Nieuw Amsterdam recent reviews

[dot73]

I'll be sailing on the NA from Dec. 5 to 19, 2010 and have been following all reviews and comments with interest since the ship was christened in July. Usually a brand new ship has many glitches that have to be ironed out. The NA, however, had excellent reviews while in Europe but once it crossed the Atlantic and began its Caribbean itineraries, the reviews have been less than complimentary. I realize that the noro virus on the TA cruise and the bad weather in the Caribbean did not contribute to a good cruise, but there have been a lot of complaints about bad service, not so great food, lousy entertainment, bad ship design, etc. How can a ship go downhill so fast? :confused:

Does anyone who sailed on the most NA cruise (Nov. 21) have any comments?

Despite the not so stellar recent reviews, I am going with an open mind and looking forward to a much-needed vacation. I have not been disappointed with HAL so far (74 days on board in the last 11 years) and hope this cruise will not be the first one.

[MyWifeLuvsCruising]

I was on the Nov. 21 cruise, and it was only my second HAL cruise (the first on the Zuiderdam), and my overall impression was slight disappointment in the NA.

My biggest complaint was that I had a deluxe suite - the second largest cabin category below only the penthouse, yet when I stood in the shower both my elbows were hitting the walls fo the shower. I couldn't believe it - I've been on a few other cruises and this was by far the smallest shower of any other ship I've been on (and never had a suite before - all other cabins were only verandahs). So this was quite disappointing that they couldn't take 6" from anywhere else (like the dressing area just outside the bathroom) to add to the shower so you could at least bend over without hitting your head on the wall or getting felt up by the shower curtain.

The furnishings seemed like typical cruise fare - roundish chairs in most of the bar areas, just different colors.

I was highly disappointed in the atrium too - most atriums that I've seen have been several floors high and visually pleasing. The one on the NA was only 2 floors high (I think, either 2 or 3), and had a big chandellier in the middle that took up pretty much the entire opening on the top floor. So my impression of the atrium was that they forgot to add one so they just cut a hole in the first couple of floors and threw in a centerpiece that took up most of the open space in the opening. The chandellier wasn't all that either - it looked like the skyline of NYC, but of course, I'm not a big appreciator of most art, so maybe it's just that I didn't "get it."

As far as the service - there were definitely some flaws there too. We talked to our room steward as soon as we got to our cabin, and during our conversation, he said this was his first day on the job, so he came onto the ship for the first time the same time as us. It seemed like the same thing for alot of the other service people too. They never really seemed all that organized. I had some problems with service being coordinated between the Neptune Lounge, our stewards, and the front desk. So overall, I felt that the entire crew was pretty raw and didn't quite have the leaders with much experience to provide much guidance.

The food, however, was definitely a highlight to it all! I'm not sure how anyone could complain about the food. That being said, the one night that I WAS disappointed in the food was Thanksgiving. It seems like they focused too much on a "thanksgiving dinner" to worry about any other dishes, and the T-giving dinner wasn't all that good either. Of course, I guess we all took the bullet for everyone else on that one since T-giving dinner is only served one time a year! Other than that, there was lobster served on 2 different days (as lobster thermidor and then a second night as surf/turf with a filet). I can go on-and-on about the good food, but I think you can see that I have nothing but good things to say about the food, even in the Lido and on HMC.

Even though the service people didn't seem in sync, they were all friendly - always got a smile when passing a HAL employee. I could tell they all were trying as hard as they could, but it didn't always have direction.

I think the difference in opinion between the pax on the Med cruises and the Carib cruises may just come down to different expectations of the people on board (and the cruising destinations). I would probably have a much sunnier outlook on things in the Med than I would in the Carib, but that's just me. All opinions should be taken with a grain of salt as they are biased and only seen through the eyes of the beholder.

[dot73]

MyWifeLuvsCruising, thank you for your comments. I'm sorry you were disappointed with your deluxe suite. You would think that for the money you paid, the shower would be more comfortable. One of the reasons I have always liked HAL the best is for the excellent service. I did notice on my last two cruises, that service was not as good as before in the MDR and Lido. The room stewards, although providing great service, looked tired and did not have time to interact with the pax as before. I guess when a new ship is built, new employees have to be hired, and it takes time for everything to get into sync. However, on a new ship, you would hope that there were good supervisors to keep things running smoothly. I'm happy to hear about the good food. As long as I get some good weather, good food, and good company, I'll be a happy cruiser. At least I won't be sitting at work looking at the cold rain falling.:D

[blueboro]

I am a little concerned also. I recommended the NA over a return sailing on the Solstice for my wife and I plus my 3 brothers and their wives. We got a really good balcony rate and saved several hundred $$ from the same week Solstice sailing. But it does seem there are a lot of positive feelings coming from the Caribbean sailings. We were well pleased with our Zuiderdam cruise several years ago and hope these are just growing pains for a new itinerary.

[Roz]

The deluxe suite I had on the Amsterdam had a shower that 3 people could fit in (no kidding!). It's disappointing to hear that a new ship has teeny tiny showers in the suites, or any cabin, for that matter.

Roz

[kalliekae]

As far as the service - there were definitely some flaws there too. We talked to our room steward as soon as we got to our cabin, and during our conversation, he said this was his first day on the job, so he came onto the ship for the first time the same time as us. It seemed like the same thing for alot of the other service people too. They never really seemed all that organized. I had some problems with service being coordinated between the Neptune Lounge, our stewards, and the front desk. So overall, I felt that the entire crew was pretty raw and didn't quite have the leaders with much experience to provide much guidance.

We were on the Nov. 7th cruise and we were told by several crew persons that they were leaving right after our cruise ended. The CD also pointed out several of the musicians who were leaving at the end of the cruise. All had been assigned to the NA since June and were going home for the holidays. Our cabin steward told us there would be many more leave in Jan and Feb since their contracts would be up. Obviously, there is a constant turnover since contracts run out at different times and perhaps it takes awhile before the new crews feel comfortable in their jobs.

[kalliekae]

The deluxe suite I had on the Amsterdam had a shower that 3 people could fit in (no kidding!). It's disappointing to hear that a new ship has teeny tiny showers in the suites, or any cabin, for that matter.
Roz


To us, the NA showers in the suites seemed smaller than the Noordam's showers; but if one did not like the shower size, then one could use the shower that is over the tub and have plenty of room. :)

[MyWifeLuvsCruising]

To us, the NA showers in the suites seemed smaller than the Noordam's showers; but if one did not like the shower size, then one could use the shower that is over the tub and have plenty of room. :)

That was also a problem - in the deluxe suite, the tub is actually a jacuzzi, and there are only 2 water temperatures: burning hot (so bad that after a minute standing in the water and trying to get the temperature right, my feet were beet red and burning) and freezing cold (even colder than the coldest setting in the stand-alone shower). There was no in-between warm temperature that would allow us to take a shower in the bathtub. My wife even tried one day and she was really disappointed that even she couldn't get even close to a reasonable shower temperature in the bathtub so she could have a little more room than what was in the shower.

Curiously enough, though, when I called my TA to upgrade from an SS to a deluxe suite the week before cruising, I had a choice between a deluxe with only a shower (handicap accessible and right across from the Neptune Lounge) and a deluxe with both a shower and a tub, I was trying to be thoughtful for my wife and get the jacuzzi tub...what a bad choice, because she even tried to use the jacuzzi and commented on how small and tight it was (and she is a pretty small girl, so it was a surprise to me - the big guy - to hear my small wife comment on how small the shower AND the bathtub were).

[jtl513]

I was highly disappointed in the atrium too - most atriums that I've seen have been several floors high and visually pleasing. The one on the NA was only 2 floors high (I think, either 2 or 3), and had a big chandellier in the middle that took up pretty much the entire opening on the top floor. So my impression of the atrium was that they forgot to add one so they just cut a hole in the first couple of floors and threw in a centerpiece that took up most of the open space in the opening.The atrium is three decks high ... just like it is on the Zuiderdam, other Vistas, and the Eurodam. The Zuiderdam chandelier is not much different in size or complexity:
http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/16951/2202086650099632937S200x200Q85.jpg

We had no problems with the shower temperature controls in our V cabin on deck 8. Did you report the problem to anyone? Was any attempt made to fix it?

We thought everything was great on our East Med cruise ... except I would have chosen a much darker shade of red for the MDR decor!

[kazu]

We were on the NA and on the transatlantic and while Code Red does not help, other things played in the game.

Hopefully by now, they have the bugs out. We were in a deluxe verandah and dh did not find the shower small. I did find the jets in the whirlpool bath didn`t work

We asked for ice on day one every day at x time. Probably on the 20 days, we got it 10 days. I had to either go to the Neptune Lounge or ask for it.

I find it hard to explain but I felt that there were things `missing`on the ship. there was a lot of turnover just when we got on board and the last thing that I wanted to hear was that our dining room steward was ìn training`.

Not to be nasty, but I didn`t pay x amount of dollars to train a dining room steward. The assistant dining room manager came to our rescue when we complained and monitored from thereonin. Thanks to him after three days we got good service (normally on HAL I would call it great).

I gave him cudos on the survey.

I don`t think anyone is giving the NA a bad rap. They are telling the truth. I suspect by the time you are on board, things will be much smoother (I hope).

I love HAL and I love cruising. It was the first time I was actually `glad`to get off a ship. Would I go on her again....I don`t think so...but maybe I am too fussy and too hard to please...or maybe spoiled by the other ships.

On a positive note, I found the food to be very, very good. I do know that HAL and some of the officers read the board so I am hopeful that everything will be ship shape when you board. ;) have a great cruise and on`t let the people like me ruin it for you. :D:D

To put this in perspective, I have been on the Zuiderdam & the Oesterdam and did not have issues. Back to the S & R ships for us thank you very much.

[MyWifeLuvsCruising]

I love HAL and I love cruising. It was the first time I was actually `glad`to get off a ship. Would I go on her again....I don`t think so...but maybe I am too fussy and too hard to please...or maybe spoiled by the other ships.


I think I said all of those exact things to my dw the day we got back home.