Travel&Vacation

At 8:00 p.m., the
ms Westerdam
feels like Grand Central Station at rush hour. Well-dressed guests sashay to and from the Vista Dining Room and Lounge. The bars buzz with the clinking of martini glasses and the small talk of new friends. Out on the Ocean Bar’s dance floor, long-married couples dust off their ballroom moves.

By midnight, the ship is a ghost town. A few stragglers linger in the bars, and the DJ at the Northern Lights disco plays to an empty house. The only people left in the casino are the dealers packing up their cards and dice.

Is this lack of nightlife due to a busy schedule at tomorrow’s next European port-of-call, or is it because the
Westerdam
‘s passenger roster has so few guests under the age of 65?

It certainly isn’t the fault of the elegant public areas or their resident musicians. After spending 10 nights cruising the western Mediterranean on the Westerdam, I’ve decided Holland America and its classy ship cater to a certain kind of traveler—one used to a distinctly different pace than I am. It’s clear that misfits like me need to adapt or end up wandering the empty halls in the wee hours looking for a kindred spirit.

The ideal Holland America guest

Although Holland America will tell you its target audience is the baby boomer generation, in reality it caters to guests in their 70s and 80s. On my May sailing, I was hard pressed to find 50 guests younger than my 30 years of age (out of 1,893 onboard). Youth Director Kira Sabin assured me that families would start cruising Europe in June, with summer highs reaching 300 or so kids onboard. In Alaska, she said, the ships carry up to 500 kids per sailing. On these family-oriented cruises, the ship has a completely different atmosphere than during the rest of the year. But sail in the fall, winter, or spring, I’m told, and the demographic will be even older than on my late-spring voyage.

If you fall into the senior category and are looking for an easy way to see the sights of the world while staying in comfortable surroundings, Holland America is fantastic. Everyone commented on the staff’s fine level of service—how the buffet workers would help guests with their trays and room stewards would bring everything a guest might need. The ship itself, newly out of dry dock, is noticeably more upscale than other mainstream and premium ships I’ve been on. The deck chairs are wicker with soft cushions, rather than white plastic, and the buffet restaurant is appointed quite nicely with white cloths on the tables during the evenings.

Active, young, and independent travelers, on the other hand, should think twice before plunking down a deposit. The ship’s fitness area is not quite as modern as on other ships, and there are few “active” onboard activities. Tours cater to travelers not used to being on their own in a foreign country, and nightlife means drinks from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. If you’re cruising with your parents or grandparents, you’ll enjoy spending time with them, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the line for young honeymooning couples.

Private and public spaces

Cruise personality aside, I’m generally a fan of the
Westerdam
. My deluxe outside stateroom with verandah doesn’t strike me as bigger or smaller than the same category cabin on other lines, but it does make excellent use of its tight quarters. The room provides a great deal of storage with three closets as well as shelves above the pull-out love seat and drawers under the bed. The beds are blissfully comfortable, and the verandah, like the pool deck, has nice wicker patio furniture rather than cheap plastic chairs.

The bathroom, with a bathtub/shower combo and lots of bathroom storage space, is quite spacious for a cruise ship. The only drawback is the funny angle of the toilet and the fact that no matter what I did, I drenched the floor while showering.