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Friday: Grand Turks from the Westerdam
As we watched the ship approach the tiny dock at Grand Turks, I must admit I felt sorry for the island that was about to be overrun with tourists. The island has only been a cruise destination for about a year, but one of the residents said that ships come almost every day during the season. Because shopping is limited, the cruise lines decided to fix that problem by building a Cruise center at the docks, better described as an open air small shopping center.

There were several of the obligatory jewelry stores, a clothing store or two, souvenir shops and Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville, which consisted of a swimming pool, bar(?) and logo shop. There were also open air booths where locals sold shells and crafts, but not many were open on our trip.
We did opt for a shore excursion at this stop, the Guana Hop-on Hoff-off Bus for $39.95 each. The bus had three stops, along with tickets to get into the Lighthouse park and the old Her majesty Prison. Although we enjoyed getting out and walking around the working lighthouse park, which is purported to be where Columbus first touched land in the new world, this excursion was very overpriced. I heard numerous complaints about the price from several on the bus and on the ship later. The problem was, unless you were familiar with the area, this was the only option available to see parts of the small island that did not include a water excursion. Most likely there were private cabs available near the dock, but I didn't see any available.

Other shore excursions included numerous water adventures from snokeling to diving, also fishing and a stingray encounter.

Saturday - At Sea on the Westerdam
We were ready for another full day at sea, with similar activities as on Tuesday. I also finished up the Photoshop Elements course and made a few more stops at the casino.

That evening we were given luggage tags for our bags and had until 2am to put them in the hallway.

Sunday: Disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale
Disembarkation was wonderful! Guests were asked to stay in their cabins or the restaurant until they were called for disembarkation. YES! No more waiting in crowded lounges for an hour or two. If for no other reason, Holland America gets five stars for this whole process. We were also able to order a room service breakfast this last day, which also made the process easier. Because we booked late, Holland America was not able to get us on a flight home on Sunday, so we stayed over in Ft. Lauderdale until Monday. As we checked into the Westin, we were given a note that a private car would be picking us up for the airport the next morning, right on time the car appeared and got us to the airport in plenty of time.

Service on the Westerdam
I always thought the Princess ships had pretty good service until we cruised on Holland America. The staff, from the front desk to the cabin steward was incredible. For instance I forgot to bring bandaids and the gift shop was out of stock. I called the front desk and several were delivered in less than 15 minutes. One night we did had not yet received the daily briefing and needed one to take to dinner, after a call to the front desk, it was delivered to the cabin in less than ten minutes.

Our cabin steward asked numerous times if there was anything else we needed or he could do, to please let him know. I requested extra towels and extras were available in the bathroom every day, except for the last two days.

Holland America adds $10. a day to your ship account for tips that is divided amongst the crew. There was almost no mention of additional tipping by anyone on the ship, but we opted to give additional monies to our room steward and the dining room staff. These additional amounts could also have been added to our ships account, with specific amounts for the individual staff.

Dining Room Food and Service on the Westerdam
Exceptional again. Since it was just my husband and I, we asked to be seated at a table for six. There were actually four times to dine in the Vista dining room, as the early seating dinner opened at 5:45pm for the upper level and 6:15pm for the lower level. The main seating dinner was 8:00pm for the upper level and 8:30pm for the lower level.

We had the last seating at 8:30 with delightful folks from Canada, one couple and two women traveling together. We looked forward to dinner every night.

The first night I asked for hot tea instead of coffee. I did not have to ask again. One person at the table had a "Coke card" and also never had to ask after the first evening. The food was terrific, each meal had several choices of appetizers, soups and salads and a varied selection of main courses to choose from. Each category had a chef's specialty and a healthy choice. The main course selection always included a vegetarian choice and the dessert menu always had a sugar-free or no-sugar added choice. I never knew no-sugar could taste so good!

The food in the Lido Restaurant on Deck 9 was just as good with a pasta and pizza station, sandwich station with delicious choices, the wok, as well as a standard food station with a selection of entrees. This restaurant was very clean with a comfortable feel, lots of help was available to help with trays, as well as refilling drinks, etc.

Dress on the Westerdam
There were two formal nights, with casual nights the rest of the cruise. Even on the casual nights, diners in the late sitting were nicely dressed, with the majority of men wearing casual jackets.

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