Review - Amsterdam 14night Alaska Explorer 6/29-7/13t

I will be doing this in pieces as I collect my thoughts and get organized. I have to say, I hate coming back from such a nice vacation and getting right back into work the next day :p Well here we go.

The Ship

We were on the Rotterdam in 2010, so the Amsterdam felt very familiar to us. It was a quick walk from end to end, and felt small having just been on the Eurodam in September. I was impressed with how stable she felt even on the days when we had slightly rougher sea conditions. Overall we found the Amsterdam to be in pretty good shape and kept clean. Every day the crew were out painting, washing and maintaining the ship. I was pleased to see that she still had an aft pool as opposed to the retreat pool that was on the Rotterdam.

The Cabin

For this trip we decided to try an HH fully obstructed ocean view on the Lower Promenade deck. We chose HH3384 (instead of taking a chance on a guarantee) because we liked its location, close to both the aft and midship elevators/stairs and with quick access to the walking deck (the largest balcony on the ship). The cabin was small, but well laid out, though I think we lost a small amount of space due to this being a connecting cabin with HH3382. It was just fine for 2 people, with lots of storage space under the bed for our large suitcases (with carry-on packed inside) and plenty of space for all of our clothing, we even had bedside drawers (big enough for laptops) with keyed locks. There was a small loveseat, which we never did sit on, but instead used to store our large camera backpacks. My only real complaint about this cabin was that we only had one awkwardly placed wall plug-in above the desk, that when used with a camera charger would turn on and off the lights, due to the charger hitting the adjacent switch. I think it would have been nice to have another plug-in somewhere, near the bed perhaps (we did look but didn't find one). **A word of warning for those considering this cabin (or adjacent cabins), we did experience noise from the main galley overhead, which usually stopped by midnight and started again around 5am, overall it really didn't bother us, but it could be a problem for some.**

Great start, cant't wait for the rest. Thanks for sharing.

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

Don't you just hate when work gets in the way. Tell your boss that CC'ers are waiting for a review!

Thanks for the warning about the cabin-good to know.

Great start -- ready to read the rest and compare.

So far so good, looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thank you for the review. Looking forward for some more when you get the time. I will be on the Amsterdam in 7 days. I can not wait.

David

Loved the start of your review and we will read the rest of it as published. Thanks so much!

Glad you are all enjoying so far. Here is a bit about the food and entertainment before I get on to the ports of call.

The Entertainment

We didn't go to any of the HAL production shows, we only saw performances by the guest entertainers. Our favorite was Jeff Tracta and his singing/impressions. We found the ventriloquist to be just ok. We really enjoyed Benji Hill's 'dangerous' stuff comedy show. George Kanter the comedian was good also. We were really impressed by Chris Michaels' show, playing all of the different 'instruments'.

The Food

We had breakfast in the lido everyday and lunch there most days. We found the variety of food great, with taste ranging from good to very good. The selection of fruit was good, but unfortunately they ran out of pineapple on day 4, so that was a bit of a disappointment as it is one fruit I rarely have at home and it is always so tasty!! We enjoy open dining so we are free to vary the time we want to eat based on our plans for the day, some nights we ate at 5:15pm and some nights at 8:30pm. We had a table for 2 each night without making reservations and our longest wait time was no more than 5min. We ate dinner most nights at the MDR, but had three in the Canaletto (still no charge) and a couple in the lido (when we just felt too tired to dress up). We found the food in the Canaletto very good and the service was great. A few times throughout the cruise we found ourselves coming back on board between the lido's lunch and dinner hours, so we had a snack at the Terrace Grill, the tacos, burgers, and hotdogs were good, we did not try the pizza. The desserts, as always, were to die for!!

The Entertainment

We didn't go to any of the HAL production shows, we only saw performances by the guest entertainers. Our favorite was Jeff Tracta and his singing/impressions. We found the ventriloquist to be just ok. We really enjoyed Benji Hill's 'dangerous' stuff comedy show. George Kanter the comedian was good also. We were really impressed by Chris Michaels' show, playing all of the different 'instruments'.

Thank you for listing the names of the entertainers, as well as giving your evaluation. I'll keep that in mind when I check out each daily program in a few weeks.

Glad you are all enjoying so far.

The Food

We had breakfast in the lido everyday and lunch there most days. We found the variety of food great, with taste ranging from good to very good. The selection of fruit was good, but unfortunately they ran out of pineapple on day 4, so that was a bit of a disappointment as it is one fruit I rarely have at home and it is always so tasty!! We enjoy open dining so we are free to vary the time we want to eat based on our plans for the day, some nights we ate at 5:15pm and some nights at 8:30pm. We had a table for 2 each night without making reservations and our longest wait time was no more than 5min. We ate dinner most nights at the MDR, but had three in the Canaletto (still no charge) and a couple in the lido (when we just felt too tired to dress up). We found the food in the Canaletto very good and the service was great. A few times throughout the cruise we found ourselves coming back on board between the lido's lunch and dinner hours, so we had a snack at the Terrace Grill, the tacos, burgers, and hotdogs were good, we did not try the pizza. The desserts, as always, were to die for!!

You made me hungry with all the mention of the food. Thanks again, enjoying your review.

I have been looking forward to your report, and especially how you liked the cabin we were in last year. Seems like you experienced a bit more noise than we did. It did not bother us, but like you, I know this cabin would not be for everyone.

I have been looking forward to your report, and especially how you liked the cabin we were in last year. Seems like you experienced a bit more noise than we did. It did not bother us, but like you, I know this cabin would not be for everyone.

Yes, overall it was just fine. We really found the location convenient! As you said it is not for everyone and we did encounter some neighbors in the hall that complained to us about the noise and said they had requested a change of cabin from the front desk. It certainly didn't bother us that much and we knew going in that there could be a possibility of noise and we were ok with that. I think it was worth the trade off for the motion we would have experience in cabin that we gave up very close to the bow.

Thank you for these reports of your cruise.

Great reports - thanks for taking the time to share with us:):)

I am loving it:)

Joanie

I am loving it:)

 

Joanie

Hi Joanie,

I have a bunch of cabin photos to send over in the next couple days, along with the review from above.

Lets continue on...

We are from Vancouver,BC so we took the 6:40am Amtrak Train southbound to Seattle the morning of our cruise instead of spending a night in a hotel. We have done this in the past and found it to be very convenient, arriving at the Seattle station about 11:15am, with a short cab ride to Pier 91. The embarkation process was very quick and we were checked in and in our cabin by 12:15pm. We had a cloudy evening for sail away, followed by quite a nice sea day on our way up the west side of Vancouver Island. We spent most of the day out on deck enjoying the fresh air and the abundance of wildlife (birds, whales, dolphins, etc).

Enjoying your review.

Wonder why you couldn't get Pineapple in the Lido -- it was a garnish on our breakfast plates many mornings in the dining room throughout the cruise.

Thanks for the review... Enjoying reading it as we were on just before you.

Nobby

Ye I think it was worth the trade off for the motion we would have experience in cabin that we gave up very close to the bow.

Yes, my husband and I don't do well in the bow either. My DH got seasick several times on this cruise last summer and he was so grateful to return to this cabin where he was able to rest and feel so much better. I don't know how many times he told me he was glad we had this cabin because he didn't feel the motion while in this cabin.

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Enjoying your review.

Wonder why you couldn't get Pineapple in the Lido -- it was a garnish on our breakfast plates many mornings in the dining room throughout the cruise.

It was there for the first 4 days and then it was replaced by an extra tray of melon (at all lido stations). I thought for a couple days maybe the new batch wasn't ripe enough to serve but it would return in a few days, no such luck. I did notice pineapple crisp on the menu a number of times, maybe thats where it all went? :p

:D I am surprised that my laptop is still working with all of the drooling it has caught!! I enjoy reading about adventures on the 14 day Amsterdam Alaska trip. I was on her in May for 7 days and have been drooling over the 14 day since then...I am booked on the last voyage on September 7. I am looking forward to your reviews of the northern ports that we have never been to. Thanks :D

:D I am surprised that my laptop is still working with all of the drooling it has caught!! I enjoy reading about adventures on the 14 day Amsterdam Alaska trip. I was on her in May for 7 days and have been drooling over the 14 day since then...I am booked on the last voyage on September 7. I am looking forward to your reviews of the northern ports that we have never been to. Thanks :D

What? you found someone to go with you and didn't ask me!!! You didn't admit that on our roll call!;)

All the reviews have been fantastic on this 14 day cruise haven't they. I do hope they bring it back in a couple of years so I can try it out too.

Trophy-hope you get some days off soon so you can continue your review and maybe a couple of photos?

Woo-hoo Trophy! Your much anticipated review was waiting for me when I returned from my 4 day getaway to Assateague Island w/family. I'm eagerly awaiting your next post. So glad you enjoyed this trip. Having sailed on this itinerary twice, I can't wait to read all about others thoughts and perceptions on the itinerary, the ship, and my beautiful Alaska. More please...;)

What? you found someone to go with you and didn't ask me!!! You didn't admit that on our roll call!;)

:rolleyes: Gee, I am sorry...we have a room for three, do you want to join us?? I am really looking forward to it. All of these wonderful posts on this cruise have been Awesome. So, I think you should pop over to the island when we are there and show us around, then we can talk about Panama Canal!!!!