The final day onboard Holland America Line’s ms Noordam started out with a bit of excitement. As I mentioned in yesterday’s report, the captain came on the ship’s public address system looking for volunteers willing to donate O- blood to a passenger in need of a transfusion.
About an hour later, he returned to make an announcement that we would be rendezvousing with a United States Coast Guard helicopter to airlift the passenger from the ship in order to get medical him/her attention ashore.
This was the third time a passenger was taken from the ship during this 10-day Southern Caribbean Cruise. The first was when we had to speed up to make landfall in Curacao seven hours early to disembark the patient to a waiting ambulance and the second was when a passenger was taken via ambulance shortly before our departure from Aruba.
This time, however, was more dramatic.
The morning started out cloudy with gale-force winds and occasional showers. As the sound of the chopper overhead began to be heard, passengers began heading to the open decks to catch a glimpse of the operation set to begin.
The helicopter circled the moving ship a few times before lowering a crewman onto the aft of the Noordam. After several minutes, the captain announced that the Coast Guard decided that it would be safer to conduct the air evacuation from the bow of the ship, so operations quickly shifted.
As the captain maintained speed at around 8 knots, the chopper hovered above the bow of the Noordam and successfully airlifted the passenger onboard and flew them to the Bahamas where a waiting air ambulance would then transport him/her to a hospital in Miami.
It was quite a dramatic scene and given the weather conditions, the crew of the Noordam and the helicopter did a remarkable job – so hats off to everyone!
I managed to record some videos of the evacuation. It’s quite lengthy and once operations were moved to the bow, decks that would normally be open and would provide a view of the action were closed for safety reasons. I did however manage to take a video from my balcony that shows some of the operations at the front of the ship.
Once the operation was complete, the captain thanked the “overwhelming” number of passengers and crew who came forward to donate blood. We were not provided with any updates on any of the passengers taken from the ship, but of course, we hope they are all well.
Of course, this was the talk of the ship for the rest of the day. In order to meet up with the helicopter, we had to deviate from our planned course for a while. It was then full steam ahead as the captain tried to make up for lost time to ensure an on-time arrival in Fort Lauderdale.
The Noordam resumed her course and we were sailing near the ship’s top speed of 22 knots for the remainder of the journey home. With the gusty winds there was some motion felt onboard especially later on in the evening. There were things in my stateroom that didn’t make noise at all for 9 days, that suddenly were rattling, banging, clanging, and vibrating me to sleep.
With the weather, not the greatest, I used this time to go around the ship and take pictures of the various public areas. Most were full of people reading books, sipping cocktails, eating (of course), playing cards, and just relaxing. Surprisingly, the casino had only a few people playing table games and even fewer playing slots.
Since the Sea View Pool had its water drained for airlift operations, it took several hours for it to be filled, but with the weather being uncooperative and no roof over that pool, it was fairly quiet in the back of the ship. The roof was partially open over the Lido Pool although there weren’t too many people spending time outdoors.
Having skipped breakfast in order to take in the goings-on with the Coast Guard operation, I decided to head down to the Lido Buffet for lunch. And so did everyone else. Tables were full, lines long and I said “forget it, I’m not waiting 8 minutes in line for a slice of turkey breast.” This was the first time I saw the Lido this crowded during the entire cruise.
Not wanting a burger or hot dog from the Dive In, I decided to hit the taco station at the Terrace Grill on the Lido Deck. Chicken ad shredded beef as well as hard and soft taco shells with the accompanying fixings were placed out buffet style. Both the chicken and beef were not up to temperature, which was a tad bit concerning. Both were not even air temperature and several pieces of chicken I bit into were “refrigerator cold.”
Oh well, I’ll use this opportunity to save up for dinner.
Speaking of dinner, it was my last night in the ship’s steakhouse, the Pinnacle Grill. The deep-fried wild mushroom ravioli made a return appearance as the evening’s “chef’s compliments.”
I followed that up with a Shrimp Cocktail and some Lobster Bisque.
The next steak to try was the New York Strip. A 12oz steak which I ordered medium rare with a side of carrots and a baked potato.
The steak was seasoned perfectly with just a bit of salt and pepper and was prepared a perfect medium rare.
I couldn’t help but hear the woman at the table behind me tell her server, “I don’t eat red meat” when he asked why she only took a few bites out of the 10oz Filet Mignon she ordered.
You don’t eat red meat, but you came to a steakhouse and ordered meat. Why didn’t you order fish?
Ugh! I was confused, but another Dirty Martini quickly wiped the look of bewilderment off my face.
For dessert, it was one scoop of vanilla ice cream and some fruit.
Wanting to get back to my room to begin the arduous task of packing, I made one lap around the Promenade Deck, which was quite difficult to do because of the gale force winds and the motion of the ship in the moderate sea. About halfway around, with my sport coat wrapped precariously around my neck, I ventured inside, got rid of the wind-blown look and popped into the Vista Lounge.
I caught a few moments of the Dancing with the Stars @ Sea finale where six passengers were teamed up with a dancer from the ship to compete while three “celebrity” judges from the ship’s crew rated the performance of each couple. The DWTS@Sea winner will be crowned next year during a special sailing onboard the ms Nieuw Amsterdam.
Back in my stateroom, the packing has begun and I quickly said, “I’ll do this in the morning.” Since I opted for expedited disembarkation, I did not need to put my suitcases outside for collection. Being able-bodied, unlike many, many passengers on this sailing, I was able to carry my own bags off the ship and be one of the first to leave once we arrive in Fort Lauderdale.
Due to the slight delay caused by the medivac operation, we arrived at Port Everglades a little late, but not too badly. We arrived at the pilot station around 7:15am – the time disembarkation was estimated to begin. The Noordam berthed at Pier 26 around 7:45am and expedited disembarkation began shortly after 8am.
Believe it or not, another ambulance was waiting at the dock to take yet another passenger off the ship. Make that four people… at least this one waited until the very end!
Disembarkation was smooth, the line for early disembarkation went quickly, and once in the terminal, the longest wait was for the elevators, as they were not allowing anyone with 2 or more bags to use the escalator.
I’m not really quite sure what the role of Customs is anymore. When it was my turn to meet with the agent, he simply took a look at my passport and pointed his finger toward the exit door. No questions, no hello, no banter, no nothing.
I feel so secure knowing these people are on the job!
Unlike the TSA experience at the airport, the Customs guy didn’t have any special instruments to look to see whether or not my passport was real or fake, unlike the scanners, optical readers, lights, etc that TSA uses to check the authenticity of driver’s licenses at airports.
Crazy.
Total time from leaving my stateroom to exiting the terminal…. 22 minutes.
So let’s do the recap:
Stateroom 10008
Added to the ship during her last major dry dock in 2009, this stateroom sleeps four and is a verandah room. The bed can be put together to form a Queen or separated into two twins. There’s a pull-out sofa bed and an upper berth which gives the room capacity for four, however, anyone who would put four people in a room approx 200 square feet has to be someone sadomasochistic. There was just enough closet space for my stuff and only enough room for two suitcases under the bed. I could not imagine sharing this room with four people. Two should be able to do it if you’re close enough friends! More on the stateroom in the Day 1 report which you can read here.
The bathroom had a tub/shower – no separate shower – and a single sink.
There was a small writing/makeup table and the verandah was small. So small that the two chairs had to be placed sideways as you would not be able to sit in them should they face the ocean.
The room was kept clean and nightly turndown service with pillow chocolate. I did not see or meet my stateroom attendant, which was odd.
Fellow Passengers:
Being this was a longer cruise, the average age was pretty high up there. While Holland America Line does appeal to an older, more seasoned passenger, this cruise had its share of elderly – hence the reason for so many medical emergencies. Evenings often found these people in bed rather than out in the various bars and lounges.
There were very few children on board.
Dining:
My one experience in the ship’s Vista Dining Room – the main dining room for the ship – made me realize why I book specialty restaurants when cruising. As indicated in the daily report, my dinner there was anything but pleasant. You can read what happened here, rather than have me recount the experience in this wrap-up.
Dinner in Canaletto, the ship’s Italian Restaurant was outstanding, and at only $10 per person, it’s one of the best values for specialty restaurants onboard ships. You can read the review here. I highly recommend booking Canaletto for not one night, but two or more!
If you want some of the best steaks at sea, check out the Pinnacle Grill. Much better than Chops on Royal Caribbean and a close runner-up to Prime 7 on Regent Seven Seas. Pinnacle Grill can be compared with Morton’s if you want to stack it next to a land-based steakhouse. At $29 per person for dinner and $10 per person for lunch, it’s not that expensive to enjoy an excellent meal for one or two nights during a cruise.
As far as dinner at Le Cirque is concerned, at $49 per person it may be out of the reach of many. If that’s the case for you, I would say skip it and enjoy a very similar – if not better – dinner at Pinnacle Grill. This one-night-a-cruise special event features a menu that is not much different than the regular Pinnacle Grill menu. While it’s great to experience Le Cirque at least once if you’re trying to stay within budget, go for a regular evening in the Pinnacle instead. You can read the review of the Le Cirque dinner here.
The Lido Restaurant / Buffet is a good option for those looking for something quick or a casual dinner. I had breakfast from the Lido almost every morning and the food was always hot, flavorful, and fresh. If you wanted eggs or omelets cooked to order, it’s not a problem.
I did not eat lunch or dinner at the Lido but did have some of the pizza a few times and it was very good actually. While not quite as good as Slice on select Holland America Line ships, the Lido pizza was a good alternative for a quick snack that’s available all day.
The Dive In is at the Lido Pool on all Holland America Line ships now. It’s the line’s signature burger joint sans some celebrity such as Guy Fieri’s Burger Joint on Carnival. While I will readily admit the best part about the time I spent on the Carnival Liberty was the lunch I had at Guy’s Burger Joint, the burger I had at the Dive In on the Noordam was pretty damn good as well. The hot dogs were, well… what can you say about a hot dog? You can read more about my lunch at the Dive In here.
The Ship:
The ms Noordam was built in 2006, and was dry docked in 2009 where additional staterooms were added as well as the Retreat Cabanas and other parts of the ship were refurbished. On April 8, 2015, she will once again go into dry dock in Freeport, Bahamas for routine maintenance. The ship is very well maintained, is not showing age other than in spots where carpeting needs replacement, and the crew works meticulously to keep it clean and well presented. There were no issues reported onboard with HVAC, toilets, water, electrical, etc.
As a Vista-class cruise ship, she is in the same class and layout as the ms Zuiderdam which I sailed on through the Panama Canal (you can read that review here), and the ms Westerdam which I also sailed on. She is very easy to navigate and find your way around, and the Vista-class design was used as a foundation for the design of the Signature-class ships, which includes my favorite, the ms Eurodam.
For those looking to explore some deeper parts of the Caribbean and have a few extra days to spare, you may want to consider this route where you can explore different ports of call not usually available on 7-day eastern or western sailings.
Holland America Line, in my opinion, offers a great value and vacation experience for the price and has earned the title of being my favorite cruise line.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this 10-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise on the ms Noordam an overall solid 7.
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.