HOLLAND AMERICA SHIP DINING AND ACTIVITIES

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When we booked our cruise to Alaska aboard the Holland American Line ship, the Westerdam, I wasn't sure what to expect dining-wise. I knew there was the Lido Buffet on the Lido Deck (deck 9) and also several more expensive restaurants that you needed to make reservations for. As I was looking through our cruise details, I found that my husband and I had reservations in the main dining room at 7:30 each evening. Mind you, we had never cruised before. The main dining room was amazing! We had our same waiter, Anggara and assistant waiter, Edi, each night. That was a treat as they get to know you and even your preferences. Same table, too. The main dining room is quite elegant but no need to dress up. The HAL cruise ships have two dressy nights on most of their ships so those nights we did wear at least "Sunday Best" but not everyone did. 

 I had one dress that I only had worn for my daughter Ali's wedding (which was in the backyard, during COVID, with 10 people present) so I took that along. I did not, however, have an evening purse so opted for this elegant but inexpensive BLACK CLUTCH. It came with a detachable chain shoulder strap, too. I felt so fancy JK. It also comes in several other colors.

Main dining room aboard the Westerdam. Photo credit to HAL.

There are several appetizers, main courses and desserts to choose from each night. There are vegan selections and a kids menu, too. The main dining room, the Lido Buffet, and the Dive-In are included with your cruise passage (though you can order more expensive fare at the main dining room, which would be billed to your room). 

Those pics are just a sampling of the fare we enjoyed on our cruise. Typically, you will have an assigned dining time or you can choose to do walk-in, in which case you will need to wait till a table is free. We had a set time of 7:30 pm each evening. We did make reservations for the Pinnacle Grill one evening and another for Canaletto; both restaurants were not included in the price of our cruise, so the cost was billed to our room.  I did speak to a HAL agent on the phone ahead of out cruise ad make Pinnacle Grill reservations to celebrate my husband and my anniversary (also, his retirement and my being cancer-free but we chose the anniversary to celebrate). 

I forgot to take a photo of the anniversary cake slice they brought us before we cut it (we didn't want a piece each after eating dinner).

Entrance to the Pinnacle Grill.

Menu to peruse outside the Pinnacle Grill.

The Lido Market (Buffet) had multiple food stations, all manned by servers and chefs. Italian, American, Asian, desserts, salads, breads--anything you could imagine. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, closing at 9 pm if I recall correctly. But don't worry! Room service is available 24 hours a day (with limited menu). 

The Rolling Stone Lounge features live music each night. Some ships also have a Billboard Lounge with live music, too, but I had read that HAL may be doing away with that particular venue? BB King's All-Star Band also may be on most ships. The World Stage has entertainment from talented musicians. We went to two shows by famed pianist virtuoso, Hyperion Knight. He played from Bach to the Beatles and more. He is quite a storyteller as well. The World Stage also has ship's crew, such as the entertainment director and cruise director, tell you about the workings of these "cities on the sea" and it was so interesting to learn about everything from how the ship makes its own potable water out of sea water, to compacting leftover food to almost nothing, to how the ships are powered. Highly recommend if you go on a cruise to attend one of these presentations. 

We did dock in Victoria, B.C. but only for 3 hours. My husband I took a walking tour but it was dark by then so I didn't take many photos. 

This cute sweets shop was at the beginning of the tour so i couldn't resist taking a photo of that, what with it being in the water and so colorful!

While the shore excursions are varied and many to choose from, not everyone may want to pay the extra cost for an excursion or maybe they want to just stay on the ship. Well, there are plenty of things to do on the cruise ships and most are included in your fare!

Each evening, passengers get a printed "daily bulletin" in their cabins (stewards leave this at evening room "sprucing"). The bulletin has a list of the next day's activities. You can also find the list/schedule on your HAL Navigator App, which you MUST download before leaving port or even before that. There is not much in the way of Internet connection at sea, though you can purchase an Internet package. We did not but gave our family members the ship's at-sea number and HAL main phone number, to be used in an emergency. We only had a couple of full days at sea so as soon as we got to our next port, I checked in with family, checked emails, etc.

Here is an incomplete list of FREE daily activities that we participated in or knew of on the Westerdam:

Pickleball lessons and games

Line dancing lessons

Morning Stretch class

Morning mile walk on the 3rd deck

Gym with cardio machines, weight machines, free weights and more

Art and Crafts 

Trivia games (my favorite), bingo, card games

Casino 

A large and spacious game room with board games galore

Library 

Cooking classes

Live music in the various lounges (usually in the evenings)

Educational presentations by the crew

Two pools on the Lido Deck, plus hot tubs

Sauna

Whale watching from the Lido Deck (lots of small tables and chairs near the windows)

There are also paid activities, too. Some fitness classes, such as yoga or Spin classes, 

If you are sailing with kids, there is a Kids' Club that children and even Teens can attend while you go do your own thing. The clubs are separated into ages, say 7 to 10, etc. and have activities and games with full supervision.

Take full advantage of your Navigator app--it also will keep you updated on weather, changes in schedule, etc. The TV in each cabin also has ongoing info and you can switch the view of the ship's camera and see the ocean/scenery from various angles. 

Expect to hear from the captain and the cruise director from time to time on the overhead speakers. I would advise paying attention lol. Also, when you first board the ship, you will have info on where your MUSTER station is (where you would go in case of an emergency). It is required that you check in at the location to a member of the crew can scan your ship ID BEFORE the ship leaves port. The cruise director on our ship came on the loudspeaker and said "If you haven't checked in at the muster station, do so now. We know who you are!" 😄😄😄 Seriously, it is for your safety.

Oh, another fun tradition on Holland America cruises is the "Orange Day" festivities. Orange is the color of the Dutch royal family so HAL honors that. My husband and I didn't take any orange clothing or accessories along (not my best color) but we are going on a Caribbean cruise this April (we WON a free cruise on our Alaskan cruise in a drawing!) so I am prepared to be somewhat orange this time. Staci and her kids, Parker and Oakli, will be going along. If you want to be a "little" orange as we will be, I did order some fun items from Amazon:

2 Piece Orange Feather Boa w/ orange glasses for Staci and I

80s Orange Costume w. tutu, leg warmers, glasses, headband bow, fishnet gloves, 4 orange necklaces for 8 YO Oakli

Orange bowtie and suspenders for Larry and 10 YO Parker

The ship's photographers are also stationed throughout the ship, not just on Orange Day or Dressy Nights but on port days as you disembark the ship to snap a casual photo! You can see all the photos the last couple of days of the cruise and choose to purchase, if you like.

All in all, we had a wonderful time on the Alaskan Inside Passage on HAL's Westerdam ship. Highly recommend! I would add that unless you really want a massage or to have your hair done, those services are extra and somewhat expensive, at least in my opinion. So, while that is an individual choice, just know that the service price usually says something like, "services starting at $...." so will most likely cost you more.

Thanks for stopping by! Any questions, please leave in the comments.