Westerdam transatlantic cruise

We just came off this cruise last Sunday and have mixed feelings about
the ship and staff. If you're planning on taking this ship and want
some personal opinions about it get in touch with me. To summarize:
the facilities are excellent, including large cabins and bathrooms. The
staffing of the hotel services is o.k., but nothing to rave over; the
food (for a vegetarian) is poor to say the least. Limited selection,
lack of taste, shortage of fruit at the end of voyage. But clearly the
least organized staff on the ship deals with the non-tour port
arrangements. The ship is huge and often docks at the industrial
sections of the ports, requiring shuttle service to the cities. The
ship staff took no responsibility for these shuttle services.
Passengers frequently waited over an hour in line for a lift back to the
ship. In one instance we boarded a parked bus in town and had to wait
until the driver finished his lunch hour - and no rep from the ship
was around. Their concern was only with the paid tours. But my view
was that the ship has some responsibility for non-tour passengers,
especially if it is going to dock at remote industrial berths.
I think the same staff ran the Walk for the Cure benefit sponsored by
HAL. On our prior cruise on the Maasdam earlier this summer the
captain, the cruise director and all the officers promoted this
charitable event. The Maasdam captain even did the 5K walk. On the
Westerdam, there was only a note stuck in our cabin mailbox the night
before and no other promotion. The resulting number of participants
reflected this the next day.
One bright spot on the ship was the Pinnacle restaurant. I'm not a
vegetarian (my wife is) and I had the best filet I've had in years that
evening. Good food, good service, pleasant maitr'd. Made me think I was
back on the Maasdam
E.K.

On 10/26/2007 12:13 PM Bev Klein plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger
and said:
We just came off this cruise last Sunday and have mixed feelings about
the ship and staff. If you're planning on taking this ship and want
some personal opinions about it get in touch with me. To summarize:
the facilities are excellent, including large cabins and bathrooms.
The staffing of the hotel services is o.k., but nothing to rave over;
the food (for a vegetarian) is poor to say the least. Limited
selection, lack of taste, shortage of fruit at the end of voyage.
But clearly the least organized staff on the ship deals with the
non-tour port arrangements. The ship is huge and often docks at the
industrial sections of the ports, requiring shuttle service to the
cities. The ship staff took no responsibility for these shuttle
services. Passengers frequently waited over an hour in line for a lift
back to the ship. In one instance we boarded a parked bus in town and
had to wait until the driver finished his lunch hour - and no rep
from the ship was around. Their concern was only with the paid
tours. But my view was that the ship has some responsibility for
non-tour passengers, especially if it is going to dock at remote
industrial berths.
I think the same staff ran the Walk for the Cure benefit sponsored
by HAL. On our prior cruise on the Maasdam earlier this summer the
captain, the cruise director and all the officers promoted this
charitable event. The Maasdam captain even did the 5K walk. On the
Westerdam, there was only a note stuck in our cabin mailbox the night
before and no other promotion. The resulting number of participants
reflected this the next day.
One bright spot on the ship was the Pinnacle restaurant. I'm not a
vegetarian (my wife is) and I had the best filet I've had in years
that evening. Good food, good service, pleasant maitr'd. Made me
think I was back on the Maasdam
E.K.
I'm curious. Have you found better vegiterian dining options on other
cruise lines. My thinking is not, but I could be wrong. It's still
thought of as an alternative, counter culture sort of thing. As such it
hasn't found its way into mass market cruise lines.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Hi, EK and Bev,

I hope your trip was good in spite of the few criticisms you had of HAL's
performance. Gotta love those east-west crossings.

Next time you take a European cruise, please ask questions here and on
Cruise Critic the best arrangements for doing the ports independently.
You will get lots of good advice, and as you learned, you need to do your
homework, because the cruise lines don't take much responsibility for their
independent travelers. HAL is probably the least likely to beef up its
operations in that regard because a high percentage of HAL passengers
utilize cruise-sponsored tours. When we did the Baltics with HAL, there were
a couple of ports where they didn't even provide a shuttle. On the other
hand, when we did Celebrity in the Med, they had a concierge who was
available to help with independent port touring plans, and he was busy. We
made a point to praise that service on our comment cards. I think it is
savvy from a business standpoint for the cruise lines to figure out how they
can provide more support for their clients who prefer to explore
independently.

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

Brian K wrote:
On 10/26/2007 12:13 PM Bev Klein plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger
and said:

We just came off this cruise last Sunday and have mixed feelings about
the ship and staff. If you're planning on taking this ship and want
some personal opinions about it get in touch with me. To summarize:
the facilities are excellent, including large cabins and bathrooms.
The staffing of the hotel services is o.k., but nothing to rave over;
the food (for a vegetarian) is poor to say the least. Limited
selection, lack of taste, shortage of fruit at the end of voyage.
But clearly the least organized staff on the ship deals with the
non-tour port arrangements. The ship is huge and often docks at the
industrial sections of the ports, requiring shuttle service to the
cities. The ship staff took no responsibility for these shuttle
services. Passengers frequently waited over an hour in line for a lift
back to the ship. In one instance we boarded a parked bus in town and
had to wait until the driver finished his lunch hour - and no rep
from the ship was around. Their concern was only with the paid
tours. But my view was that the ship has some responsibility for
non-tour passengers, especially if it is going to dock at remote
industrial berths.
I think the same staff ran the Walk for the Cure benefit sponsored
by HAL. On our prior cruise on the Maasdam earlier this summer the
captain, the cruise director and all the officers promoted this
charitable event. The Maasdam captain even did the 5K walk. On the
Westerdam, there was only a note stuck in our cabin mailbox the night
before and no other promotion. The resulting number of participants
reflected this the next day.
One bright spot on the ship was the Pinnacle restaurant. I'm not a
vegetarian (my wife is) and I had the best filet I've had in years
that evening. Good food, good service, pleasant maitr'd. Made me
think I was back on the Maasdam
E.K.

I'm curious. Have you found better vegiterian dining options on other
cruise lines. My thinking is not, but I could be wrong. It's still
thought of as an alternative, counter culture sort of thing. As such it
hasn't found its way into mass market cruise lines.

We had much better luck the last two times we sailed on the Raddison
Navigator, but you're correct, the Maasdam veggie food was only
marginally better.

" But clearly the
least organized staff on the ship deals with the non-tour port
arrangements. The ship is huge and often docks at the industrial sections
of the ports, requiring shuttle service to the cities. The ship staff
took no responsibility for these shuttle services. Passengers frequently
waited over an hour in line for a lift back to the ship. In one instance
we boarded a parked bus in town and had to wait until the driver finished
his lunch hour - and no rep from the ship was around.

The shuttles are usually provided by the local bus line, government, chamber
of commerce or what ever. They have their rules about things like lunch
hours etc And in some countries things like lunch hour and coffee break hold
more weight than religion. I don't think HAL has much control over them. As
an example we were in France some years back, and the restaurant service was
good - but the waiters got to you in their time - not an instaneous race to
your table when you indicated you wanted something. There's a different set
of priorities. HAL can't change cultures. Once you go outside of the HAL
tours - you're in that countries culture. There's a basic trade-off here -
The HAL tour that HAL has control of - or the locals which are usualy
cheaper - but run by their standards. When we were in the Baltic, HAL made a
poiunt of the fact they had the Air tour providers facilities and aircraft
inspected prior to offering the tours. One of the locally chatered flights
crashed due to poor Russian oversight that year. There was a similar case
with an indepent bus tour experiencing equipment failure and going over a
cliff. Bottom line is - you buy from HAL they provide good service - you
save by buying from someone else - good luck, it's not HAL's responsibility
to make sure the whole world services your needs.


Their concern was only with the paid tours. But my view
was that the ship has some responsibility for non-tour passengers,
especially if it is going to dock at remote industrial berths.

HAl charges for the paid tours - and part of that goes to supervision and
quality control. One of the reasons the cheaper tours are cheaper is - they
are cheaper. If HAL did inforce better sranards on some - guaranteed a new
layer of cheaper operators would show up. HAL doesn;t run these countries.
You find a cheap way to get around HAL's standards and prices - and you get
around them both

I think the same staff ran the Walk for the Cure benefit sponsored by HAL.
On our prior cruise on the Maasdam earlier this summer the captain, the
cruise director and all the officers promoted this charitable event.

The crews first responsibility is runnig the ship. Although we believe this
is one of the more worthwhile charities Pushing a particular charity at the
expense of running the ship is poor judgement. If you really want to get on
this - ask why so much is spent on curing aids which can be avoided by
precauitions that the victums don't take - while we need walk for the cure
toget funding.

Val Kraut wrote:
" But clearly the

least organized staff on the ship deals with the non-tour port
arrangements. The ship is huge and often docks at the industrial sections
of the ports, requiring shuttle service to the cities. The ship staff
took no responsibility for these shuttle services. Passengers frequently
waited over an hour in line for a lift back to the ship. In one instance
we boarded a parked bus in town and had to wait until the driver finished
his lunch hour - and no rep from the ship was around.


The shuttles are usually provided by the local bus line, government, chamber
of commerce or what ever. They have their rules about things like lunch
hours etc And in some countries things like lunch hour and coffee break hold
more weight than religion. I don't think HAL has much control over them. As
an example we were in France some years back, and the restaurant service was
good - but the waiters got to you in their time - not an instaneous race to
your table when you indicated you wanted something. There's a different set
of priorities. HAL can't change cultures. Once you go outside of the HAL
tours - you're in that countries culture. There's a basic trade-off here -
The HAL tour that HAL has control of - or the locals which are usualy
cheaper - but run by their standards. When we were in the Baltic, HAL made a
poiunt of the fact they had the Air tour providers facilities and aircraft
inspected prior to offering the tours. One of the locally chatered flights
crashed due to poor Russian oversight that year. There was a similar case
with an indepent bus tour experiencing equipment failure and going over a
cliff. Bottom line is - you buy from HAL they provide good service - you
save by buying from someone else - good luck, it's not HAL's responsibility
to make sure the whole world services your needs.


Their concern was only with the paid tours. But my view

was that the ship has some responsibility for non-tour passengers,
especially if it is going to dock at remote industrial berths.


HAl charges for the paid tours - and part of that goes to supervision and
quality control. One of the reasons the cheaper tours are cheaper is - they
are cheaper. If HAL did inforce better sranards on some - guaranteed a new
layer of cheaper operators would show up. HAL doesn;t run these countries.
You find a cheap way to get around HAL's standards and prices - and you get
around them both


I think the same staff ran the Walk for the Cure benefit sponsored by HAL.
On our prior cruise on the Maasdam earlier this summer the captain, the
cruise director and all the officers promoted this charitable event.


The crews first responsibility is runnig the ship. Although we believe this
is one of the more worthwhile charities Pushing a particular charity at the
expense of running the ship is poor judgement. If you really want to get on
this - ask why so much is spent on curing aids which can be avoided by
precauitions that the victums don't take - while we need walk for the cure
toget funding.



There were about 1900 passengers onnthe ship and the tour capacities
regardless of cost - were about 600, so a great many people had to rely
on self-help to see the cities, or else spend the day on the ship.
When HAL ships dock in the boonies I think they have some responsibility
for those other 1300 passengers to have a chance to see the sights. If
nothing else, they could have a staff member at each end of the shuttle
line to help organize the crowds that formed and to provide some help
with the infirm. They did nothinbg and I think that's bad service as
well as poor public relations. E.K.

Diana Ball wrote:
Hi, EK and Bev,

I hope your trip was good in spite of the few criticisms you had of
HAL's performance. Gotta love those east-west crossings.

Next time you take a European cruise, please ask questions here and on
Cruise Critic the best arrangements for doing the ports
independently. You will get lots of good advice, and as you learned, you
need to do your homework, because the cruise lines don't take much
responsibility for their independent travelers. HAL is probably the
least likely to beef up its operations in that regard because a high
percentage of HAL passengers utilize cruise-sponsored tours. When we did
the Baltics with HAL, there were a couple of ports where they didn't
even provide a shuttle. On the other hand, when we did Celebrity in the
Med, they had a concierge who was available to help with independent
port touring plans, and he was busy. We made a point to praise that
service on our comment cards. I think it is savvy from a business
standpoint for the cruise lines to figure out how they can provide more
support for their clients who prefer to explore independently.

Diana Ball
Austin, TX


That's very interesting to know Diana! I do think of HAL as a good
cruise when it's "destination oriented" (aka, I wouldn't take them in
the Caribbean again...) but your comments give me some pause! Because I
definitely am an independent wanderer!

Jeff

" There were about 1900 passengers onnthe ship and the tour capacities
regardless of cost - were about 600, so a great many people had to rely on
self-help to see the cities, or else spend the day on the ship. When HAL
ships dock in the boonies I think they have some responsibility for those
other 1300 passengers to have a chance to see the sights. If nothing
else, they could have a staff member at each end of the shuttle line to
help organize the crowds that formed and to provide some help with the
infirm. They did nothinbg and I think that's bad service as well as poor
public relations. E.K.

This is a totally different story than one would get form the original post,
and one that has kept us off the larger ships - two ships with 2,000
passengers each pull into port and the local town has 1,300 inhabitants.
Kind of like the D-Day invasion without naval gun fire. In this case I would
asume the Lines are being irresponsible sending one of the new large ships
in to the port in the first place. Again thoough you still have to deal with
the locals and their concept of what can be done.

That's very interesting to know Diana! I do think of HAL as a good
cruise when it's "destination oriented" (aka, I wouldn't take them in
the Caribbean again...) but your comments give me some pause! Because I
definitely am an independent wanderer!

Jeff

Jeff,

You'd be fine. It wasn't a big deal to figure out logistics, but I had
researched every port. I would be cautious about booking HAL in Europe
just because of demographics. We were among the youngest on the ship,
which wouldn't have been such a bad thing had the staff and crew not
behaved in such an annoying way. This is the one where a CD staffer
said their nickname for the ship was, "God's Waiting Room," and
consistent with that mentality, they treated everyone in such a
patronizing manner, as if their brains had all gone to mush, it was
sad. Not sure why you wouldn't sail HAL in the Carib, but that is
where I was thinking HAL might be okay, LOL!

Diana

We like HAL,but do not like the way they offer a cruise,and you think it
is a good deal until you read the fine print and find out port and other
taxes are additional,and can run from $100.00 -$600.00,plus if it is the
one we like (south america) it means additional foreign taxes,and
visas,so for a 14 day cruise we came up with over $4000.00 per person


cruise lover