A live view from Nieuw Amsterdam on her New Years cruise

[monina01]

yay a live report from you, nice suprise!

 

I saw you with the towel, only didn't know it was you :D

Have a wonderful cruise, geniet ervan!!!

[wdw1972]

So happy to wake up this morning & see your trip report!! Of course, just waking up is cause to be happy, but your report is a bonus ;-) I'll be boarding NA this Sunday, and hope Julie Barr is still on board for that cruise - I enjoyed her show a few years ago, and know my husband will love it!

 

I was shocked to see the ship sail so quickly, but I guess with 7 in port someone has to go first, and it's good to get out before the rain starts - makes for a nicer experience for those people up on deck.

 

Looking forward to future installments!

Sue/WDW1972

Nieuw Amsterdam 1/5/14

DCL Dream 11/7/14

[PetNanny]

Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for posting.

[catl331]

It is not the actual taking of the picture, it is the fact that we are not interested in buying it. So we think we are saving them time. Also, I hate having it posted for all to see. I know, probably no one even bothers to look at it but I certainly am not at my best at the embarkation.

 

I happen to be standing on the promenade (debarkation)watching the longshoremen on our last cruise. There were constant complaints and grudges being made. Just a few were working consistently and much yelling at each other was going on. Now I know they do not put in 40 hrs. a wk and the work is heavy but they were young, big guys crabbing about having a job when they could be doing things they liked to do!

 

Let's hear your opinion of the red MD> Have a great cruise!

[innlady1]

Thanks for taking us along, Copper. Don't waste your time listening to Brad in the Crow's Nest. He is awful...lol!

 

Who's the HD now? I think Rachel was the librarian when we were on board.

[RetiredMustang]

Thanks for checking in, John. I look forward to reading more!

 

Dave

[shrimp56]

Watch out for those HALcats LOL

 

Have a wonderful time on the pax side.

[Two@Sea]

Thanks for the live report ( SO much better than non-live reports)! Enjoying every word!

[expectGREATthings]

The DRM on NADM at the moment is Pudja Tjitradjaja, common spelling! ;)

 

Thanks. I appreciate it, and your trip report.

[solocanadian]

Hi John, got really excited when I first woke up this morning and turned on the computer and saw you were doing a "live from". Something was wrong with CC this morning so turned it off and returned at 9:30 to find everything OK. Looking forward to further posts and some pictures of the Holiday Decorations.

[nutensteve]

Great reporting Copper. Thanks for taking us along.

[Vict0riann]

Great report, Copper. And if Julie Barr gets sick, you should do the comedy show!:D

[barbarah33]

I can't wait to read your next installment...thanks for the smiles. My turn on her is coming soon.

[seadrifter]

Copper, love, love, love your live from... We will be on-board in 4 weeks so we are really enjoying your descriptions. Have a Wang Wang for us. We can't wait for our first drink in the Crow's Nest.

[Copper10-8]

Day 2 – 12/30/13; Half Moon Cay, the Bahamas; Half Moon Cay, Holland America Line’s private resort, has been voted the Best Private Island in the Caribbean by Porthole Magazine for 10 years in a row. It is located on Little San Salvador, less than 100 miles southeast of Nassau, between Cat Island and Eleuthera. The island is regarded by many Bahamians as the most beautiful in the Bahamas. Half Moon Cay serves up a warm West Indies ambiance seasoned with the flavors of the countries that made their mark on the Caribbean centuries ago. Three main facilities feature distinctive Dutch, English, French and Spanish designs. In keeping with the company’s desire to conserve the environment, only 45 acres (of a total of 2,400) have been developed to maintain as much habitat as possible. It is a significant nesting area for waterfowl, including 200 pair of roseate terns and Bahamian shearwaters. The bay affords excellent snorkeling among beautiful coral reefs. One can swim, sail and snorkel in the crystal clear waters, take a leisurely stroll throughout undisturbed nature, shop for fine Bahamian crafts, or simply relax on the beach.

 

This morning, Nieuw Amsterdam arrived at the Half Moon Cay anchorage at approx. 0900 hrs and the weather gods were with us; just partly cloudy with lots of blue in between and a nice routine bit of a low swell. The port-side B-Deck break door was opened and Henry Hudson, one of two large island tenders used to transfer passengers (and crew) from the ship to the island, came alongside. For about a year now, the island has been using a fourth passenger tender, the Stingray, which can accommodate up to 250 passengers. In addition to Henry Hudson, Anne Bonny and Stingray, there’s Rookie, also used as a tender, with an accommodation up to 140 passengers. The largest vessel in the Half Moon Cay fleet is Half Moon Clipper, equipped with a crane in the back, used to transfer luggage cages full of culinary supplies and food needed for the island BBQ. All that stuff is loaded into the Clipper from NADM’s Marshaling Area. The first pax is first loaded with a large number of crew, and supplies, who will go to her lower deck as soon as they get onboard. Passengers who are ready to board will take a seat on Hudson’s upper deck. Hudson then departs and subsequently will enter the island’s man-made entrance channel and then the Marina where she will be secured to one of the large docks. Hudson (and Bonny) have a front loading ramp that lowers down onto the dock making for easy loading and unloading.

 

We took our breakfast in the Lido at about 0930 and discovered we weren’t the only ones with that idea in mind. I guess a lot of folks like us decided to take it easy this morning, after all, it is everyone’s vacation, right? With that plus the ship operating under code orange, it was a bit on the busy side in the good ol’ Lido. We both decided on the eggs benedictus station and found a just cleared table on port side inside. Upon conclusion of satisfying our appetite, we hung out on the balcony listening to our iPods and then went down to A-Deck at approx. 1145 hrs. By that time, things had slowed down quite a bit in the life of island tendering and we grabbed a seat on the top deck of Miss Bonny for the 10 minute ride to the holding area just outside the entrance channel. The hold took only two minutes when Henry Hudson showed up outbound at the mouth (the man-made channel is not wide enough for both tenders to use simultaneously). She exited and we entered and proceeded into the marina. Anne Bonny’s loading ramp went down and we were back on HMC.

 

We crossed underneath the Fort San Salvador gate and entered the HMC Welcome Pavilion where Mr. Junior, one of the best steel drum players I’ve met was making his magic with his holed out pan adjacent the Rumrunner’s Bar. We continued on along the path just behind the beach and paid a visit to the chapel, nice and serene with a cool breeze blowing through the open doors on both sides of the structure. Continuing on down the path, we arrived at one of the bench seats, this one called “chillin’ out” and that’s exactly what we did; grabbed a seat and took in the view of white sand, six different colors of azure seas and NADM stationary in the background. There’s a sign just beyond the chapel that reads “I wish we could stay here forever” and it fits! Continuing on, we wound up inside the Captain Morgan on the Rocks Bar, aka the Pirate Ship bar where Sarah & the HALCats were playing some good tunes. Sat down at the bar and grabbed a couple of cold and wet ones.

 

We stayed there for about 30-40 minutes and then mozied past the Dining/BBQ Pavilion and back to the Welcome Pavilion where we browsed inside the Island Gift Shop, today run by a NADM shoppie with an unmistaken Italian accent. Outside again, I considered for a millisecond having my coif braded at the Straw Market but then came back to my senses because that would definitely not have been a day at the beach, the result, that is. Hopped back on, this time, Henry Hudson and returned to NADM, passing that “lifeguard tower” where one of Alex’ guard supervisors was diligently doing his thing. Glad it wasn’t me this trip to HMC!

 

Back home, we grabbed a bit of lunch (salad and some pasta) at the Lido and then returned to the cabin where we accomplished absolutely nothing for about three hours +. At 4:30 pm, Captain van Zaane sounded his, well NADM’s, whistle paying his respect and greeting to Hal Moon Cay’s staff for the last time in 2013 and we were off around Maria’s former home of Cuba on a course for Montego Bay, Jamaica. The plan tonight is for us to have dinner at Canaletto and take in “Garage Band”, the show by the cast. Pic is another look at Half Moon Cay, the Bahamas. Had to go way up to get this one!

[cccole]

Your "live from" is great!!!!! It must be fun cruising as just a passenger again. Thank you for including us in the adventure. Especially looking forward to your post for New Year's Eve. Cherie

Edited December 31, 2013 by cccole

[erewhon]

Really appreciate you writing your "live" reports from the NA.

 

Thank you.

[DAllenTCY]

Is this the start of the "retirement" that you mentioned when me met?

David

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for taking us along, Copper. Don't waste your time listening to Brad in the Crow's Nest. He is awful...lol!

 

Who's the HD now? I think Rachel was the librarian when we were on board.

 

HD is Stan Kuppens, who took both EUDM and NADM out from the Fincantieru yard; Nice guy!

 

Rachel was librarian on MADM before getting her promotion to EM

[Copper10-8]

yay a live report from you, nice suprise!

 

I saw you with the towel, only didn't know it was you :D

Have a wonderful cruise, geniet ervan!!!

 

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar over een paar uurtjes voor jullie! Niet te veel oliebollen he! ;) / Happy New Year to you in a couple of hrs! Not too many "oliebollen"!

Edited December 31, 2013 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Watch out for those HALcats LOL

 

Have a wonderful time on the pax side.

 

HALCats are still doing fine, thanx! ;)

[Copper10-8]

Hi John, got really excited when I first woke up this morning and turned on the computer and saw you were doing a "live from". Something was wrong with CC this morning so turned it off and returned at 9:30 to find everything OK. Looking forward to further posts and some pictures of the Holiday Decorations.

 

pics are on FB

[Copper10-8]

Is this the start of the "retirement" that you mentioned when me met?

David

 

Hi Dave; nope; not yet! ;)

[Copper10-8]

Day 2 – 12/30/13; Parte dieux; Sailing towards Montego Bay, Jamaica; we had a 6:30 pm reservation at Canaletto, NADM’s Italian restaurant inside the Lido. We reported for duty and on-time with the manager, Iman, and he took us to a nice window seat with a great ocean view, except it was already dark. NADM now also has the new Canaletto menu which was first brought out this summer on OSDM when she was still in Alaska. I had the opportunity to try/taste that menu on OSDM about three different times, both in larger groups (up to seven) as well as a table for two, and four, and I have to say, I like it, a lot! Yes, I am disappointed that both the Minestrone soup and Osso Buco are outtahere but I like the new concept. It’s called “spartire” which is the Italian word for sharing.

 

In a nutshell, there are a variety of dishes/servings known as “small plates” (appetizers), “pasta plates” and “main entrees”. If you are dining, just the two of you, like Maria and I were tonite, you get to chose two “small plates”, we chose Salumi and Duck & Chicken Liver Pate and shared those. For our “pasta plates: we chose Rigatoni and Spaghetti and shared those and for our entrees we each chose the Sautéed Veal Piccata because we felt that was plenty for the evening. If you have a larger group, you can select additional dishes from those groups and do more sharing. Obviously, you don’t have to finish it all. We thought the Rigatoni, especially, was very tasty and had a “kick” to it, so we kicked back! For dessert, we chose a selection of Gelato (strawberry, vanilla bean, pistachio and gianduia). A nice glass of wine in between and an Espresso after; Ciao Bello!

 

At 10:00 pm, we found some 3rd row seats inside the Showroom at Sea for the cast in “Garage Band”. This is the same show that plays on OSDM and I’m not sure about the remaining three Vistas and one Signature vessel(s). The black shirts had already taken out the first three rows of seats closest to the stage and had put down a black dance floor there, stretching into the mid center section of the lounge in preparation for tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve festivities since the SAS will be the primary event location for the official countdown at Midnight. There will be other parties in places like the Piano Bar, Northern Lights disco and Queen’s lounge going into the wee hrs but the SAS will be the biggie

 

Tonight’s show was a tribute to music from the sixties to today and takes place, primarily, you guessed it, in a garage involving the two female and two male vocalists, backed up by three male dancers and as many as six (pretty sure) female dancers, as well as the HALCats. It is a face paced, high energy show with good music and dancing. Personal favorites are “Car wash” and “Rubber band man” with “The little old lady from Pasadena” on her/his scooter a close third. After the show, we made our rounds through the Queen’s Lounge, Northern Lights and Piano Bar, not necessarily in that order. Tomorrow is our first full say day, a formal night of course, for New Years, as we go around Cuba to Jamaica. Pic is a look at Anne Bonny pulling away from NADM for the final time this year as Capt. van Zaane is sounding his whistle and one of Bonny’s crew members is dancing and waiving up a storm in response

[Ine]

I am about to buy oliebollen and appelflappen etc., Ton and I want to wish you and Maria gelukkig nieuwjaar!

Keep writing those reports, we love them.