it had an odd layout – square footage was normal, but the three closets were in a corner next to the bathroom, making it impossible for two people to utilize the space at the same time without doing an intricate dance – and we are not good dancers! Overall, though, no complaints about the cabin.

Port Reviews

Seward

We arrived in Seward around 3:00 by coach from Anchorage. Since the ship wasn't setting sail until 8:00 we took the free shuttle into town to look around, take some photos and buy a couple bottles of wine. It seemed like an interesting town, but we only walked around for a couple of hours before heading back to the ship. It looked like a nice place to spend some relaxing time camping or picnicking on the shore. It also looked like a fisherman's paradise.

Glacier Bay

Cruising through Glacier Bay National Park was an amazing experience - one I will not soon forget. First we headed to the theater where a Park Ranger gave a presentation on the Wonders of Glacier Bay. She was a good speaker, and her presentation was interesting and informative. Next a Huna Cultural Interpreter gave a presentation on the Native Voices of Glacier Bay. She was dressed in native regalia, sang songs of her people in their native tongue and told us her story as well as the story of her people. It was a very moving presentation. After that we went to the outer decks to enjoy the scenery and look for wildlife. It was quite chilly, so we wrapped ourselves in multiple layers. It was a bit overcast, but we were able to see the mountains, the shore and the glaciers quite well, probably better than we would on a bright sunny day. As we cruised along, the Park Rangers and the Captain told us where we were and what to look out for. When wildlife was spotted we were directed to the location, and the Captain even turned the ship around when a couple of moose were spotted to give everyone a chance to see, though they were tiny even when looking through binoculars. Some mountain goats were spotted, though we did not see them. We did however see the sea lion mamas and their pups in a rookery as we were leaving the bay. It's certainly one of the most beautiful cruising experiences I've had, and I would recommend it to all who love the beauty and serenity of nature.

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