AMSTERDAM Onboard Florist

[Leslieswiger]

I have a question please and wonder if anyone has the answer. On our South American cruise onboard the MS Amsterdam, they had a crew of florist FROM Holland. Unlike the Celebrity Summit, the Amsterdam did not have a conservatory. However, by calling Housekeeping or going to the front desk you could order flowers. They will even come to your cabin if your ordering something very special. I truly enjoy doing little things like this and the HAL florist were wonderful. The florist even call back to see if we had any word from the receiver. Thanks HAL and I do hope you expand this kind of service. Happy Sailings...Leslie Swiger:)

[Leslieswiger]

Will HAL in the future have conservatories and florist on all the ships?

 

Happy Sailings...Leslie Swiger:)

[localady]

I sure would love at least a florist on board! :D

 

That was one of the loveliest parts of my one Celebrity cruise on the Millinieum, the Conservatory where you could go look at and purchase wonderful flowers as an arrangement or by the flower. My bestfriend had purchased a fabulous glass vase in Sweden, and the on-board florist put together an arrangement that lasted for the rest of the cruise.:)

 

This next cruise I will bring flowers onboard from the flower mart in Amsterdam, then possibly pick some up in Tallinn too. Flowers are one luxury I just love when we sail!:cool:

[sail7seas]

There is no florist shop aboard where you can go to order flowers. You can pre-order from Ship Services prior to boarding. There are florists aboard, I believe, but their job is to maintain the fresh plants, arrange the flowers that go in all the vases in rest rooms etc. I believe all of the large, beautiful bouquets come aboard all arranged and not designed by the on-board florists. I think it probably the same for the flowers placed in Suites.

I think it would be an 'exception' and a special effort if you were able to order bouquets or such without prior ordering.

HAL does (or always used to allow) bringing flowers aboard from port. Check ahead of time but I think it most likely they would have no problem with you purchasing flowers ashore and returning to the ship with them.

 

[Esme]

There's no problem bringing flowers on board at any of the ports. I did this in Hawaii. When we were out for a drive with our friend in Honolulu she stopped at an orchid farm where they had a stand set up by the side of the road. I bought 3 beautiful bunches of the baby orchids to bring back to the ship. Our cabin steward found a vase for the flowers. Only sad part was that I could not take them off the ship when we disembarked in LA so left them with the girls at the front office - they were still beautiful and fresh.

 

Years ago - don't remember which ship, but it could have been one of the N ships, they did have a refrigerated case in one of the shops where you could buy cut flowers and small arrangements.

[BNguy]

You can also order flowers from "room service" as I did on a recent cruise on the Amsterdam to Hawaii and back. I ordered from a set menu of choices, however, what came was much better than the pictured item. It was for our anniversary and what came was well over 40 roses in a great bouquet. I don't know if this is normal, I just know my wife was "ga-ga" over the arrangement.

[Leslieswiger]

Bnguy we got off the Amsterdam as you got on for the 5/5 cruise. The ship just got in from Rio. Glad you also enjoyed the florist. It is just another great feeling receiving flowers when at sea.

 

S7S.....The florist we had on board came FROM Holland. Those beautiful large and I mean large bouquets were replaced every four days. So I want to say, that they DID HAVE on board florist and the florist did say they have flowers flown in at different ports for the ships use. Like Celebrity, they were a joy to use and I do hope HAL expand this.

 

Hello Localady! The conservatory on board the Summit and the Millennium are truly a work of art. I also bought a few things from the conservatory. We had a 538 sq. ft. cabin and they had three beautiful arrangements plus a red rose in the bathroom and one on the dressingroom table. It's that little extra that goes a long way. We did a 11-night cruise and these flowers where changes twice and the roses every other day. Oh yes, even on the veranda they had a live palm.

 

Happy Sailings...Leslie Swiger:)

[sail7seas]

Sometimes, some cruises they do bring aboard fresh flowers during the cruise. Obviously, a 34 day cruise would need the flowers replaced. Your average seven day cruise does not. Even the ten day cruises rarely have new flowers.

 

Our Veendam cruise in January was 12 days. When we got to Barbardos, they brought aboard new bouquets for "S" Suites. They were GORGEOUS and huge. (Big jasmine flowers, birds of paradise, the most fabulous greenery I've ever seen.....really beautiful.) When we returned to our cabin from a day ashore, we were delighted to find that beautiful new arrangement on our coffee table. They were arranged ashore; not aboard.

I was very sure to thank Hotel Manager Nick Burger when we saw him that evening. They were the most lovely arrangements we have ever had in any "S" on any ship. I'm only guessing but I think it might be up to the Hotel Manager how he dispurses the floral budget. Mr. Burger gave us a real treat IMO

I've received lovely roses mid cruise several times as a gift from people we knew aboard the ship. They were not 'embarkation' flowers but arrived days after we were already aboard. I don't know if the ship sailed with these roses or if they were picked up in a port along the way. (I can't imagine they could have been held for many days and remained so fresh before they were delivered to me.) I do know I loved receiving them and truly enjoyed them.

[Grumpy1]

Just a point of interest for some... the annual floral budget for each ship is about $200,000. For the Prinsendam, although a much smaller ship, the budget is about $300,000.

 

On the world Tour, there was an onboard florist. Flowers were brought on at many of the ports, but had been flown to the port from Holland. There was a brochure on the desk showing the various arrangements that could be ordered from the florist, but there was no display case that we know of.

 

We really enjoyed the huge arrangements around the ship... the orchids on the Lido tables... the arrangement in our cabin... the only "complaint" was that the centerpiece on our dining room table was large enough that it blocked the view of the person across the table from you... some might consider that to be a good thing:rolleyes: but at a table for 8, there really isn't any place to move the flowers out of the way. Our waiter often moved them to his workstation area for us.

 

Grumpy