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Ship Details
Began service:April, 2004
Guest capacity: 1,848
Total staff: 800
Length: 951 feet
Passenger decks: 10
CDC
inspection score: 99
Westerdam Overview
The Westerdam cruise ship departs from Fort Lauderdale,
FL, Barcelona, Spain, and Rome,
Italy. Throughout the year, she offers ocean cruises to Caribbean,
Europe, and Mediterranean.
Check Dates & Prices
for cruises to Caribbean, Europe, and Mediterranean.
From outside, with her dark hull and expansive open decks,
the Westerdam looks like a classic liner. But
on the inside, she is a combination of refined elegance
and 21st-century hip.
The Vista-class is an attempt by Holland
America to broaden their appeal to a wider demographic,
specifically to attract younger couples and families.
Count on friendly, efficient service from its staff of
Indonesian and Filipino stewards, daily movies (with fresh
popcorn) in a separate cinema, and tons of fresh flowers
for each voyage.
Cabins
Seventy-four percent of Westerdam's outside
cabins have balconies. The smallest are 254 sq ft. The
smallest cabins on the ship are standard insides
at 170 sq ft.; standard outsides are
185 sq ft. The largest accommodations are the 1,318 sq
ft. Penthouse Verandah Suites.
Twenty-eight staterooms are handicapped-compliant.
All staterooms have "Eurotop" mattresses, high-thread-count
bed linens; bathrobes; premium massaging showerheads;
magnifying lighted makeup mirrors, and powerful hair dryers;
direct-dial phones with voicemail; TV's; mini-bars; and
safes. Suites also include DVD players with an onboard
lending library.
All staterooms above inside categories have tubs with
showers. At the suite levels, the tubs are whirlpools,
and an extra shower stall is added, along with dual sinks.
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One nice amenity for suite passengers is the Neptune Lounge,
a private room with concierge, which serves various snacks (from light
breakfast fare in the mornings to hors d'oeuvres at cocktail hour).
The concierge can also book dinner reservations and shore tours.
Dining
Webster's alternate dining venue, the Pinnacle
Grill at the Odyssey Restaurant, offers
"Pacific Northwest" cuisine. Table settings are elegant,
featuring Bvlgari china and Riedel stemware. Reservations are required
and there is a $20 per-person charge.
The Vista Dining Room serves breakfast, lunch and
dinner; each night's menu features a selection of five entrees. Service
is broken into four assigned seatings -- 5:15pm., 6:15pm, 8pm. and
8:30pm, which helps promptness of service, and guarantees piping hot
entrees.
The Lido Deck buffet has been broken into small stations
to minimize lines. At lunch, each of these stations offers a distinct
menu: Italian, deli, salads, Asian stir-fry, etc. At breakfast, you
can get eggs cooked to order and breakfast meats at most of the stations.
At dinnertime, the Lido offers casual, waiter-served,
made-to-order menu items. Late night buffets are presented after 11pm.
One new Vista-class addition is the nautically themed Windstar
Cafe, which sells (for a fee) espresso, coffee and pastries.
Twenty-four-hour complimentary room service includes a menu of snacks,
sandwiches, desserts and salads, a full breakfast menu (available
from 6am - 10am), and a complete lunch and dinner menu is offered
from noon - 10 pm, as is the daily menu from the Vista Dining
Room during scheduled dining hours.
Entertainment
The Vista Lounge is the ship's main showroom that
seats 867. Views are vertically unobstructed, though a few columns
block sightlines from some of the seats off the centerline. On a typical
12-day sailing, entertainment includes 3 production shows by Stiletto
Entertainment.
Bar and lounge entertainment includes a piano bar, classical
music each evening in Explorer's Lounge, and a small
combo in the Ocean Bar. On the Vista-class
ships, the Crow's Nest observation lounge's night
club function is shared with the new Northern Lights Disco,
which is worth a visit if only to check out the motion-triggered lights
that lead you down the winding entryway, illuminating the floor ahead.
Fitness & Recreation
Westerdam represent a quantum
leap forward in serving the spa and fitness needs of her guests. The
Greenhouse Spa & Salon adds an entire new menu
of exotic spa treatments. The enlarged facility on Lido
Deck is perfectly tailored to the new offerings,
which include hot stone therapy massages, relaxing in the jets of
heated seawater in the massive hydrotherapy spa, or lying on one of
the heated ceramic mosaic recliners while watching the ocean pass
by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Westerdam also features
a golf simulator which allows virtual play on any of 22 worldwide
courses.
The main pool area includes three hot tubs. Though the aft
pool area, with two hot tubs, lacks some of the shade of the main
area, it felt more spacious. There are plenty of lounges in either
area.
Public Areas
Public rooms are located in one
two-deck grouping below Deck 4 and another above
Deck 8. The atrium feels cozy, as if it were the
lobby of a small boutique hotel.
While the upper public areas concentrate on spa, sport, sustenance
and scenery, the lower areas house the casino and the ship's shops.
Other features include the Erasmus Library, as well
as the Internet Cafe. Passengers who bring their
own laptops are accommodated with Wi-Fi hotspots here, and with data
ports in all the cabins.
Kids
Club HAL, Holland
America's program for youngsters, is directly related to demand and
season. For every 30 children in the age range of 3 - 17, a counselor
is provided. KidZone is an area devoted to the youngest
guests, while Wave Runner is a teen dance, video
and movie area. Other plans include kid-only shore excursions in the
Caribbean and babysitting during port days.
Expert Westerdam reviews are edited by Michelle, and provided by Ian and Cruise Critic.com,
an award-winning cruise community. This objective information can
help you choose just the right ship for your next cruise vacation.
Check Dates & Prices
for cruises to Caribbean, Europe, and Mediterranean.
Westerdam cruise reviews
Cruise
Ship Inspection Report
All passenger cruise ships arriving at US ports are subject to unannounced
CDC inspection. Westerdam Score:
99
Cruise
Critic: Westerdam
The Cruise Critic gives Holland America's Westerdam a 3-ribbon
rating.
Web links
Holland
America Cruises
Request a brochure, or find a travel agent who represents Holland
America Cruises at the company's official Web site.
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