holland-noordam6

Note - this page contains multiple reviews.

Name: Bev and Peter Barbeito
Email: bbarbeit@lmail.cencol.on.ca
Age: 46 and 53
Occupation: Administrators
NumberOfCruises: 5
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Noordam
SailingDate: May 2 - 12, 2000
Itinerary: Intrigue of Iberia and Northern Aftrica
Cabin: H533 (A deck)
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 80
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 80
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 80
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService:
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff: 85
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 80
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 90
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 50
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 70
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 18 Aug 2000
Time: 15:07:35
Remote Name: 207.210.57.5
Remote User:

Comments

My husband and I recently returned from the May 2, 2000 Intrigue of Iberia and Northern Africa
(Lisbon to Lisbon) sailing on HAL's Noordam. This was our fifth cruise, our first on Holland America.
We chose this cruise because we thought the itinerary sounded terrific and we were able to get a
really good cruise price.

We've divided the rest of our review under the following sub-headings: General Comments,
Cruising Planning Suggestions, Pre and Post Cruise, Embarkation/Disembarkation, Our Cabin,
Cleanliness, Shore Excursions staff, Cruise Director and staff, Front Desk Staff, Shops, Dining
Room Food, Dining Room Service, Wine Selection and Pricing, Lido Restaurant, Exercise Facilities
and ‘Passport to Fitness', Beauty Salon, Shore Excursions, and Thoughts on our Ports of Call. You
may find the entire review somewhat long, so if you're interested in a particular area, just scroll
down to it.

General Comments The Noordam lacks some of the features of newer ships, such as deluxe rooms
with balconies. Still, its ‘not-too-big, not-too-small' size makes it easy to get around and offers a
number of nooks and crannies you don't find on newer ships. The ship seemed to be wheelchair
friendly - there were a number of passengers using them on board. There's a full-sized movie
theatre serving fresh popcorn - we can vouch that both the movies and popcorn were great! And,
the spacious teak Promenade deck reminds you of ‘cruising days of yore'. Officers are mainly
Dutch, crew members mainly Indonesian and from the Philippines.

The Noordam had undergone a major scheduled refurbishing while in drydock, immediately before
our cruise. The Captain told us at the Welcome cocktail party that it cost $2.5 million and was the
most extensive the Noordam had ever undertaken. In addition, the Noordam also underwent some
major repairs since some of its stabilizers had been severely damaged during its Transatlantic
crossing immediately prior to the drydock. The Noordam still isn't as glitzy as some newer ships,
you won't find any waterfalls or glass multi-storey atriums, but the result was terrific. The lounges
were decorated very tastefully and were very welcoming. Also, according to HAL tradition on all its
ships, everywhere you went on board, there were wonderful works of art - paintings and sculpture
both - to admire.

While we really enjoyed the itinerary because of its variety, it meant the ship kept changing time
zones and we kept changing our watches to match. This happened four times in the space of 10
days - it was somewhat confusing and would have been easier to just stick to one time. A minor
point though!

Holland America offers several nice touches: before the cruise, our cruise documents were
delivered in a handsome travel wallet; on arrival on board, we were escorted directly to our cabin
and given a Holland America canvas bag to use on shore excursions; we also received a set of
menus for the dinners on the cruise.

Overall, we would give this cruise 4 out of 5. We had a wonderful time and will definitely sail with
Holland America again. In fact, we've already booked a Caribbean cruise on the Noordam sailing in
January 2001.

Cruising Planning Suggestions: 1) Booking on a guarantee basis: We had booked a standard
inside cabin this way, and did not learn our cabin assignment until a week before the cruise. Taking
a guarantee can work for you or against you. Last year, on the Pacific Princess, we were upgraded
from an inside to an outside cabin and up one deck; however our cabin was the third last from the
stern of the ship and the engine noise was deafening. This year, we were delighted to be assigned
to cabin H533, an inside cabin near the middle of the ship.

2) Arranging your own airfare: make sure your travel arrangements get you to the embarkation
port well before the check-in time, and that your return arrangements are scheduled several hours
after the scheduled arrival time at the disembarkation port.

Here's why: There was a medical emergency on board a few hours after we left our next-to-last
port, Gibraltar. The Noordam wasn't expected to arrive in Lisbon for at least 12 hours so the
decision was made to transport the ill patient via boat ambulance to a hospital in Cadiz. The cruise
director advised passengers of the situation and that there would be a delay of at least two hours
to the arrival time in Lisbon. He assured passengers who had made their travel arrangements
through Holland America that staff on board would be working through the night with staff at HAL
headquarters in Seattle to make new flight arrangements for any one scheduled on a flight before
noon. Note: HAL had no obligation to assist passengers who had made their own travel
arrangements. We didn't have to worry because we weren't flying home for two days, but we did
hear of a couple who were supposed to fly home that same morning on a charter flight (no flight
exchange privilege) and they were worried they would miss their flight and have the additional
expense of purchasing another. As it turned out, the Noordam made up most of the time it had lost
and was sailing up the Tagus River at 7:30 AM and docked in Lisbon by 8:00 AM.

3) Arranging Shore Excursions We've read a number of reviews at cruiseopinion.com which
suggest that travellers can do just as well, or better, by making their own arrangements in port
once they arrive as they can by taking the excursions offered through the Tour Office on board the
ship. In most cases, we would agree; the exceptions might be places like the Alhambra in Granada,
or Lanzarote; in these cases we found the commentary of the tour guide was very insightful and
added a great deal to our appreciation of the site we were visiting. Another exception - places at
great distance from where the ship is docked. If you experience some difficulty in getting back to
the ship, the ship will wait for the tour if it was organized by the cruise line. If you made your own
plans and couldn't get back before sailing time, the ship will not likely wait for you and it will be at
your expense to get back to it any way you can.

Escorted cruise tours, while convenient, are not always needed because often the major sights are
within short walking distances of each other. At other cruise stops, a good taxi driver can offer as
good or better value and a more customized tour matching your interests. Another benefit of doing
the tours yourself is flexibility. The tours offered on this cruise were either ½ day or full day
excursions that began first thing in the morning. Doing it on your own gives you the freedom to
start when you want to, and to have the tour last as long as you want it to.

If you are planning to go anywhere on your own, we suggest getting a good map from whatever
resources you have before you leave for your cruise. Maps provided by the tour office are not
designed to be adequate for your own walking tours as usually only main streets are included. It's
easy to miss a main street and the smaller ones often aren't noted. Do your homework before you
cruise - know what you want to see and find out some information on it - travel sections of the
newspaper, and of course, the Internet, are great sources. Then whether you do your own walking
tours, or hire a taxi with another couple, you'll see and do more of what you want, and save money
doing it.

Pre and Post Cruise We arranged our own airfare from Toronto to Lisbon because we could save
a lot by booking on one of the several charter air lines flying from Toronto to European cities. Our
round trip flight from the charter company was $550 Cdn each compared to $1250 Cdn quoted by
the regular schedule airlines. These charter air lines operate flights similar to regularly scheduled
airlines, usually once or twice a week and cancellation/ changes are not permitted once the ticket
has been purchased. This meant we arrived in Lisbon two days before the cruise and flew home
two days after. The money saved on the airfare more than paid for our stays in Lisbon.

Before the cruise, we stayed at the Hotel Lisboa on rua Barrato Saguero (just off the Avenida
Liberdade, a short walk south of Marquis de Pombal square). We highly recommend this four star
hotel to you: it's small, quiet, with friendly courteous staff, within walking distance of shopping,
sights, and bus tours, and offers a great buffet breakfast with lots of variety included in the
reasonable cost of the room.

After the cruise, we stayed at the Hotel Fenix at the Marquis de Pombal square. This four star hotel
was much larger but not nearly as welcoming as the Hotel Lisboa. Front desk staff were aloof and
not helpful in providing basic information, e.g. where to buy stamps or daily bus passes. The buffet
breakfast paled in comparison to the one at the Lisboa.

Embarkation/Disembarkation In a nutshell, this particular embarkation was not HAL's finest hour.

Not only did we arrange our own airfare, we decided not to purchase HAL's transfer program to
and from the ship. We took a taxi from our hotel in Lisbon to the pier. When we arrived, the dock
area was totally congested due to a large number of parked trucks. We pulled up to the terminal
around 2:30 PM to be greeted by a long line of fellow passengers which extended for a
considerable distance outside the terminal. They advised us to catch the attention of the porters
wearing orange overalls for they would take our luggage directly on to the ship for us. We think it's
important to note that there were no HAL staff or signs in sight to indicate what we were supposed
to do.

It was close to half an hour before we moved at all. Meanwhile, at least three or four busloads of
people arrived and were escorted by HAL staff through the waiting line and directly into the
terminal. (We found out later from a couple at our dinner table that these passengers had
pre-registered during pre-cruise stays at Lisbon hotels). Finally, we entered the terminal building.
The line of passengers inched along a narrow hallway which then entered on to the main room of
the terminal. This room was actually quite small - it just was not adequate to accommodate the
large number of passengers waiting to register. HAL had set up tables along the far length of the
main room with a representative and laptop computer at each table. Signs on the floor propped
against the tables indicated the series of cabin numbers which were to register at each particular
table.

It was at this point that we began to realize that this was turning into bedlam. People were pressing
forward into the main room trying to see where they should go. So many were in the main room that
the floor signs could not be seen. Then people joined any line - usually the shortest at the time.
Meanwhile, HAL was experiencing problems with its laptops and 3 of 6 crashed. Then HAL staff had
to collapse those three lines into the other three which still had working laptops. With all those
people in such a small place, the room temperature was quite warm. Patience was wearing thin and
tempers were rising. When people were told to join one of the remaining lines where a laptop was
working, it became a free-for-all with everyone for themselves.

Once we got to the front of the line, the representative took less than a minute to record the info
she needed from our cruise papers. Then we still had to line up at another table on the dock to
turn in our passports and get our ship access card and cabin passkey. Interesting to note that,
unlike other cruise lines, HAL's access cards do not include a passenger photo. Further along the
dock, HAL finally provided some punch. We walked up the gang plank to the Noordam at 4:00 PM -
an hour and a half after we arrived at the terminal. Once on board though, we received a warm
welcome and were escorted directly to our cabin. Then we were off to explore the ship!

In retrospect, we really think that HAL could and should have had better planning to begin with -
including staggering registration times, had some viable contingency plans to handle emergencies
like when laptops crash, offered seating and refreshments to ease unavoidable waiting, and kept
everyone informed as to what was going on. It would have curbed a lot of bad feelings, and made a
better first impression.

We found out later that day that the Noordam had been in scheduled drydock for ten days
immediately prior to our cruise, and this was part of the reason for all the confusion during
embarkation. The day before our cruise, the Noordam leaked when it was put back in the water.
That delayed them considerably and consequently, the Noordam arrived extremely late in the port
of Lisbon.

The ship was not fully ship-shape when it did arrive. Our cabin on deck A did not have working air
conditioning until late on our first night; decks B and C below us were without air conditioning for 2 -
3 days. The electrical system was not fully functional either: other passengers told us that lights
weren't working and we know from personal experience that the automated wake up call system
wasn't working until day 4 or 5 of the cruise.

These and other problems, and the delays with embarkation resulted in the ship not leaving Lisbon
until 11:00 PM - a full six hours past the scheduled departure time. But I must say it was romantic
sailing down the Tagus River in the warm moonlit night with my hubby's arms around me as we
admired the April 25th Bridge, the Monument to the Discoveries, the Tower of Belem and the
statue of Jesus.

For the record, disembarkment and collecting our luggage on the dock was extremely easy, and
well organized. A quantum leap improvement over the embarkation!

Our Cabin Our cabin was H533 on A deck, an inside cabin near the middle of the ship; we felt that
this was the best cabin we've had on any of our cruises so far. It was spacious and featured a
queen-size bed rather than two singles pushed together. There were two night tables (one on each
side of the bed), a large dresser with six large drawers (two had locks), a vanity/desk which
contained the ice bucket and mini-bar (no refrigerator), and two huge closets. The bathroom was a
good size and well lit. The cabins were quiet too - only once did we hear a noise from another
cabin.

A wall mounted TV in the corner above the dresser was positioned so that we could watch it from
the bed. There was an excellent movie channel, a shore excursions channel, and a HAL promotion
channel. CNN/CNBC (which was received sometimes) kept us mostly out of touch with the real
world. The news was old. ESPN was never picked up by the satellite dish. For ardent hockey fans
during Round 2 of the playoffs, this was brutal. Even the newsletters, which were somewhat
regularly distributed, only offered news which was 48 hours old. In this day and age of fax and
Internet, this is deplorable. Unfortunately, we didn't find out until near the end of the cruise that
there was a built in radio beside the bed too.

Our cabin steward, Edi, was very good. He introduced himself to us as soon as we got to our cabin
and soon afterwards he brought in our luggage. He always kept the cabin neat and clean, and
replenished the bowl of fruit daily.

Some things about the cabin we didn't like: (1) the lighting by the vanity was dull and that just
happened to be the location of the only electrical outlet in the cabin. (2) on the last night, once we
gave our steward a tip, all the Holland America toiletries were removed from the bathroom. We
were surprised that HAL would do this, asked for them back and they were returned; but it was
disturbing.

Cleanliness At all times, all public areas on the ship were clean or being cleaned. Even the
washrooms were spotless!

Shore Excursions staff They were always friendly, warm and helpful. Even the first evening on
board when they were busy trying to finalize the arrangements for passengers who had
pre-booked shore excursions and the office was technically closed, the manager still had time to
answer our questions and check on our reservations when we happened to catch her coming out
of the shore excursion office. The Cruise staff also assisted on the shore excursions and also with
the processing, and were always outgoing and pleased to be of service.

Cruise Director and staff Once again, this group of men and women were extremely pleasant,
friendly, outgoing and couldn't do enough to make the cruise a wonderful experience for us.
Moreover, they had put together an outstanding lineup of activities to keep us busy: ‘Walk-a-mile',
a variety of exercise classes, individual and group trivia, ‘Newlywed Game', ‘Name That Tune' and
other challenges, various board game team matches, shuffleboard, table tennis, ring toss, bridge
and other card games, art auctions, lectures, tours of various parts of the ship, and so on. We had
no problem finding things to do. In fact, on sea days, there was so much we wanted to do but didn't
have time.

Front Desk Staff Unlike their shore excursion and cruise staff colleagues, these staff members
were cold, aloof and concentrated on efficiency. Often, they would just quote ‘policy' in response to
passenger questions. Here's a personal example: stamps are normally available for passengers to
buy from the front desk (usually when the ship is in port) because it is difficult to buy stamps in
some ports. Peter tried to buy stamps from the front desk shortly after the ship docked at Gibraltar,
but was told the stamps weren't available yet. When we returned from our visit on shore, shortly
before sailing, he was told curtly that there were none left and that it was too late. We feel a more
customer-service oriented option would have been to tell him (during his first enquiry) how much
the stamps would be, allow him to pay for the stamps, take the cards, and put them in the mail bag
once the stamps became available.

Shops There are only four shops on board all located on Promenade Deck, just off the main
stairwell and elevator bank: the Boutique stocking film, liquor, sunscreen, souvenir coffee mugs
etc. and shops for Perfume, Jewelry and Clothing. We found the shops on the Noordam paled in
comparison to those we experienced on the Pacific Princess last year: there wasn't as much
variety, regular prices were more expensive and sale prices were not discounted as much.
Moreover, Princess staff went out of their way to help you find what you wanted or needed;
Noordam staff just weren't as helpful.

Dining Room Food We were part of a great table for eight at second sitting dinner: couples from
New York City, Barrie Ontario and Lisbon Portugal. We got along well, and we looked forward to
dinner each night to share what we'd done during the day.

The average dinner had five or six appetizers, two or three soups and salads, five entrees,
including vegetarian and ‘light'. There was at least one selection in each category classified as a
‘spicy' dish. Generally speaking the food was very good - not five star - but equal to the quality you
could expect from a good restaurant. When speaking with a number of HAL alumni, they
commented that the meals on this cruise were not up to HAL's usual high standards. We would
have liked more pasta options, and perhaps some oriental entrees. But we never missed dinner
and enjoyed the meals!

Dining Room Service The service in the dining room could best be described as adequate,
certainly not attentive or spectacular. Unlike our experience on the Pacific Princess, where you just
had to look up and either the waiter or busboy were at your side to ask what they could get for you,
there were long periods during dinners when neither the waiter nor the busboy were anywhere to
be seen. There was also a lengthy gap - around 20 minutes - between the soup/salad course and
the main entree. This meant that dinner was taking close to two hours every night - so we were
never able to make it to activities scheduled for 9:30 or 9:45 PM. We were hard pressed to leave
before 10:00 PM in order to get seats for the after-dinner show. We know that first sitting dinner
was often finished in a lot less time.

Service was also haphazard. One night, our coffee was served at the end of dinner but not the
cream and sugar. As usual, our waiter and busboy were not in sight, and it was at least 15 minutes
before we were able to get any cream and sugar. By then, the coffee was cold. The next night the
cream and sugar were served, but not coffee, and we gave up waiting for it.

Another difference we noticed, Princess wait staff remembered special requests whereas HAL staff
didn't: last year, some of us at dinner asked for extra vegetables and the waiter brought a platter of
several different kinds for the entire table to share; after the first night, we never had to ask again,
a large platter was brought automatically. This year, I had to remind the waiter often, and I usually
only got carrots and broccoli.

To be fair though, Mazda the head waiter for our section did arrange some special items for us. On
our first night at sea, he enquired whether anyone at the able would be celebrating any special
dates while on board. I mentioned that Peter and I would be celebrating our anniversary the next
day. We were pleasantly surprised when a cake was brought to our dinner table the next night.
Another example: one of our table mates had had her birthday the day before we sailed and was
disappointed that she wouldn't get a cake. So, we all agreed to tell Mazda that her birthday was
actually during the cruise and that we wanted a really special cake. We were having Tiramisu for
dessert that night, so we suggested a Tiramisu cake. Mazda doubted it was possible, but the next
night we were served the biggest, most delicious Tiramisu cake ever!

Wine Selection and Pricing There was a large selection of at least 100 wines from around the world
available from the wine list, with prices starting around $20.00; thee were also daily specials. We
had wine at every dinner, sometimes sharing with others at the table.

Lido Restaurant We were very happy with the quality of the food in the Lido. We ate all our
breakfast and lunches there; it's a large open area with lots of windows, so it's bright, sunny and
inviting. We would always get a warm welcome from Yudah as he handed us our trays and cutlery.
The Lido has two lines and both have identical selections. Usually, we were lucky and found
ourselves in short lines. But we did see some long ones, particularly at lunch, and were even part
of them a couple of times. They moved at a reasonable pace but you'll probably spend a few
minutes in at least one line here. But once you're through the line, there are plenty of tables to
choose from.

We don't often eat big breakfasts - cereals, muffins/bagels/toast, eggs sometimes - that'll do us
fine. All that was available, along with several kinds of whole and sliced fruit, bacon, sausages,
meats and more. Some items could even be made to order. One morning banana pancakes were
on the menu - I ordered them expecting to be served a couple of warmed over ones. Instead, I was
asked to wait a couple of minutes and got pancakes that were fresh and hot.

At lunch, there was a wide selection to choose from - salads, several entrees and side dishes, a
large selection of fresh breads, rolls, biscuits and pastries, yogurt, and a wide variety of
beverages. Some of the dishes were made from leftovers but were creatively prepared and tasty!
There were also a self-serve salad bar, an ice cream/ frozen yogurt bar serving four or five
different flavours each day, and a dessert bar where you could have your choice of goodies such
as fruit pies, cream pies, absolutely decadent cheesecakes (can you tell I liked them a lot?) and
more. Finally, you could have freshly squeezed orange juice anytime you wanted to run the
machine to make it. Something to watch for: we noticed that breads and rolls were left out on
display - it did look nice but the sliced bread got hard and stale a lot sooner.

The Lido Deck was also inviting in the late afternoon. Fruit, cakes and cookies were available if you
needed something to tide you over to dinner; juices were available to cool you off after doing the
daily ‘Walk A Mile' on the deck above.

Exercise Facilities and ‘Passport to Fitness' program We didn't use the gym, but we did check it
out. Although small, it is well equipped and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. There's an
organized fitness program on board called ‘Passport to Fitness'. Events included ‘Walk-A-Mile',
Aerobics, ‘Stretch & Tone', Ballroom Dancing and so on. After a few days of eating desserts
whenever we wanted, we got more serious about wearing off some of the calories by using the
stairs and going to the exercise sessions. For taking part in fitness events, we earned stamps
redeemable at the end of the cruise for fitness items such as water bottles, socks, t- shirts, jackets
et al. One nice feature - HAL lets you carry your accumulated stamps over to another cruise rather
than forcing you to cash them in.

Beauty Salon Steiner's of London runs the salon and spa facilities on HAL and many other major
cruise lines. The staff are from all over the world; they've all completed an extensive training period
before their assignment to a ship. I found them to be very professional and pleasant. Steiner's sells
its line of products and the staff offer demonstrations throughout the cruise BUT without pressuring
you to make massive purchases.

Thoughts on our Ports of Call The itinerary offered a really good combination of cosmopolitan
cities, scenic towns and lush islands - Casablanca (with tours to Marrakesh or Rabat), Agadir (tour
to Touradant), Lanzarote, Tenerife, Madeira, Malaga (with tours to Granada), Gibraltar and Lisbon.
We researched our ports of call at the library and on the Internet and had developed a good idea
of what we wanted to see. We liked the fact that Holland America included a shore excursion
booklet and selection form with our travel documents; we were able to fax our completed form to
HAL's head office prior to the cruise. For the most part, we feel that the shore excursions we took
were a fair value for the money. We took both full and half day tours - we found that the full day
tours left no time for any thing else. We recommend that, if the places you want to see are offered
in both full and half day formats, opt for the half-day tours.

Casablanca - We signed up for ‘Magical Marrakesh' - a 12-hour tour at $199 each. We thought it
expensive but figured we might never get the chance to go there again. It was a long and tiring day
- we left the ship at 6:30 AM and didn't return until 6:50 PM. In our opinion, this excursion was not
worth the expense or the effort. Table companions felt the same about their tour to Rabat - a mere
9 hour tour.

The brochure stated that the tour included a 3-hour ride each way from Casablanca to Marrakesh;
the brochure was wrong: the drive was actually 4 hours plus a washroom stop along the way each
way ! That left less than four hours in Marrakesh. In that time, we saw the Bahia Palace (named
after the chief wife of a prince), the Djemma el Fna square, and the La Memounia hotel for lunch.
The palace is not on a par with many others that can be seen elsewhere in the Mediterranean,
such as the Alhambra. Something unusual we did see: on the way to the palace there were several
storks nesting on roof tops of nearby buildings.

After a five-minute drive from the palace to the square, we got off the buses and a group of snake
charmers sprung into action! As we watched the display, one of them circulated among us
collecting ‘contributions' - insisting on a minimum of $2, which a lot of us declined! Our guide then
led us through the square and into the souqs - narrow laneways lined with open-air shops. We
weren't given an opportunity to shop either in the square or in any of the souqs, but were instead
directed to one shop in particular for 20 minutes of shopping. The place was crammed from floor to
ceiling with junk at exorbitant prices, and it was obvious that our guide was getting a cut of any
sales. It's hard to say whether this was good or bad - it may not have been wise or safe to let a
busload of foreigners loose in the souqs unescorted. We were also warned not to take pictures of
people without their permission since Moslems are forbidden by their faith from having images
taken of them. This nearly caused a major problem when someone from one of the other bus tours
did take someone's picture without permission.

From the square we went to the La Mamounia Hotel, a 5 star hotel in Marrakesh, for lunch.
However, it took two hours to herd all the tour participants from four buses through the single line
of the buffet. It was worth it though - there was a wide variety of choice and it was all terrific - living
up to its rating!

We left Marrakesh right after lunch at 2:30 PM and were the first bus back to the ship at 6:50 PM.
Other buses weren't as lucky. Bus #3's air conditioning wasn't working (it was at least 85 F) and it
had experienced transmission problems all day. This caused them to arrive late in Marrakesh - too
late to see the palace. The transmission gave out completely on the way back. Once they got a
replacement bus, the bus driver drove like a maniac passing other traffic to get back to the ship.
When they finally got back to the ship, HAL immediately offered these passengers compensation
for their inconvenience!

Agadir - Rebuilt following an earthquake in 1960, Agadir is a modern seaside resort town on the
Atlantic coast. Its main claims to fame are sandy beaches and lots of sunshine. The Noordam was
only docked for the afternoon; we stayed on board for a number of reasons - the cruise tours didn't
sound too exciting, there wasn't that much to see in town, we heard the shopping was expensive,
and we were still tired from our long trek to and from Marrakesh. Many of our dinner table
companions who had gone ashore either with a cruise tour or on their own, were of the opinion that
they shouldn't have bothered and that there was no need for Agadir to be included on the itinerary.

Lanzarote - This is probably one of the most unique places on Earth and our ½ day tour to
Timanfaya National Park and the Fire Mountains here was one of the best we took during the
cruise. A large part of the island is covered with hardened lava, making it look like the surface of
the moon. It was truly amazing that the terrain was so black, barren and desolate. Only recently
have lichens (very simple plant life) begun to appear. The tour stopped at the El Diablo Restaurant
in the park; not to eat but to see that meals here are cooked on a grill over a huge open pit using
volcanic heat for cooking. The hot temperature, just below the surface of the ground, was also
demonstrated by park guides - showing how hay fed into a hole burst into flames after less than 10
seconds and digging up small stones from just under the surface - they were too hot to handle!

As part of the tour, we also took a ride on a camel. There are actually camel ‘trains' - a group of 5
or 6 camels tethered together in a line one after each other. Camels are known to spit and bite so
most wear muzzles lined with a cloth. Each camel is fitted with a ‘saddle' of sorts which has two
seats attached to it - one seat on each side of the camel. Once all of our group were properly
seated, we headed up over some dunes - rocking back and forth - camels are not known for being
dainty-steppers! We had a fun time and it's something out of the ordinary to tell friends about. Our
last stop was to a winery to sample some local wines; they were m-m-m-good!

Tenerife - This is the largest of the Canary Islands and like Lanzarote, it is a volcanic island. We
took a day tour starting with a drive through a magnificent pine forest, then on to the National Park
of Teide (pronounced tie-day) to see the highest point and highest dormant volcano (at over
12,000 ft above sea level) in Spain, Mount Teide and the huge crater beside it called Las
Canadas. On the outskirts of the park , at 5000 feet, we were reminded that it can be cool at higher
altitudes and lots of us were not suitably dressed for it! Volcanic rocks around the crater are very
colourful - it's all quite spectacular! Tenerife also features lunar landscape - although not quite as
stark as on Lanzarote; the movies ‘Star Wars' and ‘Planet of the Apes' were filmed on the two
islands. The tour ate lunch at a local restaurant - the food and wine were good. On the way back to
the ship, we stopped at a fine Botanical Garden that's used to acclimatize plants to the Canarian
climate so they an ultimately be moved to the Spanish mainland. Lots of beautiful plants including
orchids!

Madeira - We toured on our own with a couple from our dinner table. We spent the morning walking
around Funchal - a beautiful city with incredibly lush flowers and plants. Peter and I were really
looking forward to this port because the Barbeito family originated in Madeira. Today some of his
distant relatives are wine makers and it was a home coming of sorts when we visited Barbeito
Wines in Funchal. After tasting a number of their wines we bought some to bring back to family.
Back to the ship for a quick lunch, then the four of us hired a taxi for a two-hour tour of the
southern coast of the island. The taxis wait dockside by the ship, so it's easy to hire one for an
island tour (impossible to hire if you just want to go into town - it's too short a fare for them). We
were very lucky: Our driver spoke excellent English, was well educated and has travelled
extensively. He was knowledgeable about points of interest, and able to answer all our questions
about life on Madeira. All in all a great day!

Malaga - After a day at sea, we arrived at Malaga, Spain. We chose the full day tour to Granada to
see the Alhambra, an ornate Moorish palace. This meant another day with an early start - the
evening before the tour, the tour operator moved the start ahead by an hour, supposedly because
of the large number of tourists visiting Granada. However, the visit to the Alhambra was definitely
one of the highlights of our trip.

The Alhambra, which means ‘The Red' in Arabic, overlooks the city and you can get some terrific
views from many areas of the palace grounds. Like a lot of palaces, it originally had a small town
within its walls; the townspeople were usually the staff and servants supporting castle life. Most of
this area has been destroyed; we learned that Napoleon's troops were destroying everything of
any strategic value as they fled the area after the occupation of Spain. Only the heroism of a single
one-armed peasant, defusing as many bombs as he could, saved some of this area and the castle
proper. Beyond the ruins is the ‘Generalife', the gardens of the castle. We could go on and on
about how beautiful and tranquil they are, suffice it to say they are well worth seeing. But even the
gardens can not prepare you for the magnificence of the palace rooms. The ceilings were made of
cedar, the one wood that termites do not attack so they are perfectly intact. Some wall coverings
have been ‘removed' through the years, but those that remain are still elegant. Adjacent to and
part of the palace complex is the Palace of Charles V - built in a rush for Charles and his bride; she
didn't like it so they only lived in the palace for a few months. Although its outward appearance is
square, this palace features a round inner courtyard with amazing acoustics; concerts are held in
this venue each summer. We were treated to a mini ‘mini-concert' when our tour chaperon, the
manager of the cruise show team, sang ‘The Impossible Dream' for us. We can't say enough about
this tour - a terrific experience!

Gibraltar - Gibraltar is an exception to our belief that you can hire a taxi more cheaply than the cost
of a cruise tour. We had located several tourism sites on the Internet and we knew what we'd like to
see, so we chose not to join one of the cruise's shore excursions. We joined up with the same
couple we had toured Madeira with and went to check out the taxis dockside. To our surprise, the
taxi tours cost as much as the cruise tours ($35) but they did not include entrance fees ($10) to the
various attractions on the tour - which made them more expensive. Most ‘taxis' were actually
7-person mini-vans and they wouldn't leave until full. There was absolutely no negotiation on the
price!

We walked into town and found the cable car to go up the mountain. However, tours from our ship
were already in line waiting, had been there 45 minutes and weren't even halfway through the line
yet. We decided to pass, because we were only in port for the morning and we were concerned
that we might get to the top of the mountain but not have enough time to get back before the ship
was to sail. We'll just have to go back!

While in town, we considered hiring a taxi (car) for a tour and did check this out with a couple of
drivers. Again, there was no negotiation on price: they wanted $25 per person per hour. Common
sense prevailed and instead, we went for a beer at a local patio pub! The Main Street is filled with
duty-free shops and we did buy a couple of gifts. But a word of warning: know your prices. Just
before we left on the cruise, we bought a camera from Wal-mart for about $100 Cdn including tax
($67 US) and we saw the exact same model for 59 pounds or $95 US at one of the duty-free
stores.

Thanks for reading - if we can answer any questions for you, we'd be happy to do so. Bev and
Peter Barbeito

Name: Yonnie and Joe Makar
Email: yonnijoe@helicon.net
Age: 56
Occupation: retired educators
NumberOfCruises: 33
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Noordam
SailingDate: Feb. 4 - 18, 2001
Itinerary: Sothern Caribbean
Cabin: A-056
FoodDiningRoom: 93
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 96
FoodRoomService: 100
CruiseStaff: 99
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 98
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 98
FoodVariety: 98
DeckService: 100
ShoreExcValue: 98
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 100
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 97
EntertShowLounge: 100
OverallPortsofCall: 100
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 100
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 80
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 98
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 98
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 25 Feb 2001
Time: 10:47:27
Remote Name: gbg-04a-105.charterpa.net
Remote User:

Comments

This was a 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Noordam out of Tampa. Ports of call were: San
Juan, St Thomas, Guadelope, Barbados, St Lucia, Isla de Margarita, Bonaire, Aruba, and Grand
Cayman. New islands for us on this cruise were Isla Margarita and Bonaire.

Isla Margarita is the largest of the Venezuelean islands. It is very underdeveloped. The beaches are
large. Ninety-five percent of the people live on the eastern part of the island while 5% live on the
rugged western portion. The eastern portion looks a like Arizona. There is a small shallow beach
where the ship docks. English is not widely spoken. The largest commercial city, Parlamar, is about a
45 minute bus shuttle ($10 per person each way). Taxi's are more expensive and unmetered. There is
a small native craft area set up by the ship.

Bonaire - again - underdeveloped commercially with limited shopping. It is great for snorkeling and
diving. There are inland sanctuaries for flamingos and endangered parrots. Many roads are 1 lane in
the country but in Kralendijk, where the ship docks, the roads are 2 lanes. The ship docks right at the
main shopping district - all 2 blocks of it. Bonaire is known for its salt flats.

Barbados is building an open air mall a short walk from the cruise terminal. It will contain about 20
shops. We were told that it is expected to open in a couple of months.

We happen to visit St Lucia on a Sunday. The only shops open were the ones at the pier.

The itinerary for the 2 weeks is excellent. However, the Noordam is an older ship and our cruise had
several mechanical breakdowns. On day 5 when we returned to our stateroom we discovered that we
didn't have any air conditioning. We went to the front office and were informed that the air conditioning
on the top 3 decks was not working. The air conditioning had gone out around 11 AM. We were
informed that the crew was jury-rigging the system. By 9:30 PM very minimal air flow began. We
received a letter in the cabins that evening that Seattle had been informed of the problem. An
announcement was made that we would be spending an extra 5 hours in Barbados awaiting the parts
to be flown in. We also picked up additional mechanical technicians. For the rest of the cruise the air
conditioning was minimal for the upper 3 decks. The gym (located on navigation deck, didn't have any
air in the morning and only minimal A/C in the afternoon the last 4 days of the cruise. After a few days
it was apparent that the filtration system for the Jacuzzi and pool on the navigation deck wasn't working
as the water became green and cloudy.

Lifeboats 4 and 5 were constantly being worked on the entire cruise. People who were assigned to #5
were re-assigned to #13. About 10 minutes before we were to leave Aruba lifeboat #13 snapped a
cable during routine maintenance and hung precariously over the side of the ship. Three hours was
spent getting a new cable attached and getting the lifeboat back into its cradle. That meant that we
had only 3 tenders to use in Grand Cayman. Because of the delayed departure from Aruba we arrived
2 and 1/2 hours late in Grand Cayman. Many people who were not on tour and didn't want to wait an
hour to get a tender lied and pushed their way onto the tenders. While we were in Grand Cayman all
the elevators had maintenance work performed on them as periodically one would not be in service.

We also had some minor problems. When we arrived on board we noticed that the flowers from the
previous 2 week cruise had not been replaced. Within a few days the flowers in our stateroom as well
as many around the ship were dead.

Out of 33 cruises we have never seen luggage loaded onto a deck and then distributed from there.
Many people didn't get their luggage until after the 1st seating dinner. On the last night luggage was
picked up after midnight and stored on the open deck above the Lido pool. We were lucky we didn't
have any rain or rough seas returning to Tampa. We have no ides why the luggage wasn't taken to a
regular hold area in the hull of the ship.

The dining room was short help. The bus boys had too many tables to take care. As a result waiters
had to remove dishes from the tables themselves.

The disembarkation talk was at 7:45 PM on a production show night. We opted not to have dessert so
that we could get to the Admiral Lounge early in order to have seta for both the talk and the show.
When we got to the lounge at 7:05 most of the seats were already gone. The Admiral Lounge seats
about 500 people and everyone had been requested to be at the talk. Many of the people who should
have gone to the 2nd show stayed over for the 1st seating show. They had opted to eat early in the
Lido optional dining room.

Disembarkation for independent passengers was a nightmare in Tampa. Early in the cruise we had to
complete a form indicating our final plans at the end of the cruise. The form indicated that taxi's would
be plentiful at the pier for independent travelers. In reality we were on our own! Our porter delivered
our luggage to the curb and as he was departing he told us that we would have to wait for the next
available taxi. There wasn't a line of taxi's waiting for passengers as we have had in other cities. There
was approximately 100 people waiting for taxi's. There wasn't a dispatcher to assign people to a taxi
and as a result when a taxi did arrive it was a free-for-all! When a taxi did arrive the drivers were only
interested in the higher fares - taking people to the airport. Most of us waiting for a taxi wanted to go to
a hotel and therefore were ignored.

Although we are loyal Holland America cruisers we would never go on this ship again. The crew and
staff were excellent inspite of all the problems. We have 2 future cruises already booked on the
Ryndam which we have been on before and are looking forward to.

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