February 27 –
March 6, 2005
Holland
America Westerdam
Tim, Anne,
Andrew, and Joshua Larison
by Tim Larison,
CLIA Master Cruise Counsellor (MCC)
My family and I looked forward with great anticipation to
our first Holland America (HAL) cruise on their newest ship – the ms Westerdam!
In preparing for the trip some questions came to mind. As a travel agent I
have read many rave reviews from my clients who I have booked on HAL cruises
in the past – how would Holland America compare to other cruise lines I have
experienced in the last two years (Disney, Carnival, Princess, Royal
Caribbean, NCL, and Crystal)? How would our 11 year old twins like the
children’s program, especially since they had cruised on Disney just three
months before? On this cruise I planned a number of independent shore
excursions instead of booking excursions with HAL – how would that work out?
Below you can read my answers to these questions and more.
The Itinerary
Sat fly into Ft Lauderdale, stay the night at
Comfort Suites
Sun board the Westerdam at 11:30 am, set sail at 5
pm
Mon Half Moon Cay (HAL’s private island)
Tue at sea
Wed Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Thu Grand Cayman
Fri Cozumel
Sat at sea
Sun return to Ft Lauderdale, am
This cruise was attractive to us as we would be visiting
two ports for the first time (Half Moon Cay, Ocho Rios), another port where we
had our shore excursion cancelled on a previous cruise (Cozumel), and a 4th
port we had visited before (Grand Cayman) but planned to do an entirely
different shore excursion this time.
Half Moon Cay
We really enjoyed our day at Half Moon Cay, Holland
America’s private island in the Bahamas. We had only been to one private
island on previous cruises (Disney’s) so we were curious how HAL’s island
would compare to the wonderful times we’ve had at Castaway Cay in the past.
The first difference between these two islands was an
obvious one – at Half Moon Cay passengers took tender boats to the island
rather than docking at the island like at Disney’s. Those of you who are
experienced cruisers know that tendering can be a bit rough and is more of a
hassle than docking at an island. While it would have been nice to dock at
the island, HAL’s tender setup at Half Moon Cay was a good one. The ride to
the island was a little rough, but once at the island the tender boat entered
a calm inner channel where getting off the boat was a smooth operation.
After walking through a shopping area we soon found
ourselves on the beach. We rented a clam shell ($9) that a HAL staff member
setup for us. We liked this shady covering as we were warned it was easy to
get sunburned on the island. For a higher price there were also private
cabanas you could rent that overlooked the beach. These private cabanas
looked very nice (see my pictures to get a view of these) and better than
anything Disney had for relaxing in comfort and style right on the beach.
We found the beach at Half Moon Cay more “real” than the
lagoon like area on Disney’s beach. The HAL beach had real waves gently
rolling over the sand. Our twins said they enjoyed the waves here more than
the calmer Disney beach. There was no separate family beach and adult beach
like at Disney, but our kids said they liked how there were fewer kids around
at the HAL beach so they had more room to play. Half Moon Cay also has a
small water park area for the kids with water slides – we found this area to
be uncrowded during our stay. There are also water sport rentals available.
We rented a beach float ($6) that provided relaxation and fun. There is also
snorkeling gear available to rent.
HAL had a nice barbeque area behind the beach with
plentiful treats like chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, mahi mahi, salads,
and desserts. We liked how the dining area was arranged in several covered
shelters, with green shrubs all around. We thought the barbeque food was very
good.
We did not see the entire island – Anne considered doing
the horseback riding (where you can ride on the back of a swimming horse) but
we were enjoying the tranquil beach setting so much that we decided to spend
our few hours there.
We have always enjoyed Castaway Cay on our past Disney
cruises, and now we have another private island favorite to visit if we take
another HAL cruise in the future. I think Half Moon Cay is a big plus when
comparing HAL’s itinerary to similar sailings from other cruise lines that
don’t have a private island stop (such as Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the
Seas).
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
This was our first visit to Jamaica, and our first
experience at booking an “independent” shore excursion on a Caribbean Cruise.
I had prearranged a private tour guide at Ocho Rios – Orville Taylor at a
price of $55 for our family of four (see Orville’s website
here ).
This turned out to be a really good decision. Our first stop was the famous
Dunn River Falls. With Orville as our guide we were one of the first at the
falls that morning. We decided not to try to climb the falls (we thought this
might be too much for our kids), but we enjoyed the beautiful setting of the
falls and watching others do the climb from the safety of a nearby staircase.
In watching others climb the falls it did seem to be too
much for young children unless they were very comfortable in the water. We
saw a few kids with frightened looks and tears as their parents assisted them
up the falls. We think our kids could handle the climb in another year or
two, but for this trip we were glad we decided to sit the climb out.
To make the climb a Dunn River Falls guide assists you.
There were several interesting stops along the way including a natural water
slide where you were completely submerged in the water. A couple that went
with us had their own guide, while a later ship sponsored shore excursion had
about 20 people and one guide – arriving early with a private tour was the way
to go!! Orville’s tour was much cheaper than the ship sponsored tour, too.
Dunn River Falls had a separate $10/person entrance fee not included in our
tour cost.
After our visit to the Falls we were escorted by Orville
to Fern Gully, a lush green area, and several scenic spots. The couple we
toured with did inner tubing down a stream. We decided to go back to the ship
for lunch as our kids were getting tired. The couple we went with toured for
several more hours including a stop at a Jamaican restaurant for a lunch of
“jerk” chicken and beef.
While we saw lots of poverty in Jamaica, we were struck
by the beauty and greenery of this lush island paradise and the friendly
Jamaicans. We would like to visit again on a future cruise, and perhaps next
time we’ll have the courage to attempt the Dunn River Falls Climb!
Grand Cayman
Anne and I had visited Grand Cayman in November 2002 on a
Disney Cruise (read my trip report
here )
At that time we took an island tour and a semi-submersible sub tour; others
on that cruise with us raved about the Stingray City excursion. So this time
we decided to visit Stingray City!
Like at Ocho Rios, I arranged a private tour to take us
to Stingray City. This was less expensive than the cruise line tour and they
claimed they would get us to the stingrays faster (Moby
Dick tours ). We had a mixed experience with Moby Dick tours. When we
tendered to Grand Cayman we took a bus to where we were to meet our boat for
the Stingray City tour. We waited for 45 MINUTES for the boat to arrive.
Turns out Moby Dick had a problem with one of their boats and they sent a
second boat to take us to the stingrays. Things like this can happen to any
tour operator, but while we were waiting we were told “the boat is only a few
minutes away” and “the boat will be here any minute” when in fact no boat was
nearby.
Once we got on the boat we were whisked away to Stingray
City. The 3 person crew (2 men, 1 woman) did a good job of explaining what to
expect at the sandbar where the stingrays were. When we arrived at stingray
city we found the area full of other boats, so our boat wasn’t able to get too
close. We weren’t comfortable with the boys swimming in 8 to 10 feet of water
to get to the stingrays (or me – I can’t swim!) so Anne alone visited the
stingrays this day. Anne reports the following:
“Swimming with the stingrays was awesome. I would highly
recommend this shore excursion. The tour guide indicated that the make-up of
stingray city had changed after the hurricane last year. Previously he said
they had as many as 150 stingrays in the area. Now, there were far fewer.
The day we were there I saw at least 30 – 40 stingrays.
While still on the boat on our way to Stingray City, one
of the tour guides gave us detailed information about stingrays, including
what to expect, where to touch them and even how to feed them octopus if
desired! They are very gentle creatures and not a threat in any way.
We were provided with snorkeling gear, including an
inflatable vest or life jacket. I had no problem getting over to the sandbar.
There were fairly rough seas that day, so even after getting to the sandbar
where the water was about 4 feet deep, there were rolling waves of a foot or
more. The incredible thing about the stingrays is that they are so use to
being around people that they glide toward you on purpose. They are looking
for food. I had several brush up against me when I wasn’t looking, a little
unnerving when unexpected! I watched people feed them octopus, which was very
cool. People were even gently holding the stingray above the water for
pictures. It was a memorable experience I won’t soon forget.”
After the visit to stingray city Moby Dick tours took us
to a nearby coral reef to do some snorkeling. This was out in the ocean and
much tougher than snorkeling off of a beach, so we sat this one out.
Overall Anne enjoyed the Stingray City tour and the boys
and I enjoyed watching from the boat, but I would be hesitant to book this
tour with Moby Dick again due to the transportation problems they had. I have
heard good reports about
Nativeway tours and I would consider them next time we visit Grand Cayman
for this tour.
Grand Cayman had SIX cruise ships in port the day we
visited. Georgetown was crowded with people, so after our Stingray City
adventure we decided to head back to the ship. The tender boats here
encountered some rough water while heading back to the Westerdam. It looked
like Grand Cayman was building a new cruise dock which will be a welcome
addition to this port in the future. The port seems to have recovered well
from last season’s hurricanes.
Cozumel
We had one very good experience with an independent tour
(Ocho Rios) and one mixed experience (Grand Cayman) so I was curious how our
independent arrangements would work out at Cozumel. Here I planned for us to
take a taxi to Paradise Beach – a “free” beach with a good number of water
toys for the kids and a restaurant on site.
We were extremely pleased with our day at
Paradise
Beach! The taxi ride from the downtown port was only $14 for the 4 of
us. When we arrived we purchased for $5 per person wristbands which allowed
unlimited use of water toys, floats, kayaks, etc. For a $20 deposit you could
also get snorkel equipment and life vests (the $20 was returned when you
returned the equipment). The life vests were great for our 11 year olds as
they are not strong swimmers – the vests gave them extra confidence to venture
further out into the water.
Paradise Beach itself was a beautiful sandy beach with
plenty of lounge chairs, hammocks, and shady areas. In the shallow water the
beach did have more rocks than what we experienced at Half Moon Cay.
The restaurant at Paradise Beach had a good variety of
drinks and inexpensive food options. We loved the chicken nachos, while the
boys enjoyed the steak quesadillas. The waiter service was prompt and
efficient.
Anne reports this about Paradise Beach:
“I would highly recommend Paradise Beach. In addition to
the beautiful surroundings, there was something for every member of the
family. I did enjoy snorkeling and kayaking with the twins and in addition to
all the activity, taking time to relax. To me there is nothing better than
relaxing on a beach float in the ocean with the warm sun on my face. Also
available was a water trampoline and a very large rock climbing iceberg! I’m
a chicken nacho fanatic and theirs were great! The best part of the whole
experience for me was that there was so much to choose from to do, but we
could also kick back, relax and do nothing.”
For a total cost of about $70 for the four of us (taxi
fare, food, drinks, water toy rental) we found a day at Paradise Beach to be
an excellent value.
Overall we enjoyed the ports we visited on this cruise
very much. One nice touch that HAL added was providing free towels when you
left the ship at each port. We really appreciated this since we booked
independent shore excursions at three of the ports.
The Ship – The ms Westerdam
We were attracted to sailing on the newest ship of
Holland America’s Vista Class series – the Westerdam. Surprisingly we found
some areas of the ship to be plain when compared to other cruise lines we have
sailed on. There was a simple atrium area and the Vista Dining room reminded
me in décor of the dining rooms I have seen on older Carnival ships. The
dining rooms of Princess, NCL and Royal Caribbean we have seen were much more
ornate and luxurious.
We booked an inside stateroom, and we found our room to have lots of space.
The stateroom had all sorts of little storage areas so it was no problem
unloading all of our luggage for our family of four in the room. We liked our
deck 6 midship location (room 6071). We had a large king sized bed, a sofa
sleeper that converted to a bed, and a 4th bed that came down from
the ceiling. The ceiling bed came down over half of the king sized bed and
gave the person sleeping on that side of the bed very little head room (you
couldn’t sit up in the bed on that side). There was also a chair in the
corner under the 4th bed that was difficult to use since the 4th
bed was only a foot or two above the chair. There was very little desk space
in the room. Other than the lack of desk space and the clearance level below
the ceiling bed, we were happy with our stateroom.
The ship had two midship glass enclosed elevators on each
side – we found these glass elevators much faster than the other elevators
onboard. It was good to have our stateroom so close to these elevators.
The Westerdam had a very nice Promenade deck (below the
life boats) where you could walk around the ship on a teak deck or lounge in a
comfy reclining chair in the shade while overlooking the ocean. This was a
favorite spot of mine to take an afternoon nap or read a book.
I review other areas of the ship below.
Dining
Vista Dining Room
We found the food in the main two story Vista Dining room
to be very good but not great. Some nights the food was excellent, while
other nights the quality was lacking. On one night, for example, the boys and
I had excellent beef tenderloin, while Anne’s portion was overcooked. We
found the pork dishes to be mediocre.
We did have some very good meals in the dining room,
though. Anne loved her Salmon dish. I thought the New York cheesecake I had
for dessert one night was about the best I have had on a cruise ship. Our
boys enjoyed ordering off the adult menu – the sirloin steak was their
favorite. I thought the rolls offered with dinner each night were excellent,
especially with the ample supply of butter provided.
Overall I rated the dining room food similar to Disney,
Royal Caribbean, and NCL – not quite as consistent or as good in quality as
what I have experienced on my Princess cruises.
The service at dinner was subdued but efficient. We had
the early 5:45 pm seating and our Indonesian serving team was prompt and
courteous. The head waiter would often visit our table and help our boys cut
up their steak. On many nights our boys did not care for the exotic appetizer
choices available, so our servers would bring them iceberg lettuce and
dressing prepared just for them.
We only ate in the Vista Dining Room one time for
breakfast – we did not think the food was any better than what was offered in
the buffet and the choices were more limited. On other cruise lines for
breakfast in the main restaurant they had much more variety in the pastries
offered – on HAL they put a limited number of rolls and pastries in a basket
on the table.
Lido Buffet
We found the Lido Buffet on board to be one of the best
we have experienced on a cruise. One feature we really liked was a pizza
station open until 1 am, and a “cooked to order” pasta station also open until
1 am. I liked the Chinese section of the buffet open from 11:30 to 2:30 pm
for lunch most days. The buffet also had a dessert station open until 1 am.
We found ourselves eating lunch here almost every day of the cruise – the
selection and quality of the food was very good. Nearby in the pool area the
Terrace Grill offered very good grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, and
nachos. Our son Josh would get a hamburger here every day and loved it – Anne
liked the nachos.
The buffet was also an excellent choice for breakfast. I
liked the cooked to order omelet station, and another cooked to order
scrambled eggs station. So often in breakfast buffets I find mediocre
scrambled eggs on the buffet line made hours before – here the cooked to order
scrambled eggs were excellent. There was also a wide variety of juices,
breakfast meats, and pastries available. After eating in the main restaurant
one day for breakfast and not being overly impressed, we ate breakfast at the
buffet for the rest of the cruise.
For dessert I thought HAL could have a better quality of
ice cream available at the buffet – I don’t know what brand they had but it
wasn’t as good as Haagen Daaz or Dreyer’s like I have had on other cruises.
After being disappointed with the ice cream a couple of times, I stuck to
order soft serve frozen yogurt from the buffet which was very good.
Pinnacle Grill at the Odyssey Restaurant
The specialty restaurant onboard, the Pinnacle Grill,
featured the best food onboard. We had a superb meal here. Anne had a very
tasty rib eye steak and I had an excellent chicken marsala dish. I am not a
big steak eater but even I was impressed with the taste of Anne’s entrée. The
chocolate dessert we had here was even better than what I had at Disney’s
Palo.
The Pinnacle charges $10 per person for the first night,
and $20 per person thereafter, so dining here on the first night is a good
deal. I would rate the Pinnacle Grill as among the best specialty restaurants
I have eaten at on a cruise.
Kids Club
While the Westerdam’s Club HAL did not have as many bells
and whistles as Disney’s kids club, our boys liked the HAL club better!
Like on our Princess cruise two years ago, the boys liked being in a smaller
group of kids when compared to Disney. They found it easier to make friends
and be more involved in the activities. The kids club staff had a good
program mixed with group activities and video game time. We could not keep
our kids away from the club! They wanted to attend every session.
The hours of the club are more limited when compared to
Disney. On “at sea” days the club was open from 9 to noon, 2 to 5 pm, and 8
pm to 10 pm. On “port” days they club was open from 8 to 10 pm at night, and
available during the day (9 to 5 pm) if you had signed up the day before. The
8 to 10 pm nighttime hours worked out extremely well for us but ONLY because
we had the early dinner 5:45 pm seating. Anne and I were able to go to the
8:30 pm show each night while our kids were having fun in the club. Had we
had the 8 or 8:30 pm seating we would have either missed the show each night
(the late show was at 10:30 pm) or pay for “after hours” time in the kids club
($5 per child per hour).
For a family cruise I still rate Disney as the best, but
families who have cruised on Disney several times and looking for a different
experience I think will be happy with the quality of HAL’s children programs
and the friendly treatment the kids get onboard.
Entertainment
The nighttime shows in the Vista Lounge generally were
excellent and exceeded our expectations. The male and female lead singers
were better than what we have heard in cruise line shows in the past. The
best show of the week was a song and dance tribute to Broadway with several
memorable songs, including a rousing “river dance” number with Irish dancing.
We also enjoyed the magic show of Leo Ward one night.
Leo also was the comedian on the first night.
The Vista Lounge was much smaller than the main show
theatres I have seen on other ships. This allowed the audience to be close to
the stage – there really wasn’t a bad seat in the house. Our favorite spot
was the top row of the balcony, where we could see the performance just fine
and exit quickly after the show.
Since our kids got out of the childrens program at 10 pm
each night we did not attend any of the late night entertainment. There was
dancing available in the Northern Lights night club, a late night comedian,
and on most nights a late night movie. If none of these options interested
you the casino was open until the wee hours of the morning.
I had heard that HAL featured educational lectures on
some of their cruises – this cruise had no adult learning opportunities other
than a cooking demonstration one day. Anne and I enjoyed participating in the
afternoon team trivia contest on most days of the cruise. This was a fun way
to meet other passengers. We usually do pretty well at trivia but this
sailing had the best trivia players I have seen on a cruise! We did not win
anything but had fun.
Recreation
The Westerdam had a basketball court and a mini-tennis
court on the top deck. A sophisticated golf simulator was available where you
could play 18 holes on some of the classic courses of the world for an extra
fee. The main pool area had a retractable roof – a feature I have seen and
liked on a few Princess ships. While the pool area was crowded during the day
from about 6 to 9 pm you could swim or relax in one of the hot tubs with very
few other guests around.
The only activity we participated in was ping pong next
to the pool. The Westerdam had two ping pong tables that were usually
available.
Life onboard
We were surprised that the Westerdam had a good age mix
among its passengers. I had heard that HAL tended to draw an older crowd, but
this week we saw many young adults and families. I thought the average age of
the passengers was no different than what I have seen on other main stream
cruise lines we have sailed on (Princess, Royal Caribbean, NCL) with Disney of
course having more kids.
Arrival and Embarkation:
We stayed at the Comfort Suites Ft Lauderdale on Davey
Road. The Comfort Suites were clean and provided a free shuttle from the
airport and to the port the next morning. The Comfort Suites also featured a
modest free breakfast buffet. I have seen bigger “free” buffets at other
suite properties (like AmeriSuites) but this buffet was fine to hold us over
until we got on the ship around 11:30 am.
Embarkation was quick and easy with Holland America. We
arrived shortly before 11 am and we were on the ship by 11:30 am. There was a
delay in getting the staterooms ready - we were able to get into our cabin at
2 pm. We appreciated the opportunity to board early so the stateroom delay
was not a big deal – we spent the time exploring the ship.
Disembarkation:
At the end of our cruise we docked at Ft Lauderdale at 7
am, and we were off the ship by 10 am. Getting off the ship took some time –
we were put in a “color” group and waited until our color and # was called
before we could depart. One nice feature of a Holland America cruise, though,
is that you can wait for your group to be called in the comfort of your own
stateroom. No need to wait in a lounge or common area of the ship. We passed
the time watching tv in our stateroom.
Once off the ship getting through customs and claiming
our luggage was a breeze. We decided not to buy airport transfers from HAL at
$12/person because we thought we could get a taxi for much cheaper. This
turned out to be a wise decision, as we met an airport transfer service
outside the cruise terminal that only charged $18 for our family of four. The
Ft Lauderdale airport is very close to the cruise terminal (about a 10 minute
drive).
The Ft Lauderdale airport was extremely crowded. The
Southwest Airlines line was huge. Fortunately we flew on a smaller airline
(Frontier) to return to Denver so our checkin was relatively painless. If you
are flying on one of the major carriers after your Ft Lauderdale based cruise
I suggest allowing plenty of time to get to the airport and get checked in, or
consider staying an extra day or two and fly out early in the week where the
cruise ship passenger traffic is less.
Summary
Based on this cruise, I would rank Holland America as
similar to Princess as a quality “mainstream” cruise line. We thought HAL
was a step below Crystal – a luxury line we had sailed on in December.
The positives far outweigh the negatives on this sailing
but here is a list of some things that could have been better on the cruise:
The ship isn’t very “flashy” – I have seen more luxurious
surroundings on other lines. The ship’s decorations didn’t “wow” us.
Inconsistent quality in the main dining room – food could
have been better on some nights. The pork dishes, in particular, were not
that good.
Mediocre ice cream in the buffet and at meals – HAL
should spend a little more to stock the dining rooms and buffet with the
quality ice cream. The soft serve yogurt was a good alternative, though.
The shore excursion mixup at Grand Cayman – our delay to
get to the Stingrays could have been avoided with better planning by the
private tour operator (unaffiliated with HAL – the ship sponsored excursion
went much smoother).
More educational options in the afternoon – more lectures
or cooking demonstrations could have been offered. I have seen more
“enrichment” programs on other cruise lines – this cruise didn’t really have
any.
More movies – the ship’s lounge where movies were shown
was nice, but the movies were often only shown in the evening in conflict with
the evening shows. More movies could have been offered in the late morning or
afternoon.
Ten things I liked best about this cruise:
Half Moon Cay – a great private island with lots of shore
excursion options available. Enjoying the private beach was a wonderful way
to spend the day here for us.
Pinnacle Grill – One of the best “specialty” restaurants
I have eaten at on any cruise.
Big stateroom – our inexpensive inside stateroom was good
sized with efficient storage.
Stateroom attendants – quiet, efficient, courteous. Our
room was always made up when we were doing other things.
Main dining room very “kid” friendly – the head waiter
went out of his way to talk to our kids each night, and allowing the kids to
order from the adult menu was a special treat for them.
Excellent childrens club – well monitored and the kids
had plenty of fun activities to participate in.
Very good entertainment – Excellent shows most nights in
a theatre (the Vista Lounge) that allowed you to be very close to the stage
from any seat.
Diverse ports of call – in addition to Half Moon Cay the
ports of Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel were each very different and
each had their own unique features
Excellent buffet – good option for quick breakfasts and
lunches with lots of choices, and we liked how it stayed open late for snacks.
Time alone with the family – this was our first 7 day
“family” cruise in two years. I believe cruising is a great family vacation
and this cruise was no different. My son Josh said on the last night “I wish
this cruise would never end.” Kids grow up so fast and our daily lives get so
busy – it was nice to take a week off to have fun as a family.
Tim Larison
