Kinda "Live From" - CSI: NA (Nieuw Amsterdam, 11/16-11/23/2014

[POA1]

Why did you upack.:D:D

 

Welcome home!

 

Thanks. We needed to do some laundry and take some things to the dry cleaners. Huskerchick is allergic to packed suitcases when we get home. Ironically, she'll be allergic to unpacked ones come Thursday.

 

Also, and I quote DW: "You can't expect a girl to wear the same thing on two cruises in a row." ;)

Edited November 24, 2014 by POA1

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks. We needed to do some laundry and take some things to the dry cleaners. Huskerchick is allergic to packed suitcases when we get home. Ironically, she'll be allergic to unpacked ones come Thursday.

 

Also, and I quote DW: "You can't expect a girl to wear the same thing on two cruises in a row." ;)

 

Tell your DW, when your out for a month or more you get over not wearing the same thing twice, either that or your packing your entire closet for the cruise.:D:eek::D

[PathfinderEss]

Noordam just came by you.

[dot73]

I'm confused. I am watching the Noordam backing into her spot on the webcam; but what is she doing in port at this time?

[PathfinderEss]

I'm confused. I am watching the Noordam backing into her spot on the webcam; but what is she doing in port at this time?

 

Nobody seems to know why she came in early. I don't see any emergency equipment around the dock. Someone said they thought because of the rough seas yesterday, that she miss a port and maybe decied not to do circles out in the ocean all night.

 

[dot73]

Interesting but I'm sure someone will post either later today and explain. Thanks and have a good night.

[POA1]

Tell your DW, when your out for a month or more you get over not wearing the same thing twice, either that or your packing your entire closet for the cruise.:D:eek::D

 

That's the beauty of living so close to the port. No baggage fees. No weight limits. Other than the amount of closet space in the cabin, there's very little in the way of limitations. :rolleyes: :eek:

Edited November 24, 2014 by POA1

[PathfinderEss]

That's the beauty of living so close to the port. No baggage fees. No weight limits. Other than the amount of closet space in the cabin, there's very little in the way of limitations. :rolleyes: :eek:

 

Guess the next thing then is the Penthouse so that she has enough space for all those cloths.:D:eek::D..... start saving your money.;)

Edited November 24, 2014 by PathfinderEss

[POA1]

 

The ms Nieuw Amsterdam and the MSC Divina in Cozumel

It's time to crank out our little review summary of our week on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Otherwise, we'll be packing for our next cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam, and that will be pretty embarrassing. I'll be breaking this post into a few

 

Embarkation:

 

We arrived at Terminal 26 at Port Everglades just after the doors opened. We checked our large suitcases with the porters, and got in line just outside the entrance to the terminal building. After showing our IDs and boarding passes, we were permitted entry. Once inside, we placed our carry ons into the scanner. We were carrying two Wine Totes of Awesomeness with 6 bottles of wine each, so we were directed to go to the wine check in desk, which was manned by Noel from Explorer's Lounge. (Notice how I can't remember the new Cruise Director's name, but I have no problem remembering the guy who checked in our wine? Coincidence? I think not.) We paid corkage on our 12 bottles of wine and received a dozen of those super-valuable, $18 a pop, green, circular stickers.

 

From there we got in the line for the even numbered cabins. This was our first cruise ever without suite priority check-in. Fortunately for us, the even-numbered cabins line was shorter than either the suite guest or the oddball cabin line. The woman checking us in couldn't get the web camera to work so that she should take our ID photos. (Feel free to insert your own joke about us breaking the camera.) She tried unplugging the camera and plugging it back in. No luck. She tried the camera from the next workstation. Still nothing. She called for tech support. The computer tech who came over started to make fun of her for not having the camera plugged in. He plugged the webcam back in, and... It didn't work. (Special tip for anyone providing computer technical support: Do not make the rookie mistake of making fun of someone until you have successfully solved the problem. People might start making fun of you. :eek: ) The technician eventually stopped and restarted the software, and it began working. Our lovely mugs having been captured, we proceeded to the waiting area. We were given boarding card number 3, so we sat and waited.

 

A few minutes after we arrived, we spotted Cruz Chic, who was heading up to the magical Suite Check In area where there is Dom Perignon and Caviar.* We waited about a half hour until our number was called. We boarded the ship, and headed upstairs. The rooms weren't going to be ready around noon, so we grabbed a drink at the Lido Pool Bar and killed a few minutes until our room was ready. At noon, we dropped our carry on luggage and our wine off in our room and headed to the Mariner's Embarkation Lunch.

 

* I am making this up.

 

The Ship:

 

This was our first time on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We've been on all four of the Vista Class ships, so the layout of the Nieuw Amsterdam is pretty familiar. (The only thing that consistently messed us up was expecting the Crow's Nest to be on Deck 10.) We like the decor and design very much, and are fans of the color scheme and theming. The ship's New York theme is carried throughout the vessel and works very well. (We are not huge fans of the red, red Main Dining Room, but it's nice enough.)

 

The public spaces are open and comfortable, and at no time did the ship feel crowded. The ship is in excellent condition and is well-maintained. We didn't notice anything out of order during our trip, although some of the elevator indicators (outside the elevators) were under repair. There was some painting and normal maintenance taking place.

 

Our Fellow Passengers:

 

Cruisers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and South America were along for the ride. The average age was a bit younger than we experienced on our recent Holland America voyages, but you wouldn't mistake this sailing for a Disney ship. There were a few children and teens, but they comprised but a small portion of the passenger compliment. This was the week before Thanksgiving, so I expect that the number of kids and younger families will climb for the following week's cruise. This is good for Cruz Chic, because she said that while the ship was nice, it would really benefit from the pitter patter of hundreds of little feet, and the shrieks of raucous, joyous laughter that hundreds of young passengers bring with them.**

 

I mentioned this earlier, but this was the most well-dressed crowd I've seen on any cruise in over a decade. On the two formal nights, about 20% to 25% of the men wore tuxedos. A large percentage of the gentlemen wore suits, and a fairly large number of men wore jackets and ties. Most women wore dresses, but there were a fair number of gowns as well. The world famous sparkly tops were also in attendance.

 

On "smart casual" nights, men in suits without ties, or men in sport coats made up a sizable part of the population. The women were equally dressy. Our late port night in Cozumel was billed as "tropical casual." I have no idea what that means, but we're pretty sure it involves hats made of fruit.

 

The crowd was well-behaved, and people seemed to be having a good time. We met quite a few people who were trying HAL for the first time, and most seemed to like it. We did meet some Royal Caribbean regulars who thought that the entertainment was a little tame for their tastes. They did like the food in the main dining room better, but said that they missed all the dining options on the larger RCCL ships. We came across a British couple who felt that everything about Celebrity was better. (We nicknamed the husband, "English Hank Litner." ;) ) We also met a few couples who were normally Princess cruisers. Most commented that they like Holland America's dining offerings better. So, for whatever it's worth, it looks like HAL's efforts to attract new customers is having results.

 

More to follow, including our room (Ooooh!) - dining (Aaaah!) - and Entertainment (Zoinks!)

 

** This is also a complete fabrication. I imagine her hunkered down in the solace and privacy of her cabana. :D

Edited November 25, 2014 by POA1

[Don't spammy]

May I ask, POA1, if you noted how many minutes of internet you used?

Appreciating your reports, your humor and enjoyable writing style. I think the Institute of Cheer may now be in good position for the Nobel Prize nomination in the sought-after category of Club Sandwichetology.

[POA1]

May I ask' date=' POA1, if you noted how many minutes of internet you used?

Appreciating your reports, your humor and enjoyable writing style. I think the Institute of Cheer may now be in good position for the Nobel Prize nomination in the sought-after category of Club Sandwichetology.[/quote']

I bought 250 for $100, and used all but 31 minutes. Had I been smart, I would have taken my computer to the Explorations Cafe all the time, instead of trying to use the service from my room. I found that I could get more done in less time from there.

 

Please note that I was able to use my cell phone as a hotspot in all the ports except Half Moon Cay. That meant that I wasn't using ship Internet minutes in Cozumel, Cayman, or Key West. The hotspot usage was generally faster than the ship because it was basically a dedicated connection without the satellite latency. My phone is a Nexus 5, running Android 5 (Lollipop) on T-Mobile.

[sail7seas]

POA,

What a wonderful thread. I've so enjoyed sailing along with you.

Thanks so much for the pleasure of your outstanding humor and fun posts.

Welcome Back....... for your brief stay until you are back aboard NA. :)

 

[POA1]

Moving right along with our summary report.... For your safety, please keep your hands and arms inside the review at all times.

Our Stateroom:

 

This was our first experience in anything other than a Neptune Suite or Pinnacle Suite, and we we anxious to see how the Signature Suite compared. While our SS stateroom was certainly smaller than our usual SA - and definitely smaller than the PS we had on the Zuiderdam and Oosterdam, we found the room to be a very workable size and configuration for the two of us. We never felt cramped in the least and it's our opinion that we could easily manage, even on an extended voyage.

 

By now, I'm sure most people are familiar with the layout of the basic midship SS on the Vista and Signature Class ships, so I won't go into too much additional detail. If you have any questions, please let me know. If we can answer then, we will. If not, we're in essentially the same room on our upcoming cruise and we will get the answer for you in roughly one week.

 

We took some photos of the room. In order to keep the load times to a minimum for you here, I posted them in a photo gallery over at The Institute of Cheer's Website. You can click on the smaller images on the gallery to see larger versions.

 

Room Stewards:

 

Our room stewards, Ari & Ari - billed as Ari Sr. and Ari Jr. on their business card - were outstanding. We're not a particularly demanding people, but anything we asked for was taken care of immediately. For example, I made a request for a wine cooler bucket of ice so that I could fill our Ice Bag Wine Chillers to cool our whites for dinner. I made the request when we first met that Aris, and they took care of it every day - and several times a day - from that point on.

 

We're pretty darn excited that Ari & Ari will be our room stewards on our upcoming 14 day cruise. They're absolutely great. (And I don't have to remember a new name, leaving extra free space in my brain for other random bits of information.)

 

Telephone Concierge:

 

We usually book the SA right outside the door of the Neptune Lounge. This means that access to the concierge is a simple matter of popping in to the lounge and making our requests. The Signature Suites come with a telephone concierge, accessed by pressing a special button on your in-room phone. To be honest, I think it works just as well - if not a little better for most standard requests. When you pop in to the Neptune, the concierge isn't always there. He or she might be out helping someone else, or be on break. So, you pop out, and then pop back in hoping to catch them them later. Sometimes the concierge is helping another guest, so you need to wait, or pop in a little while at a later time. Or, you leave a note. The phone concierge eliminates all this popping. The longest wait time we experienced was 30 seconds on hold, during which time we learned that (a) our call was important, and (b) someone would be with us shortly.

 

On the downside, you lose access to the cappuccino machine and the remote control operated snack pod. However, you do tend to snack less when you have to make a concerted effort to walk up three decks for said munchies. (This is decidedly a good thing when you are getting on another cruise in a week and you would like your clothes to still fit. :) )

 

An Extra Bit About The Room:

 

This was the first and only time we ever booked a guarantee (VH) and then took a paid upsell. We usually book a very specific cabin because we like to know exactly where we're going to be. The people here on CC provided a lot of helpful information, and we owe a special shout out to Cruz Chic who really helped us to understand how things were going to work, what type of communication to expect, when to expect it, and what to do. All things considered, we prefer to book a specific stateroom far in advance, but booking a guarantee and taking the upsell wasn't a bad experience.

 

===>>

<<==

[POA1]

Extra Room Bit I Forgot to Mention:

 

When we were on the Noordam, we noticed that using the shower stall often resulted in a little river, flowing gently across the bathroom floor. This problem has been addressed on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We're not sure if it's taller lip around the shower tray, or if it's a longer shower curtain, or both. But regardless, the tiny bathroom river floweth no more.

[Lizzie68]

Again, thank you. Not only for the humour but for the excellent way you laid out the information in this report.:) (Sorry about the extra "u" but you don't need a calculator to convert.:D)

[POA1]

Again, thank you. Not only for the humour but for the excellent way you laid out the information in this report.:) (Sorry about the extra "u" but you don't need a calculator to convert.:D)

 

You're welcome. Nice one with the u in humour.

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for your posts.

Very enjoyable reading.

Looking forward to your next cruise, almost as much as mine.:)

[SteakMama]

Hello POA1, this is fantastic, going to try to do something similar after my Nov. 30th cruise on Eurodam (won't be anywhere near as witty as yours)

Just wondering about the caviar, is there somewhere on the boat that serves this as a dish alone?

[POA1]

Hello POA1, this is fantastic, going to try to do something similar after my Nov. 30th cruise on Eurodam (won't be anywhere near as witty as yours)

Just wondering about the caviar, is there somewhere on the boat that serves this as a dish alone?

 

The Pinnacle Bar, during dinner service hours.

[POA1]

Open Seating:

 

In another of our spine tingling firsts, we tried Open Seating on this cruise. (Oooh!) We're typically a fixed, late seating people. We usually travel with a group of friends and / or relatives, and the fixed seating gives us a time around which we can schedule our oh-so-busy days.

 

After trying the whole open seating thing, we can honestly say that we probably won't do it again. Not that there is anything wrong with it; it's just not for us. We like to know that we're going to have the same table, the same servers and wine steward every night. It allows us to establish a relationship, and we think that works better for us. In addition, we have rigorously trained our tummies to expect certain regularly scheduled feedings. You know how some people say that they don't like being tied down to a specific mealtime? How they like to eat when they're hungry? Change table mates on a regular basis? We're not those people.

That's not to say that open seating isn't great for some people. It is. Just not for us. Tell us what time to report for dinner and how to dress, and we're good to go.

Our Servers:

Our waiter Chandra, and assistant waiter, Ketut, were great. Really great. We had them the first night, and we managed to sit in their section every night we were in the MDR. Our wine steward, Arman was outstanding as well. He was rotating to the upstairs dining room at the end of our cruise. We're hoping that he rotates on over to our table next week. Cruz Chic pronounced them to be among the best waiters, and Arman to be the best wine steward she's ever had. (As you know, she is not an easy grader. ;) )

 

The Food:

 

We thought that the selections were good and varied enough that we never had a hard time finding a few selections that tempted our palates. Our food was served hot each night, and we found everything to be pretty darn good. Bear in mind that we're grading this on the Cruise Ship MDR Scale, and we're not putting the dining room food up against a fine dining restaurant with a $200/pp prix fixe menu. The size of the proteins continues to shrink, and we did notice some cases where a less expensive cut of meat was used where a more expensive one might have been featured in the past. We have a number of friends in the restaurant business, and there's been quite a bit of inflation in food costs over the past few years. If a restaurant or cruise ship can't raise prices, something's got to give.... (If you pay attention to what you spend at the grocery store, you know that your home food costs have gone up, too.)

Some dishes were more successful than others, but we were happy overall. Other than an occasional trip to the Everyday Menu/Chef Rudi's Picky Eater Picks for a Caesar Salad, I don't we were stumped for something to order off the regular menu on any night. One of the things I always like about cruising is that there's never any real money on the line if you want to try something new. If you order something outside your comfort zone and you don't like it, you certainly won't starve. There are plenty of feasting opportunities on the ship.

The Wine:

We brought our own. It was good. 'Nuff said.

Tamarind:

We dined at Tamarind twice: on the first day of the trip, and on the last. The service was excellent. (Naturally, I don't remember the servers' names. I blame open seating and having to remember all the different meal times.) I know that Tamarind is a crowd favorite. We found it to be very good, and certainly worth a visit if it's on our ship. I doubt we would make more than one trip there per week, though. That's not a criticism of the venue. It's just a matter of personal preference.

Le Cirque at The Pinnacle Grille:

I know a lot of people feel that this meal isn't worth the $49/pp supplement. We disagree, and think that it's the best dining opportunity on the ship. Again, that's just our impression. We might change our tune if we experience De Libije on the Eurodam, but for now, Le Cirque is our favorite.

 

 

Dive In:

 

We had a chance to try both the burgers and the hot dogs at the Dive In. In our opinion, both are a step up from their predecessors. I kinda think that a two patty Dive-In Burger would be good if you were craving a Double-Double from In-N-Out Burger. I'll test that theory next week.

Lido:

We had very limited experience with the Lido. A lunch or two, and one breakfast (when someone who shall remain nameless, but whose Cruise Critic ID ends in a number) forgot to hang the room service breakfast card one night.

Room Service Breakfast:

 

It was good, on time, and hot each day - except for the hang tag incident day.

Room Service Club Sandwich:

 

Magical. Life-changing. (Just remember to remove the middle slide of bread. It soaks up too much of the mojo. And it's unnecessary carbs.)

Slice:

 

One night when we had an early dinner, we were a little hungry after cutting the rug at the B.B. King band show. We each had two slices of pizza. I can't make a completely objective assessment, but if you are in the mood for some food after a night of drinking and dancing, the pizza hits the spot. (Just remember to only take a slice or two, and return to your room to eat it. It's the responsible thing to do!)

I think that about covers dining. Al that's left is Entertainment and Disembarkation. After that, it should be time to get back on for a few more laps.

[freestyling]

Thank-you for the amazing "ride-along".

I look forward to walking aboard this ship in a few weeks.

[hpf]

Thank you POA, now I am sleeping much better after your excellent reporting.

I'll be looking forward to your coming adventures on the NA.

 

Helen

[POA1]

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We did, and we're very thankful that after a week on a cruise ship, followed by Thanksgiving, our our clothes still fit for our next trip. No guarantees for the second week of our B2B, so if you're on the ship and you suddenly see muu-muus, and formal satin track suits, you'll know something gave way.

 

Considering the fact that we're packing for the next trip, I guess it's time to wrap this puppy up. Here are our final thoughts on our first week on the Nieuw Amsterdam, the "Front" part of our Front-to-Back-to-Back. Just a heads up: This will tend to be a bit more of a straight-up review. It's a little thin on the joke content.

 

Bars & Lounges:

Our usual routine is to stop by the Ocean Bar for a drink after we board, and then head up to the Crow's Nest for sail away. The Ocean Bar is our usual pre-dinner cocktail spot, and the Crow's Nest or the Nortern Lights serve as more of a late night haunt. However, when we changed up our normal late, fixed dinner seating, we needed to make modifications to our schedule.

Ocean Bar:

 

We really only had one or two drinks there the whole cruise. The venue is nice enough, and it's got a pretty big dance floor. However, we didn't spend enough time in the Ocean Bar to give it a grade. Meleana and the HAL Cats played in the Ocean Bar most nights, and it looked like they drew a pretty big crowd.

Lido Pool Bar:

 

We grabbed the occasional lunchtime drink here while we scarfed down a Dive-In Burger or Dog and French Fries. We usually had a Bacardi and Coke Zero, because nothing says "watching your carbohydrates and calories" like a diet soda (with Rum!) a frank or burger, and an order of fries.

Steel Drummer Al or Meleana and the Hal Cats were the usual entertainment here. Both were enjoyable.

Piano Bar:

 

The piano player was Jeremy. Despite our best efforts, it took us forever to get the schedule right and be able to catch a full show. In our opinion, he's a very good pianist. He had a loyal following and the guests who frequent the piano bar seemed to like him. We noticed a lot of the same faces whenever we popped in, and that's a good sign.

Queen's Lounge:

 

The Queen's Lounge is the main home to the B.B. King All Stars Band. This was our favorite entertainment venue on the ship. We spent a pretty good part of most nights here. DW's father is joining us on the B2B, and we know that this band isn't going to be exactly his speed, so we "front-loaded" our B.B. King visits this trip. The entire band is extremely talented. I was remiss in not getting the names of all of the band members this trip, so I will try to correct for that oversight next time, but the two vocalists, Jason Waters and April Rucker are excellent. The guitarist, Josh Sultan, is outstanding. He was in line with us when we were leaving the ship, so I hope he was just getting off for the afternoon, and not actually leaving.

 

The band did a rendition of Isley Brother's "Shout" that put the Otis Day & The Knights version from "Animal House" to shame. (Trust me. I was a fraternity member and was in college in the early 1980s. I heard this song thousands of times. Other than the fact that no one shouted "Gator!" and writhed around on a beer-soaked dance floor, the band's cover of the song could not be beat. Note to the band: Play this one on "tropical casual" dress code night. No one really knows what that means, and will probably be dressed in clothes befitting a good, beer-soaked floor-writhing.)

Crow's Nest:

 

The Crow's Nest featured solo guitarist Donald Waugh. We'd rate him pretty darn on on the Holland America Solo Guitarists scale. He's a very personable entertainer and we enjoyed his sets. The Crow's Nest has one of the more entertaining bar staffs we've ever come across at sea. (Not that we spend much time in bars. ;) ) Definitely worth a visit.

Silk Den:

 

We had pre-dinner cocktails at the Silk Den bar up by the Tamarind restaurant on the last evening of the cruise. If you are looking for a nice, quite place with good atmosphere and very good service, we highly recommend trying Silk Den.

Missing from the little write up are the Aft Pool/Seaview Bar, Casino Bar, Pinnacle Bar, and Northern Lights Disco. We didn't have time to get to those, so we'll hit them on our upcoming trip.

Disembarkation:

 

There's been a fair amount of talk about disembarkation problems at Port Everglades since the fall season has started. To be honest though, we didn't see a whole lot of difference from previous years. It could be that our attitude is a little different since we aren't facing another set of lines at the airport after we leave the terminal, but we didn't think the lines were too bad. From the time our numbers were called until the time we got in the cab, only about 35 minutes had elapsed. That's stateroom on Deck 6 to the curb in just over a half hour. The wait in the line to get checked through customs was about 17 minutes.

I think that's about all for now. As the designated ironing guy in the household, I have some pressing issues to attend to. (Groan.) See you again in a few days!

[dot73]

Thank you so much for your great posts. I am on the January 4 btb and you have really got me looking forward to once again enjoying the beautiful NA. Please keep posting.:)

[AlexandNessa]

Learn the steal drums already, for crying out loud. Life is short. Live the dream!