A last minute offer "I couldn't refuse" found me packing for this seven night cruise with Holland America aboard the Westerdam with 1700 jazz enthusiasts. Although I've toured several HAL ships, I'd never sailed with them previously and looked forward to enjoying the line first-hand. A full ship charter with unique entertainment and an itinerary equally captivating sealed the deal.

   I don't profess to be a jazz aficionado nor even an enthusiast, but having spent a week immersed in the music, I came home a fan. Being a full ship charter, this cruise was all about the music and I was awed by the attention to detail Jazz Cruises, LLC had paid in homage to this music. Elevator music was jazz, music to eat by in the buffet was jazz, everywhere it was jazz. Onboard, headliner Herbie Hancock and other well known artists held nightly concerts in the Vista Lounge and all were invited to attend. Jam sessions were abundant and held in other venues all over the ship. Sea days were filled with Dixieland jazz by a New Orleans brass band on the Lido deck. Autograph sessions were scheduled, jazz discussions held and artists mixed it up with other artists for one-of-a-kind late night jams.

   Our ship was based in Ft. Lauderdale and we arrived at around 12:30 PM and breezed through check in. We were greeted by the crew and set off to the Lido buffet for a quick lunch. Sailaway was at 5 PM and we spent the hours before getting familiar with the ship and dropping off luggage in our stateroom, ocean view on Deck 1 forward. The Westerdam is a medium sized ship and we found it easy to maneuver around. The main pool had lounge chairs removed and replaced with tables and chairs for the upcoming afternoon jam sessions, but there were plenty of teak loungers with comfy cushions on the Observation deck above. Another pool is in the aft of the Lido, also outfitted with loungers.

   Most of the indoor activity is on Decks 2 and 3, the Lower Promenade and Promenade decks. Here, we found shops, a sports bar, the casino, a disco, the Ocean Bar (soon to become our favorite haunt), the library and main dining rooms (aft) and the show lounge (forward).

   The best views are in the Explorations Cafe (Deck 10 forward) and this area also includes a coffee bar and the internet cafe.

   The ship's decor is elegant and tasteful. Our stateroom was large and had plenty of closet and drawer space with a decent sized bath with shower and tub. A sofa and table, flat screen TV, mini bar and dressing table round out the stateroom furnishings. Our stateroom attendant was, as expected, invisible yet thorough and fast.

   We ate in the main dining room for dinner all evenings except one and found the food to be good. Menus had lots of options every evening and we almost always found something to our liking. A few times one of us ordered one of the "every day" entrees- steak, grilled chicken breast, salmon, etc.- and found they were quite up to par. We had dinner one evening in the Lido buffet and found it to be a great alternative with many choices. Dinner seating was "open seating" at a fixed time and it took a few days to settle on a table with folks we'd met previously to dine with. We settled on this table more because we so thoroughly enjoyed the waiter and assistant waiter than anything else and that made dinner a real pleasure.

   I didn't hit the fitness center, though there is one, and never made it to the spa either.

   Our port calls for this unique cruise were San Juan, St. Barth's, Nevis and Half Moon Cay. Although I'd visited San Juan before, I still enjoyed seeing the city at night and we toured the Bacardi Factory. St. Barth's has a beautiful harbor and is quite picturesque, but I found the locals uninviting and little to do except wander around and window shop. Nevis is also beautiful and we took a mini island tour to see the sights and visit the botanical garden. Both of these are tender ports and the tendering at Nevis was a bit rough and challenging. Our last stop was Half Moon Cay, Holland America's private island in the Bahamas. This is a truly idyllic spot and worth the time it took to tender over and back despite the very cool breeze that day.

   All in all, this was a great experience and a wonderful cruise. I've learned to appreciate jazz and will consider sailing with HAL again in the future.

  Jazz Cruises, LLC puts on at least two jazz cruises every year and they are typically with Holland America. There is a large number of past jazz cruise passengers that make up each cruise, but a small number of cabins are generally available for purchase. If you're interested in the November, 2009 or February, 2010 cruise, contact me for more information and pricing and availability.