We chose this cruise since we enjoy transatlantic cruising. We wanted to experience Holland America and it was a good value. The embarkation was the quickest we had ever experienced. The staff was friendly and appeared happy. Food selections were varied. We did not choose to go to the add on restaurants. My spouse attended the America Test Kitchen classes. It was great to have a Catholic ...
We booked this cruise just 2 weeks prior to sailing because the price was great. We enjoyed the ports, but had been to all of them multiple times.
• Ship information
o The ship was is in great shape, everything worked and all public areas were kept very clean. There are plenty of places for quiet alone time and small group board games.
• Activities
o I loved the Americas Test ...
My wife and I have wanted to do a cruise for sometime. The ports of call were mostly what we wanted to do so picked this cruise.
Liked most of the shore tours but would do less full day tours and spend more around the towns visited. Overall really enjoyed the experience.
As we wanted to have a fine dining experience went to Pinnacle and Pop up 3 star dining, food was great. However, was ...
The ports were of interest, lots of historical interest. 10 out of the 12 days were port days, I could have stood another day or two at sea as we were very busy.
We loved the Lincoln Center and BB Kings, the main stage shows were OK but really not our thing. We ate every night in the dining room and they allowed me to order my meal the night before as I am celiac which was a huge bonus. They ...
This was our eighth cruise with Holland America and our second on a Vista Class ship. By far, the Westerdam is at the top of our list and we would sail on this ship again.
The ship recently came out of dry dock and all the common areas have been nicely refurbished. We do, however, miss the library and hope that Holland will find a way to incorporate that feature in the future.
Our shipboard ...
We are a married couple, who has sailed with several different cruise lines the last 17 years, also on many Transatlantic cruises. But, this was only our second cruise with HAL.
Pre-cruise: We stayed two nights before the cruise at the InterContinental Hotel, near Bayfront Park, in Miami. A really excellent hotel!
The hotel’s Concerige booked a private shuttle for us to a favourable price ...
I enjoyed my first TA cruise a great deal. The service was exceptional, there were plenty of activities to keep you busy on the days at sea - and the price was fabulous. We booked 10 days before sailing. While the pizza on the lido was horrendous, the dining room cuisine was terrific, as was the lido's bread pudding.
Anthony Cooke was a particularly good speaker and I went to as many of his ...
My mother and I had often discussed how we would visit the Greek Isles together... sometime. As she started to get a little older and a little less healthy, I decided we should hurry up and act on all the daydreaming. However, when I did more research on traveling to Greece and thought more practically about my mom's limited ability to lug suitcases around ports and on and off trains, small ...
The laundry is piled up and gradually working through the machines. Just returned home yesterday after 18 days at sea, boarding in Rome, Italy and disembarking in Fort Lauderdale. Eight port cities, some surprises, and seven lovely days at sea on the HAL Westerdam.
We traveled with another couple whose cruising experience was limited to a couple FL/Bahamas excursions. It was interesting ...
Sailing out of Athens is not my favorite port, and true to form the baggage handlers broke the strap on my new suitcase. HAL was really good about it and tried to fix it but could not.
Embark was smooth, but with no Mariner´s lunch featured nor any express lines for suites or 4star Mariners.
The Westerdam is in great shape and one of HAL´s most attractive ships. The crew were excellent as ...