Loved the new Lido Marketplace on the Nieuw Amsterdam!

We hadn't sailed with HAL for a few years and we just returned from 12 nights on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We haven't come around to eating dinner in the buffet, but we LOVED the new marketplace layout of the Lido!

Standouts were:

1) The large salad bowls the salads were served in and the variety of ingredients available at the Salad Bar. I had the Asian Sesame Seared Tuna Salad four different days. It was that good!

2) Not technically in the Lido, but the thin crust Pizza station by the Sea View pool was fabulous!

3) The small appetizer size plates of cheeses, salami, sliced fruit, orzo/ lentil/ bean salads were a wonderful light option for lunch or a snack.

4) The Distant Lands section featured a different international style each day.

5) Goat cheese available at the omelet station

6) Hash Browns :D

We took advantage of room service for a few early morning breakfasts, but just because of the timing issue. This was the first cruise that we never went to the MDR for breakfast or lunch. :)

Thanks for sharing your experience.

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Glad you liked the new Lido Market place.

Thanks for your insight.

Great to hear. Have not sailed HAL, but heading out on the Nieuw Amsterdam in less than a month. Beyond excited. Are you going to post a review, or tell us more?:D

Is the new market place self serve or are there servers to prepare your salad bowl with what you request? On the Koningsdam, I noticed it took a long time to get a simple salad due to not being allowed to serve yourself.

Is the new market place self serve or are there servers to prepare your salad bowl with what you request? On the Koningsdam, I noticed it took a long time to get a simple salad due to not being allowed to serve yourself.

They make the salad as you go down the line. IMHO, it was faster and more efficient than the old salad bar. I agree with the OP. It's an improvement and the ingredients are of very high quality.

The salad bar on Zuiderdam was slow the times I tried it, but the salad itself was great. Everything was beautifully fresh. If you get one person who is picky ("Oh, not so much of that" "That's too much dressing, can you take some off?") it can back up--but then if it's self serve that princess can still cause a backup.

The one thing I didn't like was that the server used the same tongs to toss all the salads, to you could end up with traces of someone else's choice of dressing.

I heard a few passengers say that the large bowls were ridiculous, but it did allow the server to mix the salad without spilling. After I got my salad, I went to the taco bar to add some extra stuff plus some guac and chips on the side. It made for a perfect lunch.

Great to hear. Have not sailed HAL, but heading out on the Nieuw Amsterdam in less than a month. Beyond excited. Are you going to post a review, or tell us more?:D

I'm not a review writer, but if you have any questions I'll be happy to try to answer them. :)

Think the salad bar sounds like what we had on our Zaandam cruises. Mmm, yes, the seared tuna was wonderful. While we usually managed to avoid long waits, I appreciated server preparation. Not all self servers practice the best hygiene.

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I agree, Kdam's lido was great and the least crowded of any I can think of. It's a big positive change. The salad bar is quick, easy and SANITARY!

I'm not a review writer, but if you have any questions I'll be happy to try to answer them. :)

Were there any free Fitness Classes on the Nieuw Amsterdam other than Fab Abs, Walk a Mile or Morning/Evening Stretch? I'm looking for free classes with names like Circuit Training, Total Body Conditioning or some other "sweaty" name. HAL used to offer them but on Maasdam in Oct/Nov 2016 quit doing so. I'm hoping they are still offered on the larger ships. Thanks in advance.

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Were there any free Fitness Classes on the Nieuw Amsterdam other than Fab Abs, Walk a Mile or Morning/Evening Stretch? I'm looking for free classes with names like Circuit Training, Total Body Conditioning or some other "sweaty" name. HAL used to offer them but on Maasdam in Oct/Nov 2016 quit doing so. I'm hoping they are still offered on the larger ships. Thanks in advance.

 

 

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No, unfortunately there were not.

Were there any free Fitness Classes on the Nieuw Amsterdam other than Fab Abs, Walk a Mile or Morning/Evening Stretch? I'm looking for free classes with names like Circuit Training, Total Body Conditioning or some other "sweaty" name. HAL used to offer them but on Maasdam in Oct/Nov 2016 quit doing so. I'm hoping they are still offered on the larger ships. Thanks in advance.

 

 

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Here's the fitness schedule from the Eurodam. Since it's out of the same port and runs a 7 day itinerary just like the Nieuw Amsterdam, I'd imagine that the schedule would be similar.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51791547&postcount=125

I also scanned all the daily programs, but I think they're the same classes as the one page schedule. The dailies are towards the end of the thread.

There were body sculpt boot camps most days.

I'm not a review writer, but if you have any questions I'll be happy to try to answer them. :)

Hi there,

I'm always curious to know about the staterooms. Would you mind telling us what type/category you had, and whether or not you were happy with your accommodations?

Thanks

Hi there,

 

I'm always curious to know about the staterooms. Would you mind telling us what type/category you had, and whether or not you were happy with your accommodations?

 

Thanks

It's a far too long story, but we ended up in an accessible cabin that was fortunately not being used. It was #4051, a balcony cabin that was wonderful!

I'm just off the Eurodam, and agree 100% with everything you said.

Those salads are wonderful, I also had the Sesame Asian one on a few different days. Everything was so fresh, and they had so many ingredients to choose from.

Those little composed cheese plates were a huge upgrade (they are also in the Neptune Lounge). And the pizza is vastly improved.

My husband and I disembarked this morning, and were talking on the drive home about how much improved we found the food to be on this cruise.

The new salad bowls are an improvement.

I took advantage of that bars offerings on almost a daily basis on my recent Eurodam sailing.

It's a meal in itself thanks to the hearty portions! ;D

Good news, thanks!

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We must have been on the same cruise! I also loved the salad station. The convenience of knowing exactly when my order was ready(buzzers) at the Dive In grill and pizza was fantastic.

Do you happen to have any of the On Location listing daily activities for your recent Southern Caribbean cruise? I am leaving out in February and would love to be able to see the activities in advance so I can do some planning around my quilting classes I am taking on board. I have been able to find the lunch, dinner and late night snack menus and that is helping greatly planning where to eat for those in the group with dietary issues.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Do you happen to have any of the On Location listing daily activities for your recent Southern Caribbean cruise? I am leaving out in February and would love to be able to see the activities in advance so I can do some planning around my quilting classes I am taking on board. I have been able to find the lunch, dinner and late night snack menus and that is helping greatly planning where to eat for those in the group with dietary issues.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

No, sorry but I didn't keep any of them.

I did not find the new Lido Market Place to be significantly different from its former self. Yes, the salad bar with its huge bowls with the salad served by a crew member is a change. But, in my opinion, I saw too much waste in salad fixings left uneaten by guests because, I think of the oversized bowls.

One still has to "hunt" for breakfast or lunch items that one wants. Croissants were hard to find, but maybe it was because of when I was in the restaurant. (My impression was that the crew were not as attentive as they ought to have been in re-filling containers of items such as the croissants.)

Some like the "small plate idea for sliced fruit". I don't. 2 slices of a third of a strawberry, a small wedge of watermelon and pineapple, a sliver of papaya: items found only in the extreme rear of the Restaurant. Or, a small dish of 3-4 apricots and part of a strawberry obtained from the juice/cereal area. Well, such food placements provide me with exercise: I have to keep walking from buffet to table to buffet to table, etc. to obtain what I want.

On a very positive note: the juice/water/coffee beverage service now provided by the Lido Market Place crew is a welcome change. But, it only really works well when the Restaurant is not in prime time mode. When the venue is busy, the staff is too occupied in clearing tables for much of that type of service to be performed.