also just back for Nieuw Amsterdam Inaugural cruise

[ssneiderma]

We are seasoned cruisers 3 star on Holland which by the way does not offer much.Also Elite on Princess which has much better benefits. This cruise we did not use any benefit. Bought a family picture but this was not covered in benefits discounts as it was a separate franchise

:-(.

Anyway we had 2 cabins one on Main outside for 4 and one on Upper Promenade Partial view for 3. Rough on Main

I found Ernie's review great and agree with all that he said. I would like to add some things

 

Boarded on heal of a Code Red from Transatlantic voyage. First 3 days of our voyage were hampered by fact that the ship was still in Code Red. I now believe this is done on all HAL ships for first 3 days. Passengers are cheated out of using facilities normally available. We were on Westerdam in May and they did the same thing. Wondering why there is so much sickness on this line in spite of their precautions. Husband and I got IT on Volendam a few years back. Have been on many other cruise lines without the antibacterial invasion and have never been sick or had the code red experience on them.HMMMMM.

This cruise had several bad things going on.

 

1. We never met our room steward until next to last day since I had complained to front office. He said he was new and had so many cabins to clean. Also had another cabin for family members. Granddaughter threw up and it remained on floor from 8AM until 3 PM. It had been reported early and their steward threw something on it. After a phone call someone appeared ( of some authority) and directed 2 others on the cleaning operation.

 

2. Lido under staffed. Had to request staff member to wipe off tables and to provide silverware. Went to get water and was told there were no glasses and could I return in 15 minutes. Happened on several occasions. Ran out of bread pudding.

 

3. Dining room was a disaster. Never met Maitre 'd. Had open seating. Asked first night about seating for 7 people. Was told to come around 6 and there would be no problem. Formal night we appeared around 6 and were told there were no tables and gave us a buzzer and said probably around 7:30. He said he had to close one section because had to send waiters upstairs. Tragically understaffed and there is no management authority.There were 2 Dutch gentlemen somberly walking around dining room picking up dirty dishes. Later found out that they were assistant maitre'ds. I suggested that they interact more with the passengers but one replied that the tables needed to be cleared(obviously the plates seemed more important than their tips. Seemed frustrated that they were terribly short handed and there seemed to be little or no supervision going on. Also later found out that there were groups on board anesthesiologists, travel agents, church groups that were demanding a lot of the time and help of the employees. It seems that they were not able to cope with this.

 

For Capt luncheon we were in time and it appeared a lot of people had already started eating. We were escorted around the entire dining room to find a seat and then were left in lurch and just found a seat and sat down. There were not enough seats for the people invited

 

During tea had to ask for scones ,pastries etc. some people had little taepts othere received a 1/2 cup hot water in their cup.

 

I know this may seem to be harsh but am concerned about Holland's Service record and disappointed. This was the worst service ever out of more than 50 cruises.

They charge more for their tips also. One would think that on a new ship there would not be so many new employees or their training is not up to par. Not so great for a new ship. some of the others in the fleet are more beautiful

 

Another odd thing was when we got to the ship to embark we were then given a paper about the Code Red and if we wanted to back out they would put us on another cruise later.A little late don't you think?? We had booked through Holland and were not even told by them about the Code Red or delay in departure due to ship cleaning. Found out here on Critic.

Ship ran rough and a lot of people were sick, If it were a car I would test drive another model.

 

Entertainment group on board was spectacular. Wonder if they will remain on this ship. will be hard to replace.

 

Oh well

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

We have quite a few HAL cruises under our belt -- and the last several cruises on different ships we never met the dining room manager. Didn't even know his name until we got our log at the end of the cruise. For the last couple of years we have noticed the area captains helping out by cleaning dishes off the tables as well.

What Captain's Lunch? Are you referring to the Mariner's Brunch?

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

[esther e]

I'm glad you enjoyed the entertainment.:)

[NickCDN]

Are all cruises started with code red? No salt and pepper shakers? No bread baskets? Full service in lido?

 

I have open seating booked. We will have a party of 7. Looks like I might want to rethink the open seating. I hope the service is better than carnival and ncl. Not that ncl and carnival service was bad, but I paid a lot more for this cruise expecting top notch service.

[jtl513]

I would much prefer to see assistant maitre d's helping out their waiters than shmoozing when there was work to be done ...

Are all cruises started with code red? No salt and pepper shakers? No bread baskets? Full service in lido?

Most are starting out in a kind of code "orange", which is more precautionary than remedial. You are not allowed to put your own food on your plate, or draw your own iced tea/coffee/water from the machines, etc, but it is not like a full code red.

 

I think the first cruise out of FLL may have been in code red because the ship arrived that way from Europe.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Are all cruises started with code red? No salt and pepper shakers? No bread baskets? Full service in lido?

 

I have open seating booked. We will have a party of 7. Looks like I might want to rethink the open seating. I hope the service is better than carnival and ncl. Not that ncl and carnival service was bad, but I paid a lot more for this cruise expecting top notch service.

 

In March a couple of HAL ships had several cases of the Norwalk Virus. So HAL made a decision to have each ship start off the first 48 hours in Code Orange -- this is not as severe as Code Red. The buffet lines for the first 48 hours -- you can not help yourself to anything -- not even water or coffee -- nothing.

But in the dining room for all meals the tables were set normally -- bread baskets, regular salt and pepper shakers.

When a ship is in Code Red -- you touch nothing -- packets of salt and pepper -- the waiters come to the table and you indicate what roll/bread you want from the bread basket -- the pools are closed, the library is closed, etc. The Nieuw Amsterdam arrived in Ft Lauderdale under Code Red as there were over 200 cases of the virus on the ship during her TA crossing.

[dot73]

"Granddaughter threw up and it remained on floor from 8AM until 3 PM. It had been reported early and their steward threw something on it."

 

You can flame me for my comment but if I or a member of my family threw up in my cabin, I would have cleaned it up myself and just asked the room steward to put a little powder deodorant on it later. Perhaps the crew was understaffed beacuse they also were sick. You can't predict an outbreak of norovirus, whether it's on a ship, a hospital, a retirement home, etc.

[Cristiano]

Hi dot73,

 

I am with you...how one could leave that for 7 hours is beyond me..so flame away.......I also am slightly sceptical re this review......:eek:...you are right KK it would not have been a Captains Lunch......

 

I can feel the vibe all the way "downunder".......

 

I said I was not going to comment when I read the op's original post but.....its all your fault dot73 :)

 

Ciao,

 

Cristiano.

[ssneiderma]

Yes it was the Mariner lunch sorry

 

Also know what the codes mean... Was on Westerdam for a TA in spring and they did same thing. By the way on this cruise there was no butter, rolls, salt etc (requested salt and they said they were out)on dining room tables. Our code orange/red whatever you wish to call it lasted for 3 days. Can not check out library books, games etc.

 

As to vomit daughter was afraid it might be the virus she did call medical and they told her not to touch it.

[RuthC]

Our code orange/red whatever you wish to call it lasted for 3 days.

There are real differences between Code Red and Code Orange which are significant. It's not a matter of "whatever you wish to call it". It's a matter of additional restrictions under Code Red which make it more difficult on everyone.

Code Orange is not very restrictive on passengers. Think of it as Code Red Lite. It is standard operating procedure at the begining of every cruise now.

[IRL_Joanie]

ssneiderma, Thank You for your review:)

 

I have just one question for you, if I may ask it?

 

What Stateroom(s) were you and your group of 7 in?

 

Joanie

[bepsf]

Why do HAL ships so frequently come under Code Red?

Perhaps it has something to do with passengers who refuse to wash their hands after using the toilets?

As far as the pre-boarding survey, they're asking if we've been ill within the previous 24 hours in order to prevent to persons w/ Noro from boarding and making others ill - Asking us these things 3 months in advance wouldn't exactly meet the purpose.

Why was service so poor?

Perhaps it has something to do with HAL reducing prices due to declining demand, too many ships and passengers continually insisting on getting "The Best Deal" and pricing reductions, resulting in cutbacks in staffing that must occur to maintain profitability for the business?

Why did your family of 7 have difficulty being seated together in a timely fashion for dinner?

Perhaps it's because there are only so many tables for 8 and 10 in the dining room - Had you been 4 or 6 your family would have had far better luck. You'd have been far better off having your TA request Traditional/Fixed Dining with a regular table and a regular waitstaff to look after your family's needs - a good TA should have known better than to let you fend for yourself in Open Seating.

As far as the Captain's luncheon, if others were eating clearly you were not on time - and if you were a large group of 4, 6 or 7 and all wanted to sit together, clearly you should have arrived earlier so that you could have secured your preferred seating arrangements as it's unreasonable to expect a group of seats to remain open for that event.

[DixonDreamer]

I am going on the same itinerary Jan 2. What were the formal nights? Just trying to plan which nights to eat at Pinnacle and Tamarind. Thanks.

[Seavoyage]

"1. We never met our room steward until next to last day since I had complained to front office. He said he was new and had so many cabins to clean. Also had another cabin for family members. Granddaughter threw up and it remained on floor from 8AM until 3 PM. :eek: It had been reported early and their steward threw something on it. After a phone call someone appeared ( of some authority) and directed 2 others on the cleaning operation."

 

 

Hi Ssneiderma -

 

Thank you for taking your time to post your experience. I find all comments (positive and negative) very helpful. So thank you.

 

With that - after reading your comments and in defense of the poor cabin steward, I cannot help but respond to the above statement. Why on earth would a family member not clean up their child's throw-up? That is just gross. I can see perhaps the need for the steward to perform follow-up cleaning (e.g. carpet shampoo, bedding change, etc). But to expect a cabin steward to clean up the whole mess? Yikes, that takes a lot of chutzpah!! IMHO, I just do not think that is the duty of a hard working cabin steward....Yuck and shame on the parents!!

 

I have a feeling you will have some other responses on this one - so buckle-up:rolleyes:.

[krewzin]

Why on earth would a family member not clean up their child's throw-up? That is just gross. I can see perhaps the need for the steward to perform follow-up cleaning (e.g. carpet shampoo, bedding change, etc). But to expect a cabin steward to clean up the whole mess? Yikes, that takes a lot of chutzpah!! IMHO, I just do not think that is the duty of a hard working cabin steward....Yuck and shame on the parents!!

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm.....We do a similar thing when one of our cats throw up: we leave it on the floor, and eventually....one of the dogs cleans it up for us. However, since they do not allow dogs on cruise ships, I doubt this could have benefitted you in any way.

:D

 

That said, I too would've cleaned up what my kid yakked up, and left the real 'deep cleaning' to the professionals.

 

"3. Dining room was a disaster. Never met Maitre 'd. Had open seating. Asked first night about seating for 7 people. Was told to come around 6 and there would be no problem. Formal night we appeared around 6 and were told there were no tables and gave us a buzzer and said probably around 7:30. He said he had to close one section because had to send waiters upstairs. Tragically understaffed and there is no management authority.There were 2 Dutch gentlemen somberly walking around dining room picking up dirty dishes. Later found out that they were assistant maitre'ds. I suggested that they interact more with the passengers but one replied that the tables needed to be cleared(obviously the plates seemed more important than their tips. Seemed frustrated that they were terribly short handed and there seemed to be little or no supervision going on. Also later found out that there were groups on board anesthesiologists, travel agents, church groups that were demanding a lot of the time and help of the employees. It seems that they were not able to cope with this."

 

 

Seems that your beef (hehe) w/the dining room is mostly w/the maitre'd service, and the long wait for a table. You went down for dinner at 6pm, and had an hour and 30 minute wait for a table??:eek: Wow. I certainly would have demanded speaking w/the DR manager after 30 minutes to find out what the heck was going on, as that is completely unacceptable.

 

I've never heard of anyone waiting that long for a seating, and I hope that you brought this to the attention of someone of authority.

 

That said....was the food any good? -Sorry you had such a lousy cruise.....

[dot73]

I don't understand why the OP just didn't make a reservation for the dining room especially since he had a large group. On our last two Noordam cruises, we would make reservations two or three days in advance and never had to wait more than a couple of minutes to be seated. We would have a card delivered to our room every day telling us what time we had reserved for and what table we would be seated at. We would present the card at the entrance to the dining room entrance and would be taken to our table as soon as someone was available to escort us. As for dining room service, it wasn't quite as good as the set time seatings. Because in the any time dining you hardly ever get the same waiters, they don't get to know your preferences, etc. and you do not develop a relationship. I also felt that the waiters looked overworked. On my Dec. 5-19 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise, I have the second fixed seating so it will be interesting to see how the service will be.

 

I have to say that after reading the OP's review, I feel real sympathy for the crew. They must have been totally exhausted after the transatlantic cruise with so many sick passengers, the ordeal of the major clean-up, and no doubt many unhappy passengers who may not have been as kind to them as they should have been. No doubt some of them also had been sick and were probably not totally recovered. I am sure that the crew did the very best they could. I don't expect my cruise to be perfect as the NA is a fairly new ship and is still undergoing growing, but as someone has said before me, a not-so-perfect cruise is still better than a good day at the office.:D

[ssneiderma]

Hi all

In response to some of your comments. Our staterooms were 1006 and 4090.

As to open seating for 7. The first night I spoke with man at entrance to dining room about securing a table for 7 every night. He told me not to worry that if we arrived at 6 they would find something for us. We were never told to make a reservation.Everything was fine until the 2nd formal night when we arrived at 6 and were told there were no more tables.( It seems that for some reason he had closed off one section to send workers upstairs) Gave us a buzzer and said it would probably be an hour and a half. Saying this I went down to purser and they called and by the time I got back upstairs the family was seated and we had a reservation for the following night which was the last night at the same table.

 

Our invitation for mariner brunch was for 11:30 and we were on time it was only my DH and I not the whole family. I think some of the others already eating had an earlier time to be there.

 

Vomit issue; When granddaughter got ill my daughter immediately called medical as we are instructed to do if anyone is ill. She was told not to do anything... that crew members specified for this would be up to clean room. Meantime room steward applied some powder.

If any of you have ever had the Virus you know that men in white suits and masks fumigate room twice daily and that ill person is confined until better at least 24 hours. Even room service people are not regular room service people. Special crew members deal with it.They strip beds and everything...did not charge for laundry. If you clean it yourself you could be confined to room.

 

Formal nights were first sea day and next to last night.

 

Those of you who are very defensive about all of this will find out for yourselves. Yes I realize and sympathize with the crew members having to deal with all of it. It is still a business and the competition is far to great.Feeling sorry for the crew will not enhance the experience for the passenger. We have been on Princess many times and there is no comparison. Holland also charges $11 for tips. Princess charges $10.50. These tips are for service.

[mpduquaine]

thank you for your review! I respect all that you have to say and understand the throw up waiting for clean up. Your daughter did what is told, I myself have been in the same situation. EVERYONE has some type of opinion. I am a very loyal HAL cruiser, BUT have seen a lot of things fail over the past several cruises. We cruise in a few days and am just crossing my fingers on a good sail. It is a family cruise and our last one with HAL was horrible, but being a loyal HAL, I am trying them again in hopes of it being what HAL has always been. I understand that sometimes things just happen and it sometimes makes for a not so good vacation. I appreciate your candid, honest thoughts. I am not a flamer, because I have been on every situation possible on a cruise ship and I know that nothing is impossible.

Cheers~ Here's hoping for many terrific smooth HAPPY SAILS!

Michele

[Himself]

HAL goes Code RED the first couple days out because that is when most sickness happens. I was on the Eurodam for her first Caribbean Cruise of the Season and because of the precautions no one was really sick. I would say HAL' s precuartions are working.

[E-500]

HAL goes Code RED the first couple days out because that is when most sickness happens. I was on the Eurodam for her first Caribbean Cruise of the Season and because of the precautions no one was really sick. I would say HAL' s precuartions are working.

 

The 200+ passengers confined to their cabins and ill with a GI virus on the Nieuw Amsterdam 10/18 cruise might not share your opinion.

[winemama]

we just returned from this cruise also....i don't want to get flamed, but we had horrible service in the dinning room also...we were traveling with our granddaughter and 5 nights out of 7 we had to skip dessert so we could make the 8 'o'clock show..we sat down for dinner at 5:30...we to asked if the ship was understaffed, and was told no...i realize that the norovirus threw a ringer into service, and i am OK with that, but service all through the ship was slow and off...on a positive note, the grandbaby enjoyed KID HAL they were great. all in all we did not enjoy this cruise, it just seemed to us that HAL is loosing some of the finesse it has always been noted for

[kazu]

 

 

I have to say that after reading the OP's review, I feel real sympathy for the crew. They must have been totally exhausted after the transatlantic cruise with so many sick passengers, the ordeal of the major clean-up, and no doubt many unhappy passengers who may not have been as kind to them as they should have been. No doubt some of them also had been sick and were probably not totally recovered. I am sure that the crew did the very best they could. I don't expect my cruise to be perfect as the NA is a fairly new ship and is still undergoing growing, but as someone has said before me, a not-so-perfect cruise is still better than a good day at the office.:D

 

We were on the Transatlantic cruise - I saw no passengers being rude or anything else to the staff. I'm sorry, but in defense of the op, the dining room service was inconsistent. If we hadn't spoken to the Assistant dining room manager, our service would have never have been fixed (he did finish waiting on us and was excellent). He revealed some people were in training.

 

Our service quickly improved after that but ONLY because I was pro active.

 

While we enjoyed our ports and our cruise overall, this was my least favourite ship ever and I doubt if I would sail her again. JMO.

[SeattleHil]

Although it was my first cruise, I would kind of have to agree. Our dining room experience was pretty good except our server kept interrupting people mid-conversation, a lot.

 

The worst service was at afternoon tea. I don't know if they were not communicating with each other or what but the staff kept walking by us and the table behind is. When we finally caught them and asked them for some food we saw going by, they ran out! :-( bummer

 

The best service I had was from the medical staff (I got Noro on the boat), and the bar staff at the Lido pool.

[boaterette]

Who cleans the granddaughters vomit at home? That was just nasty of your kids to leave it there for the crew to clean.:mad:

[travlnblueberries]

we just returned from this cruise also....i don't want to get flamed, but we had horrible service in the dinning room also...we were traveling with our granddaughter and 5 nights out of 7 we had to skip dessert so we could make the 8 'o'clock show..we sat down for dinner at 5:30...we to asked if the ship was understaffed, and was told no...i realize that the norovirus threw a ringer into service, and i am OK with that, but service all through the ship was slow and off...on a positive note, the grandbaby enjoyed KID HAL they were great. all in all we did not enjoy this cruise, it just seemed to us that HAL is loosing some of the finesse it has always been noted for

I agree...

We were on the same sailing. I traveled with Hal prior to this sailing, and I have always claimed that HAL is the best. (As I now hang my head in shame)

The DR service was terrible. I fell asleep at the table many nights waiting for the next course, and two times fell asleep waiting for the menu for the desserts. We left both night without dessert. Tried the buffet for dessert but they were already closed.

We did try to get fixed seating and DH was told nothing was available. We tried making reservations, but they said nothing was available till 9:00pm, we even tried for the next day or two and was told the same thing. So every night we went down and got our beeper and waited for a table. We did hit it lucky at times and only had to wait about 45 minutes.

Breakfast and Lunch we had to clear our own table to have a seat. It's not like no one was around, they were, they just weren't cleaning the dishes off the tables. (Why would they bother when DH is doing their work!)

I found the crew less friendly on this ship, probably then any ship I've been on.