Review of our March 24 NA cruise

[Netta7]

We are a family of 4 (parents 40s/50s) and two teens. We had two connecting balcony cabins and this worked well for us. This is our 5th cruise as a family and our second HAL cruise. First, let me say we had a great time. We are going to share the things we liked and didn’t like just for perspective. The things we didn’t care for were a matter of our personal taste and were absolutely not a result of any problem or issue with HAL.

 

Service – Always outstanding. Staff was wonderful. We rarely saw our cabin stewards, but everything was immaculate and all requests quickly filled. In addition to our wonderful cabin stewards I have to give a shout out to the bartenders at the Ocean Bar. They either really enjoy their job or they deserve an acting award. They seemed to be always happy, having fun and poured great happy hour drinks. We aren’t big drinkers but we did have a drink at happy hour before dinner most evenings. HAL’s happy hours have to be one of the best deals at sea.

 

Ship – Clean and wonderful. Our son spent a lot of time studying in the Explorer’s Lounge and I really liked its up high perch. It was on a lower deck on our other HAL cruise. Other than the different location of the Explorer’s Lounge and the addition of the Tamarind, the NA was very similar to our other HAL cruise.

 

Entertainment – In terms of musician talent and quality, this was probably the best cruise we have had. While we were impressed by the talent, we were disappointed in the overall selection. I can’t recall hearing a single song on the ship during the evening that was popular after my high school graduation and we are far from 20 somethings! I like 60s, 70s and earlier music but I don’t want that to be my only choice. Every night we walked around after dinner and to us, sorry, the musical selections were dated and repetitive. I made a note of the music I heard after our first formal dinner to give you a flavor – Show, Cantare had the most amazing voices and they were singing “He’s not Heavy, He’s my Brother” when stopped in; Northern Lights – “Brickhouse”; Piano Bar “Hang on Sloopy”; Hal Cats had dancing going to a Stevie Wonder song; Adagio (great duo by the way) “If I were a Rich Man;” and the guitarist “Black Magic Woman.”

 

Activities – We enjoyed our time on ship and always had something to do. All 4 of us spent a lot of time reading, exercising and exploring. Although the HAL Explorer listed a full day of activities, a large number of them were not the types of things we enjoy. We don’t watch infomercials or listen to sales pitches at home, and we most certainly don’t want to do it on vacation. We thought too many of the activities each day fell into this category – spa seminars where they pushed products and services, shopping seminars, even (gasp) future cruise itineraries, talks on what to buy in port and where to buy it, art auctions, etc. Really, if I wanted to know what to look for in a yellow emerald or what vitamins to buy, I would use the internet. In addition to outright sales, there were a number of other activities that involved more HAL sales including gambling opportunities (poker tournaments, lotteries, etc.) and drinking (mixed drink classes and various tastings for a fee.) . When you crossed off the various sales, gambling and drinking activities from the Explorer the day didn’t look all that full. If HAL just took 25% of the sales presentations and turned them into a more diverse selection of activities I think it would be a big improvement. We did enjoy the cooking classes and trivia. We missed the lectures of our European cruise.

 

Food – We had dinner in Pinnacle twice, Tamarind once, Cannaletto once and the main dining room 3 times, including both formal nights. Pinnacle and Tamarind were wonderful and we would go back in a heartbeat. We wouldn’t pay for Cannaletto again. While I really enjoyed my cod puttenesca, both my husband and older son described the chicken cacciatore as “a good crockpot meal or good cafeteria food.” Nothing wrong with good cafeteria food but not worth a $10 per person up charge. Ditto the spaghetti and meatballs.

 

We had a mix of breakfasts, lunches and dinners in the MDR. Most meals were good to very good. One tip is to try the Japenese breakfast. The salmon at breakfast may have been the best fish we had on the ship. I suspect it was cooked to order as it isn’t ordered as frequently. In contrast the mahi-mahi at our second formal night was probably the worst entrée we had. Dry, and over done you could tell it had been cooked too long before it was served. All of our chicken dishes were very good. Shellfish was mixed. All of it was pre-frozen and some of it was good/very good and some of it was very watery.

 

Ports:

 

HMC – lovely beach day. Tip – Yes there is free water at the restaurant and you can fill water bottles there but you really have to seek it out. You pass countless sales counters before you walk through the restaurant and get to the free beverages. The buffet didn’t look very exciting but the grilled chicken cooked over a real charcoal fire was quite tasty.

 

Grand Cayman – cancelled due to seas, port charges promptly refunded to account and a complimentary glass of champagne was offered with dessert at dinner due to the missed port. No complaints. Looking out the window it was not at all a surprise we couldn’t tender. The only thing that HAL could have possibly done better is to get a new daily schedule out sooner. Ours didn’t arrive until 11:30 and the port was cancelled before 7 a.m.

 

Roatan – our favorite day on the cruise. We had a private outing with Sea Legs Aquatic Adventures. They picked us up at port, took us to their marina where we had a boat and captain waiting for us. We had unlimited water skiing and wake boarding in a protective cove. When everyone was too tired to water ski anymore we went snorkeling, had a quick stop at the Iguana farm and then went to a local restaurant called Hole in the Wall that can only be reached by boat. Amazing day.

 

Costa Maya – Went with Native Choice to ruins and then to a beach/kayak resort for a relaxing lunch and afternoon. A private tour for the 4 of us was $110 more than if we took the group tour on the bus. I am glad we went private as there were 3 ships in port the day we were there. Wonderful day with a great guide – Enrique.

 

In summary, we will take HAL again for the right itinerary, which for us is one with lots of long port days. For cruises where we will have more time on the ship, we might try a different line in an effort to find something with a different mix of activities or music.

[vbmom87]

Thank you for a balanced and helpful review. Good to hear overall you had a good cruise.

 

Just curious how you went about choosing your private tours? What research did you have to do to insure they were legit operators?

[Oceanwench]

I enjoyed your review! We sailed on Nieuw Amsterdam recently and loved her! Wonderful crew.

 

Piano bar music: Maybe there was a Buckeye in there (Ohio State) who requested "Hang on Sloopy"? :)

[George C]

Glad you had a good time, great review, thanks

[Netta7]

As far as booking our private tours, we have always booked our own using a combination of tripadvisor, cruise critic, fodors/frommers and the internet. I make sure there is good and clear communication up front. I assume if someone can't answer my emails, they probably won't be very good at picking me up either. I travel with a cellphone that works wherever I am going, and I always have a back up plan. If our provider in Roatan or Costa Maya wasn't there to great us, I knew where to find a taxi, good beach or other place and I had a good idea what it should cost. Finally, if I have to pay in advance I use a US credit card and only pay less than 60 days before the excursion. If things go bad, I can always protest the charge. In all of my years of doing this, I have only had 1 excursion not work out and that was in Dubrovnik. I immediately called the tour company and my credit card and the charges were reversed before I even returned to the ship for the day.

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for taaking the time to post a review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise as we are on the NA in a few months. Our trip will be our second on the NA and our first experience was similar to yours. I am not familar with the Japanese breakfast but will give that a try!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thank you for the info ..

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the nice review of your cruise on the N. Amsterdam. Glad you had a good time.

[sail7seas]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. :)

Thanks for sharing a review with us.

[sammygoose]

Thanks for your review. I too enjoyed the Japanese breakfast. The miso soup and the salmon was excellent.

[Himself]

I enjoyed the review. Sorry Grand Caymen was cancelled! Thank yiu for taking time to write it!

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing.

[erewhon]

Thank you for the review of your cruise.

[kazu]

As far as booking our private tours, we have always booked our own using a combination of tripadvisor, cruise critic, fodors/frommers and the internet. I make sure there is good and clear communication up front. I assume if someone can't answer my emails, they probably won't be very good at picking me up either. I travel with a cellphone that works wherever I am going, and I always have a back up plan. If our provider in Roatan or Costa Maya wasn't there to great us, I knew where to find a taxi, good beach or other place and I had a good idea what it should cost. Finally, if I have to pay in advance I use a US credit card and only pay less than 60 days before the excursion. If things go bad, I can always protest the charge. In all of my years of doing this, I have only had 1 excursion not work out and that was in Dubrovnik. I immediately called the tour company and my credit card and the charges were reversed before I even returned to the ship for the day.

 

It sounds like you do a good job of planning private tours to me:D

 

Thanks so much for your review. Objective and very interesting.

 

Glad you enjoyed yourselves and welcome home:D

[vbmom87]

As far as booking our private tours, we have always booked our own using a combination of tripadvisor, cruise critic, fodors/frommers and the internet. I make sure there is good and clear communication up front. I assume if someone can't answer my emails, they probably won't be very good at picking me up either. I travel with a cellphone that works wherever I am going, and I always have a back up plan. If our provider in Roatan or Costa Maya wasn't there to great us, I knew where to find a taxi, good beach or other place and I had a good idea what it should cost. Finally, if I have to pay in advance I use a US credit card and only pay less than 60 days before the excursion. If things go bad, I can always protest the charge. In all of my years of doing this, I have only had 1 excursion not work out and that was in Dubrovnik. I immediately called the tour company and my credit card and the charges were reversed before I even returned to the ship for the day.

 

Thank you. I have no hesitation booking privately in the states, but out of the country it would make me nervous. Thank you for some good tips.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[aliaschief]

Enjoyed your review. Thanks.