Noordam
Reviewed by: Anne
email: ANSalberg@aol.com
We just returned from this cruise on Holland America's
older ship, the Noordam. About two-thirds of the
passengers were on a back to back and had gotten on in
Rome; we flew into Lisbon, Portugal and cruised "home"
from there.
A TransAtlantic cruise is a different kind of cruise to
begin with; it is a repositioning cruise to get the ship
from one cruise area to another. They are seldom "port
intensive" cruises but they can offer you many days of
relaxing on the water cruising. They can also have the
roughest crossings because they are crossing the middle
of the ocean either at the beginning of the season or at
the tail end of a season. This one was from the very
last of the Mediteranian season to cross to pick up the
Caribbean season. These are BASIC definitions and I was
amazed at the folks on our cruise complaining about the
lack of ports! HELLO!!!!!
HAL cabins are bright, cheerful, immaculately clean and
well cared for. They are also good sized by cruising
standards; our deluxe cabin was the first cabin off the
balcony of the show lounge but was separated by a door
into our hall which muffled most sounds. I loved this
cabin because it was extraordinarily centered and had
easy access to literally ALL parts of the ship!
Now; nine days in a row at sea! The schedule called for
a stop in the Azores but awful weather & gale-force
winds forced a cancelation of those stops -our first and
only stop would be Half-moon Cay in the Bahamas. My
husband was in "Hog heaven".
One of the additions to our cruise that we thoroughly
enjoyed was a cooking extravaganza in the show lounge
one morning showcasing some very different kinds of food
Sushi, spring-roll, crab cakes & sauce, cream puffs. We
watched from the balcony as they brought out tray after
tray of beautiful samplers -and, amazingly -watched
people go thru the buffet with full plates -sometimes
two, visiting with the chefs & asking questions! We
slept in most mornings so we had just had breakfast and
the amount of food was enough to make you a little urpy
[ is that a word?] but 12 trays of cream puffs and
eclairs were gone in under a half an hour! Amazing!
Another afternoon extravaganza was a main diningroom
buffet that is usually only done on the World Cruises -
amazing ice sculptures, watermelon cut-outs, and food
displays. The ONE that tickled me [ among many WONDERFUL
things] was egg penguins sliding down a mayonaise hill;
lobster or shrimp tails, olives, and something
yellowgold forming a beak; they were wonderful &
entirely edible, according to the chef.
As always on HAL, the Indonesian & Filipino crew are one
of their greatest assets. These young people work
incredibly long hours & do an incredibly efficient job
-and visit with you in a friendly manner I've NEVER
experienced on other lines - it is not that Princess,
for example, is bad - their foreign crews are great too;
its just that HAL does it all one BETTER! They remember
your name, they visit with you to the VERY best of their
ability [ I wish I spoke as many languages] and they
seem genuinely to care!
By the time we reach Half Moon Cay, everybody was ready
for an at-shore day -but the weather didn't cooperate.
Hubby & I went ashore and swam for about a half an hour
in the decidedly cool water -it felt good. Visited with
a few folks and clammered on board again in time for
dinner in the Lido diningroom.
The usual on board activities were available - Casino [
did not pay well; do any of them?] Bingo [ God, save me
from Bingo] a well stocked library [ I read 4 books]
movies both in a theater and on your room TV, Trivia
games, shops that enticed every day with something
different, lectures [ David Pasta did a 3-lecture series
on plate-techtonics or the moving of the earth's crust
as relates to volcanos, dinosaurs, ecology, and today's
weather and climate. All three were terrific & well
attended.] and various programs usually found on cruise
itineraries.
Most of the cruisers were old-timers and knew exactly
what to expect on this kind of cruise; the rough weather
was not only NOT a problem, many seemed to enjoy the
challenge. I did see one woman out that first night with
a look of total terror on her slightly green face, but
by and large it was just a normal "at sea" day with a
bit of a challenge to stand up [ you COULD land in
someone's lap!]
Would we do it again? In a flash; we had planned for
this cruise and we were delighted with its content. It
was an 11 day, transAtlantic from Lisbon to home -one
very long travel day and a shorter one "home" and our
10th cruise -third with HAL. The thing I want to say to
those who would have been unhappy; do your homework! If
you DON'T like "at sea" days, this was NOT your kind of
cruise; The food was EXCELLENT and always served piping
hot! Dishes that were spicy were marked as such with a
star [ my tummy can't take that, and I appreciated the
little stars] The cost was below the average cost of an
11 day cruise - and that allowed us the three OTHER
cruises we took during this calendar year! AND it
allowed us to see Portugal -a new country to us. Enjoy!
