friendswithdave

I overheard on our ship that the sommeliers were let go some time ago so the waiters were filling that role.

I'm pretty sure this is available to suite guests only. It surprised us too when we saw the card on another door on our hall.

We just had this choice and upgraded to a Neptune for $550 vs a Sig for $200. For us, the additional space and benefits were worth the extra $350 over the Sig. We're glad we made that choice.

Wait staff was great across the board in the dining room. I recommend you let the waiter know your timing expectations at the beginning of the meal, and I'm 90% sure they will be met. Want to be done in an hour, I expect they can make it happen. Want a more leisurely 2 hour meal, they'll do that too. On our recent cruise we usually got 4 courses and a typical meal was 70-80 minutes.

We're just off the NA. Sandals / flip-flops OK everywhere in the evening except the dining room. In the DR, dressy ladies sandals should be fine, but not flip-flops. Hope this helps.

Hello All, Big Cruise Critic fan here so I thought I would share my trip highlights hoping your experience can be as fabulous as ours! We are experienced cruisers with 12-14 cruises in our lifetime. We booked the Dec 11 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise in October when we finally decided to do a cruise and found a great rate on this one. Booked this cruise for a few reasons: 1 – Date – we had to leave on Dec 11 and wanted one week. 2 – Cost – Better rates than Celebrity which we also considered. HAL and Celebrity are our favorite lines. 3 – Itinerary – We last visited Aruba and Curacao on our honeymoon 15 years ago. We wanted a second visit here. We booked the cheapest guarantee balcony planning to then book Club Orange and choose our favorite room for a lower price than booking this room directly. If you have a favorite room, definitely use this option to get CO benefits for what is essentially no money. It was kind of a hassle with some back and forth between HAL and the travel agent, but it eventually got worked out. 12 days out I was surfing Cruise Critic and saw others were considering upgrades. I didn’t get any offers, but had the upgrade phone number in my notes. I called, got an offer for $550 per person to upgrade to a Neptune Suite. I thought this would be a nice surprise for my wife, so I booked it. By they way, they refunded my Club Orange upgrade fee, so the net additional was just $375 per person. We flew in the morning of the cruise. Frowned upon I know, but I had a full work day the prior day and we could not leave until Sunday morning. Flight left early, landed early, and we had an incredibly fast trip to the terminal via taxi. We arrived around 9:40 and hung around until they opened the doors around 10:00. We were among the first in, first through, and the second couple in the VIP room waiting to board. Boarding was promptly at 11:00 AM and we headed to the Lido to enjoy that experience uncrowded. After quality Asian dishes we headed to our room. Wife didn’t figure out what was going on until we were actually in our room when she realized the suite upgrade. She was ecstatic and we took in the room for a spell. We then headed to the Neptune lounge where the concierge took care of all our needs: gift card credits, restaurant reservations, and questions answered. The concierges were both wonderful. The suite perks were plentiful, such as: - Free laundry, we used this 3 times - Lounge access, nice to get a snack any time of day - Concierge, always available to answer questions and solve problems - Extra entrée choice in dining room, we got this twice - Pinnacle Grill breakfast – still a much better experience than the dining room even with the service issues - Disembarkation day room service breakfast – very nice perk especially when you need an early exit - Of course, the larger room and double wide balcony. Also nicer cushioned chairs on balcony. - Free lattes and cappicinos - wife loved these, probably saved us $100 I don’t remember the rest of day 1, but I’m sure it was enjoyable. Our cruises tend to be basic. We often don’t have many more expenses than the cruise fare and some drinks. We’ve had a good year so we splurged on this one with internet access (which we shared), the suite upgrade, and the Thermal Spa, the first time we ever got that. We also had a Tamarind visit and two Pinnacle Grill lunches where we usually just get one. We’re we glad we got all these? Absolutely. Will we do these every time? Probably not. That said, we enjoyed the extra space and lounge. I enjoyed the thermal spa more than I expected. We also enjoyed the internet surfing on board. The speed was slower, but if your expectations for internet speed are low, you won’t be disappointed. The only issue we ever had was trying to check in to the flight on the last day. I couldn’t do this until I went into the hall and stood under the signal repeater. This gave me the speed needed to finish the task. Other highlights: We loved the food and were pleased with all areas. Quality was great in every venue and we tried them all: Lido, Dining Room, NY Pizza, Burger place, Pinnacle Grill, and Tamarind. Service was also great across the board with one exception: Pinnacle Grill breakfast. Nearly every day we had a service issue: Day 1 – they served coffee and croissants to all tables around us, but not us. Annoying. Days 2-4 – minor order issues – forgot bacon once, muesli switched with something else another time. Only on our last day when we were served by an assistant Matre’D was our service flawless. Now, all this didn’t dampen our experience, it just stood out since service was outstanding in every other venue all around. Entertainment – we went to the variety show in the main lounge on the first night. We wanted to like it but just couldn’t. The presentation was uninspiring and the choreography lacked flair. We didn’t go back the rest of the trip. On the other hand, the BB Kings Blues Club was outstanding. The band and the female singer were both good, but the male singer was absolutely phenomenal. He poured his heart and soul into every song. Because of their quality, every show we saw was packed 15 minutes prior to show time and was standing room only throughout. We didn’t attend Billboard Onboard after seeing those singers on the first night. We did not see Lincoln Center Stage either. Disembarkation was a minor concern for us. For the first time we booked a 10:25 flight out of Fort Lauderdale. While reading online we worried we may not be able to make it, therefore we carried our own bags off at 7:15. This whole experience was also incredibly efficient. We were completely off the ship and into a taxi by 7:25 and in the airport by 7:45. Now we had to figure out how to kill 2.7 hours in the airport. We won’t hesitate to book an early flight in the future. Our overall cruise experience was a solid 9 out of 10. More quality entertainment options would have made it a perfect 10. While we paid about double what we typically do for a cruise (HAL got about $3600 from us), for us it was well worth it. Would we have had a good time without all this? Yes. However, at the end we considered this a “Hall of Fame” worthy cruise because of all the extras we purchased.

That does not sound like a good deal. We recently upgraded from Verandah to Neptune for $550 pp. If you have any interest, I recommend waiting. The deal will likely get better as your cruise approaches.

Pinnacle Grill lunch secret - if you ask nicely, there is a good chance you can get a dessert off the dinner menu. I got a key lime pie last time and it was truly the best I ever had. Could not eat it all because the other courses filled me up. We have only been to PG for lunch, never for dinner. We will be doing two PG lunches on our cruise next week.

How interesting, we are in the other double-balcony room exactly one week later than you. If I got a similar offer I think I would give it much consideration - but probably pass. Sig suites seem not much larger than regular rooms. Neptune are about double the size, but price not quite worth it to me.

I expect they will gladly provide the petit filet if you request it. It probably comes with the lobster in that paired dish. Personally, I get the whole extra charge thing. Cruise lines are desperate to stay afloat. The times, they are a changin'. While cruise fares stay relatively unchanged over the years, cruise lines are making their money in other ways. They must, as inflation is a real thing worldwide. This is just the evolution of the industry. HAL is no different than the other lines in this way. The truth is, you can still have a wonderful experience on a cruise ship without spending a dime more than your initial fare. Those who want more, pay more. Makes sense to me. We all want more stuff for less money. Who wouldn't?

I've had similar overall experiences on both lines. Each has it's own positives and negatives. My recent preference for HAL has been for two reasons: price and itinerary. HAL easily wins here for my recent trips so I sailed on HAL in July and will again in December.

I've been on multiple cruises on both Carnival and HAL. No question, Carnival is more fun. Lots of activities, slides, etc. HAL is more laid back, fewer activities, and yes, a more mature guest list. Some see that as a positive, others as a negative. That is up to you to decide. Food is better on HAL, especially lunch. Entertainment is more fun on Carnival, more artistic on HAL. HAL is more music oriented, Carnival more fun, games, and shows. Pool deck on Carnival is much more lively. Again, for some that's a positive, others a negative. I recommend you give HAL a try, then you'll know. Worst case, you'll enjoy your experience on HAL but say, "fine, I'm going back to Carnival". Best case, you'll find your new favorite line.

I expect the ship's response would be the same regardless of how the tour was sponsored. I don't see reason here to discriminate against a land-based tour where roads are literally washed out.

I've been researching a possible Cabana stay on our December cruise and am considering the Lido Cabanas on the Nieuw Amsterdam. A big perk of the retreat cabanas is the service provided by stewards of food, drink, and a few other perks. Does anyone know if there are Lido Cabana servers who will bring food and drink?

I did exactly what alyssamma did. I booked to a specific VB room. It is the main reason I purchased Club Orange.

I'm curious, what sailing has all retreat cabanas sold out? Hope it's not mine!

Reviewing the link shows the deal is for Curacao residents only.

dlca1, we were on this sailing and ship this year. The Retreat Cabanas were completely unused and vacant. Yes, it is a little too cool to be enjoyable on the Koningsdam in Alaska.

I thought the entertainment quality took a step back on our Alaskan cruise, but most everything else (including the food) was still top notch. A few minor quibbles include inappropriate attire in the dining room and no butter mint cart after dinner.

Few responses here tells me very few take advantage of the spa services, which isn't surprising given the price.

With super-great rates we opted out of another planned land vacation and into a Nieuw Amsterdam 7 day cruise in December. We rarely splurge while on ship but plan to this time on a few spa treatments. I've heard rumors on discounts for purchasing ahead of time and other discounts when two or more treatments are purchased at the same time. That said, I searched for details and only found "up to 25% off when purchased before on board." How have you gotten the best deals in the spa? Is buying three at the same time while on board better than buying in advance? We are also considering the Thermal Suite for one day or the entire week. Pricing is hard to find. Anyone on board recently have details? Thanks!

Thanks yall!

We are boarding on Saturday and our party of four is in a verandah and inside room. Any chance our insiders could upgrade to a balcony during check-in? I assume they will have some available because we read of many who upgraded from verandah to suite (therefore their verandah is empty unless it is a last-minute fill). Has anyone tried this? Any success?

We've enjoyed HMC much more than Grand Turk in past visits.

For me it was about 2 weeks, very recently. That is quicker than other recent stories I've heard.