Holland America's Westerdam is the third ship to join the Vista class, along with the Oosterdam and Zuiderdam. This spacious ship features an abundance of verandah staterooms, along with special amenities for suite guests. Exotic treatments from the Greenhouse Spa will rejuvenate your body. Relax by two outdoor pools, and swing away at the golf center. Flavorful cuisine and fine wine await at an array of restaurants, including the exclusive Pinnacle Grill, which serves extraordinary Pacific Northwest cuisine. Memorable evenings are created in the many stylish lounges and nightclubs, as well as the exciting casino.

Ship Highlights

• Greenhouse Spa fitness center featuring a hydrotherapy pool
• Cabaret-style lounge for intimate stage acts
• Grand, three-tiered theater for Broadway-style shows
• Five-star cuisine served in three separate dining rooms
• Museum-quality art and antique displays
• Sinfully delicious Chocolate Extravaganza Buffet
• One Dutch High Tea on every cruise
• Two exterior glass elevators
• Three promenade decks
• Dazzling casino

Overview

With the launch of ms Westerdam, the third in Holland America's Vista-class series, the cruise line continues to issue itself a challenge: How to continue to appeal to traditional passengers, which in HAL's case is older, experienced travelers, while also attracting younger, more dynamic and often first-time cruisers (particularly with a family demographic).

As such, Westerdam offers today's contemporary facilities and options, from a gourmet alternative restaurant to expansive spa and from cabins upgraded with plusher furnishings to a concierge lounge for suite guests. Traditional HAL favorites, such as the Crow's Nest, an elegantly decorated main pool area, the upscale lido buffet and an elaborate casino, still have a place.

Still, we sensed that Holland America is definitely at a crossroads, particularly with this, its newest ship. It wants to offer something for everyone and in moderation, the ship succeeds on that front. Where it tended to fall apart was in excess. Club HAL is a nice enough childrens' facility but wasn't elaborate enough to keep 400 kids entertained. Service is usually a high point on Holland America; here, staffers, from pool deckhands to restaurant waiters in the main dining room seemed overwhelmed if not occasionally rude. And the pool area, with its artwork and sculptures, is, consistent with the rest of the fleet, one of the industry's most elegant but it was overwhelmed by out-of-control youngsters and a dangerously lax staff.

As a ship, Westerdam's efforts to offer programs and facilities to appeal to a myriad of tastes work pretty well. It balances traditional-style cruise dining in its main restaurant with a genuinely unique gourmet eatery (and its Lido buffet area is the most elegant afloat). In addition to the usual spa and fitness offerings, there's a hydrotherapy pool. Staterooms are plush and comfortable as a result of a "Signature of Excellence" upgrade.

While facilities may succeed by and large in courting a wide appeal of traveler, we're not at all sure that Holland America's traditional passengers or its staff and crew for that matter are up to the challenge. On our voyage, heavily marketed to families with young children, pool decks were overrun and posted policies were ignored (we, along with other passengers, were horrified to see children diving off the main pool's dolphin sculpture both sacrilegious and dangerous!). Service from staff and crew was uncharacteristically lackluster if not occasionally surly.

We also found aspects of the onboard ambience to be a bit jarring.

Holland America likes to claim that it is a premium cruise line; the fact that bingo and art auctions were continually announced over the ship-wide loudspeaker, and that the library charges passengers a $25 deposit to borrow a book (and they mean it, too; mine, though returned, wound up on my final bill), speaks otherwise. At one night's special barbecue buffet, which was billed as lasting until 8:30 p.m., crew members already had begun breaking down not only food stations, but also tables, as numerous folks were still finishing meals.

There certainly were highlights the Pinnacle Grill definitely rated wonderfully on numerous forays there. Ultimately, though, Westerdam's efforts to please everyone fell flat and we learned that we'd far prefer a smaller ship with fewer options, and more respect for all its passengers.

Public rooms

Public rooms are located in one two-deck grouping below Deck 4 and another above Deck 8. The intervening decks are devoted to passenger accommodations, and run the full length of the ship, vertically truncating the central atrium to three decks, which is unusually modest. In fact, 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 will lure passengers itching to part with their money in the casino and in the ship's shops. Other features include the spacious and extremely well stocked Erasmus Library, as well as the ample Internet Cafe. Passengers who bring their own laptops are accommodated with Wi-Fi hotspots here, and with data ports in all the cabins (don't miss the interactive map that's across from the Internet Cafe it alerts you to the positions of all the ships in the fleet and was quite captivating).

There's a series of shops, rather uncomfortably dark and claustrophobic; the merchandise falls in the same-old category.

Entertainment

The three-deck Vista Lounge is the ship's main showroom, with seating for 867. Views are vertically unobstructed given the room's steep raking, though a few columns block sightlines from some of the seats off the centerline. On a typical sailing, entertainment includes production shows, the usual complement of variety performers and HAL's popular traditions the Filipino and Indonesian staff shows.

Bar and lounge entertainment includes a piano bar, classical music (and fabulous desserts) each evening in Explorer's Lounge, and a small combo in the charming 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 nifty motion-triggered lights that lead you down the long winding entryway, illuminating the floor ahead (and Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe portraits on the walls around you as you pass).

Westerdam and its siblings represents a quantum leap forward in serving the spa and fitness needs of cruise guests. The Greenhouse Spa & Salon definitely has more amenities than older ships in the fleet, including a hydrotherapy pool, but it is strangely designed so that the reception area stands in the midst of a hallway between the main pool and an elevator bank (conjuring an ambience akin to a bus station).

There's a salon that offers the usual beauty fare and a nice menu of spa treatments. The spa has a small "relaxation" room intended as a peaceful waiting area for folks undergoing treatments (alas, prior to our massage a lifestyle class took up the space and the instructor was none-too-polite in ordering me to return in 15 minutes).

The fitness facility is well equipped and was always busy but never seemed overwhelmingly so.

Two spa highlights the hydrotherapy pool and the steam area with heated mosaic tile loungers are for-fee.

We love the ship's full-round promenade deck (decked out with teak loungers, it's also one of the quieter spots to repose onboard). There's a tennis court which on our voyage was converted to basketball in response to the number of kids onboard. Westerdam also features a golf simulator which allows virtual play on any of 22 worldwide courses.

The main pool area, presided over by a lovely bronze sculpture of leaping dolphins, also includes three hot tubs. Though the aft pool area with its two hot tubs lacks some of the shade of the main area, it felt more spacious. There are plenty of lounges in both areas.

Family

While some cruise lines beef up kids' programs to attract business, Club HAL, Holland America's program for youngsters, is directly related to demand and season. The line says that for every 30 children in the age range of 3 - 17, a counselor is provided (though that ratio did not apply on our cruise, in which some 400 children were onboard). KidZone is an area devoted to the youngest guests, while Wave Runner is a teen dance, video and movie area.

The ship is far better suited to younger kids rather than teens but even parents of children in the 4 - 11 age range were complaining that their offspring were bored by the program.

Fellow passengers

Depending on the season and itinerary, fellow passengers may fall in the traditional HAL cruiser category (upscale, well-traveled and older) or a younger demographic (particularly families). Travelers in search of a more sedate experience should avoid school holiday periods.

Dress

Conventional. Two or three formal nights with the remainder split between informal and casual. With the addition of the Lido Restaurants as an alternative dinner venue, those wishing to avoid sartorial formality have an alternate choice.

Gratuity

For years and years, Holland America Line distinguished itself with its "no tipping required" policy, the objective of which was to prove that the cheerful and accommodating staff worked for the love of serving their guests, not for tips. Unfortunately, many passengers took this to mean "tips are included," or "tipping not allowed," so as Holland America hopes to attract a more diverse clientele and more first-time cruisers, the tipping policy has been specifically addressed.

According to a statement from Holland America president Stein Kruse, the tipping policy fleetwide is as follows:

"For your convenience, a gratuity of $10 per guest per day, for dining and stateroom service, will be automatically posted to your shipboard account. We are confident you will find the service on board exemplary and, should you wish to make adjustments, you may do so at the end of the cruise by visiting the Front Office. Also, a 15 percent service charge will be automatically added to your bar and beverage purchases."