LIVE Nieuw Amsterdam 11-18-2012

[sapper1]

I want to add to the beverage card discussion since you seem not to have had to renew your card. We bought the 250 card for 225 the first week of our cruise on Nov 11th. On the first day of the second week, Nov 18, I asked to buy a new card. I was told that starting with that cruise there would no longer be a discounted $250 card offered and that it would cost 250 from then on.

[KirkNC]

I want to add to the beverage card discussion since you seem not to have had to renew your card. We bought the 250 card for 225 the first week of our cruise on Nov 11th. On the first day of the second week, Nov 18, I asked to buy a new card. I was told that starting with that cruise there would no longer be a discounted $250 card offered and that it would cost 250 from then on.

 

What? Then why bother, other then some easy of tracking you drinks, there is no other benefit.

[lovetocruise2020]

What? Then why bother, other then some easy of tracking you drinks, there is no other benefit.

 

I agree completely. Then why? Lets see if my booking lets me pre purchase one... Maybe its just onboard?

 

Nope, its changed online under beverages to $250...

[CruisingWalter]

Disembarkation - Wrap Up

 

We woke up around 5:30 this morning and opened the curtains to the balcony and watched the Port Everglades condos pass by. * * It's now 6:30 and we are tied up to dock. * So far we see the Carnival Glory, RC Allure of the Seas and the Westerdam in port with us this morning.*

 

One GREAT thing HAL does is put the disembarkation schedule on the in room television. *We've not seen that on the Princess cruises. * *In our case it's channel 26 and we already know our scheduled disembark will be between 9:30 and 9:45. * *Disembark starts at 7:30 with the expedited folks, and we are in the last three groups to go as we do not have a plane to catch. * * Nice to already know this as we do final packing and then head up to breakfast. * *

 

Oh and I see the Ruby Princess has come into port as well. * It's always incredible how these ships can park better than most people can park their cars in the mall. * **

 

Disembarkation turned out to be a breeze and very well orchestrated by the ship. *Our section got called at 9:50 so only five minutes later than scheduled. * Got off the ship in short order and then found our bags quickly. * Customs went quickly too, less than 10 minutes after we gathered our bags. * We actually appreciated that NA kept us waiting on the ship and called folks down in smaller batches making for a smaller logjam at every step along the way. * We had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet and then made our way down to the Explorers Bar on Deck 2 about 9am to wait for our section to be called.*

 

That's a good little tip by the way. * The end of the line to get off the ship points back to the Explorers Bar so if you wait in there, you get directly into the line. When they called our section, about 50 or so folks came up from the Deck 1 seating area near the front desk and they had to work their way past us to get to the end of the line. *

 

Well that's it for the live blog, I'll write a full review in a couple of days with everything organized by topic, some additional *notes and a lot of pictures. * *All in all a great trip and happy to be home! **

 

Walter

[CruisingWalter]

Loved the review and laughed out loud at this last sentence.:D

 

Catherine

 

Can't believe I figured out a way to use a NASCAR term in a cruise review! :D

[CruisingWalter]

Thanks for a very entertaining review - I'm going to miss your daily reports now that you are home.;)

 

I'll tell DW we need to cruise again soon we can do another round.....

 

Thanks for the kind words and thanks to everyone here for the kindness. I have not participated in the forums much, its usually DW RebeccaC who does the posting. But I like to write and this gave me something to do on the cruise in addition to drinking Mojitos...... :)

[CruisingWalter]

I want to add to the beverage card discussion since you seem not to have had to renew your card. We bought the 250 card for 225 the first week of our cruise on Nov 11th. On the first day of the second week, Nov 18, I asked to buy a new card. I was told that starting with that cruise there would no longer be a discounted $250 card offered and that it would cost 250 from then on.

 

Well that stinks. No point in buying a beverage card any longer I guess. DW prepurchased it for $225 before the cruise. Wonder if this has anything to do with the delay in getting it, that "problem with the system" the steward told us about since we departed on the 18th. That would have been the first day of the new system.

 

As it was it didn't matter because we ended up with $50 still left on it so we didn't realize any savings with it. But that stinks they dropped the discount for prepurchasing the card. Guess we won't need it in the future.

 

Thanks for letting us know!

[sapper1]

What? Then why bother, other then some easy of tracking you drinks, there is no other benefit.

 

You're right. The only benefit is that you don't wind up with a gazillion small charges on your final bill.

[CruisingWalter]

I just put 24 more photos up from the iPhone including a few more of the cabana club. When I go through the 500 or so on my main camera, I'll add some of those too. I'll also insert images into the full review later this week.

 

http://nieuwamsterdam.shutterfly.com/pictures

[lovetocruise2020]

You're right. The only benefit is that you don't wind up with a gazillion small charges on your final bill.

 

I think i might still do it, so the bill is easier to look over... :(

[CruisingWalter]

 

Any thoughts that you think might be helpful will be greatly appreciated (for ex - particular cabana to request, if you can do so)

 

I just posted these two new cabana pictures which show the lounging area a bit better.

 

http://nieuwamsterdam.shutterfly.com/pictures/51#51

 

http://nieuwamsterdam.shutterfly.com/pictures/51#57

[lovetocruise2020]

Thanks for posting your cruise log! I loved it!

[CanuckCruizer]

Thanks for posting this great Live Review. I just booked the NA for 2014 yesterday so it was perfect timing reading all about it! Much appreciated that you took the time out of your holiday to fill us all in.:)

 

Canuck

[tropicgal2]

Thank you for posting your daily reviews. I enjoyed reading them. We are going on this ship for the first time, in 2 weeks. We have also been on 3 previous princess cruises, so I enjoyed reading the comparisons.

 

Did you go to the casino at all? We were just wondering how they compared to the larger Princess ships liked the Caribbean or the Ruby?

 

Thanks!

[CruisingWalter]

Did you go to the casino at all? We were just wondering how they compared to the larger Princess ships liked the Caribbean or the Ruby?

 

Thanks!

 

We did not play at all honestly. I used to work for Foxwoods Resort Casino and we go to Vegas once a year. We don't play on any ships honestly because they are too smoky for us.

 

The Casino is quite small compared to a Princess ships. Seems nice and the Northern Lights club is in the back of it. There is a really nice bar that's essentially a part of the casino as well.

 

Sorry I can't be of much help.

[lovetocruise2020]

Creative Genius,

How did you like your cabin?

Do you mind sharing which one you had?

Would you ever consider a VQ to be closer to the retreat if the price was right?

[CruisingWalter]

Creative Genius,

How did you like your cabin?

Do you mind sharing which one you had?

Would you ever consider a VQ to be closer to the retreat if the price was right?

 

It was nice, I posted some panorama photos of it in the last batch Ai uploaded to shutterfly. Room was comparable to what we have had in Princess. It was a balcony cabin and on Deck 4 the balconies are slightly larger due to the lifeboats hanging down below.

 

Cabin was 4179 on the starboard rear. We like the rear cabins because they are generally smoother for riding. We are in our early 40'e so we don't mind walking. In fact I avoid the elevators as much as possible for excercize.

[lovetocruise2020]

It was nice, I posted some panorama photos of it in the last batch Ai uploaded to shutterfly. Room was comparable to what we have had in Princess. It was a balcony cabin and on Deck 4 the balconies are slightly larger due to the lifeboats hanging down below.

 

Cabin was 4179 on the starboard rear. We like the rear cabins because they are generally smoother for riding. We are in our early 40'e so we don't mind walking. In fact I avoid the elevators as much as possible for excercize.

 

We were just in SC 4176 and it was the farthest away possible from the Retreat. We love walking but when we forgot or needed something it wasted alot of time going back and forth. We have Vd 4166 booked, but thinking of letting that 18ft balcony on the 4th deck go, to not have to run back and forth and waste any time. I swear, we made too many trips and the day was gone like that! (Snaps fingers)

[ger_77]

I've enjoyed your review and photos as well. A question for you - how do you access the bow observation deck? We've gone out on the Rotterdam's a few times, and really enjoyed departures from various ports out there and would like to know how to get out on the Nieuw Amsterdam's.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Himself]

Disembarkation - Wrap Up

 

We woke up around 5:30 this morning and opened the curtains to the balcony and watched the Port Everglades condos pass by. * * It's now 6:30 and we are tied up to dock. * So far we see the Carnival Glory, RC Allure of the Seas and the Westerdam in port with us this morning.*

 

One GREAT thing HAL does is put the disembarkation schedule on the in room television. *We've not seen that on the Princess cruises. * *In our case it's channel 26 and we already know our scheduled disembark will be between 9:30 and 9:45. * *Disembark starts at 7:30 with the expedited folks, and we are in the last three groups to go as we do not have a plane to catch. * * Nice to already know this as we do final packing and then head up to breakfast. * *

 

Oh and I see the Ruby Princess has come into port as well. * It's always incredible how these ships can park better than most people can park their cars in the mall. * **

 

Disembarkation turned out to be a breeze and very well orchestrated by the ship. *Our section got called at 9:50 so only five minutes later than scheduled. * Got off the ship in short order and then found our bags quickly. * Customs went quickly too, less than 10 minutes after we gathered our bags. * We actually appreciated that NA kept us waiting on the ship and called folks down in smaller batches making for a smaller logjam at every step along the way. * We had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet and then made our way down to the Explorers Bar on Deck 2 about 9am to wait for our section to be called.*

 

That's a good little tip by the way. * The end of the line to get off the ship points back to the Explorers Bar so if you wait in there, you get directly into the line. When they called our section, about 50 or so folks came up from the Deck 1 seating area near the front desk and they had to work their way past us to get to the end of the line. *

 

Well that's it for the live blog, I'll write a full review in a couple of days with everything organized by topic, some additional *notes and a lot of pictures. * *All in all a great trip and happy to be home! **

 

Walter

 

Glad to hear of this. Last week things were slow. Customs checked every one's passport. After one got their luggage it was a forty five or fifty minute line to get up to customs. It was just like the airport--a disaster!

[CruisingWalter]

I've enjoyed your review and photos as well. A question for you - how do you access the bow observation deck? We've gone out on the Rotterdam's a few times, and really enjoyed departures from various ports out there and would like to know how to get out on the Nieuw Amsterdam's.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

 

Deck 5 forward. Both sides, but I believe the crew has to open the door as it has a steel door on the outside, so I don't thinks it's regularly accessible. I don't know if it's open for sail away. The Observation deck up on 11 is open all the time though. It's on top of the bridge and basically the same view.

[OneWiseCruiser]

The waiters at handing too many tables now too so it's harder to get their attndtion after they bring the food. Coffee would be brought to the table 5 or 10 minutes after the dessert for example.

 

Tamarind and the Lido were great though. Overall the ship was good but food on th three Princess ships was much better for us.

 

We had the same experience on Norwegian and that their ratio of waitstaff to guests must be far fewer than our previous HAL experience. Perhaps we will find HAL has now also been effected by "efficiency" motives.

[CruisingWalter]

I have neglected to post that my full review on the Nieuw Amsterdam has been published here on CC. I reorganized everything by topic so it's a little easier to follow along and added some new comments and thoughts.

 

Enjoy and thanks so much for following along with the live blog!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1748245