4Moppy

We just returned from a wonderful trip on the NieuwAmsterdam. We are a couple in our 70?sand only went to rest and relax so I do not have any information on the ports,but I will report on our experiences.

 

We arrived at the port around 11:15. We tried to get there earlier, but I allowedthe bellman to order a cab for us from the hotel when I should have orderedUber. Lesson learned. It took them 20 minutes to get the cab ?theywanted? as several cabs passed by, but we were not allowed to get in them. We had to wait for their ?special? cab thatturned out to be a jalopy but with a very nice driver. (Can you see perhaps a kickback here?)

 

Boarding had already begun. We checked in, and got the keys to our Neptune Suite 7048 which waslovely, and it was right across from the Neptune Lounge. The cabin was ready, we dropped off our carryon bags, but when we went to the Lounge to check in with the concierges, therewas such a crowd in there that we postponed that till later.

 

We learned at check in that the Princess from theNetherlands was on board. More on thatlater.

 

We stopped in at the Lido for lunch. While the salad was delicious and fresh, itis still not my favorite way to eat. Ifyou want pizza from New York pizza (aft pool area) and also something from theLido, you have some traveling to do?.. Guess I?m getting lazy in my old age.

 

Retreat Cabana

 

We went to check on our cabana, and it was everything wewanted it to be and then some. It wasour home away from home. If you recall,I had asked specifically for the Portofino Cabana and had a verbal responsethat was available for me. A week or sobefore the cruise, I got an email from Guest Services that Portofino had beendouble booked and they had moved me to another cabana. I was not happy so I wrote back with someexplanations of why I should not be moved, and my original request washonored. I could not wait to see who hadthe other cabana they tried to switch me to. Well, it was the Royals! All ofthe Royals! Yes, one cabana for two wasassigned to all the Royals. (I wasshocked that my request was honored!) After arriving home, I found out from myguide in Amsterdam that Princess Margarite and her husband were celebratingtheir 50th wedding anniversary with a Caribbean cruise with her 4sons, 4 daughter in laws and her 11 grandchildren! (and her body guard) While this made forgreat people watching, it did somewhat impact our time in the cabana. Only a few of the grandchildren ran in andout, but all the adults took over most of the lounges in the sun and had thecabana guys taking and delivering lunch orders for all of them before waitingon those of us following the rules of the two person cabana. My husband and I do not sit in the sun, sothe lack of sun lounges did not impact us but definitely did others. The result of that was chair hogs in theRetreat Cabana!!! And I didn?t blamethem at all. I noticed when I arrived atthe cabana one day, that several lounges had towels, books, beach bags, etc. onthem. The people who placed them thereshowed up a few hours later to sit in the sun. The Royals moved to the other end of the cabana area and used up allthose lounges!

 

The Princess? bodyguard sat in a corner right outside thecabana area keeping watch over the Princess. When she stood up, he stood up, and if she headed toward the door, hewas right there escorting her out. Isoon learned, ?IT IS GOOD TO BE A PRINCESS!?

 

At 3:30 was the muster drill. We were in cabin 7048 and the Princess was in7040 which I discovered at the drill: The staff in charge kept calling 7040 for a check in at the muster?.noanswer! Finally, an officer came up tothe staff and proclaimed, ?The Princess is NOT coming!? Yes, ?IT IS GOOD TO BE A PRINCESS!? I whispered to my husband that I consideredmyself a princess so what was I doing at the muster??? Hahaha!

 

I did not bother trying to speak to the Royals, but from myobservations, they were very lovely people, and I am sure they would havejoined me in conversation. Sincereturning, I have read that they are quite beloved in their country and wellrespected. They certainly are a handsomelooking family!

 

Food

 

I know food is completely subjective, but my husband and Ifound all the food to be delicious. Wehad one of the best steaks ever in the Pinnacle, some of the best sushi ever inthe Tamarind, and delicious lasagna in the Canaletto Restaurant. The dining room service was excellent, andthe food delicious, cooked the way we wanted it, and the righttemperature. We had dinner in our cabintwice from the main menu in the dining room, but while it was convenient tomeet our needs to eat in, the food didn?t arrive as great as it did in thedining room. Note: if you order in andyou want a breadbasket, you have to request it. I assumed incorrectly it was included without ordering. And I forgot both times! Saved some calories!

 

Activities

 

We only went to one show. We went to the casino most nights after dinner. The personnel there were very nice, themachines were not nice, and the smoke was not too bad in there. Since this was to be a rest for us, weretired early each night.

 

Ports

 

We had planned to only get off the ship at Grand Cayman andKey West. When we arrived at GrandCayman, the weather was beautiful! However, the Captain announced that if you wanted a smooth ride back tothe ship (tender port), you best return by noon because a front was coming inand the seas would be choppy after that. My husband declared he would stay on board, and I am sooooo glad Idecided to stay as well. Long storyshort: The front came in sooner thanexpected and stronger than expected. Wind, heavy rain, and huge swells were in the ocean for hours. We hung over the rails of our balconywatching the harrowing experience of the passengers getting off the tender andonto the ship. It was verydangerous. The crew was fabulous. I saw them literally hoist people from thetender to the ship because the tender was bobbing up and down so much thatthere was only a split second one could find a steady step. At one point, one tender crashed intoanother. We were supposed to leave GrandCayman at 4:00 and it was 6:30 before they were able to get all the passengersback on board. Through my binoculars, Icould see hundreds of people on shore queued up waiting to get on a tender backto the ship. At one point, it was sorough that the tender service was suspended. I heard horror stories from people on the tenders getting seasick, andhaving to close the windows due to the heavy rain coming in so no aircirculating. It was hot and stuffyfurther causing sickness. Thankgoodness, there were no serious injuries that I heard of. So, thanks to my husband, good call on hispart!

 

Key West was nice. Wetook the Conch Train just to get an overview. I shopped for souvenirs for a while and then back to the ship and backto our home away from home, the cabana.

 

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. We are planning to book the same trip nextyear since it was such a wonderful week for us.

I am curious about the cabana's-please share information about getting one, what they include, etc.

I specifically agree with 9#. The food there is wonderful. The problem is, you would never pass it during a cruise, since it's really out of the way. As a result, most people don't even know it's there. We eat there at least twice every cruise.

When you say it's really out of the way, where is it located, how will we find it. We are sailing in November and I like to be prepared.

A tip I read elsewhere is to take highlighters of different colors for each member of your party. Then when you get the cruise compass, each person can highlight things they want to do.