Amsterdam - Comments & General Information

[Krazy Kruizers]

This will be interesting to see how this report turns out.

We really thought that the crew did an excellent job keeping the ship sanitized as much as possible. They had to put in a lot of long extra hours at night spraying and cleaning while we all slept. I don’t know how true this is, but some of the crew had heard that a few passengers “fibbed” about not being sick when they signed the questionnaire and got on the ship sick. When we went from Code Red to Code Yellow we watched some people walk by the area captains at the dining room doors, refusing to get a squirt of Purell to cleanse their hands. At the Lido, the crewman who gives you your tray would remind people to use the hand sanitizers. Some people would still grab cheese and rolls, etc. without using forks or tongs. We also observed people picking up pastries and donuts, desserts and cookies with their hands. No wonder the virus re-appeared and we went back to Code Red.

The food was very good - no complaints there. Once during the cruise they had surf and turf - very small lobster tail - chewy but a great filet. On the last formal night they had New England lobster tails. You got 2 nice sized lobster tails. We didn’t get them as we know that too often the they remain covered too long while people are getting served and they have the tendency to get chewy. Instead we both had Beef Wellington - excellent.

Our dining room steward and his assistant were great. Considering all the extra work they had to do like putting rolls/bread and butter on your plates, taking care of salt and pepper, pouring the cream, etc. during the Code Red, no one in our area ever had to try and flag anyone down for anything - they were Johnny-on-the-spot. They kept rushing to please everyone. We had a great area captain helping the wait staff as much as possible. Our wait staff in the King’s Room were great. Loved our cabin steward - replacing hand soaps as fast as we used them. Maureen, our concierge, was wonderful - always had a smile and jumped to help everyone. Great people in the Pinnacle.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The Amsterdam completed her SOE program in Sept/Oct 2005. At that time the Explorations Café was added. We were first introduced to this Café on the Ryndam last November and thought it was wonderful. On the Amsterdam the Explorations Café is even bigger because she is a larger ship. There were several choices of free pastries whenever you bought a specialty coffee - even saw some scones which were never in the Lido or the Neptune Lounge. Never did we see the cinnamon buns on sale for $1.75 like we have seen on other ships. Only ½ of the Crow’s Nest was done over. The port side was not done over nor was the bar replaced. But the dance floor was made larger and there is a separate area for the band to play Disco at night. There is less seating area in the front on the starboard side. And they did put in one of those stupid “bowling pin” lamps (which I talked about in my Ryndam review). Of course they added the Loft and Oasis for the children. Since there were only about 20 children, I doubt if it was really used on this cruise. The Oasis is bigger than the one on the Ryndam. And the new thermo spa was added even though it was shut down most of the cruise because of the Code Red. The gym was done over - 7 treadmills with personal TV’s - TV headphones pulled because of Code Red. The Observation Deck - with the addition of the spa and new gym area,you can only walk our onto a very tiny area on the port side. There isn’t any walking area in front of the spa and gym area like there is on the Ryndam - very dis-appointing.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Due to our being in Code Red most of the cruise, The Pinnacle was open only 3 out of 9 sea days for lunch - the first 3 sea days heading back to San Diego. The workers had to help out in the Neptune Lounge and the Lido for breakfast and lunch. As you enter the Pinnacle, the old “Odyssey” marble slab has been replaced with the one that bears the Pinnacle name.

The King’s Room was available for breakfast every morning for the suite guests. We ate there quite a few times. Compared to other ships, it was very busy most mornings - ranging from 12 - 24 people on any given day. There were 4 breakfast specials every day (also available in the main dining room but not in the Lido). I fell in love with their various fruit pancakes - mango, strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, bananas, peaches with walnuts, etc. - all made to order and served piping hot - not sitting under a heat lamp or in a warming tray getting cold. The times varied for breakfast - even on sea days. Some times it opened at 8, sometimes 7:30.

We were introduced to the Elemis products on our Zuiderdam cruise in May 2005. Since we used them for only 6 days we didn’t mind them - Royal Dutch products were available for the second half of our cruise then. But by day 6 on this cruise we both began to experience some problems with the shampoo and the conditioner. The shampoo was too watery - had to use a lot - DH’s scalp began to dry out. The conditioner was so thick it wouldn’t come out of the bottle. Fortunately I had brought along some of our own shampoo and conditioner.

[Krazy Kruizers]

On the other ships, our cabin steward never started working until 8 on port days and 8:30 on sea days. Different scenario on the Amsterdam - at least it was this way on the Navigation Deck - don’t know about the other decks. One port days the cabin stewards would deliver mail shortly after 7 and begin cleaning cabins at 7:30. On sea days, mail was delivered after 7:30 and cabins cleaned beginning at 8.

There were 2 handicapped chair lifts on the Ryndam - one for the pool and one for one of the hot tubs. Both of them sat in a corner - they have yet to be installed.
We were introduced to the Elemis products on our May 2005 Zuiderdam cruise.

We had a cruise consultant on board. She had a meeting session one morning. We were in interested in Canada/New England cruises for 2007 but she didn’t have any information on them. We didn’t stay for the meeting as most of it was about booking cruises for Europe for this year. She had a few Caribbean cruises for 2007.

At first we thought that the location of the blood pressure machine was in an odd place - in a cubby hole just down the hall from the Pinnacle Grill on the Promenade Deck. On all the other ships it always been in the gym. But the more we got to thinking about it, this location is much better as there is less motion of the ship there for a more accurate reading.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Everyone once in a while the band would play the “Love Boat” theme song at lunch time by the pool. The bands in the various lounges were way too loud for us. They must think we are all hard of hearing. For once we rarely visited any of the lounges. Even our pianoist was way too loud.

In our suites we got complimentary slippers and a combination hair brush/lint brush/shoe horn. The laundry bag was the biggest we have ever had - by about 33%. We had read reports about the Ryndam and the Statendam having suite dinners on their Hawaiian cruises - not on this ship.

There were a few Ballroom dance classes but near the end of the cruise they were canceled because a couple of the dance hosts got the virus and they didn’t want anyone doing any kind of “hands-on” activities.

There were a lot of games on sea days - many we had never heard of. Very few trivia games compared to other ships.

There were no extra port guides passed out when the port and lecturer gave his talk. It made it very difficult to keep track of the few HAL recommended places and where they were located. We all did know about the free shuttle buses to Hilo Hattie in every port. No free-bees were given out and no special drawings for anything. We met Ivan several times during the cruise and had some great conversations - we never asked why he did things differently than on other ships - felt that was his own business.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were back to the $10 shop on this ship - the same stuff sold for $15 on the Ryndam.

You would think that a ship that has done several Hawaiian cruises before ours would have had more Hawaiian music and more Hawaiian flowers and Hawaiian clothes in the shops - nope! There wasn’t even a Blue Hawaiian drink special! Very little Hawaiian music - some in the Lido on days when we were in port. A few flower arrangements placed around in a couple of areas after we visited the islands. It wasn’t until the last sea day that there was a special by the midship pool: a hat and t-shirt for about $11 and tons of other t-shirts.

On the Ryndam the gallery of photos (captain, hotel manager, CD, cast, etc.) on the starboard side as you enter the show lounge on the Promenade Deck had all been removed. It was nice to see that the gallery was still on the Amsterdam.
Have you ever wondered what happens to the pictures of the employees of the month? We found them mounted on the wall of the landing between Decks 1 and A as you go to the tenders.

Have any of you ever used the tray tables in the Culinary Arts Center? Did you even know that they existed? They are in a side compartment of the arm just like in first class seats on a plane. We actually saw a man use one to take notes during one of the cooking demonstrations.

[Krazy Kruizers]

One of my favorites - chocolate bread pudding with vanilla sauce!! It was available everyday at lunch time in the Lido along with, of course, the regular bread pudding.

We thought Chef Rene in the Pinnacle did a really great job - he always fixed my filets and lamb chops just the way I liked them - no pre-seasoning. All the ships have the same menu. But we found his Northwest Clam Chowder soup to be the best we have had to date - contains more clams and is thicker and richer. I love their chocolate volcano cake and DH usually has the Crème Brulee. Every once in awhile he will have the Lemon Berry Angel Shortcake with berry compote. He told Chef Rene that it was the best he has ever had. On the other ships you got just a huge wedge of shortcake with very few berries. Chef Rene’s was a real shortcake baked in a nice size round mold. The berries and sauce were more plentiful.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Here are some firsts:
Our flowers were removed from our suite on the last full day of our cruise - no surprise there as that usually happens on all ships. But that evening we got a new flower arrangement!
One night while we were dining in the Pinnacle we saw a woman take her leftover meat and potatoes with her (back to the cabin) - they made a lovely swan out of foil to hold her leftovers. The next evening we watched her come into the dining room with the same package. She sat at a table just a few feet from ours and we couldn’t believe it when she asked the waiter to re-heat her leftovers for her!
One morning we were checking out a couple of books in the library when a man came in to use one of the computers - his bathing trunks were dripping onto the carpet, no shoes, no shirt - just a towel around his neck - and no one said anything to him!

On other ships, on sea days, the captain always made the 1 PM announcements himself. But on this ship the officer of the watch gave the reports.

And whenever daily announcements were made, Jay, the assistant CD made the majority of them.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I mentioned in my review that we had quite a changeover of staff in the upper levels on our cruise. Having sailed on Hal quite a few times over the past few years, we noticed that on the third day of the cruise that something seemed strange and we were never able to figure it out. It seemed as though not everyone got along with each other. In the past we used to see lots of Captain van der Berg - nor so on this cruise - don’t know why. He only greeted people at the Captain’s reception, greeted everyone at our suite cocktail party - then left, greeted everyone at the VIP party - then left, greeted everyone at the Mariner’s party and gave out the awards - then left, greeted us all at the suite buffet - then left. He never stayed and talked to anyone. We knew several of the crew and a few told us that some crew members who had been in supervisory positions found themselves demoted when the new staff re-organized certain positions. Some positions were eliminated while others were created.

Hawaii in March on a cruise? We would never do it again. In fact we wouldn’t even fly there in March to visit the islands - too much rain.

[gizmo]

I think perhaps the Captain did not socialize because of being on red alert.

Sounds like the officers might have gone through the good ole "reorg". :rolleyes:

:) The font is much larger this time.

[kakalina]

There were 2 handicapped chair lifts on the Ryndam - one for the pool and one for one of the hot tubs. Both of them sat in a corner - they have yet to be installed.


KK, Thanks for the wonderful review, just wanted to correct a misunderstanding. The handicapped chairs are not meant for permanent installation. They are made to be rolled out, locked, and the pax lowered into the water. That way they are not in the way of others when not in use. Just thought you might want to know ;)

Trisha

[blue whale]

Hello and a question: Did I understand that there is a blood pressure machine available on a use-it-yourself basis on Amsterdam? We were thinking of taking our own along for a long cruise. Also do you know whether there is a complimentary bp machine on Prinsendam?

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were under Code Red on the Amsterdam in 2002 for 16 days out of 22 and we saw Captain van der Berg walking around the ship, he stayed at the parties and talked to people, and we even had a suite dinner where everyone socialized like nothing was wrong with the ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the information. We had a lot of handicapped people on our cruise and never once did they set up a chair for them to use at the pool - strange.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes there was a blood pressure machine available on the Amsterdam on a use-it-yourself basis. It is the type you see in grocery stores and drug stores. It gives you systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and pulse (heart beat) - I don't know how accurate it is.

We have never been on the Prinsendam so I can't your question about that ship.

[venicecruiser]

Thanks for posting your comments........

Claudia

[elmorejj]

All I can say is....some mothers do have `em!!

Hope she was in a cabin with a frig!!:cool:

[rocks]

THANKS for posting all the info! We will be on the Amsterdam in Oct...our 1st for that ship.
Did you happen to meet Teresa? She is one of the Bar Supervisors. We are hoping she will still be in Oct.
rocks

[kryos]

We thought Chef Rene in the Pinnacle did a really great job - he always fixed my filets and lamb chops just the way I liked them - no pre-seasoning. All the ships have the same menu. But we found his Northwest Clam Chowder soup to be the best we have had to date - contains more clams and is thicker and richer.
LOL ... shame I didn't realize you were going on this cruise ahead of time. I would have suggested you tell Chef Rene that you heard he had a wonderful skydive back in January. :) That would have blown him away. :)

Yeah, he was on our little skydiving excursion in Honolulu during the 30-day Hawaii/South Pacific run. We filled an entire Skydive Hawaii van that day ... me as the only Amsterdam passenger, and everyone else crew and staff. There was Chef Rene, Reme the DJ, several members of the Amsterdam cast, the sound engineer Selena, a woman who worked in the spa, and a couple of people from the cruise director's staff. Was a wonderful time ... and, yes ... we all lived to tell about it. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[kryos]

Thanks for the information. We had a lot of handicapped people on our cruise and never once did they set up a chair for them to use at the pool - strange.
That is strange ... especially since in January, we sat out in the smoking area of the Lido deck and watched all of the officers and crew being trained in how to operate that lift. I would have thought it would be getting lots of use ... at least judging from the number of mobility challenged folks on our cruise.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Krazy Kruizers]

I had the date of our cruise in my signature for about 2 - 3 months. Sure wish I had known that Chef Rene had done a skydive - he would have flipped out if we had mentioned it.

The DJ on our cruise was Victoria - a native from Cranberry Township - north of Pittsburgh - we live southeast of Pittsburgh - talked to her quite a few times.

Now I am wondering why they never had the lift set up for the handicapped people - wish I had know that it could have been set up any time. I would have made a comment on my card at that end of the cruise about that.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We never met anyone by the name of Teresa anywhere on the ship. Since there were so many changes in "jobs" she may have been one of the ones effected by the re-organization of the crew and supervisor postions. There were a lot of changes made on our cruise in all departments.

[Krazy Kruizers]

In re-reading my reports I did notice that I forgot a couple of things.

I mentioned that there was a wine sale at the end of the cruise - 2 bottles for $50. I forgot to mention that there was also a 15% discount which wipes out the 15% gratuity that would be added on.

Also - In November when I reported about the Lido dinner being all buffet - it was the same thing on the Amsterdam. The hours were much earlier than on other ship: 6 - 7:30. And there were no table clothes on the tables. The only thing personal was the wine steward serving cocktails/ wine. No entrees were served to anyone.

[Himself]

Thank you for a nice report. You were very thorough.

[elmorejj]

KK, you talk about changes in supervisory positions, was one of the changes in Bar Managers by any chance? We were told of this happening on a cruise in November and I wondered if they had started it yet......jean:cool:

[Krazy Kruizers]

The structure that was on the Amsterdam right now: in charge of Culinary Operations - Michael Harris; Beverage Manager - Darren Lewis. From what we could tell there weren't any Bar Managers or Bar Supervisors. Apparently Darren does all those jobs now.

[KAKcruiser]

KK,
Nice review. Thanks for all the information. Did you happen to check out that back staircase at the end of the Navigation deck? Also, did you notice if the handicapped suite at the back had a smaller balcony? Thanks.

[NHCruisr]

I noticed that you mentioned that Ivan was the port and shopping person. We met a port and shopping person named Ivan on the Coral Princess a few years ago. He was delightful! I wonder if you met the same person?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Forgot to check out that area - sorry can't help you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Ivan is from Miami - a man in his 60"s. Could be the same man.

[rocks]

KK, you talk about changes in supervisory positions, was one of the changes in Bar Managers by any chance? We were told of this happening on a cruise in November and I wondered if they had started it yet......jean:cool:

Hi!
When we were on the Zuiderdam last Dec. the change had taken place. They had a Bar Supervisor & a Head Bartender. They did away with the Bar Managers on that ship, the Westerdam & that was the way the Noordam was supposed be. Not sure if it was going to be a fleet-wide change but the Head Bartender (Trixie) thought it would eventually go that way. I think it left some of the Bar Managers switching ships & positions.
rocks

[Oceanwench]

Perhaps the people with disabilities were not aware of the special devices to allow them to use the pool/hot tub?

DH would not use one of them, as he has no interest in using the pool/hot tub.

[Krazy Kruizers]

After reading that those handicapped lifts are portable, I imagine that most people didn't know they existed because of the way they were hidden behind the wall where the band played at lunch time.