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Nieuw Amsterdam post dry dock 3 day cruise review


GulfShoresCruiser
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Just off the NA Saturday before Christmas. We (w/the wife and our 20 something kids) were on the short 3 day cruise to Nassau and HMC. The timing was perfect for us....gave us a chance to be with the "away from home" kids before Christmas and we earned enough mariner points to join the 3 star crowd next cruise!

 

Embarkation: Simple. Easy. We stayed in Ft Pierce the night before and picked up son at FLL at 10am. We were in the Park n Fly Lot in 10 minutes. At terminal 26 at 10:30. Boarding group #1. No lines. Think we boarded at 11:30.

 

Cabin: First time in a suite. We booked two guarantee Signature Suites w/assignments 2 weeks out. Ended up with deck 6-mid ship. Great location. Next to each other. The room steward opened the connector between the balcony. Cabins were fantastic. All new furniture and fixtures. Yuge TV. Everyone used the jetted tubs. That was a hit. Room Stewards were always on it.

 

Ship: New carpet throughout. All new furniture. In great shape. Very clean. Crow's Nest had comfy lounges and the kids enjoyed the interactive location screens and the coffee table books. Many folks were playing board games. The Crow's Nest is much busier now with the varied things going on. I think the gym equipment was all new as well.

 

Food: Tamarind was on night one. The daughter enjoys sushi so she got her fill. Excellent service and we all enjoyed. I got the filet and it was seasoned perfectly and cooked as requested. MDR for the other two nights. We had anytime dining and walked up to the kiosk around 6pm and never waited for a table. Food was also very good. Service was good. We spent probably an hour and a half at dinner. Enjoyed the no rush experience and every course! At embarkation, we ate lunch in the MDR. Calm and good. So much more civilized than the lido at embarkation. I notice that the staff directs everyone to the lido and only those of us "in the know" enjoy the embarkation lunch. Had the cannonball at the dive in for lunch one day. Dive in sauce on the fries. Tasty. Lido was great for eggs benedict one morning. And the always good bread pudding at lunch. We had in cabin breakfast on dis-embarkation day. Easy to order and the trays were delivered at the beginning of the requested time. I liked being able to just check one box to get the egg platter.

 

Entertainment:

The millenials enjoyed the casino. Daughter's first time at the black jack table. The dealer was good w/her. Son took away $90 from the roulette wheel. Fun times for them. BBKing on night one was excellent. Great singers and band. Did Billboard two evenings. The kids enjoyed the atmosphere and the tunes. Lincoln Stage was full when we went by....We missed that but see that it's very popular. Comedian one night in the theatre. Funny and not crude so appreciate that. We did the test kitchen demo of salmon. We left with good info and the kids actually wanted to go to that and were serious about taking home the recipes. Shocking.

 

Ports:

Walked around Nassau. It is what it is. Did the Queens steps, walked by Parliament, toured the beautful old Anglican Church, did the shops and the straw market and finished at a bar along the dock. Went back to the ship for lunch midday. HMC is paradise as we picture it. No lines for the tender. Just walk on. Went out at 9am and back at 1pm. Our favorite beach spot is the hammocks further down the beach. Then when we are done, we walk to the end and then to the beach BBQ and then back to the ship. The chickens are still there! Island is in great shape. No weather damage at all.

 

Overall:

The NA is in great shape. It was good to be on her post dry dock. The new features are winning us over more. Billboard, Lincoln Stage, Crow's Nest are all positive for us. I think what was interesting was the reaction from our kids. While in Nassau, we were sharing the port with 3 other Carnival ships. The kids saw the chaos...in particular, folks trying to hold up the drunk girl who, in our opinion, needed the ER while going through the Nassau ID check, and they commented that "I get it now, why you sail Holland". They will be the future HAL passengers and they were totally entertained, well fed and enjoying the journey!

 

If you have a question about the NA, let me know.....Problem now is how to convince the Mrs. that we can't always book a suite! Good times.

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We were also on that cruise and agree the ship was in great shape. Any idea who the captain was ?

We were on the ship for the last 7 day cruise before drydock and our captain was Jeroen van Donselaar. Don't know if he stayed on until now.

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We told the kids that we would all be in one inside cabin. We kept this going and the moaning and concerns about who would take showers when and they were searching for ear plugs at the Walmart prior. At embarkation check in, I approached the check in person and said "The kids think we are all in one cabin, please play along".....She did but the keys gave it away.

 

They were floored that Daddy had opened up the purse strings and paid for 2 suites. Although it was quite a deal given that it was a 3 day cruise. We got them good. Fun memories.

 

The Captain Morgan boat bar is still there washed ashore on HMC.

 

The Captain of the NA had a von in his name.....Don't recall his name....sounds like the same Captain you referenced though.

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Thanks for the great review. I am on the Jan 13th departure so look forward to seeing all the changes. One thing you mentioned about HMC was that your favorite beach spot is the hammocks further down the beach. I have been to HMC many times and don't recall ever seeing them.....are they new, and available to anyone? If so, I'm sure that will be my favorite spot as well as they will give much needed shade (hopefully)

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We have enjoyed the hammocks on several visits to HMC. They are not new. They are located far down the beach past the cabanas but not as far as the horse loading area.

 

We have never had an issue not getting them but you should probably be early in your tender over. And there is no fee!

 

Guess I am letting out the secret.

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We told the kids that we would all be in one inside cabin. We kept this going and the moaning and concerns about who would take showers when and they were searching for ear plugs at the Walmart prior. At embarkation check in, I approached the check in person and said "The kids think we are all in one cabin, please play along".....She did but the keys gave it away.

 

They were floored that Daddy had opened up the purse strings and paid for 2 suites. Although it was quite a deal given that it was a 3 day cruise. We got them good. Fun memories.

 

The Captain Morgan boat bar is still there washed ashore on HMC.

 

The Captain of the NA had a von in his name.....Don't recall his name....sounds like the same Captain you referenced though.

 

Thanks for letting us know how the kids reacted! It must have been quite a sight to see when they figured it out!

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Thank you - so glad to hear how nice everything looks since the dry dock. We really liked the NA before and look forward to seeing how she looks now. Do you know if anything was changed/updated in the Cabana Club (Retreat Cabanas) area of the ship? Were the Lido Cabanas by the pool refreshed/updated?

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