Ann Morin
dreamvacation@charter.net
Itinerary:
Eastern Mediterranean
Sailing Date: April, 2010
Occupation: travel agency owner
NumberofCruises: 40
Noordam Eastern Med- wonderful trip (and NOT all old people)
I will start this with a
little information about my family, my husband and I are
each 47 and we were traveling with our 17 year old son. We
are avid cruisers and have done so at least twice a year for
the past 20 years. We have traveled on most of the major
lines, always in suites and find that there is nothing as
wonderful as enjoying a glass of fine wine on our veranda at
sunset. In the past we have always avoided Holland America
because we had the mistaken impression it was a line that
catered more to senior citizens. We do not have anything
against elderly people, I plan to be taking world cruises in
my 90's myself, however after our trip on the Celebrity
Summit in February where the median age was 70 we were
looking for a bit more of a mix in population.
The Noordam
fit the bill perfectly, yes there were several elderly
people on board but they were as I hope to be, fun loving
and active, there were families, (with the best behaved
children I have ever seen on a ship- amazing manners!)
singles, couples and even a bunch of political people (the
national review was on board) I can't believe we waited so
long to try HAL- we were cheating ourselves for years!
We are from Massachusetts and
flew from Hartford Ct to Philly and then straight in to
Rome. It is the same flight we took last year when we did
the western med. and still was impossible to sleep even
though we were in Envoy. I don't know if it is the
excitement or what but on the way out I can never get
comfortable. One interesting thing was we had to fill out
forms while on the plane saying that we did not have swine
flu or swine flu symptoms to get into Italy- on the way home
to the US there were no forms. We landed in Rome at 8:30am
the next morning and were met by our driver from Rome Cabs.
(Romecabs@yahoo.com) I can't say enough about this
company-this is our second year using them and we will be
again next summer- if you would like details of our private
tours email me for more information at
dreamvacation@charter.net
After our
half day tour we checked into our hotel, the Visconti
Palace. We have stayed there several times in the past and
love it there. The rooms are very large by European
standards and it is centrally located within walking
distance to many attractions. After a nap (we learned last
year that it doesn't really help if you stay up all day,
take a nap if you are tired) we walked over to Piazza Navona
and had dinner at our favorite restaurant Ponte E Parione (www.ponteeparione.com)
the owner is such a funny guy and so friendly! I couldn't
believe he remembered us from last year. The food is to die
for and the price so reasonable you would not know you were
in Rome. After we ate we looked at the artists for a while
and headed back to the hotel, took baths and went to sleep
for the big day tomorrow.
Stefano had arranged to have a driver pick us up at 11:00
(we used Rome cabs for all our tours and transfers) this was
perfect timing we had a leisurely breakfast (free I might
add) at the hotel and then headed to port. The Citivechhia
port is set up somewhat strange compared to American Ports.
You turn in your luggage as usual and go get in line but
there is a huge counter and people hold up a sign when they
are ready to see you. There was no distinction between
suites or non suite passengers (no priority boarding) but it
went very quickly and within minutes we were on the ship.
The Noordam is a beautiful vessel! I have never been a fan
of huge mega ships and her size fit us just perfectly. Also
I noticed that even though she is approximately the size of
the Disney Magic it felt so much more spacious on her. I
think part of that is because they don't waste space with
things like a huge atrium etc. Don't get me wrong the atrium
was lovely with the neatest light that rotated but it was
understated and classy nothing like the "Vegas showroom"
grand atriums you find on so many ships. I like it very
much.
Onward and upward to our room- we selected 6166 which is an
SC suite specifically for the balcony and it did not
disappoint! I have often stated that you could park a car on
the balcony of some of our suites well on this corner wrap
balcony not only could you park a car but you could easily
park seven of those "smart cars" you see all over Rome. The
furniture on the balcony was very nice, a resin rattan with
cushions. There was a dining table with four chairs, two
recliners, and two wing chairs with ottoman's and another
small table. You could easily entertain 20 people out there
without anyone bumping elbows. The aft portion of the
veranda is partially covered and the side portion is fully
covered. This was perfect for the Mediterranean in July as
it was very hot! The cabin itself was a good size, there was
a king size bed (true king not like the smaller ones on some
other ships) that was made up of two beds pushed together, I
could feel the ditch where they met but it was not terribly
distracting. The bed itself was the most comfortable bed I
have ever slept on outside of my home, including five star
hotels. Very nice linens and our room steward was very
accommodating bringing us lots of extra pillows both feather
and non. There is an easy chair and coffee table as well as
a couch. The couch turns into a single bed. This was a bit
of an issue for my son as he is six feet tall and the bed
was uncomfortably small for him. He certainly survived but
we are booking an SA next time as then have the pull out bed
instead of a flip over one. Storage was great in the cabin;
we had more than enough for three people. A great idea is to
use the vanity seat in the dressing room as a hamper as the
top lifts off.
We loved the complementary
laundry and took full advantage of it. I was a bit
disappointed that there were no discounts for suite
passengers for internet like on other lines, seems to me if
you are paying over a thousand dollars a day for a cabin
they could throw you a bone with that but I more than got my
monies worth with the laundry. Compared to what Princess
offers their suite passengers perk wise Holland America lags
behind (ie-Princess gives you leather key card holders, NICE
tote bag, silver pen, internet, champagne, flowers, free
mini bar set up etc.) but it is a trade off- HAL has that
great Neptune Lounge. The Neptune Lounge is a great place to
relax, they also have a laptop in there you can use if you
did not bring your own. (You still need to sign up and pay
for the plan)
I was
really surprised as to how attentive the concierges were. We
did not make too much use of them as I am used to handling
out own spa appointments etc but I heard people ask them for
so many things and it was always "yes we can do that". If
you need to change money you can do it in there, want a
printout of your bill they will get it etc. All day long
there are snacks in there starting with a continental
breakfast, there is a cappuccino machine, juice water and
ice tea are also available. For us because we were all the
way aft a deck below (the lounge is midship on deck seven)
we did not utilize it as often as others but it was nice to
have. Twice during out cruise (ten day trip) there was an
event, one was a lunch I think (we didn't go) and the other
was a cocktail party which we went to, the officers attended
both events. Another perk of being in a suite is you can
have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. This was nice as there
was no need to get up and down to get your food, it is very
quiet in there and great views.
The
breakfast appeared to be the same as what is at the buffet
which was fine with me. This brings me on to food- of course
it is subjective, everyone is different but I have to say
that the food on the Noordam was the best I have had on any
ship. Juice was fresh squeezed at breakfast, the ice-cream
was free (big points with my husband and he resents having
to pay for ice-cream on other ships) the variety amazing and
things changed daily. I loved the Panini station for lunch,
they also had a pasta station, Asian, regular buffet,
hamburgers and bratwurst grill, pizza, even a taco type bar.
Dinner in
the main dining room was very good as well; we always were
able to find something we liked on the menu. We ate in the
Pinnacle grill twice for dinner and I thought it was well
worth the money. The French onion soup up there is to die
for! When I told the chef how much we liked it he said for
me to send up my waiter the next night from the main dining
room and we could have a bowl in the regular restaurant.
(They do have FO soup in the regular restaurant but it is
nothing like the wonderful brew in the Pinnacle) I know some
people resent having to pay but I did not mind at all-
however the food in the main DR was good enough you
certainly could eat there every night and not miss a thing.
There is also a restaurant called Canaletto- we ate there
one night and I was very disappointed. The service was
wonderful but I just did not like the food. Your opinion
could be much different; as I am Sicilian it is pretty hard
to please me with Italian food unless it tastes truly
authentic.
Everything
on the ship was in beautiful condition, we went to the art
auction and purchased two items which I am anxiously
awaiting to arrive here, there always seemed to be elevators
available, the staff was always very polite and friendly I
can't think of anything negative to say at all. Oh I even
had to visit the doctor and he was very nice as well. The
only thing I could possibly say is lacking would be
entertainment wise. However we had done on another cruise
line a 12 day western Mediterranean last year and found the
same thing, after thinking about it my husband I agree that
the lack of quality/variety of entertainment would be due to
two things. First unlike a Caribbean cruise where you can
fly in entertainers to the various ports it is not easy to
pick up a new act say in Turkey. People don't just hop on a
plane and fly all the way there for a few nights gig.
Second
being such a port intensive cruise with long days I think
the cruise line knew most people were not all that
interested in entertainment. We went to two shows, one was a
comedian and the other an illusionist and I did not enjoy
either one of them. Another night the "entertainment" was
bingo but like I said it really did not effect my trip as we
were tired from our day and enjoying our beautiful veranda,
plus we needed to be up early for excursions each morning so
in a sense I was glad that there was not something that I
would have wanted to stay up late for- it is hard to climb
the Acropolis if you are tired
My husband and son really liked the gym, they had state of
the art equipment and they never had to wait to use
something. I spent a lot of time in the spa which was very
nice, you do have to pay if you want to use the thermal
suite (another thing that is free for suite guests on other
lines) but the prices were in line with other cruise ship
spas. (Expect to pay more than when you are on land) There
were a lot of specials during the week and if you book on
the first day three treatments you get ten percent off your
first treatment, twenty percent off your second and thirty
percent off your third so book the most expensive one for
last. If you don't want to be annoyed listening to a sales
pitch during your massage do what I do and write it directly
on your consultation form. I write "I have all the products
that I need, I am here for quiet and relaxation, please
respect this or it will affect your tip" works like a charm!
There were several cooking classes I would have liked to
partake in as well as wine tasting but with such a port
intensive cruise I just did not have time (had to fit the
spa in somewhere) so I will be sure to check them out in the
future. There are only two pools on board (excluding the
indoor spa pool) but they didn't seem overcrowded. They have
a huge chess set on deck that is fun to play as well as ping
pong tables, I never made it up to the sports deck so I
can't tell you what they have up there but I am pretty
certain there is no mini golf on the ship.
A neat thing we really appreciated was each morning we would
get a newspaper, I don't mean the ship's daily paper that
tells you about events but a mini copy of the New York
Times, apparently they have papers for all different
countries as you would see the Canadian Times in some mail
slots, London Times, etc. Also my son would get his own teen
events bulletin daily. He did not go to the club so I can't
comment on how that was, he tired of kids clubs years ago.
We never made it to the casino, it didn't seem like many
people did when we walked by.
The ports were great; we had private guides for each one
that I can recommend. I am proud to say we made it home from
Turkey without buying a rug The venders there are very
aggressive; especially outside of Ephesus after politely
saying no thank you a few times I found it more effective to
just ignore them. I didn't like to be rude but I am not
someone you can push into buying things. (By the way name
your own price and stick with it, they will come down even
if they seem insulted at first) After the cruise we did
another tour with Stefano and spent two more nights at the
Visconti Palace then flew back to the US. Before leaving the
ship we did purchase future cruise credits which are a great
deal and we will be back in Europe next summer on the
Noordam again!
Check out my website www.dreamvacation.cc
