Lackluster on NIEUW AMSTERDAM

[rkacruiser]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

 I was not even aware HAL did a 5 day cruise

 

A really good cruise on the Zuiderdam was a 4 day cruise after she had been used as a hotel ship for the Super Bowl game when it was played in Jacksonville.  It was a cruise to help the ship get back onto her regular itinerary.  Well priced with my expected HAL "Signature of Excellence" provided.  

 

3 minutes ago, eroller said:

  So perhaps HAL just didn't bring on the usual live entertainment for this short cruise?

 

A very reasonable conclusion, I think.  

[eroller]

2 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am the same kind of person.  Makes life easier and more pleasant.  Most of the time.  My opinion:  unless your waiter's "need" to get your dessert order at the beginning of your dining experience was a dining room management "policy", then, your waiter was being "lazy" and he/she was not wanting to make another trip back to the Galley to get your dessert when it was the appropriate time to do so.  

 

 

Do you disagree with my experience that the most consistent experience on HAL is the inconsistency of the cruise experience at this point of time?  

 

 

 

 

 

In this case it seemed to be policy, as every experience we had in the MDR (lunch and dinner) the different wait staff made a point of taking the desert order with everything else.  I'll say all the wait staff we had were quite good, and by no means lazy.  Because of that I feel this was just the policy of how things are now done, at least on this ship and this cruise.   It didn't bother me enough to complain or question it, but I did take notice and prefer it be done the proper way.  

 

I find all cruise lines to have inconsistencies, and I sail on most.  The luxury lines like Regent and Silversea have probably been the most consistent in my experience, but even those vary depending on the ship and geographic region. 

[eroller]

23 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A very reasonable conclusion, I think.  

 

Reasonable yes, but probably not a wise decision just to save a few bucks.  This shorter and inexpensive HAL cruise probably attracted some first time HAL cruisers that know no different.  It should have been used as an opportunity to shine and perhaps cultivate some repeat clientele.  Were this my only HAL experience and I wasn't the ship enthusiast I am, it's doubtful I would return if food and entertainment were high on my priority list.  They were lacking this cruise in my opinion.   

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by eroller

[Stateroom_Sailor]

5 hours ago, eroller said:

What didn't impress:

• The food overall - small portions, bland, lacking variety or finesse.  Deserts were tasteless.
• Too many pasta choices - obviously a budget cut.  Rustic Lasagna featured on the dinner menu 3 times on a 5 night cruise.  Ridiculous. 
• No "always available" section on the dinner menu.  Most cruise lines offer this.  The menus were rather basic and sometimes the selection limited.
• Steak only offered once on this five night cruise.  Plenty of pasta though.  Again clearly budget cuts. 
• All the waiters insisted on taking the desert order along with everything else.  That is not fine dining.  The desert order should be taken after the main meal is finished. 

 

I'm not happy to hear about all the pasta.  It is not something I'm even eat unless it is whole wheat or an import from Italy.  I can't avoid all enriched wheat flower, but I won't touch it in excess.  How often was seafood or lamb an option? 

[eroller]

6 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

I'm not happy to hear about all the pasta.  It is not something I'm even eat unless it is whole wheat or an import from Italy.  I can't avoid all enriched wheat flower, but I won't touch it in excess.  How often was seafood or lamb an option? 

 

Yes way too much pasta but it’s cheap.  I couldn’t believe “Rustic Lasagna” kept appearing.  Spaghetti and meatballs too. Not exactly cutting edge.  If you’re gonna do pasta at least make it interesting.  
 

There was no lamb. Some seafood.  Very little red meat.  A steak one night of the five.  
 

The really unfortunate thing is not one entree we had was memorable.  It was all meh.  I can certainly live with a smaller menu selection if the items offered are creative and have some originality.  Most of all taste great.  That really wasn’t the case here.  Nothing was horrible but nothing was great either.  The cuisine was much better on NIEUW STATENDAM when I sailed on her in 2019.  I remember it being quite good actually.  

[Shelbydarling]

Thank you for sharing.  We also felt like the food in the MDR was lackluster on our Eurodam cruise in September.  We didn't see much on the menus that looked super appetizing and only ended up going on gala nights.  Those services seemed rushed and the food was fine, but nothing to write home about with the exception of a coconut torte which I really liked.  I, too, really didn't care for ordering everything at once.  I felt each course was just a box being checked off quickly.  We ended up eating in the Lido for dinner several nights as we felt we might as well get a variety of food then do a dinner service that we were not really enjoying.  We did do three nights at specialty restaurants and felt that the service in those was excellent, and the food was also very good.  I would put our Nami Sushi dinners over our Pinnacle Grill dinner, but we enjoyed both.  

 

I think that we feel similar to you that we will do HAL when the price/itinerary is right.  We got a great rate on our upcoming Thanksgiving cruise on Koningsdam, and we are prepared for what to expect.  We are not much into production shows and are early birds, so we do pretty well with the HAL entertainment.  I do wish they had some more live music during the day though.  

Edited November 7, 2022 by Shelbydarling

[Stateroom_Sailor]

2 hours ago, eroller said:

 

Yes way too much pasta but it’s cheap.  I couldn’t believe “Rustic Lasagna” kept appearing.  Spaghetti and meatballs too. Not exactly cutting edge.  If you’re gonna do pasta at least make it interesting.  
 

There was no lamb. Some seafood.  Very little red meat.  A steak one night of the five.  
 

The really unfortunate thing is not one entree we had was memorable.  It was all meh.  I can certainly live with a smaller menu selection if the items offered are creative and have some originality.  Most of all taste great.  That really wasn’t the case here.  Nothing was horrible but nothing was great either.  The cuisine was much better on NIEUW STATENDAM when I sailed on her in 2019.  I remember it being quite good actually.  

 

Thanks for the detailed comparison, it was too objectively fair to have come from a loyalist with sour grapes.  We sailed on HAL in 2019 as well, and loved all our meals.  I'm going to double down on the specialty dining for our next cruise, give us more alternatives when the menu looks meh.

[eroller]

1 minute ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

  I'm going to double down on the specialty dining for our next cruise, give us more alternatives when the menu looks meh.

 

I suppose that was our mistake.  We should have done some specialty restaurants and perhaps that was the point of making the MDR experience so meh?  We just kept thinking "maybe tomorrow night will be better" and unfortunately it wasn't.  A nice thing was that you could preview the dining room menu in the HAL Navigator App, so we knew exactly what would be offered and still decided on the MDR each evening.  So that is totally on us.  I'm sure if the cruise were longer we would have ventured out into the specialty restaurants.  On NIEUW STATENDAM in 2019 we dined at them all and really enjoyed them, but honestly the MDR cuisine was so good on that cruise we didn't have to. 

[LMaxwell]

On same cruise; also disappointed by lack of live music and entertainment around ship.  Missed the HAL History talk, but went to the Under the Sea one and BBC Show; both good.  HAL Talk would have been nice to have repeated in EXC on Deck 11. Was there a captains corner? Good quick cruise. Met lots of HAL newbies. Unsure if I got the full experience or not.  

 

Is 2 ships at HMC typical? It felt very busy and not a comfortable day there. 

[syesmar]

@erollerThanks for taking the time to share your experience!

I wonder if the lack of live music was illness-related? Seems really odd to have so few options.

All the Best!

Edited November 7, 2022 by syesmar

[eroller]

27 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

On same cruise; also disappointed by lack of live music and entertainment around ship.  Missed the HAL History talk, but went to the Under the Sea one and BBC Show; both good.  HAL Talk would have been nice to have repeated in EXC on Deck 11. Was there a captains corner? Good quick cruise. Met lots of HAL newbies. Unsure if I got the full experience or not.  

 

Is 2 ships at HMC typical? It felt very busy and not a comfortable day there. 

 

My last few times at HMC have had two ships, and I agree it makes for a much more crowded experience.  
 

Two changes since my last visit in 2019 are the two story houses on the beach.  Personally I think they take away from the charm and character of the beach.  The second change is they locked off the second level of the pirate ship bar.  You used to be able to go upstairs and explore the upper outer decks and get some great pictures.  

[eroller]

22 minutes ago, syesmar said:

@erollerThanks for taking the time to share your experience!

I wonder if the lack of live music was illness-related? Seems really odd to have so few options.

All the Best!

 

Yes it very well could be.  Another reason might be because I heard this particular cruise was supposed to be a charter and it fell through.  The cruise right after was a full ship charter with its own musical entertainment.  So maybe it kind of fell through the cracks?  

[Djptcp]

DH and I were on the same 5-day Nieuw Amsterdam cruise as the OP and are 4* Mariners. I agree with all the good things said about the cruise, but disagree with most of the complaints. We never ate in the Main Dining Room (never do - takes too long and have experienced not the best service in the past), only in the Canaletto, the Tamarind, and the Lido Market. In the two specialty restaurants, the portions were huge, all the food delicious including the desserts. We ate in the Lido Market for the rest of our meals. Being served by the crew is a good and safe thing and I hope it continues. Who wants to touch serving utensils other passengers have touched? We found the food to be delicious at all meals, including desserts. DH liked the Dive-In and we both enjoyed the New York Pizza - pizzas are small and we didn't miss by-the-slice. We had just morning cabin cleaning, but we did receive chocolates and the daily next day's events paper at night (had a verandah cabin, not a suite this time).

 

The free Mariner Cocktail is okay and I also wish it would be a cocktail of my choice.

 

I think the lack of of some live music was due to illness.

[deck chair]

Hello!

 

My last cruise on HAL was the 2005 35 day Voyage of the Vikings on the Maasdam.  I had done a good number of HAL cruises prior on the Rotterdam, Veendam, and Ryndam and Maasdam.   HAL was my go to cruise line.  I was very happy with HAL until the 35 day vikings cruise when I noticed cutbacks in waiters, cabin stewards and musicians.  Aside from the wonderful itinerary it was a mediocre experience.  Not good especially for a premier 35day cruise.  So, I switched my allegiance to Cunard Line where I found great service, a lot of musicians playing throughout the ships, ballroom dancing and a lot of special programming.  Unfortunately, Cunard has a limited number of ships so that affects itinerary choices.  Clearly HAL with a much larger fleet excels in that department.

 

Nothing really interested me for this coming Winter Cunard schedule, so I looked at the 74 days South America cruise on the Volendam.  I thought to myself I should give them a chance. Then I began reading a good number of reliable accounts of HAL passengers reporting even more cutbacks.  It is clearly no longer a premium line.  So, I don't know what I will do for this Winter, but I do know it won't be on the Volendam where I get to experience more cutbacks.  Not on a 74 day cruise!  It's a shame because that South America cruise has a great route.  

 

It's too bad that management of HAL has orchestrated these cutbacks.  Perhaps they should name their latest ship the CUTBACKDAM.  That would be fitting.  

 

I realize that many HAL loyalists will stick to HAL no matter what.  That's great and I hope they have a nice time.  I'm out for good.  BTW, these are my opinions and understand others may differ.  Be well.

DECK CHAIR

 

 

 

 

[MISTER 67]

Excellent review, we sail on the NA on December 4th, she was the last ship we sailed on in Dec of 2019, right before the pandemic hit and changed everything and as you said she is beautiful and in great shape. 

We started cruising again at Thanksgiving in 2021, almost a year ago, we have been on 6 cruises, 2 on Princess, 3 on Celebrity and 1 on HAL. All the cruises have been very good but when push comes to shove I'd have to say the 3 cruises on Celebrity were the best especially the food and entertainment. I'm thinking that Carnival Corp. is having some cash flow problems which is why we are seeing more cutbacks on HAL and Princess. We did have morning and evening cabin service on all 6 cruises without asking, the Princess cruises were about 60% full, the Rotterdam cruise was just about sold out except for Covid cabins and the 3 Celebrity cruises were at about 85 to 90% of capacity.

Some differences were steaks and chops are available every night on Celebrity ships as are shrimp cocktail and French Onion soup. On one of our Celebrity Cruises they brought us 2 orders of shrimp cocktail at no extra charge like on HAL, on one of the dressy nights passengers were given 2 lobster tails. The entertainment on Celebrity is excellent, Princess was pretty good and HAL has really cut back to where it's almost a joke. We were on the Rotterdam in April and the group in Lincoln Center was fabulous, couldn't say the same for Billboard Onboard and Rolling Stone Rock Room, embarrassing bad singers with passengers looking at each other, shaking their heads and walking out. Entertainment in the main show room is a joke, how many more years of Planet Earth? We did like the talk on the history of HAL but that's not entertainment in the main showroom, that talk should be held some time in the morning or afternoon. All that said and with agreeing with all your points, here we are taking another HAL cruise in 4 weeks, it will be interesting to see what changes are in store since the Rotterdam cruise last April. One thing I know for sure is that we love Signature and Vista class and they are our favorite ships with the traditional promenade and steamer chairs, my favorite time on a cruise is reading a great book on the promenade deck on the older HAL ships.

Edited November 7, 2022 by MISTER 67

[eroller]

3 hours ago, deck chair said:

 

 

I realize that many HAL loyalists will stick to HAL no matter what.  That's great and I hope they have a nice time.  I'm out for good.  BTW, these are my opinions and understand others may differ.  Be well.

DECK CHAIR

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like you I also enjoy Cunard and sail them often, but usually for transatlantic crossings.  Such a great experience.  I don't like Cunard as much for a port intensive itinerary because of the formality, and after a long day sightseeing I don't want to dress up.  But Cunard is getting more casual with each passing year, dumbing down the dress code for broader appeal.  Anyway I hope you find your sweet spot in the cruising world! 

[eroller]

3 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

Excellent review, we sail on the NA on December 4th, she was the last ship we sailed on in Dec of 2019, right before the pandemic hit and changed everything and as you said she is beautiful and in great shape. 

We started cruising again at Thanksgiving in 2021, almost a year ago, we have been on 6 cruises, 2 on Princess, 3 on Celebrity and 1 on HAL. All the cruises have been very good but when push comes to shove I'd have to say the 3 cruises on Celebrity were the best especially the food and entertainment. I'm thinking that Carnival Corp. is having some cash flow problems which is why we are seeing more cutbacks on HAL and Princess. We did have morning and evening cabin service on all 6 cruises without asking, the Princess cruises were about 60% full, the Rotterdam cruise was just about sold out except for Covid cabins and the 3 Celebrity cruises were at about 85 to 90% of capacity.

Some differences were steaks and chops are available every night on Celebrity ships as are shrimp cocktail and French Onion soup. On one of our Celebrity Cruises they brought us 2 orders of shrimp cocktail at no extra charge like on HAL, on one of the dressy nights passengers were given 2 lobster tails. The entertainment on Celebrity is excellent, Princess was pretty good and HAL has really cut back to where it's almost a joke. We were on the Rotterdam in April and the group in Lincoln Center was fabulous, couldn't say the same for Billboard Onboard and Rolling Stone Rock Room, embarrassing bad singers with passengers looking at each other, shaking their heads and walking out. Entertainment in the main show room is a joke, how many more years of Planet Earth? We did like the talk on the history of HAL but that's not entertainment in the main showroom, that talk should be held some time in the morning or afternoon. All that said and with agreeing with all your points, here we are taking another HAL cruise in 4 weeks, it will be interesting to see what changes are in store since the Rotterdam cruise last April. One thing I know for sure is that we love Signature and Vista class and they are our favorite ships with the traditional promenade and steamer chairs, my favorite time on a cruise is reading a great book on the promenade deck on the older HAL ships.

 

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the review!  Sounds like we are on the same page as far as HAL and cruising go.  I had just sailed on CELEBRITY INFINITY a month prior to NIEUW AMSTERDAM and the experience was so much better.  Great food and service, plus wonderful entertainment and lots of live music.  Twice daily cabin service with nightly chocolates are still standard on Celebrity, and no $5 upcharge for a cheeseburger through room service!  LOL  I will say NIEUW AMSTERDAM was in better condition and looked much fresher.  INFINITY missed out on her "revolution" top to bottom makeover due to COVID, so she is a looking a bit dated in places.  Still a great ship though. 

 

I totally agree with you about the cost cutting within Carnival Corp brands.  Much more so than NCLH and the Royal Caribbean Group.  At least from my experience.  I noticed lots of cost cutting on my Cunard QM2 crossing in March as well.  I think all the lines are having to control costs after a few years of massive losses, but the key is to balance the cutbacks especially those that are customer facing.  Some companies are better than others at accomplishing that.   

 

Fingers crossed your HAL cruise in 4-weeks is fantastic.  It very well could be.  My experience could have been a one-off for a variety of reasons.  Who knows?  In any case I wish you Bon Voyage and smooth seas in 4 weeks. 

[MISTER 67]

11 minutes ago, eroller said:

 

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the review!  Sounds like we are on the same page as far as HAL and cruising go.  I had just sailed on CELEBRITY INFINITY a month prior to NIEUW AMSTERDAM and the experience was so much better.  Great food and service, plus wonderful entertainment and lots of live music.  Twice daily cabin service with nightly chocolates are still standard on Celebrity, and no $5 upcharge for a cheeseburger through room service!  LOL  I will say NIEUW AMSTERDAM was in better condition and looked much fresher.  INFINITY missed out on her "revolution" top to bottom makeover due to COVID, so she is a looking a bit dated in places.  Still a great ship though. 

 

I totally agree with you about the cost cutting within Carnival Corp brands.  Much more so than NCLH and the Royal Caribbean Group.  At least from my experience.  I noticed lots of cost cutting on my Cunard QM2 crossing in March as well.  I think all the lines are having to control costs after a few years of massive losses, but the key is to balance the cutbacks especially those that are customer facing.  Some companies are better than others at accomplishing that.   

 

Fingers crossed your HAL cruise in 4-weeks is fantastic.  It very well could be.  My experience could have been a one-off for a variety of reasons.  Who knows?  In any case I wish you Bon Voyage and smooth seas in 4 weeks. 

Thanks, we are on the same page. We sailed on the Infinity on Oct. 1st for 7 days had a wonderful cruise, everything was great especially the entertainment. Food was outstanding and I had one of the best cuts of Beef Wellington one night in the MDR that I have ever had on a cruise chip. The Infinity for her age was in great shape and also has a nice promenade deck with loungers in curtains spots, not as comfortable as HAL steamers but they worked. Enjoy yourself on your next cruise whenever it may be.

Edited November 7, 2022 by MISTER 67

[eroller]

34 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

Thanks, we are on the same page. We sailed on the Infinity on Oct. 1st for 7 days had a wonderful cruise, everything was great especially the entertainment. Food was outstanding and I had one of the best cuts of Beef Wellington one night in the MDR that I have ever had on a cruise chip. The Infinity for her age was in great shape and also has a nice promenade deck with loungers in curtains spots, not as comfortable as HAL steamers but they worked. Enjoy yourself on your next cruise whenever it may be.

 

This Beef Wellington?   It’s my favorite.  It was so good I took a picture of it.  Be prepared for pasta on HAL.  Lol. 
 

 

[Naismith]

What is the "specalty Mariner cocktail"?  Any options for folks who do not drink alcohol?

[trivia addict]

eroller, your review of the NA pretty much sums up our experience on her on our cruise to Alaska in August.

I agree with all of your positives, and while many of your negatives did not bother me, I totally agree with the lack of daytime activities and nighttime entertainment on the ship. And as someone mentioned, BB Kings is much too small considering it is one of the only evening entertainments.
Although this is not a complete deal breaker for us, we would much prefer to sail Celebrity when it comes to shipboard entertainment.

[scubacruiserx2]

We’re sorry that you didn’t enjoy your NA cruise more . We have never considered HAL to be a cruise line where we looked for entertainment . Destination ,  the service , the older ships and cabins and the food is the draw for us . We are currently on the 5th of 6 cruises and have enjoyed them all . If we wanted entertainment we would have booked the Malt Shop Memories or Soul Train cruise . Instead we enjoyed the 5 day cruise with our grandson on his 20th birthday . We booked Grand Turk for SCUBA for us and when HAL cancelled it for no apparent reason , he jump on a jet ski instead and we moved on . If we have any issue it’s the Carnivalization of HAL with overpacked cheap cruises and cheap cruisers . Instead of hiring more workers they seem to be trying to balance their Covid budget on the underpaid the backs of the already overworked employees instead of hiring more people . We did enjoy several of the unexpected entertainers during the longer cruises notably Jukebox Rogues , Robert Neary and Unity .

 

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[DENIE]

Thanks for the review!  We are back on HAL (Koningsdam) in December.  Our last prior cruise on HAL was on the Oosterdam in 2010, which we really enjoyed.  We've been mostly on Celebrity in recent pre-Covid years, and finally our first Oceania (Riviera) cruise this past June.  We loved it!  But i is a bit different product. Will be interesting to see what this one brings.  It is the Mexican Riviera out of San Diego.

Edited November 8, 2022 by DENIE

[eroller]

1 hour ago, Naismith said:

What is the "specalty Mariner cocktail"?  Any options for folks who do not drink alcohol?

 

 

It was kind of like a champagne cocktail best I could tell.  Not really my thing.  I'm not sure about the non-alcohol options but I'm sure they exist.  

[eroller]

34 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We’re sorry that you didn’t enjoy your NA cruise more . We have never considered HAL to be a cruise line where we looked for entertainment . Destination ,  the service , the older ships and cabins and the food is the draw for us . We are currently on the 5th of 6 cruises and have enjoyed them all . If we wanted entertainment we would have booked the Malt Shop Memories or Soul Train cruise . Instead we enjoyed the 5 day cruise with our grandson on his 20th birthday . We booked Grand Turk for SCUBA for us and when HAL cancelled it for no apparent reason , he jump on a jet ski instead and we moved on . If we have any issue it’s the Carnivalization of HAL with overpacked cheap cruises and cheap cruisers . Instead of hiring more workers they seem to be trying to balance their Covid budget on the underpaid the backs of the already overworked employees instead of hiring more people . We did enjoy several of the unexpected entertainers during the longer cruises notably Jukebox Rogues , Robert Neary and Unity .

 

 

 

 

One great thing about the cruise industry is that there is something for almost everyone.  Not every cruise line is a fit for every person.  Sounds like HAL is a good fit for you and that is fantastic. 

 

While I don't expect to be entertained 24/7 or party to the wee hours, I do enjoy a decent production show.  The singers and dancers in something well choreographed.  On this cruise 5 dancers, no singers, no band, no sets.   It was pretty poor and very low budget for what I consider a major large-ship cruise line.  Even Regent, a high end line with much smaller ships had more singers/dancers and a better produced show.  I also enjoy a little live cocktail music before dinner (piano player, trio, solo guitarist).  Yes even HAL should have this without question in the Ocean Bar.  I'm not talking about sitting in a packed mini-showlounge (BB Kings Club) as that is not my idea of atmosphere.  I miss the days when the Crow's Nest was truly a cocktail lounge and there would be live music up there.  On there cruise there was BB Kings Club and Dueling Pianos.  Those were your only options for live music. I also wouldn't mind a little relaxing live music by the pool now and then.  Not all day, but maybe sea days for an hour or two.  Just my personal preferences.  There are lines that do all this and more, so those are the lines I will gravitate to.  A better balance for me between a relaxing atmosphere and a little finesse when it comes to live music and entertainment.