Noordam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We were looking for a last minute deal either to or from our home port of Vancouver and this came up. We had never cruised Holland America before and thought that this would be a good chance to try it out. Unfortunately, the week before we got notice that our embarkation would be delayed as there had been a Norwalk outbreak. That sort of set the tone as we had 72 hours of heightened precautions followed by 24 hours of normal circumstances and the remainder of the trip on precautions again. Of course the precautions affected the cruise experience, but the worst thing was the lack of staff, preparation and organization of the ship's crew in responding to the unfortunate circumstances. We had done an Alaskan cruise before, so we skipped the excursions this time and tried to focus on the scenery and relaxation. We were rewarded with extraordinarily good weather and what seemed to be unexpectedly good food. Overall, a very good cruise, but HA could have done much better in dealing with the Norwalk. They said that is started and spread from the children and we wondered if Norwalk is more common on ships with lots of children or maybe that outbreaks spread faster...
Ship was well appointed and being well taken care of. Carpets on stairs were being replaced during the cruise. No obvious signs of neglect. Some of the exercise equipment wasn't working perfectly, but that is pretty normal for any fitness facility.
The cabin was one of the nicest we have been in. Larger that expected for the class and in good condition. Lots of storage although strangely, some of the spaces were locked and therefore not usable by passengers.
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom
Likely the best interior cabin we have been in on many cruises. Larger and in good condition. The room was well laid out with lots of room for storage. A couple of strange things though: some drawers were locked (for no apparent reason) and therefore couldn't be used; and the TV couldn't be swivelled to be viewed from the bed. A shower door instead of the curtain would also have been nice. Not that it matters, but the fun towel sculptures were sort of sad, flat and we had to guess at what they were supposed to be.
Port Reviews
Ketchikan
We didn't do excursions because we have cruised this route before. Very nice to walk around the town. Mostly shopping, but the community has made a real effort to provide some historical footnotes around the town. The usual collection of touristy and Alaskan based shopping, but what else would you expect from an Alaskan cruise.
Juneau
We didn't do excursions because we have cruised this route before. We did enjoy walking around and spent a couple of hours in the Alaska State Museum (long walking distance from the pier). The museum give a balanced account of history and contains many artefacts and other historical pieces. Otherwise the shops are typical.
Skagway
We didn't do excursions because we have cruised this route before. Just enjoyed walking through town. Lots of shops along the lines that you would expect, but enjoyable just the same.
Glacier Bay
We were blessed with extraordinary weather and took full advantage of it. The glaciers were calving much, but all the scenery is breathtaking and with clear skies we could see it all. Ran into wildlife in the usual spots...
Vancouver
We live in Vancouver and love it.