MS Noordam...
Photo gallery of the
ship
I had never been on a cruise before, and despite lots of
reading online and questioning of family members who have
cruised, I wasn't sure what to expect. We had booked a
category "B" room, which was smaller only than the Mini-Suite,
with a queen bed and windows on the upper promenade of Holland
America's MS Noordam for an August Baltic cruise. Our typical
travel style is more backpacking, trains and public
transportation than ocean liner, but my husband and I were
looking forward to a new adventure for my 30th adventure.
 We boarded in Copenhagen, where my first
stereotype was proven wrong. We were able to board in a matter
of minutes, since we had completed our immigration forms
online. Our cabin was ready - at first I was dismayed at the
tiny room, but after later seeing "normal" size cabins, I
realized we were fortunate. Our window looked straight out the
front of the ship, so we were o have amazing views throughout
the trip. Our room steward was very helpful, and was able to
locate a fan (can't sleep without one) and extra pillows. My
first impression of the room décor was somewhere between cheap
Florida motel and old Las Vegas, which I guess may be a little
harsh, but it was not to my style. It ended up being perfectly
comfortable, except for the temperature, which was never quite
cool enough for my preference.
The ship itself I thought was in general very clean. With
no basis of comparison, I can't say how it stacks up to other
ships. Old Las Vegas and reruns of the Golden Girls were what
the style was reminiscent of . Again, not me at all, but fun
in its own way once I got over being snobby about it. I
thought the size was nice. Big enough to feel like you can
roam around, but not so massive that it takes forever to go
anywhere.
 OK, the food. I was quite disappointed when we sat
down to lunch in the Lido. Very mediocre cafeteria food, the
ice tea was brewed (gross) and the water tasted like pool
water. However, dinner in the dining room made up for that
experience. I am fairly "discerning" we will say, and in
addition, fish is the only meat I will eat. However, without
fail, every night in the dining room I ate till I was stuffed,
generally all five courses. There was always a nice fruit
appetizer, and some other favorites were the Thai shrimp,
escargot, and caviar. The soups were quite nice - most night I
had a chilled soup. The salads were mostly good quality with
dark greens. Main courses always offered 1 or 2 nicely
prepared fish courses as well as one pasta or other vegetarian
meal. And then of course there was "Yummy Yummy" time, with a
wonderful array of desserts and a cheese course to choose
from. Our table steward was exceptional. Always smiling and
happy, with a wonderful attitude. Although I was uncomfortable
with the whole concept of two nationalities waiting on
generally Caucasian American and European passengers, they did
an incredible job, and work very hard to make passengers
happy. I would rather they pull up a chair and sit with me and
just talk than pull out my seat and put a napkin in my lap,
but from what I understand, this is a means for them to make
life better for their families at home. Nevertheless, this was
something I struggled with throughout the cruise.
Other staff: No one in a white suit was of any assistance
when I complained about joggers in the middle of the night
outside my window keeping me awake. The port lecturer was a
poorly disguised salesman, congratulation those who purchased
ship excursions, and "highly NOT recommending" that the rest
of us do basically anything that was not an official ship
function. In fact, while we were waiting for our guide in St
Petersburg outside customs (we were early), he questioned us
quite intently, and a little disrespectfully I thought, about
our arrangements for Russia. We had visas and a guide, and
frankly I thought it was none of his business. The games staff
were great though. Once we discovered the competitive team
games, we played a lot, and they were fun.
Overall, I thought the ship was well run, plenty of
entertainment was offered, and the food was very good. It was
an excellent way to see that part of the world, and certainly
was a more relaxing way to be transported from one country to
another.
Close
Window |