This was the Westerdam North American inaugural cruise. It was a cruise with Mr. Kruse, the president of Holland America. It was a preview of the new enhancements on Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island. The passengers were provided with lovely gifts to commemorate this sailing. There was a Royal Goedewaagen Plate, two miniature tiles with magnets, 2 suede luggage tags and a lovely hard covered Westerdam book.

We usually do not go on 3-day cruises but since I received the promotional e-mail on this cruise and managed to get a real deal airfare from Chicago we booked the trip. We also were interested in seeing the Vista Class ship. We usually prefer smaller crowds but I figured a 3-day cruise was the time to try out the new Westerdam. We extended this weekend by arriving early and staying at the Renaissance Hotel. This hotel was my first attempt with Priceline and it turned out wonderful.

We took the 11 a.m. shuttle from the hotel and arrived at embarkation before 11:30. There were no lines and check in was a breeze. There was a short wait in the upstairs waiting area. When we boarded the ship we were quite surprised to see that lunch was not being served in the Lido. There was really only a short delay explained to us later that health inspections were being done. The ship rated a 100%!! Good job! Read more