It’s time once again to hop onboard a Holland America Line ship and head out on another adventure, this time to the southern Caribbean on the 2006-built ms Noordam. Over the next ten days, I’ll be visiting the line’s private island, Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Samana in the Dominican Republic, Kralendijk (Bonaire), Curacao, and Aruba before heading back to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.
Out of all the cruise lines I’ve sailed with, Holland America ranks as the number one in terms of the number of cruises taken. When I’m asked why it always comes down to two things: 1) the ships are all mid-size with the majority of them holding around 2,100 passengers as opposed to ships that carry double that amount and; 2) the food, service, and amenities are all top-notch.
There are other reasons why I make Holland America Line my top choice such as the laid-back atmosphere you have on their ships. You won’t find a hairy chest or belly flop contest, you’re not being pelted with bar staff pushing the drink of the day everywhere you look, announcements are only made over the PA when necessary, and fellow passengers are usually well-heeled and a bit on the older side which lends itself to a less party-like atmosphere.
For the most part, all ships in the HAL fleet are pretty much the same. Each will have the line’s signature steakhouse, Pinnacle Grill, as well as the Italian restaurant, Canaletto. Ships all have a wrap-around teak deck complete with wooden steamer chairs where you can kick back and relax while watching the world go by. Bars and nightclubs generally have the same names and locations fleet-wide which makes finding an old favorite pretty easy.
This is my first trip on the ms Noordam, which is sister ship to the ms Zuiderdam which I was on during a Panama Canal cruise. There are around 2,100 passengers on board this sailing and it doesn’t feel like it. Typically the first day of a cruise most people spend time touring the vessel, getting unpacked, and rested from their journey making most public areas not so crowded. However, there were no overly crowded areas anywhere on the ship yesterday – including the pool and buffet – which is fine with me.
So let’s get down to business.
I arrived at Port Everglades at exactly 12:15pm, unloaded my luggage, and walked into the terminal where there were no lines for security. Once through, lines for check-in were divided into the right side for odd-numbered cabins and the left side for even. The even number line only had four couples ahead of me whereas the odd number line was packed.
After filling out the form saying I haven’t had any gastro issues and I didn’t visit any countries on the “we don’t want your viruses” list, I was photographed, handed my key card, and was onboard at 12:40pm.
One thing that is a plus about sailing on Holland America Line… they do not begin boarding the ship until staterooms are ready. The staff turns them around quickly – which is remarkable – as embarkation usually begins around 11am. Other lines board passengers with staterooms not ready for several hours leaving them to walk around with carry-ons while they meander through the buffet or hang out at the pool.
One onboard, I headed up to Deck 10 where Verandah Stateroom 10008 was waiting for me. The stateroom is small but is designed to hold four people – two in the Queen-size bed, one on a pull-out couch, and one in a Pullman which is above the bed. I can’t for the life of me figure out how you would put four people in this room, as I’m finding it pretty cramped for just myself and my own belongings.
The room includes a small desk/makeup table, closet space, and a bathroom with a single sink, and a bathtub/shower. Its location is a tad bit odd, as it’s on a small deck where only a few staterooms are located and I’ve been told these rooms were added on at a later time. The one good thing about my room’s location is it’s just below the Retreat Cabana area where I have a cabana reserved for the duration of my stay. It literally takes me 45 seconds to get from my room to my cabana, which is very convenient.
After dropping off my luggage and sorting through all the paperwork waiting for me on the bed, I headed down to the Pinnacle Grill to make my dining reservations for the week. As someone who doesn’t like to eat in the main dining room, I’m going to be enjoying seven dinners in Pinnacle, one at the special Le Cirque night in the Grill, one at Canaletto, and will partake in the main dining room one evening as well in order to get a feel for the food and service offered there.
Once that was out of the way, I made my way through different parts of the ship before heading up to the cabana where Charton and Mark, the butlers, introduced themselves and showed me to the cabana which will be mine to enjoy.
Cabanas are available only on the Noordam, the Eurodam, and the Nieuw Amsterdam, but I’m told they are slowly being rolled out to other ships within the fleet. Unlike the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam, the Noordam only has cabanas located in the Retreat. The other two ships also offer them around the Lido Pool.
The Retreat area features individual cabanas that accommodate two people and two larger family cabanas that accommodate four adults and two children. These can be reserved daily or for the duration of the cruise. The cabanas themselves come with a table and chairs, loungers, and personal butlers who attend to your every need including getting you food and drink throughout the day as well as an afternoon snack, champagne, fruit, bottled water, Evian face misters, and more.
There are also loungers, chairs, and tables set up around the cabanas for use only by those who reserved a cabana making this a perfect private oasis for those who want to just enjoy time alone without having to be around hundreds of others at one of the ship’s pools.
Once settled in, Charton started pouring the champagne which signaled the official start of this journey. I happened to be the only passenger in the cabana area, so we had plenty of time to talk. He told me that this is his first contract on a cruise ship… ever. He’s been onboard for three months now after spending time working at a luxury hotel back home in the Philippines.
Charton handed me a menu that included selections from the Dive In, the hamburger/hot dog joint located on the Lido Deck which he said he would get me lunch from or he would go to the buffet to get me whatever I wanted. Rather than make the poor guy stand in line picking me out the curry of the day, a salad with exactly four croutons, and chicken soup without noodles, I took his advice and ordered a burger sans french fries.
While the champagne flowed, the clock ticked away and soon 3:15pm approached. The time when all passengers have to head to their assigned lifeboat station for the muster drill. Fortunately, on Holland America, you don’t need to bring your life vest to the drill. The cruise director stressed over and over again in announcements leading up to the drill that anyone who fails to attend the drill will not be allowed to sail.
In the pre-Costa Concordia days of cruising, I’ll admit I was one who hid in the bathroom in my stateroom to avoid attending the muster, as a roll call wasn’t taken. Since that disaster, cruise lines now make attendance mandatory and either scan your key card or take a roll to ensure that you did indeed attend.
The muster took around 30 minutes and was well-organized and to the point. There was no extra chatter by the captain or cruise director other than specific safety instructions. Other muster drills I’ve attended on other lines include sales pitches, videos instructing you how to wash your hands, details of the evening’s activities, and other assorted stuff that people don’t want to hear while they’re standing in the hot sun shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers sweating and longing for a frozen beverage.
Once the muster drill was over, it was back up to the cabana for some more champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries… can you say “life is good?”
We sailed out of Port Everglades around 4:45pm and much to my disappointment, the captain of the Noordam didn’t blow the ship’s whistle once signaling our departure from sunny south Florida. This was a first for me, as most captains want to make as much noise as possible just to tick off the residents of the condos nearby – just kidding of course. But several captains are known for making quite a bit of noise as they head out of port to the delight of passengers and ship watchers standing along the shore or watching via the Port Everglades webcam.
With the cabana area available between 9am and 5pm, it was time to bid adieu for the day and my sunburned skin was thankful for that. Before heading back to my room to relax before dinner, I stopped by the Sea View Pool Bar for a cold beer. Unfortunately my beer of choice, Michelob Ultra, was unavailable. They ran out and just loaded more on in Fort Lauderdale but it would not be checked in and made available to the bars until the next day.
Saying, “calories be damned,” I opted for Jamaican’s finest beer (brewed in Latrobe, PA), Red Stripe. This was the first time I had this particular amber beverage in a can as opposed to its trademark stubby bottle. At the end of a hot day, a cold beer hit the spot.
For those who enjoy their beverages, Holland America Line offers their Signature Beverage Package for $44.95 per person per day plus service charge. You must be 21 or over to purchase it and everyone in your stateroom over the age of 21 must purchase it if one person does. It allows you up to 15 drinks per day – drinks that are priced at $7 or less on the bar menu, and includes alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. This package does not include drinks purchased from the mini bar or on Half Moon Cay.
Time passed quickly and it was time to get ready for dinner. As I mentioned earlier, tonight I would be enjoying dinner in the ship’s steakhouse, Pinnacle Grill. I arrived for my 8pm reservation and was seated immediately, as the restaurant was pretty empty. My server came over to introduce himself and told me he is from Romania.
Here’s where things get interesting.
I have a friend who is from Romania and she taught me a few things to say in her native language. One is “how are you” the other being an off-color phrase describing an act of pleasure. Got to keep this family-friendly you know, but I’m sure you get where I’m coming from.
Wanting to show off my one Romanian phrase, I asked “how are you” in his language. He immediately said, “Oh you are Romanian?” and then called over other Romanian co-workers to the table. I explained that I wasn’t and told him about my friend and the two phrases she taught me.
Of course, he had to ask what the other one was, and I was quick to fire back at which point they all burst out laughing and taught me a few more which I will have to use on her when I get back home.
For my first course, I chose a delicious steak tartare. For those who aren’t into uncooked meat, you don’t know what you’re missing. It was served with crostini and the usual accompaniments – onions, corniches, and sardines which quickly made their way off my plate.
Next up was a beefsteak tomato salad, followed by the main course, a 10oz filet mignon served rare with carrots and a loaded baked potato. The steak was cooked perfectly and the entire meal was excellent and up to the standards I would expect not only from the Pinnacle Grill, but from any land-based upscale steakhouse.
I skipped the evening’s entertainment which was just a preview of the entertainment that will be presented during the cruise. Instead, I opted for several laps around the Promenade Deck followed by a nightcap at the Sea View Bar overlooking the aft of the ship.
The cloudless night sky allowed for unrestricted views of the stars overhead as the Noordam glided gently over a sea of glass as another cruise ship could be seen off in the distance. As we sailed our way to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, the gentle evening breeze and salt air relaxed me to the point where it was time to call it a night.
Back in my room, I filled out the room service breakfast card for the next morning, hung it on my door and it was off to dreamland.
Normally, I write my daily installments over breakfast in a ship’s buffet. However, Holland America Line is one of the few cruise lines that still offer hot breakfast served by room service. This is one of those little “extras” that go a long way in my book. So when the scrambled eggs and assorted salty meats arrived this morning, I enjoyed breakfast out on my balcony overlooking Half Moon Cay before heading up to my cabana to write today’s installment.
Along with the Noordam, the Eurodam is also at Half Moon Cay today making for an estimated 4,000 people ashore. Tendering operations got underway around 8:45am and it’s going to be a very busy day on the island with two boatloads of people wanting to experience the refreshing waters of the Bahamas and an afternoon BBQ lunch.
Having been to Half Moon Cay several times, I think the plan for today is going to involve skipping it rather than dealing with the throngs of people ashore. If anything, I’ll take a tender over to take a quick walk around, see how crowded it is and head back to the ship where things are a little less crowded.
We pull up anchor at 4pm today and begin our journey to the next port-of-call with is Grand Turk.
Personal Day-By-Day Noordam Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of the Noordam:
Join me as we embark on a photographic journey to see this incredible ship and all that it has to offer. This tour will take you on a visual journey through this magnificent cruise ship, showcasing its beauty and elegance through the lens of my camera. From the stunning public spaces to the comfortable and luxurious staterooms, this Noordam Photo Tour will give you a glimpse into the unforgettable experience that I had on board the Noordam.