Just Returned from Neiuw Amsterdam

Just got back from our TA on the NA, got off in Barcelona on Sunday, to the first significant rain we had seen. Had really great weather all the way.

Really enjoyed the NA in general. We had not been on HAL for a few years, prior cruise was on the Eurodam when it was new in the Carribbean. We cruise Princess, Celebrity, HAL, Cunard and NCL.

Found even though some talk of menu changes on HAL on cruise critic that the MDR menu offerrings were pretty good, by comparison to Princess, Celebrity new menus. Service was very good all over the ship.

We booked a VB cabin, forward, comfortable cabin, quiet and cabin service was again excellent including room service for breakfast. HAL does breakfast in the cabin better than any line.

Really the only disappoint for us was the entertainment on board. We really missed the trio groups HAL use to have in the Crows Nest. This trip a solo guitarist was the only entertainment in the Crows Nest reminded us of a 60s style hippie coffee shop which I guess kind of fits with the coffee/libary - internet set up. Just not our thing. So we did not spend anytime in the Crows Nest this trip. We are not fans of BBKing and did not find the theatre entertainers worth our time. HAL in the past did a much better job. Even local Flamingo entertainers brough on in Gilbrater was kind of lame and uninspiring for us. A few years back we did a TA on the Westerdam and we were more than satisfied with the entertainment on board.

We did find we could check out CD movies and there was quiet an extension collection, which we did do especially on sea days.

We were also surprised how casual passengers dress both day and night. Even though an older group in general, smart casual was lacking a great deal. I wonder since airlines have cut luggage allowances if folks have given up trying. We took our usaul formal and smart casual attire so did not change anything for us, even stayed within our luggage allowances.

We did find wines very over priced on board. The cheapest red or wine on the menu was $40 a bottle including 15%, for a spanish wine (which was nice) but was available in Gilbrater for 4.50 euros that seems like a heck of mark up. Prices for other medium priced wine went up from there. We don't drink enough wine to make a package work or us.

Purchased a future booking credit and will look for a future HAL cruise.

Thank you for the report.

Thanks for the review. The solo guitarist comment made me smile. :) We had a great one on the Maasdam a few years back, but for the most part I get where you're coming from.

Thanks for your review. We are travelling the Med on the NA in October back to back and are super excited.

Did you happen to get a copy of the wine or cocktail list that you can share by any chance?

I'd love to hear more of your tips and any advice you can offer.

Thanks again

Thank you for your report.

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam Mar/Apr and could not stand the guitarist. She did nothing but scream -- you could not even talk to the person next to you.

Thank you for this report of your Nieuw Amsterdam cruise.

We were on the same cruise and couldn't agree more about the wine pricing.We were on Royal Princess the week before the NA crossing and the wines were 25-50% less expensive?We will take a few more bouttles aboard on our next HAL cruise.The singer,Krista,in the crows nest was so loud that we just left the lounge.

Thanks for your review. We are travelling the Med on the NA in October back to back and are super excited.

 

Did you happen to get a copy of the wine or cocktail list that you can share by any chance?

 

I'd love to hear more of your tips and any advice you can offer.

 

Thanks again

There is a link to the March wine prices from the Noordam in this post. They tend to be pretty similar across ships because of centralized purchasing. The link inside the post is to Evernote which is where I uploaded the wine lists as PDF files.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41949237

There is cocktail information in the thread, but the drinks - particularly the drinks of the day - often vary by itinerary and we were in the Caribbean.

Glad to hear you had a good time. I think the single acts in Crows Nest and elsewhere are an attempt to cut costs.

Could not agree more on the guitarist/singer. Notice I put singer second. We spent all of 10 min in the Crow's Nest last month.

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk

This makes me very sad. :(

I guess I can hope there will be a new entertainer for the Crow's Nest when I board next month. I loved going up there on my last cruise, and the guitarist was quite good, and funny and entertaining. A bunch of us became 'regulars'

Thanks for your review. Glad to hear you had a good time. Welcome home!

I agree on the singer in the Crow's Nest; DW and I were on the recent Trans-Atlantic, and we thought she was too loud for the venue, too. Otherwise, we liked the entertainment.

-John

Thanks for your review. We are travelling the Med on the NA in October back to back and are super excited.

 

Did you happen to get a copy of the wine or cocktail list that you can share by any chance?

 

I'd love to hear more of your tips and any advice you can offer.

 

Thanks again

Sorry I did not copy the wine list. We drink wine regularly at home, noticed most California wines we are familiar with started at $50 plus for a typical $8-$12 bottle. So did not see any point in copying.

We did buy a bottle of Johnny Walker Red for our cabin for a reasonalbe price. We also like Grolish beer and bought that instead of wine.

I agree on the singer in the Crow's Nest; DW and I were on the recent Trans-Atlantic, and we thought she was too loud for the venue, too. Otherwise, we liked the entertainment.

-John

I glad I am not alone on my impression of the Crow's Nest entertainment. I do plan to provide HAL feedback on our post cruise questionnaire. I think that is one way we can influence the entertainment planning.

We actually checked out the Crow's Nest most evenings... hoping there might be some changes but never happened. I would have been happier it they at least rotated entertainers from other venues which they did not. Would love to have the trio brought back. They were great.