sayvan

Thanks some great info.  I’m leaning to the Sheraton.  Seems like that may be a good option.  If we drive to the cruise terminal from the Sheraton Lincoln Harbour does anyone have any thoughts on that? Is it an easy drive? 

Sailing out of New York (Manhattan Terminal) for the first time in October and looking for any advice from anyone familiar with hotels.  We will be driving into New York and plan to park at the port for the cruise so will require a hotel either with parking or a lot nearby. We plan to tour the city for a couple of days before the cruise (without the car). I’m looking at the Lexington Hotel, Ink 48 or possibly across the river at the Sheraton Lincoln Harbour which has onsite parking. Anyone have any thoughts on these or other options? 

20 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

chops was great though

That does explain a few things … certainly not what you’re used to once in the windjammer … plastic forks and knives as well as paper plates.  Everything has a cause and effect.  
 

We’ve been cruising since mid January and this is our 5th ship during that time so a little hiccup is probably good for my weight… 

enjoy your cruise! 

Just boarded the Vision of the Seas and the line up to get into the Windjammer is backed up outside past the pool on deck 9. I’ve never seen anything like that before in all my cruises.  Music on outside deck is great tho! 

Seems to me that my review has become a thread speculating on why one may have to sign or not sign for a drink. Truly if this is our biggest worry then I think we are doing pretty good. First world problems… Nothing beats a solid highjack of a thread…. Although the responses do keep putting my review to the top of the thread board… everybody wins! 

On 12/11/2022 at 11:15 AM, nicksmom67 said:

 

We have HIA also.  How did you reserve your specialty dinner?  Can you do it in advance? Or wait until you are onboard?  Can you  tell this will be our first HAL cruise on January 8th 2023

We did it onboard and just used the app. It was as easy as anything.  For our upcoming cruise we did the bookings all online and they just deducted from the credit. Again very easy to do.. 

17 minutes ago, sun~ said:

I am on the NA right now. Internet is dreadful. Very slow. Won't load basic apps and pages.

Interesting… we were on the NA 2 weeks ago and never had an issue and only used the basic that came with the HIA.  We were able to use all our social media apps.  Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram… no problems at all… 

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

Exactly!  What a hassle for everyone involved!  I got two explanations.  As you mentioned it was to "show proof of purchase" and the other was inventory control.  In my world in 2022 computers do a pretty good job on inventory control....way better than someone recording thousands of scraps of paper every day!!  

🙄

I’ve also heard that one of the reasons is because people were challenging the limit on drinks.. thus if you sign then no challenge.  I’d rather they just remove the limits… carnival corp is way behind the rest of the industry on this…  but hey that’s another thread all together… 

18 hours ago, iceman93 said:

The Wish has definitely gotten mixed reviews (as have pretty much all Disney experiences since COVID), but I expect you'll find the entertainment and on-board activities superior to pretty much anything else out there.  Enjoy it, and I hope you'll return with a similarly even-handed review of that ship and line!

Thanks… the Disney cruise will be with our Son and daughter-in-law and our 5 year old and 1 year old grandkids…. That alone should be fun… I do intend to do a bit of a live review (as possible) as we cruise from January thru to March… 4 different ships! 

8 hours ago, goldmom said:

Thank you so much for your review.  We will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam soon.  The Seaview pool looks like a place we would want to hang out, so a couple of questions.

You mentioned to bring a towel.  Is there a place at the pool to get towels or do we need to bring towels from the room?

Also, are there any shaded areas or umbrellas at the Seaview pool?

Thanks!

Yes… towels are available in three locations on the pool deck.  On either side by the doors and also to the side near the pool.  There is a covered area but that is was usually occupied by the many guests who enjoy a good smoke while on deck….. There are a some tables with umbrellas on either side of the deck. No umbrellas around the loungers tho. 
 

We found you needed the towels if you planned to sit on the wood bench decking around the pool. Made the mistake of wearing a yellow swimsuit and it was covered in soot which you could not see on the decking. Might have been a fluke situation but after that we always took a towel over with us when sitting around the actual pool. 

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

Thanks very much for your detailed review @sayvan!

 

One small correction though.  The picture in post #47 captioned as "Ocean Bar" is actually looking down on the Atrium....you can see the line for guest services at the back of the picture.

 

~Nancy

You are correct.  I had that one in the wrong folder.  That one was taken looking down from outside the pinnacle bar.  Good eye! 
 

1 hour ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Thank you so much for the review. We've never cruised on HAL, but I booked the Nieuw Amsterdam for Alaska for hubby's 60th next August. So your review made me feel better.

 

I do have a couple of questions, if you don't mind?

1) Anytime dining. Can you make reservations in advance? I prefer to go at the same time, if possible, so that we can get to know the MDR staff, but I don't like how early or how late the fixed times are.

2) Signature Beverage Package. Is it true that coffees, juices, and water count against the 15 drink limit? I'm used to Royal and Celebrity, and just got off a Princess cruise and 15 "drinks" is pretty easy to hit in a day for me, mostly because I start with a couple of double macchiatos and have at least 4, maybe 5 sparkling waters every day and then at least three bottled waters. And that's before a single drop of alcohol.

 

Thanks!

1. Reservations could be made on the app or the tv in the room. We went around 6 pm every evening and had no real issues.  
 

2. Yes this is in fact true and in my opinion a ridiculous policy of Carnival Corp. They are way behind other lines when it comes to this.  They do have an upgraded drink package that only limits alcohol drinks. That being said, we were never charged for juice on the lido. I agree Royal and Celebrity have better packages in this regard although I will say that the signature package on HAL pretty much covered everything with the $11 limit.  On Celebrity you do require the premium package for the better drinks in particular at the Martini Bar. 
 

You will love the ship! 

 A few more Pics to close it out... 

Ocean Bar

Tamarind Bar

Ok... I will try and rap this one up for now... unfortunately I did not take that many pictures inside.. (not sure why I usually do) however I did take some video and once I get that all set up Ill come back and post the links to my YouTube channel for that. 

Anyhow... Ive taken you all through most of the cruise so I'll turn my attention to ship as a whole and some thoughts on the entertainment. On that note, I will say that we are not really ones to attend the theatre shows unless it's something that really catches our attention. For the most part,  I find cruise ship theatre productions to be just that..cruise ship theatre productions... although on occasion they do impress. Ive heard on the newer ships there are some top notch productions... I'll come back to that after I spend some time this winter on some of the industry newer ships... Our preference really is to find a nice bar and enjoy some time there and listen to some music etc. or smaller venue on ship. 

Once again I digress... overall impressions and thoughts:

Dining:

I've absolutely no complaints. The food on the Lido was superb and there were many choices. They had a wide range of selection. Kudo's to the Sandwich Bar HAL has. Other cruise lines could take a lesson from that.  I mentioned earlier about the wait times for a burger but where else was I to go really.. The main dining room... the set up is very nice and decor was fresh and clean. Service was beyond perfect and yes we did have to wait a bit on occasion but overall these folks work hard to give me something I don't have at home and that's good enough for me... they owe me nothing yet they provided an excellent experience. 

The specialty restaurants were amazing. Again this can be very subjective but even tho I had the experience as part of my HIA package, I would not hesitate to pay some extra 

Outside Decks: 

One of the things I remembered about HAL from the very first cruise (and only) we did with them back in 2007 was the deck on the 4th floor that wraps all around the ship. It has a historic feel to it with the wood loungers all along the deck and the beautiful views of the port or ocean as you are sailing along. A nice quiet spot to relax, read or just gaze off into the distance.  I wish more ships in the industry had this. 

We spent most of our outdoor time on Deck 9 at the Seaview Pool.  A great area... lots of seating, the Lido buffet is on same floor and the there was music playing throughout the day. No live band tho or a DJ which was a bit disappointment, especially during a sail-away. There are also two pools on the ship with the other around mid deck 9 and that one also has the sliding dome roof. 

A couple of things to note. The Seaview pool is at the back of the ship so you get some great views of the wake as the ship cruises along. There is an also a bar that seemed pretty busy  most of the time but there were waiters all over so it really wasn't that hard to get a drink when you wanted one. Now on this cruise the pool water was probably the coldest I've ever experienced. Once in it was ok but it was a bit of polar dip when first getting in.  Another little tip is if you plan to hang out around the decking area of the pool I would recommend that you take a towel to sit on. The pool as I mentioned is at the back and so too are the ships smoke stacks.  Although the area is very clean looking we did get some soot on our bathing suits the first day... I noticed others had a similar issue. One morning, I went out to the area very early and they had yet to clean the area up and there was soot all over the deck and chairs. Once we started to use a towel around the area we had no more issues. 

Lounges and Entertainment:

Now as I mentioned above, we did not go to any of the theatre shows. So I can't really say how they were. What I can say tho is that I did notice the theatre was often very crowded when we popped in to see what was happening... So I suppose you could take that for what it was. I also found that often there were conflicting or competing venues happening at the same time so you had to make a quick decision on which you would go to.  If I was to grade the entertainment I'm thinking this is an area HAL could work on. At least on this ship. There were times where we found there wasn't much to do in the evening. there often seemed to be some lag between venues. Now that being said, I do have to say on this ship the Music Trivia was the best. The host (Thomas) was absolutely brilliant in how he presented this trivia and it was more often than not standing room only and by the end of the trivia the event would become a sing along with hundreds of passengers singing and dancing to the songs on the trivia list. He did a smashing job! 

Now decks 2 and 3 are where most of the action was at night. We spent most of our time going between BB Kings Blues Club and Billboard Onboard then the Casino.  I think they referred to this as Music row on the ship. These are very nice bars but if I had to choose I did like Billboard Onbard a tad better than BB Kings. I loved the concept of BB Kings. I also love the Blues. However, on this ship I found the venue they host BB Kings in was not the greatest. It may have been because it wasn't what I was expecting. I was hoping for more of a lounge type setting and Bar atmosphere while this was more of a small theatre type venue with row seating. I see why they set it up that way (so more people can get it I am sure) but I found it actually was more like watching a performance then being a part of a performance as you sit and converse. I also found that the sound of the band was too loud for the venue. The band was sensational and put on a great show but again with a full band with horns etc I feel like a better set up may have given a little better ambiance and feel. To be clear this is not a criticism of the band. They were superb. 

This brings us to BillBoard Onboard. A great bar and setting. This is the area with the two pianos. Again, maybe I misread or misunderstood but I was somewhat disappointed in what I expected and what it actually was. If you have ever been on a Royal Caribbean ship or some of the Carnival ships you will know what I am referring to regarding their Piano bars. These are lounges that are audience participation situations and an overall good time. Now, just as I mentioned regarding BB Kings performers this is in no way a knock against the entertainers. They were very talented and very good. However, at least on this cruise, the performance was basically two piano players, each taking turns singing a song... with some banter in between each song....they also had themes for the music which was more than fine (70's, 80's etc etc). No requests or at least very few and I think I was actually expecting more of a duelling piano situation which this clearly was not. If you've ever seen duelling piano bars they are a blast! Did it take away from the enjoyment? No but the enjoyment would have been even more had it been what I expected. 

I was also surprised to see that the only theme party (which was a lot of fun was the Orange Night party. That was fun. However, there were no outdoor parties or deck parties at all. Even a Silent Disco night would have been good (is that a comparison?). 

So from a Shipboard Entertainment score I am giving this cruise a 6/10.  Did it take way from our enjoyment of the cruise? Absolutely not. Could it have made this cruise even more epic? Definitely!

So that about wraps up my review of our 7 days on the Nieuw Amsterdam. The big question is after returning to Holland America (our very first cruise ever back in 2007) following close to 40 cruises on other lines (mostly Celebrity) would we wait another 15 years before trying again? 

The answer.... See you on the Rotterdam in February for 21 days! We will be back... I may even try and do a live review when the time comes.... thanks for joining in and the nice comments. If anyone has any questions feel free to let me know. I may or may not have an answer. 

Next up for us we will be leaving in January for our first Disney Cruise on the Wish, followed by the Celebrity Edge, HAL Rotterdam and then Royal Caribbean (forget which ship). January until the end of March cruising... I am sure I'll have something to say during all of that! 

Here are a few pics from around the ship and Cheers everyone! 

On 11/27/2022 at 5:16 PM, Blackduck59 said:

I have really enjoyed reading this thread. It has been fair and balanced. It gives me hope that my wife and I will enjoy our first ever HAL cruise on Zaandam for a New England/ East coast Canada next summer. There seems to be so many threads complaining about this that and the next thing isn't what it used to be. WE don't know what used to be so we hope we like what it is. We look forward to the next post from @sayvan with their thoughts on the ship and entertainment.

I agree there seems to be a lot more “keyboard warriors” out there these days… no different than anything in life, it will be what you make it out to be… there is a reason negativity follows one around! I’m sure you will fully enjoy your adventure on Zaandam. Ive never been on a cruise where I needed to complain… 
 

I’ll get back to finishing this off tomorrow… it’s been a busy last few days so I’ve not got around to sharing the rest… 

On 11/25/2022 at 11:44 AM, Ellencruise said:

Ooh I’ll have to remember that tour, looks nice

It was one of the best I have ever went on. 

Some more from Passion Island 

Some other ships in Port.. NCL Sky and MSC Seashore 

Next up my thoughts on the ship overall and the entertainment! 

A ship wreck from a past hurricane... 

Our next and last port of call was Cozumel. Cozumel is a place we have been at least a dozen times if not more. It is also one of my favourite spots because it has so much to offer and do. If you do not want to go far from the port there are many shops and restaurants/bars close by to simply enjoy the day. The waters are also the bluest of blue. 

We wanted to do something different and with our HIA package we still had to use the excursion credit so we decided that we would head on out on the Passion Island cruise excursion. This excursion did not disappoint and if you have never been I would highly recommend. We arrived in Cozumel around 10:00 am and we would be in port until 12:00 am.  I had never been in Cozumel that late so it was also nice to see the island at night. 

Our excursion meeting place would be at 11 am. Again, a smooth process. When you left the ship you walked into the main area of the port and there were signs all over indicating which meeting place was for which excursion. We found ours within 5 minutes and using the ship app were easily checked in for the excursion. There were no excursion tickets. everything is on the app. I suppose for those who are not familiar with the app technology this could be an issue but it really is a simple way to do things. 

We waited in Señor Frogs (I think it was Señor Frogs) for about 10 minutes then our tour guide led everyone to a boat where we would embark on the 45 minute journey to Passion Island.  

The boat cruised along the coast of Cozumel, giving you some great views of the shoreline and different resorts along the way. The shallow waters of Cozumel were crystal clear as we travelled along and you could see many Star fish and a few Stingray's scurrying about.

When we arrived at the island we had about 3.5 hours to do as we pleased. The excursion was an all inclusive excursion which included a Mexican Buffet lunch and all the beer and cocktails you wanted including soft drinks as well. The beach was gorgeous with the whitest powder sand. There were also ample chairs to lounge around in including umbrellas and a water play area that had lots of different slides, climbers and a few trampoline. They were also swings and hammocks out in the water.  

This was a perfect way to end the last port. As I said, we used our HIA shore excursion for this but I believe the price for the excursion $79.99 and it lasted about 5.5 hours give or take. 

A few pictures from this day... 

Nieuw Amsterdam 

Allure of the Seas and Celebrity Beyond 

Vanda taking a turn as Captain! 

9 hours ago, CHIEFWINEMAKER said:

Great review! Do they still present America’s Test Kitchen on the NA ? 

I do not recall seeing this on the cruise 

35 minutes ago, Stx3me said:

We are on the Dec. 4 sailing and are unable to obtain main seating (our usual) and have been assigned any time dining. Can you tell me approximately what times you would go to the MDR each evening? Thanks so much.

Ever since Cruising started with the anytime dining we have opted for that.  If memory serves me correct NCL only ever offered that style.  We like it because of the flexibility. We used to get the late seating and often found it was a night killer because you would be so full by the time dinner was done and you were coming onto 9:30-9:45 pm… and we like the nightlife on a ship.  So to answer your question we would usually head to the dining room between 6-6:30 each night.  I think we only had to wait on one night. Within 5 minutes on average of arriving we would be headed to our table.   We were usually out of the dining room by 7-7:30 give or take and depending on time we arrived.  Even on nights where there was a bit of a line, the line moved quickly.  If you’re willing to sit with others you get in even faster. There was also a priority line for those in the Orange status etc.  

18 hours ago, Sherry H said:

While your inside room was very nice, were you aware some of the insides on the main deck are huge!

Even have a fairly large couch.  If you sail on the Nieuw Amsterdam or Eurodam again, you should have a look.

Enjoying your review!

Yes we were aware of that but we booked pretty much last minute and those rooms were already booked.  That being said, we do prefer to be mid floors on a ship.  We find it easier with only a few floors up to the lido or outside decks and a couple of floors down to all the indoor activities it helps to keep us away from the elevators. Easier to walk up or down a few flights of stairs  instead of 10 or 11 flights from the main deck.  But yes the larger rooms would have been good.  I see some are even setup sideways rather than straight in.  

3 minutes ago, shipfriend_max said:

Thanks for your review, @sayvan!!

 

From Koningsdam I remeber that the Billboard Lounge hat a small buffet with fingerfood/snacks, whichis also featured on Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam. Did Billboard on Nieuw Amsterdam feature it as well?

I consider Nieuw Amsterdam for early 2024 in the Caribbean.

 I recall they had different "happy hour" events at different bars and although I did not attend I did hear that they had some finger foods/snacks around. I also recall on sea days they had the afternoon tea as well. 

10 minutes ago, 0106 said:

@sayvan Thank you for your review.  I am interested in the activities on the ship during the sea days.  Were there any special events like cooking classes or lectures?

they had different lecture on board during the sea days and I believe during some port days as well. There were some mixology classes  but I can't recall if they had any cooking classes. I unfortuantely didn't keep any of the daily activities as I found the HAL app to be all that was needed. Everything was located for each day on the app.  

Grand Cayman is next....

Once again, we have been to Grand Cayman numerous times but this would be our first time back since the pandemic and the island reopened. 

Grand Cayman is a great stop for shoppers and those that love to scuba or snorkel. Lots  of options for that. Our stop today was going to be 7 mile beach. Fun fact... it's actually only about 6.3 miles. 

7 mile beach is the main tourist beach area on Grand Cayman. The tender operation was again very efficient and we had no wait at all when getting on the tender. Likewise, when we returned. I always worry about the long lines when it comes to a tender but HAL did a great job on keeping the flow moving. 

The taxi ride to the beach was $10 per person each way. If you are not familiar with the island taxi service it's basically a mini bus seating about 10-12 people. Patience is key when riding with these taxis because they want the taxi full before they leave and they will wait for that to happen. Sit bak and remember you're on island time and these folks need a full taxi to make a living... 

The ride to the beach was about 15-20 minutes, so you need to keep that in mind when returning to catch the ship. You don't want to be a runner or in the case of Grand Cayman a swimmer if you miss the last tender. 

We spent the day at the beach. We paid $20 for two beach chairs and an umbrella. The person who brought us our chairs and umbrella also took care of us throughout the day for any drinks or food we wanted. I highly recommend the Rum Punch. 

The beach was very crowded on this day as there were, I think 4 cruise ships in port that day. The water was beautiful but a bit rough, making it hard to get in at first with the waves... once past the initial break you were able to enjoy the water... 

I'll let the pictures tell the rest. 

7 Mile Beach 

HHeading back to the ship

A rainbow while we sail away from Grand Cayman 

Following the sea day the next stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Now we have been to this spot before and we have done the Dunns River Falls and the All inclusive resorts for the day etc.. So our plan for this day was to get off the ship and just hang out on the beach. There are a few beaches to go to immediately off the ship. When you get off the ship and walk into the port town to your left is Turtle Beach... You can see the beach from the ship as well.  It's about a 10 minute walk and there is a minimum fee of $10 I think it was. As a loyal Parrothead,  I couldn't miss a stop that has a Margaritaville. Now this is a little more pricey to get in but if you buy food you get a bit of discount on your entrance fee which I think was around $40 for the two of us with an umbrella and two  beach chairs at Margaritaville. However, we did learn once on the beach that other folks were charged more for the same. I guess it depended on who you spoke to at the entrance.  The beach at Margaritaville is smaller and a little more crowded then Turtle Beach we found,  but overall it suited us for the day.  We spent most of the day at the beach and probably got back on the ship about 45 minutes before last call for boarding. A good day once again... 

A few shots from the day...

Turtle Bay Beach from the ship 

 Margaritaville 

A few shots from Half Moon Cay

Ok... Where was I.... Ports of call;

As I mentioned above this was a 7 day Itinerary and Western Caribbean Adventure. 

The cruise went as follows:

Day 1 - Fort Lauderdale

Day 2 - Half Moon Cay

Day 3 - Sea Day

Day 4 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica 

Day 5 - Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico

Day 7 - Sea Day

When we left Fort Lauderdale enroute to Half Moon Cay we had a bit of a rocky night on the ship as Hurricane Nicole was starting to form toward San Juan... when I say rocky,  you definitely felt the movement of the ship throughout most of the night and at one pint the night table drawer near the bed kept opening and closing.... however fortunately for this journey that would be all we would see of Nicole the rest of the trip. In fact, you wouldn't have even known a Hurricane was out there somewhere. The weather was perfect the rest of the way. 

Fist stop Half Moon Cay:

This was our first time at Half Moon Cay. In fact,  in all my crushes the only private islands we have experienced was on Royal Caribbean. Remember though I will not compare! 

Half Moon Cay required a tender for those of you not familiar with this. The tender was,  quite frankly,  a breeze both going and retuning. We set out for the island around 10 am.. Went down to the floor where the tenders were located, which was floor "0",  scanned our cards and got on the tender. There was no wait at all. Very efficient process. The only wait was while the tender filled up. The tender boats used were double decker type boats with a lower inside area and an upper outside area. We prefer the top for the views. 

Once on the island, it was a matter of familiarizing ourselves with our surroundings and deciding where to go for the day. We basically headed directly for the beach. 

There were ample chairs available and we set up near a bar.  We enjoyed a nice beach day and the waters were a beautiful aqua blue colour with powder white sands. A fabulous stop. 

Ok... so this is where I have a slight concern. While on the ship we had the drink package. However, unlike other cruise lines (not a comparison but more of an observation) the drink package at HAL is not applicable to Half Moon Cay. I do not understand that. If I paid for the package why would it not carry over to the cruise lines private island? My experience on other lines is that it very much is useable when on the private island. I found this to be very odd and frankly a bit of a rip off. 

The BBQ lunch on the island was just that. A BBQ lunch. There was nothing earth shattering about the lunch but there was nothing to complain about either. They had all the BBQ favourites including ribs and chicken as well as hotdogs and hamburgers. Lots of salads and desserts as well. 

We really did enjoy Half Moon Cay. I thought the island was well maintained and the weather was superb the day we were there.  I rate it a solid 8/10 (not a perfect score because of the drink package situation).