NA short review November 16 - November 30/14

[cruz chic]

Short review of the NA nov 16, 2014

 

This is going to be short and sweet. I wasn't planning on doing a review but it's going to be a while before I can get into the room at the hotel.

 

I took a cruise on the NA in February 2012 and again in November 2012. The first one was magical. The second one not so much. I'm really bound by deadlines at work so I must cruise between mid and end of the month.

 

I was able to secure a neptune suite for this cruise for a fairly reasonable rate. This is getting to be a bad habit for me. With the exception of having no ice in my room on embarkation my stewards were awesome. They were very quick to clean my room when I left and it was almost always done when I got back.

 

I rented a cabana in on the 11 th floor before I took the upsell. The stewards were amazing last time. They were not great this time. Simple requests were almost always ignored, not only by me but by other pax. They were also doing some construction in the area and some folks didn't have access to their cabana for part of the day. Luckily that didn't happen to me.

 

I had several meals in the tamarind. The food is always delish. A couple of ladies from there recognized me from the Eurodam and were very happy to see me. Likewise for me.

 

Breakfast in the pinnacle was excellent. Many folks likely remember me stating how bad it was on the Westy. It couldn't have been better on the NA. All the servers were very good.

 

While hal struggles on the MDR, I thought they did very well on this cruise. I still have only had about 3 hot meals but I accept that as part of cruising. For the first time in 300 plus days I ate dinner in my suite. I was not in great health this cruise. I ended up with a cold and I still have fluid on my ears. For the first time on a ship I visited the doctor. I enjoyed eating on the balcony while thinking about the -20 temperatures at home.

 

The concierges were great on this cruise as well.

 

When leaving the ship there was a line of about 10 employees. A couple I knew were there and said goodbye to me by name. That was a great touch.

 

Disembark was acceptable, about 40 minutes from cabin to Taxi. All in all a great cruise.

Edited November 30, 2014 by cruz chic

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for writing your review.

We have gotten to liking the Nieuw Amsterdam. A couple of the Pinnacle staff we had on the Nieuw Asmterdam last spring were working in the Pinnacle on our recent Noordam cruise. And other Pinnacle member we had a couple of years ago on the Amsterdam, then the Maasdam and now the Noordam. Rare when that happens to us.

We also love the Tamarind.

Sorry that you got sick. I brought Bronchitis home from our cruises.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[1of4]

Thanks for the review. I haven't been on this class of ship yet so appreciate your views. Hope you are not too delayed getting into your room. Nothing worse when you are not feeling well.

[cruz chic]

I think it's going to be a while before I get into my room. It's a zoo at the embassy suites. I'll likely go shop. Luckily my health issues haven't affected my shopping or eating. I'd be happy if it did :D.

[kazu]

Thank you for the review cruz chic. sounds like things went well overall which is great to hear.

 

Sorry you got sick. I am glad that you are not heading home right away as it will give them time to clean up the winter mess for you.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a nice time. That's a great touch on disembarkation.

[cruz chic]

Grrrrrrrr. I still can't get into my room. She suggested maybe I'd like to go to the beach:rolleyes:. Not really dressed for it. Not a fan of the embassy suites.

[kazu]

Grrrrrrrr. I still can't get into my room. She suggested maybe I'd like to go to the beach:rolleyes:. Not really dressed for it. Not a fan of the embassy suites.

 

Check in is 3:00 pm if I remember correctly - so anything earlier is a bonus. I hope you do get in earlier. How about the pool area? Is it warm enough there to relax with a drink?

 

(guessing you have already hit Ross').

[Wakepatrol]

Thanks for the review. I'm sorry you got sick on your cruise. I hope you're feeling better.

[cruz chic]

I finally got in my room. Check in is at 4 pm. I think once in my 53 years I've had a wait for the official check in time. Guess I've been very lucky. Since I'm medicated for my ear problem drinks are not an option. Also wearing long pants are running shoes doesn't make good pool attire.

[cruz chic]

Thanks for the review. I'm sorry you got sick on your cruise. I hope you're feeling better.

 

I seem to be sick constantly lately. It's tiresome but didn't cause many issues with the overall enjoyment of the cruise.

[kazu]

I finally got in my room. Check in is at 4 pm. I think once in my 53 years I've had a wait for the official check in time. Guess I've been very lucky. Since I'm medicated for my ear problem drinks are not an option. Also wearing long pants are running shoes doesn't make good pool attire.

 

You have done well indeed :D Glad you are in the room. Hopefully your ear problem clears up quickly.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, glad you had a good cruise inspite of your cold.

[SilvertoGold]

I finally got in my room. Check in is at 4 pm. I think once in my 53 years I've had a wait for the official check in time. Guess I've been very lucky. Since I'm medicated for my ear problem drinks are not an option. Also wearing long pants are running shoes doesn't make good pool attire.

 

 

Are you SURE you want to go home? Have you seen the temperature??

Good luck with that!

 

Thanks for the review - appreciated!! A fun read.

[cruz chic]

Are you SURE you want to go home? Have you seen the temperature??

Good luck with that!

 

Thanks for the review - appreciated!! A fun read.

 

No, I don't want to but my employer insists. As a matter of fact I don't get in until after midnight and I have no choice but to go to work on Tuesday. My job changed since I booked this trip and now I have extra deadlines. The weather is not sweetening the pot:D;):rolleyes:.

[cruiseatick]

Thanks for your review .Glad you had a better cruise than the last time on westy ,it seems our cruise schedule are similar as you were getting off westy in May as we were getting on,this time we are two weeks apart as we are on the dec 14 sailing.Like yourself we had a horrible sailing on westy in May and I won't be sailing her again,like you I have been looking at other cruise lines and will be sailing on vision of the seas on dec 6 then driving to fll on dec 13 to board NA . We also have a Neptune suite and an aft wrap ,we also booked a cabana retreat a couple of questions 1 what nights would you recommend avoiding the mdr as we plan on on going to tamarind and pinnacle two night or would you recommend just eating at tamarind .2 what retreat cabana did you get and did they assign it when you got on the ship.are side facing cabanas better than aft facing cabanas 3 any ports you would avoid and stay on the ship?(western )4 we were thinking about having dinner from mdr in our suite do they bring all the food at once was it cold ? How do they compact a two hour dining experience into a room service delivery .did you use priority tendering at any ports ,how does this work?any other tips would be appreciated hope you have a safe trip home ..by the way holland offered all the people on our westy cruise 150 obc on the next cruise ,no takers yet but I am curios if they will apply that to this cruise as we already got an obc for this cruis I have Feeling for some reason we won't get it

[freestyling]

Thanks for the review and hope your ear isuue clears up. Hope chewing gum or drinking water will help on the plane if in fact that might be an issue. Glad to hear the service on the NA was good.

[Lizzie68]

Thanks for the review, Cruz Chic. Sorry to hear you are still not feeling well, and hope the ears are OK for flying. But don't hurry, the cold will be a shock to your system.:eek:

[cruz chic]

Thanks for your review .Glad you had a better cruise than the last time on westy ,it seems our cruise schedule are similar as you were getting off westy in May as we were getting on,this time we are two weeks apart as we are on the dec 14 sailing.Like yourself we had a horrible sailing on westy in May and I won't be sailing her again,like you I have been looking at other cruise lines and will be sailing on vision of the seas on dec 6 then driving to fll on dec 13 to board NA . We also have a Neptune suite and an aft wrap ,we also booked a cabana retreat a couple of questions 1 what nights would you recommend avoiding the mdr as we plan on on going to tamarind and pinnacle two night or would you recommend just eating at tamarind .2 what retreat cabana did you get and did they assign it when you got on the ship.are side facing cabanas better than aft facing cabanas 3 any ports you would avoid and stay on the ship?(western )4 we were thinking about having dinner from mdr in our suite do they bring all the food at once was it cold ? How do they compact a two hour dining experience into a room service delivery .did you use priority tendering at any ports ,how does this work?any other tips would be appreciated hope you have a safe trip home ..by the way holland offered all the people on our westy cruise 150 obc on the next cruise ,no takers yet but I am curios if they will apply that to this cruise as we already got an obc for this cruis I have Feeling for some reason we won't get it

 

I would avoid the MDR on the last night. I don't like the international menu. It's not that I don't like trying different things. The food is just not good.

 

You will find out you cabana when you get on the ship. I've had both the side facing and aft facing cabanas. I think the both have good and bad points.

 

I do not like grand Cayman because it's always so busy. The tendering was terrible too because there was a bad swell. They had extreme problems getting people back on board.

 

Dinner in the room, they do bring everything at once. As far as I know they only do course by course in the ph.

 

As far as the priority tendering go, you find out where the tender leaves from and join the back of the line. One place they should have it is a HMC. They say they don't use tickets there because the tenders are large but it's a mess every time.

 

I prefer tamarind to the pinnacle but both are good. If you find POA's thread of the week he was on with me he scanned in all the menus. That might help you decide what you would like to skip.

Edited December 1, 2014 by cruz chic

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Mtn2Sea]

Thanks for the review. Hope you're feeling better for your flight home.

[cruz chic]

My ear is a little better today but not great. I'm hoping it will be ok and not cause big problems when I fly.

[kazu]

My ear is a little better today but not great. I'm hoping it will be ok and not cause big problems when I fly.

 

back when I had ear problems, a flight attendant told me to ask them to save some hot water when they came around. Then, if the ear bothers you, ask for a hot, wet towel and a cup. Put the hot towel in the cup and cup it over your ear. It helped me. might help you. Safe travels.

[cruz chic]

back when I had ear problems, a flight attendant told me to ask them to save some hot water when they came around. Then, if the ear bothers you, ask for a hot, wet towel and a cup. Put the hot towel in the cup and cup it over your ear. It helped me. might help you. Safe travels.

 

Thx for the help. I'll try that. I'm in business class so it will be much easier to do something like that. The doctor told me to use the nose spray just before they land. Hopefully both will help.

Edited December 1, 2014 by cruz chic