29 Nights Japan & North Pacific Crossing Cruise

Love Westerdam

First time cruisers. Embarkation was in Auckland, cruise ended in Sydney. DW always wanted to visit Australia. "New Zealand?" she said, as she was unfamiliar. By the time we left NZ she wanted to move there. NZ was the best, and we've been to Alaska, Switzerland, Croatia, etc. Ship/cabin good condition. Cabin service excellent, so was Guest Services when we needed them. We enjoyed the freedom of the Lido buffet. Decent food, fair variety, salad bar, ice cream. We bought drinks a la carte, priced reasonably. Can't see ordering a Drinks package. Hardly any children, possibly due to long air travel from the USA. We arrived two days before embarkation, which allowed us to ferry over to the paradise of Waiheke Island. Fantastic! As my wife wanted to attend church before our Sunday embarkation, we arrived at the cruise port around 1:30 PM, which turned out to be perfect as the most of the crowds had already been processed. The posted 5 PM departure turned out to be 7 PM, as I sussed out online from the Port report, probably due the unique Sail GP competition I was able to watch from the rear deck before departure. I was a bit disappointment at the removal of the Lincoln Center concert room. Disembarkation in Sydney was a breeze.

Standby bookings can work and it’s amazing

By chance I heard about the ‘Stand By’ booking option Holland America offer. If you can accommodate a last minute . Wow, so good. Two weeks prior I called and paid the fare knowing those cabins could sell out but time was short. At worse I get a full refund what am I losing. 6 days prior to departure I called the agent who did the booking and asked her if she had heard. (there were still a few cabins but there could be more standby hopefuls like me who were higher up the list). I had booked a balcony knowing I could accept a lower category and get a part refund my thinking being I could get preference over the $89 00 bookings. Four days prior we got our confirmation and we were thrilled. Do your homework check on line before booking and if there is nothing your chances are low. Don’t agree to the 2 hour notice where you go to the departure port hoping it’s so uncertain and to upsetting if declined which is fairly likely. Gratuities are not mandatory but hay the fare was cheap and the service was excellent. On day 4 prior to going services like drinks wifi some shore excursions are still available if you feel the need. I will do it again, the savings is so worth it. The longer the cruise the better your chances and the greater the savings. You can go for as little as %25 of the original price on those long ones. Even if there’s a domestic flight needed, yes that will cost more due to it being last minute but it’s still very worth while.

Holland nailed it!

Traveled with my two adult children and we had a blast. The onboard staff, from cabin attendant to manager were the best. Courteous, eager to please and always helpful. The ship was clean, the food, regardless of venue, was superb. The MDR was the best I've ever enjoyed. I've had stakes in steak houses that weren't as good as Westerdam's MDR. Morimoto by Sea was as good as I anticipated. Served in the Pinnacle Grill it was a pleasant and artfully done experience. The piano players were a delight, the comedian was very funny (sure knew how to work the crowd) and the group in the Rolling Stones lounge was top notch. There always seemed to be some kind of activity going on somewhere. This is my fourth Alaskan cruise and the best one ever. I can't say enough good about the Westerdam ship and crew. Despite the cloudy and foggy weather (it's Alaska! after all) we got to go on all our excursions and enjoyed them all.