Nieuw Amsterdam report card

[allisons]

I know most people do reviews. But I don't have time to do a review. I've done report cards instead. I hope this report card is helpful.

overall grade - A+

dinners:
Manhattan - A+
Pinnacle Grill - A+
Canaletto - A
Tamarind - A
An Evening at Le Cirque - A+
Master Chef Room - A+

lunches:
Lido Restaurant - A
Terrace Grill - C
Slice Pizzeria - C
Pinnacle Grill - A+
Tamarind - A

breakfasts:
Main Dining Room - A+
Horizon Court/Lido - A+
Room Service - A+

snacks:
Afternoon Tea - A+
Royal Dutch Tea - A+
Indonesian Tea Ceremony - A+
Cupcake Tea - A+

shows:
NYC - A
Garage Band - A
It Takes Two - B-
Cantare - B+
Indonesian Crew Show - C
Craig Diamond (magician) - C
welcome aboard show - A

uique features:
Culinary Arts Center - A+

culinary events:
Flavors of the Nieuw Amsterdam - A
Three Chefs Demo - A
Caribbean Heat - A
A Little Something - A
cooking class - A+

wine events:
Cellar Master’s Navigator Wine Tasting - A
Premium Wine Tasting - A+

cabin 5100:
cabin size - A+
balcony size - C
storage space - A+
closets - A+
shelves - A+
drawers - B
bathroom size - A+
shower size - A+
sink height - A
sink size - A
bathroom storage - C

service:
cabin steward - A
waiter - A
assistant waiter - A
specialty restaurant - A+
bars - A
Guest Relations - A
shops - A
photography - A

activities - A

[josie724]

Very Good....but you forgot to include, "get's along well with others" ;) :D

[Mar56]

I really like this style of review - thanks so much.

[candbgirl]

I really like this style of review - thanks so much.


Me too. Thanks.

[kazu]

Cool - you really covered it all. Thanks for the report card:)

[allisons]

You're welcome.

[amster65]

Very Good....but you forgot to include, "get's along well with others" ;) :D


or....spends to much time taking to classmates...:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the report card.

But what happened to the pools? Spa? Gym? Cabanas? Explorer's Lounge? Adagio Strings? Ocean Bar? Movies? HAL Cats?

[cruiseapril]

Fun review. How do you rate your port stops?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report card, glad to see all the A's!

[allisons]

Thanks for the report card.

But what happened to the pools? Spa? Gym? Cabanas? Explorer's Lounge? Adagio Strings? Ocean Bar? Movies? HAL Cats?

Yikes! I couldn't rate everything! Sorry! Here goes:

Pools - E - The adults-only pool had no shade and played music. The T-pool had a fee.

Spa - D - I wanted a cabana massage. She told me that they had to cancel cabana massages due to rough seas. It was a perfectly calm, smooth day. ????? I'd had a cabana massage the week before on Princess on a rough day. So, I had my massage inside the spa. It was so noisy. I kept hearing doors being closed and people walking down the hall. Not relaxing at all.

Gym - didn't use

Cabanas - didn't use

Explorer's Lounge - didn't use

Adagio Strings - didn't use

Ocean Bar - didn't use

Movies - didn't use

HAL Cats - didn't use

[allisons]

Fun review. How do you rate your port stops?

We didn't take this cruise for the ports. We wanted to try HAL. We'd been to all the ports before, except for Half Moon Cay. Here's how I would rate them:

Half Moon Cay - E - This was the worst cruise line private island we've ever been to (CoCo Cay, Labadee, Princess Cays). It was so overcrowded. The clamshells were spread all over the place, not in a dedicated area. They were in the back behind rows of chairs, not on the water. I paid for that clamshell and was behind all those people in the free chairs. The clamshells were on an incline. You had to dig your heels in to stay in your chair. It was very uncomfortable. There was no part of the beach that was designated to be quiet and serene. The snorkeling was a joke. The food was absolutely awful. We'd been at Princess Cays the week before, which was absolutely fabulous. Stark comparison.

Grand Cayman - B

Roatan - A

Costa Maya - C

[CDRMark]

Wondering why it only got an 'A'?
Not to your liking or was something "off"?
Usually warrants raves- I give Eurodams A+++ (the best thing about the ship IMO)
Thanks for taking questions and a nice precise review.
Cheers
Mark

[Typhoon1]

Very easy to read without having to sort through text. Thanks for posting.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your reports.

[sail7seas]

What a new approach.
Thanks for presenting your ratings in such a 'to the point' method.
I like it.

Don't agree with all of it :D but like your approach.

[Himself]

You had a unique approach to giving a socuting report. I never saw HMC rated so poorly before. Thank You for the Report Card.

[allisons]

Wondering why it only got an 'A'?
Not to your liking or was something "off"?
Usually warrants raves- I give Eurodams A+++ (the best thing about the ship IMO)
Thanks for taking questions and a nice precise review.
Cheers
Mark

Tamarind was wonderful, which is why I gave it an "A." It was not remarkably exceptional like Pinnacle Grill, Le Cirque, and Chef's Table, which is why I did not give it an "A+."

[allisons]

You had a unique approach to giving a socuting report. I never saw HMC rated so poorly before. Thank You for the Report Card.

We were so profoundly disappointed with Half Moon Cay. We'd heard such wonderful things. Our expectations were so high. I think it suffered by being compared to Princess Cays, which we'd visited one week prior.

[Rinderoo]

I love Labadee... adore Castaway Cay. Princess Cay was fine. Was there more than one ship at HMC when you were there?

Also, why the C for the balcony? I'm on that Verandah deck in 505X and I believe its narrower than other balconies. But alas, limited reasonably priced quad space on the e'dam, so I rented a Family Cabana. Probably money well spent, so I'm hoping the weather holds so we're there every day.

[allisons]

I love Labadee... adore Castaway Cay. Princess Cay was fine. Was there more than one ship at HMC when you were there?

Also, why the C for the balcony? I'm on that Verandah deck in 505X and I believe its narrower than other balconies. But alas, limited reasonably priced quad space on the e'dam, so I rented a Family Cabana. Probably money well spent, so I'm hoping the weather holds so we're there every day.

No, ours was the only ship at HMC.

The balcony was small. The chairs were uncomfortable and very upright, not chairs to sit in and relax on the balcony. The table was small and low, we could not eat breakfast on the balcony. We love eating breakfast on the balcony and that was very disappointing.

[lorekauf]

We were so profoundly disappointed with Half Moon Cay. We'd heard such wonderful things. Our expectations were so high. I think it suffered by being compared to Princess Cays, which we'd visited one week prior.
I'm surprised at that. I think HMC is way nicer than Pricess Cays. I've also heard others say the same.

[allisons]

I'm surprised at that. I think HMC is way nicer than Pricess Cays. I've also heard others say the same.

That's what we'd heard. But that was not our experience. PC had all the clamshells on one quiet, serene beach right on the water. HMC had the clamshells spread out, behind rows of chairs, in the back, on a slanted slope. PC had excellent natural snorkeling. HMC had a little bit of artificial snorkeling. PC had bar waiters taking drink orders on the beach and bringing it to you. HMC you had to go to the bar and get your own drink. PC had good food at the BBQ. HMC had awful food at the BBQ. Etc.

[gelo7]

I love the way that you reviewed.

[George C]

thanks for the review

[F5Loar]

Are the balcony chairs/tables different depending on what level stateroom you have? We found our suite chairs and tables to be very nice, cushy and comfortable. We found snorkeling at HMC to be fine also. Food buffet was about average for all the private islands we have been to. None of them seem to be up to what you would get at the Lido at lunch.

[allisons]

Are the balcony chairs/tables different depending on what level stateroom you have? We found our suite chairs and tables to be very nice, cushy and comfortable. We found snorkeling at HMC to be fine also. Food buffet was about average for all the private islands we have been to. None of them seem to be up to what you would get at the Lido at lunch.

Yes, the balcony chairs and table definitely vary by level of stateroom. We always get the basic balcony cabin. So we're comparing apples to apples. These were the worst chairs and tables we've ever had on any cruise line.

We found the snorkeling at HMC to be lacking. Just a bit of artificial reefs and that's it.

We found the food buffet at HMC to be far worse than on any other private island. The buffet the week before at PC was actually quite good and the exact same food at the grill on the ship.

[GeriatricNurse]

I'm surprised at that. I think HMC is way nicer than Pricess Cays. I've also heard others say the same.

DCL's 'Castaway Cay' is even nicer! :)

[GeriatricNurse]

That's what we'd heard. But that was not our experience. PC had all the clamshells on one quiet, serene beach right on the water. HMC had the clamshells spread out, behind rows of chairs, in the back, on a slanted slope. PC had excellent natural snorkeling. HMC had a little bit of artificial snorkeling. PC had bar waiters taking drink orders on the beach and bringing it to you. HMC you had to go to the bar and get your own drink. PC had good food at the BBQ. HMC had awful food at the BBQ. Etc.

Thank you for the warning! :eek: Never having attended the HMC BBQ, I will continue with not attending! ;)

[Aruba]

Speaking just about the food, I've been many times and find the BBQ at HMC to be neither better nor worse than the food at any other buffet-style BBQ. Personally I wouldn't have called it "awful" but to each their own...

[Boytjie]

Thank you for the warning! :eek: Never having attended the HMC BBQ, I will continue with not attending! ;)

So one person finds it awful and that sways you, despite numerous posts from others that have said it is good (not just on this thread, it comes up often). :confused:

[cruiseapril]

Have been to Princess Cays, CocoCay, and Half Moon Cay (several times.)
The BBQ at HMC has always been good in our estimation.

Have to agree about the clamshells at HMC.

We like the swimming at HMC compared to the above mentioned.

[allisons]

DCL's 'Castaway Cay' is even nicer! :)

I've heard that. But, since we don't have kids, we probably won't make it there.

[allisons]

Speaking just about the food, I've been many times and find the BBQ at HMC to be neither better nor worse than the food at any other buffet-style BBQ. Personally I wouldn't have called it "awful" but to each their own...

I agree completely that we all have different opinions. This is just my opinion.

[allisons]

Have been to Princess Cays, CocoCay, and Half Moon Cay (several times.)
The BBQ at HMC has always been good in our estimation.

Have to agree about the clamshells at HMC.

We like the swimming at HMC compared to the above mentioned.

The swimming at HMC was definitely nicer. But the snorkeling was not as good.

[Valricojack]

Did you snorkel off the beach or on the boat snorkeling excursion? thanks

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your interesting review. It worked for me. Glad you had a good cruise.