Emperor Norton Posted August 16, 2012 #1 Share Posted August 16, 2012 This is going to be a not so live review of my Baltic AMS-AMS cruise on the Pride. Due to certain technical deficiencies with this site the review will be very broken down (or: the inline image limitation is bad in this day and age). Before the cruise I had to ward off evil spirits and illness I had a precautionary dose of Click above image to play movie A few days later and I was up before dawn for a relatively quick jaunt over to the Oakland "International" Airport. It's not really a bad airport per-se but most flights have to connect elsewhere and their security can make SFOs look enjoyable. This time around security was mostly a breeze, although since they're using backscatter I'm uncertain why it can't scan shoes like the ones in Europe do. Once past security and some of their work in progress I was confronted with It was barely after 6am, too early for Chilis. Actually any time is too early for Chilis. I got out to the gate and couldn't see the plane I knew the plane was going to be small, but not quite that small. Wait a bit, a few minutes later the plane arrived. It was small but it was a Duck transport so what could I expect? After seeing the plane I had to wonder if our pilot was going to be Now it was on to PDX where a certain person would interfere with me arriving in Amsterdam in a timely manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 16, 2012 Author #2 Share Posted August 16, 2012 So I'm sitting in Portland in the Delta lounge waiting for my flight to leave when I decide to venture out and sample some local concoctions. Rogue River would fit the bill. Their beer would, the food not so much. Who offers up a Wagyu or American style Kobe burger and then limits it to medium well or more leather? The beer was good but I was disappointed seeing food wasted in a such a manner (should've asked if they'd only cook sashimi grade tuna to well done) After waiting around longer than I was expecting my plane finally arrives I wonder what caused this delay? It wasn't mechanical or weather related. Perhaps this had something to do with it? It seems this guy wanted to stop in Portland and play the "let's inconvenience everybody in the area game" So after a delay of Presidential proportions, we were off, next stop: Amsterdam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamin_June Posted August 16, 2012 #3 Share Posted August 16, 2012 great so far!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 16, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted August 16, 2012 After clearing passport control (I'd say customs at some point but it seems in Amsterdam they just don't care) I went to pick up my bag and was met with this nice LCD sign. I was hoping gelost wasn't Dutch for "Got Lost" While wheeling down a hallway I saw this interesting bit of advertising, I have no idea what it was trying to say but I wanted to find out Deciding not to lug my bags to a train and then pick a tram from Centraal I lazily hopped in the first air conditioned cab I could find (this whole trip aside from the final morning in St. Petersburg had excellent weather if not a bit warm. Supposedly the first time this cruise hasn't been mostly rained upon). I arrived at my hotel Moevenpick at about 0830 feeling dead tired (I can't sleep on planes, and after the Xanax horror story I hard on Pride I won't try that route). I was told I was far too early for check in but if I wouldn't mind upgrading to a Junior Suite I could not only check in right now, but I could check out late, have a complimentary refilled mini bar and access to a happy hour that doubled as a secluded area for my complimentary breakfast. Of course I took the upgrade. I think the amount of bottled water I consumed covered the cost, let alone happy hour and the breakfast buffet. If you don't mind hoofing/tramming to the center of town and your ship is leaving from the Passenger terminal I'd recommend staying here. Below is the horrid view I had from my suite I grabbed a tram and a 24hr pass and went into town. I expected the bicycles, but they were a bit ruder than I expected (or on par with the ones we home grow). I saw pedestrians in the pedestrian path get almost taken out by a swerving cyclist only to have the cyclist jump down the pedestrians throat. I wasn't quite sure what to expect for some of the architecture, but it looked nice The sunset views from my suite weren't too bad either Next: More Amsterdam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seabournaddict Posted August 16, 2012 #5 Share Posted August 16, 2012 This would be a great way to do a blog while on board, but of course uploading photos with the ships internet is far too expensive. Enjoying all the photos. I could see where "we" boarded our River Cruise, from your window! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCCruiselover Posted August 17, 2012 #6 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Hi Baychilla! thanks for the updates and great pictures, especially the Amsterdam pics (where I'm from). Since I'm Dutch I can translate the sign at Schiphol airport: "gelost" = the luggage has been off-loaded from the plane. The poster with the bride is an advertisement for traveler's rights when planes get cancelled or are delayed. I'm very jealous you are in my home town. Amsterdam is spectacular when the weather is great. The harbor is very interesting and the Sail-Away party should be extra special! Have a super trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billichka Posted August 17, 2012 #7 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Your text blog was awesome - the pics are the icing on the cake! Does the hotel Moevenpick have anything to do with the Movenpick ice cream chain??? If so I will be staying there as it I love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #8 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Dinner at Silk Road in the hotel was interesting, it started off with an amusee bouche that was I think Shrimp Loius on a lettuce leaf with either tiny shrimp or an enormous bit of asparagus spear While waiting for my appetizer to arrive I had a Jenniver martini and took in the view My appetizer was supposed to be a tataki, but was closer to carpaccio than anything on the cruise My entree was very disappointing. I'm not sure it'd ever been warm. It was supposed to be veal slices in a mushroom cream sauce over a rosti My desert was excellent. So much so that I should have asked for more, or some to go. It was Moevenpick Swiss Chocolate Ice Cream (I think owned by Nestle) that I had made into a milk shake. Yum. While I do not believe the hotel and ice cream maker are related, the hotels restaurant does offer the Moevenpick ice cream. Next: Even more Amsterdam, maybe more food too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #9 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I tried my first hotel breakfast today and while I was totally underwhelmed with the size of the juice glasses (I ended up using my water glass - hey I like fresh squeezed OJ) the pre-made scrambled eggs were actually pretty good (guessing lots of cream). Something I couldn't figure out however was one of their storage procedures. They kept their Tabasco on ice, something I've never seen before. After a nice quiet breakfast (I got to use the exec lounge rather than that general dining/mass group tour area) NB: When staying in this hotel there seems to have been a large number of tour groups that use it as a breakfast stop ergo that Jr. Suite with its lounge access allowed me to escape the noise and crowding most days - save the one where the screaming child of the apocalypse was let loose). I ended up taking a tram into Centraal and then hopping a canal cruise this day, trying to avoid the heat that seems to have arrived with my flight. The craft looked similar to this: While cruising I saw some interesting architecture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #10 Share Posted August 17, 2012 And an interesting bit of reproduction Does anyone know what the letters on the flag represent? To me the canals felt overcrowded, there were many wait times in excess of 10 minutes, I'm not sure if this is normal, but under the sun with no A/C it's not pleasant. I think this was one of the rarest sites in Amsterdam, an nearly empty bridge! Traveling a bit further in I was able to see the underside of a bridge. I was rather surprised that there appears to be a multi colored message, but have no idea what it says (NB: the outside seats on the canal boats, which imo starboard side has the best view lack audio). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted August 17, 2012 A more typical bridge had some people While your atypical bridge had a lot of people I have never before heard of Av Wees cola, what's it like? This looked like a nice way to spend the day After my canal cruise and wandering around some other colorful places I returned to the hotel for happy hour, some relaxation and air conditioning. The food was rather well bad And the wines seemed to follow suit Next: An Indonesian dinner and possibly a few wandering bovines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I figured that while I'd have a lot of European dining options once on board I wasn't counting on anything close to good for other ethnic options. I took the advice of the concierge and went to an Indonesian restaurant named Long Pura. Now I have no idea if this was the ne plus ultra, good or something only frequented by tourists. I do know that I enjoyed all my dishes, probably over enjoyed the sambal and felt the service was nice but a tad slow on refills. The appetizers consisted of three satays: shrimp, chicken and lamb, although I think aliens stole my lamb as I don't seem to have a picture of it On second thought, that chicken satay is half eaten I think we can skip that. I'd ordered what was referred to as their "Rice table" menu which was a large chunk of yellow rice in a banana leaf and a large number of small tasting dishes. It along with the sides looked something like this: After dinner I was given a nice gift box What foul sorcery is this? This is no gift box! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #13 Share Posted August 17, 2012 For you Pixar fans out there, I found nemo: Walking about 20-50' from my hotel I ran across this odd place Once inside I was greeted by It appeared that they had some very comfortable seating As well as some very colorful seating Sadly, there was no one to play chess against Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #14 Share Posted August 17, 2012 (edited) I feared for my baggage. Look at the dent in that steel case Look who has a sign up today Then I saw this little thing getting some TLC Want to see what I left out picture wise? Click Here for more of AmsterdamNext up: Embarkation, chair hogs, what luxury isn't Edited August 17, 2012 by baychilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulaJK Posted August 17, 2012 #15 Share Posted August 17, 2012 loving your review...and eagerly awaiting the next 'episode' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Avery Posted August 17, 2012 #16 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Great review. If I remember correctly, the lettering on the flag is the logo of the Dutch East India Co. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxburgh Posted August 17, 2012 #17 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Enjoying your pics. I was in Amsterdam last December. While it is probably not the best time to visit, it felt dirty and seedy compared to previous visits (and I have been multiple times). Interested in your impressions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 17, 2012 Author #18 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I'll probably get flamed for this but imo London in a lot of places was cleaner (Marseilles was about as dirty). It seemed to me that everywhere had that "dirty downtown" feeling. Smelling before seeing the rastas didn't help. I realized that the Red light district should be dirty/seedy, I didn't realize that most of the rest of the city would follow suit. Before slaving away on another batch of pictures lets talk about something. Please do not be the ugly American tourist. While in Long Pura I was seated across from a 4 top of Americans. They all had Verizon phones. Care to guess how I knew that? Each one seemed to be power cycling the phone as they couldn't for the life of them figure out how to dial internationally (Id wager the one that finally got through was the one that purchased international calling). For starters - take your phone and its issues outside. Secondly, learn how to operate your equipment BEFORE you go. Thanks. - the American about a hairs breadth away from yelling at other Americans that THEY were the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6andy6 Posted August 18, 2012 #19 Share Posted August 18, 2012 While I do not believe the hotel and ice cream maker are related, the hotels restaurant does offer the Moevenpick ice cream. Next: Even more Amsterdam, maybe more food too. Actually they are (or were) related at one time. Common founder...Ueli Prager. At sometime tho they separated (with Nestlé buying the ice cream company). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 18, 2012 Author #20 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Embarkation was in my opinion one of the three times that the experience didn't seem to be all that luxurious. Just getting onto the ship I had a staff member trying to line jump me for luggage drop off and then tried to cut me off to the escalators. That was a great first impression. Just prior to boarding we had to fill out the health questionnaire. Well half of it anyway. They didn't seem too interested in what people wrote. Perhaps next time Ill write down "Bubonic Plague" and see if they notice. Once on board we were all herded into the Magellan lounge. It did not feel that the A/C was up to snuff. Looking around, I saw the sad dried out looking finger foods, a short line to register and pick a payment type and a whole expanse of wasted space. I've read about chair hogs on the Carnival boards, but aside from some Germans on a Crystal cruise I've never experienced them on a luxury line. People had pushed the chairs against the benches eliminating a large amount of bench space. What bench space did remain seemed to be covered in carry ons, hats, jackets, and purses. One pair of women who would exhibit more selfish behavior as time went on seemed to have covered about a dozen seats with random bits of clothing, carry ons, jackets and I think I even saw a kitchen sink. Staff didn't seem to be making any effort to get people to re-pack and make space. I hopped in the "short" line to register, hand over the signed contract and register payment. I was flabbergasted at how many people had lost their passport in the 2 minutes between security and the lounge. Hint: keep your passport/credit card/signed contract hand upon boarding you'll need them sooner rather than later. After waiting far too long for the disorganized/clueless I came to the conclusion they needed two lines: 1. if you have your contract/passport/payment type and 2. all others. Finally I was done, now all I had to do was hurry up and wait some more. Off to find a seat, this should be fun. I found an empty seat near some other people and waited. I don't think they were happy with my presence on the periphery of their group but they somehow survived. Eventually they announced that cabins were available and people were being escorted out. It took only 10 minutes until I had an escort and was on my way to my cabin. About 20 steps later and I was there. The design of the hallway was interesting. You have the main hallway but then each pair of suites resides at the top ends of the Y of a mini hallway. There I was left with my welcome bottle of Nick F "champagne" (note to: SilverSea, Seabourn and Regent - please dump this garbage.) and my super fuzzy TV looping the safety info (including the bit about miss the drill = dropped from the cruise). Eventually my stewardess (or is that cabin attendant?) arrived with a glass of that nasty nick f and some salmon canapes (shore side fail #1 - specifically requested something else, or nothing at all, just please don't waste the salmon on me). My stewardess was named Erika and was from Portugal. She said it was her first time on Seabourn too (she would later contradict that statement claiming it was her second and she could now apply for reception which I guess needed two successful contracts prior to applying?). More waiting. At this point I would suggest that future cruisers wait as long as possible to board. At least on the little sisters. The next mandatory activity was the muster drill. I may have gotten there just in time to get the last beer from Nelson before the Skybar had to close. An ice cold beer prior to having to spend about 20 minutes mobbed together in that heat was nice. For the most part the muster drill went smoothly, there was only one cabin that didn't immediately show so we didn't have to play a long waiting game. However most people might as well not have been there. The number of people just chatting, or more so texting/talking on cells was more than a bit excessive. It's a pity they weren't then counted as having not attended the drill and then disembarked. After that it was time for sail away. Seabreeze performed a few songs for sail away Who knew they were SF Giants fans with their Red/black lettering Passengers enjoying sail away Interesting fashion combinations that I've not seen in nature before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 18, 2012 Author #21 Share Posted August 18, 2012 After sail away it was time for dinner. The aft spiral staircase was nearest my suite so I took that down to the restaurant. I guess if you had to wait and were bored you could play with the globe Bread, breadsticks and that compound butter. I felt the compound butter went better with the breadsticks. The shrimp ceviche was a bit disappointing. It was supposed to have cilantro and lime as well as not having a broken American cocktail sauce Next up was a duo of sirloin and short rib, this was delicious, especially the waffle chip Dessert was so impressive I didn't even write down what I had Another attempt at warding off colds and evil spirits, though not nearly as good as you'd get at the Buena Vista Next up: Ships tour followed by R2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 18, 2012 Author #22 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Actually they are (or were) related at one time. Common founder...Ueli Prager. At sometime tho they separated (with Nestlé buying the ice cream company). Thanks, I thought they may have but wiki wasn't being overly helpful in that instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 18, 2012 Author #23 Share Posted August 18, 2012 The standard welcome bottle of nasty stuff My room for the next 16 or so nights My mini bar minus fruit plates (I asked to not have them) and the Stoli Elit which would be sourced in Estonia The TV and annoy-o-phone. As you can see by the curtain watching TV in bed isn't really going to happen The worlds worst safe. Whats wrong with digital? Key in code once to set it, then only when unlocking it. This archaic pile of junk uses number rollers to set the combo and requires the combo to unlock AND lock the thing. Also I think there was a skosh more closet space on the Regent Voyager While the stewardess is supposed to keep the clock accurate for time zone changes, somehow the minutes on mine had a tendency for major shifts. My cell phone (when adjusted correctly) was my most reliable time keeper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tillylovesseabourn Posted August 18, 2012 #24 Share Posted August 18, 2012 The standard welcome bottle of nasty stuff I didn't find it to be anywhere near as nasty as Silverseas new champagne offering last fall!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Avery Posted August 18, 2012 #25 Share Posted August 18, 2012 The standard welcome bottle of nasty stuff I didn't find it to be anywhere near as nasty as Silverseas new champagne offering last fall!! Or, God forbid, the Pol Acker on Cunard.:eek::D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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