GrumpyNormanG
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Posts posted by GrumpyNormanG
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great pics Norman...not so grumpy now...glad you had a fabulous time...any tips on what not to miss?
If on HAL don't miss out on BB Kings and if you can do, do the Sel de Mer evening in Pinnacle, French food, wine and service to die for. Best day, get up early and enjoy every moment of light in Glacier Bay.
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Hey all...under 80 days for us and I'm waiting for some great reviews......anyone been there yet?
Just got home to Scotland after Canada/USA trip which included first time ever cruise. HAL Nieuw Amsterdam Alaska inside passage cruise from Vancouver that departed May 6th. It was fabulous.
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Being a first time cruiser what I post will probably get the veteran cruisers saying, been there, done that and got the T-Shirt, but to any who may read that have never been on a cruise, I would like to share with you our group's experience aboard the Holland America line's Nieuw Amsterdam pronounced New Amsterdam.
The embarkation process moved very well and was not as long as expected and getting on the ship was a breeze. Have your luggage tagged with the tags they specify and you'll have no problems. Once on board your luggage will NOT be in your room so, start exploring the ship to find the buffets and the main dining rooms, also the ship has gorgeous art work and pictures to see throughout on every deck.
If you are a smoker and want to get a puff in, go to deck 9, the Lido deck and by the Seaview bar is where the designated area is. We booked cabins on the aft of the ship and were very satisfied with them in size, balcony area and storage areas in the room.
There were 4 ports of call which left out of Fort Lauderdale, the first being their private cay, second was the Cayman Islands, third was Cozumel and fourth was Key West, Florida. There were enough days at sea to satisfy our laid back group who themed our cruise " Booze Crusin together 2017" and we received many comments on our shirts that we all wore. We even had fellow cruisers wanting to join and get a shirt.
The first stop, their private cay was very clean, well organized and gorgeous. Tenders brought us ashore with plenty of room and were satisfactory in accommodation. The only excursion we did on their cay was the horse back ride, which we strongly recommend, even for first timers. The crew handling the stables are well trained and look out for safety first. The excursion encompassed a trail ride to the highest point on the cay, then a return to the stables for a cold drink while the crew changed saddles for a second ride, and this one was in the surf. Don't...take your camera or phone on the second ride, Holland takes pictures of you in the surf that you can, if you desire, purchase later on disk.
Second stop the Caymans where the ship used it's life boats as tenders and that also went well, even though we had some rise in the seas, Holland had many crew members to ensure the transfer from ship to boat was safe, they did a great job. The Caymans are the Caymans and there are may excursions to do as we all are suited to different tastes, We decided to go it on our own, walking, shopping and sight seeing and of course had a little difficulty leaving Margaritaville, only because we... wanted to stay.
Third stop Cozumel, tourist orientated and many shops. You can bargain with the prices and here we also did not do excursions. We followed the Cayman routine. In shopping, don't be afraid to walk away from a bad price on any item you may be interested in as you will be asked on the way out how much you would pay, then you put your skill to work. Good shopping skills pay off and any reasonable price from the asking price is usually accepted.
Last stop, Key West and return to good old American soil. Key West is a very quaint place, dotted with cute houses, marinas, bar stops and many places to eat. We did the Hard Rock Cafe and were satisfied with the meal and service.
No excursions here either, since being a first time cruiser we want to see what all the stops had to offer and it's possible we missed some, but hey, there's always a next time. One suggestion, taking the walk to 0 latitude to see the end of American soil and the Cuba bouy was not worth the walk to us, maybe it will be for you ?
Cozumel and Key West had docks to walk directly off the ship.
In closing and summary, our group gives Holland America an "A" for service, food and the portion size with variety, along with a "A" for the service of the crew. While dining in the Manhattan restaurant our wait staff never quit and were hard working as we finished one course, the plates were removed promptly and the next course served immediately. Here the waiters deserve an A+++ rating from us and we appreciated their service very much. On tipping, I would like to say that an article I read on Cruise Critic about tipping helped me tremendously. The gentleman who wrote about the American $2 bill is spot on in his assessment and guidance, I thank you sir for the advice, never would have known, except for the boards at Cruise Critic. Looking forward to the next cruise and a big thanks to Cruise Critic for what you do, all the advice I read helped in guiding me along and to all who take the time to post and share, please....continue to do so.
Thanks to all !!!
Thanks for excellent newbie review [emoji846] we are also newbies on Nieuw Amsterdam on Alaska cruise out of Vancouver on May 6th and have aft balcony stateroom on deck 5 so would be great to hear your thoughts on aft position. Have Dinners booked in Tamarind and Pinnacle so looking forward to that. Also smokers so leper venue now located [emoji56] These forums have been fantastic in helping us to decide on taking a cruise and on what to do, thank you all [emoji3]
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And for relevance to cruising.... http://www.michelroux-obe.com/evaluations-guidance/celebrity-cruises/
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In a world so influenced by social media, you'd know it if any large scale employer was cheating it's employees in such an obvious way.
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Indeed [emoji849] http://www.itv.com/news/2016-12-16/tv-chef-michel-roux-jr-scraps-tips-after-he-reveals-13-service-charge-goes-to-restaurant/
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We used Wings Airways in Juneau 6 years ago and can't brag enough about the tour. The Taku Lodge Feast & 5 Glacier Discovery Tour was awesome! I was a little concerned that it would be a rough flight but my concerns were definitely not warranted. We had a very smooth flight and everyone had a window to enjoy the beautiful glaciers. Our pilot seemed extremely skilled and safety conscious. Would do this one again in a heartbeat.
Kathy
That's the one we have booked Kathy. Did the bear come to the salmon grill? [emoji846]
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Just loaded up the e reader with the Kate Shugan Investigation series...thanks for the tip [emoji846]
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Our glacier float plane flight is from Juneau on 8th May, thanks for that cheery message [emoji52]
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For some people the package is worth it. The package is $50 per day. It gives you something like 15 drinks per day. The cap on the price of each drink is $8 or $9 (it seems to vary or maybe it's changing--there's a thread about that). It would take 7 alcoholic drinks at $8 each to be "worth" the price of the package. But the package isn't just about alcoholic beverages--it also includes bottled water, sodas, specialty coffees. If you know you'll want a couple of cappuccinos, drink bottled water or soda instead of tap water, that can add up.
The drinks packages aren't worth it to us. We drink ordinary coffee and tap water, rarely drink soda. A morning mimosa by the pool and a beer or drink of the day at lunch isn't enough to justify the package because we buy wine by the bottle at dinner and that isn't included.
Sounds like us. Thanks for that [emoji3]
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I seem to be getting a general opinion that drinks packages are really not worth the money?
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If you have bottles you really like, paying the $18 (?) corkage and having what you like is an easy plan.
Good plan. Depends what we can find in Vancouver. What are Canadian reds like?
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If you buy a bottle of wine at dinner, you can take it to the room. If you take on a bottle of wine and pay corkage, you can drink it wherever you want.
That sounds good [emoji3] we probably won't take that much on board, more for balcony consumption at the end of the night watching the sea, sunset and scenery with a blethering about our day [emoji3]
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We don't drink enough mixed drinks to make the package worthwhile.
As to wine - our favorite wasn't included in any of the wine packages so we just ordered it by the bottle in the dining room. What you don't drink the servers will save for you for the next night. We average about 3/4 a bottle a night so when it looks like we'll run out the next night we "warn" :D the wine steward we'll want another the next night and they normally have one handy for us to purchase when our bottle empties. It was only $2-3 difference buying singly as opposed to buying a wine package for what we wanted.:champagne-toast::bottle-pop::champagne-toast:
Have a great cruise !! Alaska is awesome
I don't understand what you mean by "What you don't drink?" [emoji12] I suspect if we don't finish a bottle at dinner we will do so on our balcony [emoji3]
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If you expect to buy wine by the bottle at dinner, you probably don't want the beverage package. It gives you a large number of individual purchased drinks (soda, specialty coffee, cocktails, wine by the glass) but you can't "trade" any number of individual drinks for a bottle of wine. And the wines by the glass that are included aren't great.
If your main drink purchase is going to be bottles of wine, HAL does offer some wine packages. You can find the list of wines included in these packages on HAL's website. I do not recommend pre-purchasing a wine package. If they're out of some of the wines on the list, they offer substitutes. Wait until you board and see what's available for each package before you decide.
Thanks very helpful. May just stick to buy as we go
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This will be first ever cruise and first time to Canada and Alaska so be gentle with me. I have been trying to make sense of whether it is worth purchasing a drinks package or not. We do like a few drinks during day, including nice coffee and a bottle or two of wine with dinner so is it worth a package or just pay as we go using cruise card credit that we have prepaid and pay excess at end? We will likely take on board our bottle each and perhaps a couple more to pay corkage on. We are on HA Nieuw Amsterdam, 7 day Alaska cruise from Vancouver on May 6th [emoji3]
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You might also want to post this on the dedicated Holland forum, where more people with experience with Holland's drink package will see it:
Will do thanks
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This will be first ever cruise and first time to Canada and Alaska so be gentle with me. I have been trying to make sense of whether it is worth purchasing a drinks package or not. We do like a few drinks during day, including nice coffee and a bottle or two of wine with dinner so is it worth a package or just pay as we go using cruise card credit that we have prepaid and pay excess at end? We will likely take on board our bottle each and perhaps a couple more to pay corkage on. We are on HA Nieuw Amsterdam, 7 day Alaska cruise from Vancouver on May 6th [emoji3]
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Alaska 2017
in Alaska
Posted
Any time is good for Scotland but if you want half decent weather from July to end of August for Highland Games, Edinburgh Festival and lots of other great events and less rough seas if cruising round coast. (Saying that just came home to sweltering weather up in high 20s Centigrade and yesterday hit 30c !! Lots of cruise liners now do Highlands and Islands of Scotland so worth looking at [emoji3]