LAFFNVEGAS "LIVE" from the Nieuw Amsterdam, First HAL Ship to Sail!!

[kazu]

Thanks for the When and Where, Lisa.

 

Glad to hear you and Tom slept well and hope you have a great breakfast 🤞 

[12cruise2]

Thank you so much for sharing all this information.  Hope you enjoyed your breakfast.

 

Actually, my husband has a "lunch" question--ha--he wonders if in the Lido, there are still the various food stations--like one for Italian, one for Asian, that idea.  He just loves the Asian so we are dreaming!

 

Thank you so much for any feedback; wish we were there!

 

 

[jhoice]

Thanks Lisa, We are looking forwards to all your posts, sent you a friend RQ on FB.

 

Did you book any lunches in Pinnacle grill?  I have heard you need to do it quickly upon boarding.?

[Sharon in AZ]

Thank you Lisa for your reports and pictures. Was your HAL bag a Club Orange bag?  I hope the dessert/coffee problems resolve. Great to hear you slept well. Also thank you for accepting me on your FB page. 
 

Have a great day at sea today!

[bluesplayer]

Hello Lisa,

   Thank you for all your time and efforts posting.  Very fun to hear about this first sail.   I sent you a FB friend request.  Laura D.  I posted pictures of your Seattle sail away  (bluesplayer)  separate thread.   Was a beautiful day !!!   Feel free to ask me ant SEA info.. Enjoy your adventure!!!  Thank you again!!

Edited July 25, 2021 by bluesplayer
addl info

[jimgev]

Thanks so much Lisa for letting a;; of us vicarious cruisers to share the excitment .

I have a question - actually just a point of interest. "What are the big wig VIPs doing?" Are they set up in the Pinicale Suite and keeping isolated or are they up and around with the ordinary passengers? Do they come around to the Lido and MDR for meals or are they taking room service. Those things tell me a lot about management styles and what we can expect from them.

Thanks again. Enjoy.

Jim

[Caribbean Chris]

Lisa, don't miss the Step One Dance Company performing "Humanity" at the Mainstage tonight, unless you saw them perform previously. We saw the show on Nieuw Statendam in April 2019 and loved it. We also attended an interview on a sea day with the dancers, who were so enthusiastic and grateful for the reception they received by HAL passengers. 

 

That tote bag looks like the one we had in a Neptune suite on the above Nieuw Statendam cruise, our last cruise with HAL before the pandemic shutdown. I wondered if it was the new Club Orange bag at the time.

 

Enjoy every moment - I'm certainly enjoying every word of your "Live From."

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by Caribbean Chris

[NRFBQN]

Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your experiences, all of the photos and tips.  We will be on the ship August 28 and can hardly wait!  Thanks, too, for adding me as a Facebook friend.  You are a wealth of knowledge and it's great anticipating our cruise by enjoying your reports.

[stickey_mouse]

Thanks, Lisa! Everything is wonderful- your posts and pictures whet our appetites for a return to sea travel. Do we know if anything was done to the N.A. during its emergency dry dock in Feb. 2020, other than Azipod replacement? I doubt it, but thought I would ask. 

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Thank you Lisa for your reports and pictures. Was your HAL bag a Club Orange bag?  I hope the dessert/coffee problems resolve. Great to hear you slept well. Also thank you for accepting me on your FB page. 
 

Have a great day at sea today!

 

FYI Sharon, this was the Club Orange bag, at least it was in 2019/2020. The one Lisa received appears similar or the same except for the writing (unless it says Club Orange on the reverse side)

[ksmaxey]

Loving the cruise so far.  Menus for food and beverage are not as big though for drinks they can make anything.  Waiters are now handling wine rather than wine stewards which really hampered the meal and wine service at the main dining room.  This may be a way to reduce numbers interacting.
 

Changes for health are great.  Even opening door last to the aft deck so you can keep your hands clean.  No packet of sugar or sweetners.  All in stainless dispensers.  You can’t fill a cup at the lido.

 

cabin stewards are only servicing cabins in the morning unless you ask for turn down service.  We did as my wife goes through ice and we plan a great gratuity on top of having.

 

many crew say how lucky they are as they are working and HAL got them the vaccine and they worry about friends waiting to work at home

 

 

[Overhead Fred]

5 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

As far as I remember on gala nights they took the dessert order at the same time as starters and mains.

 

You are correct sir!

[Calicokat]

On 7/22/2021 at 8:18 PM, Calicokat said:

Have a great cruise. We’ll be going on the last one to AK - our 3rd Alaska cruise- love this cruise. I will be anxious to hear about whether HAL is doing a thorough check to make sure everyone has been vaccinated. Looking forward to your report😃

@LAFFNVEGAS SAID: 
At least for us all the things stated with taking your pictures on the Navigator App and making sure you had copies of something’s was definitely not the case. The one thing is you will need to show passports and Vaccination Cards at least three times, it may have even been 4 times.

Thank you for answering my question about HAL’s attention to COVID protocol! This is great news 

[Pia1913]

1 hour ago, 12cruise2 said:

Thank you so much for sharing all this information.  Hope you enjoyed your breakfast.

 

Actually, my husband has a "lunch" question--ha--he wonders if in the Lido, there are still the various food stations--like one for Italian, one for Asian, that idea.  He just loves the Asian so we are dreaming!

 

Thank you so much for any feedback; wish we were there!

 

 

I can answer your lunch question. Yesterday at the Lido there was a pasta station as usual and it was the Asian sushi Station as usual everything up there looks the same. The only difference is that you are being served everywhere other than  at the little dessert thingy where you just take out your dessert on each of the individual plates.

 

breakfast this morning however was not really good. Obviously the dining room needs to get their act together.  You already heard about the dinner situation from last night and the morning obviously it’s not much better than that.  The order took forever and then when it came out part of it had to be sent back. Nobody poured water unless we hijacked someone to do it. No bread basket so you really need to order what you want immediately.   coffee service is practically nonexistent.  We were seated by 8:10, didn’t get out of there until 9:30. Breakfast should be the easiest meal to handle.   Lido tomorrow. 😉

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, Suslor said:

Thanks so much for letting us live vicariously through you 🤪. Just curious if there is a Chico’s shop onboard?  Enjoy your day. 

Yes there is actually a large area dedicated to Chico’s clothing, although with a quick glance I thought it was higher priced. Although have to admit it’s been a while since I have shopped at Chico’s.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

4 hours ago, Traveling Dot said:

Lisa,

Did they have the usual steak or chicken for those who didn't like the fancy stuff on the main menu?  My son is a picky eater and anything he doesn't recognize he won't order. 🤔

Unfortunately not like they use to. There was a NY Steak option that Tom had that was soaked in so much preservatives it hardly tasted like steak. A lady near us ordered it and sent it back 2 times. There was also a roasted chicken but it was also just part of the menu for the evening. I will post shortly tonight’s menu.

[zgscl]

It definitely sounds like the dining room needs some work both from a service and menu standpoint. Not onboard, but the silver gala menu in the navigator app leaves a lot to be desired. I’m not a fan of the everyone serves everyone concept. Having a dedicated waiter/assistant waiter is much better. And with the waitstaff taking over wine also it sounds like it is a lot. Hopefully after a few meals they get it all together. 
 

When and Where looks promising. Lots of events going on throughout the day. Would love it if someone can post the various restaurant hours if you get a chance. 

[Copper10-8]

12 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

..................................................

I have not yet found out the number of how many are onboard but the Dining Room for fixed felt like it was  at 70%. .........................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nieuw A is sailing at 65% pax capacity on your voyage, about 1,400 pax, give or take. About the pax load of a "R"-class vessel

 

 

 

 

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

Thank you so much for sharing all this information.  Hope you enjoyed your breakfast.

 

Actually, my husband has a "lunch" question--ha--he wonders if in the Lido, there are still the various food stations--like one for Italian, one for Asian, that idea.  He just loves the Asian so we are dreaming!

 

Thank you so much for any feedback; wish we were there!

 

 

From what we saw yesterday there were the various stations. We will check it out more later today.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, jhoice said:

Thanks Lisa, We are looking forwards to all your posts, sent you a friend RQ on FB.

 

Did you book any lunches in Pinnacle grill?  I have heard you need to do it quickly upon boarding.?

We did book lunch right after we got on board for Glacier Bay Day that has been a tradition for us for many years.

I would still recommend booking once you get on board.

[Suslor]

Thanks Rich, Roy and everyone who makes this happen. We did a partial trip through the Panama Canal in 2017 and are looking forward to the full transit on our 2/13/22 cruise. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Thank you Lisa for your reports and pictures. Was your HAL bag a Club Orange bag?  I hope the dessert/coffee problems resolve. Great to hear you slept well. Also thank you for accepting me on your FB page. 
 

Have a great day at sea today!

Yes the Bag was Club Orange, I probably should not have spent the extra money but thought I wanted to see what was truly offered in it with being non Suite. Our last several HAL cruises prior to the pause were Neptune, since we were returning in just weeks I did not want to spend the big bucks for this first sailing. Lol

[LAFFNVEGAS]

1 hour ago, jimgev said:

Thanks so much Lisa for letting a;; of us vicarious cruisers to share the excitment .

I have a question - actually just a point of interest. "What are the big wig VIPs doing?" Are they set up in the Pinicale Suite and keeping isolated or are they up and around with the ordinary passengers? Do they come around to the Lido and MDR for meals or are they taking room service. Those things tell me a lot about management styles and what we can expect from them.

Thanks again. Enjoy.

Jim

Jim to be truthful I don’t have this answer but betting other than Seth Wayne I don’t think the Big Wigs are on board. I will get full details on Monday evening since Seth is joining us for dinner in Tamarind.

[boze9999]

7 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

We did book lunch right after we got on board for Glacier Bay Day that has been a tradition for us for many years.

I would still recommend booking once you get on board.

GOOD to know the Pinnacle is still doing lunches! 

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

1 hour ago, stickey_mouse said:

Thanks, Lisa! Everything is wonderful- your posts and pictures whet our appetites for a return to sea travel. Do we know if anything was done to the N.A. during its emergency dry dock in Feb. 2020, other than Azipod replacement? I doubt it, but thought I would ask. 

Don’t know but will try to remember to ask.