Nieuw Amsterdam June 17 Barcelona-Venice Notes

[anaco_angler]

My DW and I are just coming out of the jet lag fog so I wanted to jot down a few random observations from our June 17-29 Barcelona-Venice cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam. This was our ninth cruise on HAL and we have roughly an equal number of cruises on Celebrity, so some of our observations are inevitably comparisons.

 

Smoking - it was never an issue. No second-hand smoke on our balcony; occasionally walked by smokers when doing laps on the deck but it was never a problem, thankfully. It's one reason we left HAL for three years and went to Celebrity, but it's better now. And no, I'm not starting a smoking thread. Enough said.

 

Crew cuts - it's a reality on HAL just as on Celebrity. Stateroom attendants are responsible for more cabins than before and as a result, that personal service with a greeting and a smile is not always the norm as it was before. The same in the dining room and elsewhere on the ship. Crew members are working very hard, trying their best to be welcoming, but at times they just seem tired. This is not a complaint; just an observation.

 

Technology - HAL lags badly in this regard. There's no reason a guest shouldn't be able to check their bill, book tours, make dinner reservations etc from an interactive TV in their stateroom. Celebrity does it. Why can't HAL?

 

Food - very good. Just keep your expectations reasonable and remember they're serving 2,000+ other diners. HAL did seem to make an effort to serve some dishes typical of the area we were visiting, and that was much appreciated.

 

Beverage card - a good idea but not well executed. We had the Explore4 package which allowed us to have up to 15 alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks each per day under $7. But you cannot have more than one drink at a time; there has to be at least five minutes between orders, we were told. So if I go to Explorations Cafe in the morning for a Cafe Americano and a bottled water before heading out for a shore excursion, I can have one or the other, but not both unless I wait five minutes. To me this is silly and it puts the beverage staff in the position of being beverage cops. Also, the $7 limit means there's only one white wine by the glass choice eligible on the menu and no red wine choices, though there are house wines on request (the cabernet sauvignon is ok; the merlot is not). As a guest, I would prefer that HAL put a daily dollar limit on the card and let me spend it how I wish. When I've reached the limit, anything over is charged to me.

 

Itinerary - this was a port intensive itinerary with only one sea day, so we were busy every day. This was the first cruise we've taken where the captain did not stick to the daily schedule for arrivals and departures. One port we arrived early (not a bad thing, mind you) and two we departed two hours early. One cynic thought HAL was trying to mess with cruisers who booked private shore excursions. I doubt that but it is a good idea to have a means to communicate from the ship with your tour provider if you've made non-HAL tour arrangements as you might have to adjust tour times. And always check all aboard or last tender times at the gangway. Don't go by the time printed on your HAL itinerary, or even your daily program.

 

Bottom line - We really enjoyed this cruise. We visited ports we have not visited before and saw much natural beauty. We would not hesitate to book HAL again. It had been our cruise line of choice because HAL always has a Catholic priest on board but we left for Celebrity because of HAL's smoking policy. While each cruise line does some things a little better than the other, now it's a matter of price and itinerary.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info.

[aqua]

Thank you for the review. I am doing the reverse itinerary in September and am disturbed that you left early twice. Can you please tell me which ports? Also, I would be interested to know about any activities, HAL or private, that you did in port. Thank you! Debra

[anaco_angler]

Thank you for the review. I am doing the reverse itinerary in September and am disturbed that you left early twice. Can you please tell me which ports? Also, I would be interested to know about any activities, HAL or private, that you did in port. Thank you! Debra

 

Debra, we left Taormina at 9pm instead of 11pm and we left Dubrovnik around 9:30pm instead of 11:59pm. No explanation was given but all on board were made aware of the revised departure time. Also, Monte Carlo was a tender port for us because there were two enormous private yachts docked at the port which prevented us from docking and Kotor was also a tender port, though that wasn't indicated as such on HAL's itinerary. I don't think there are docking facilities in Kotor so you can count on that being a tender port. It wasn't a problem but it pays to be flexible.

As for shore excursions, we did one HAL excursion in Civitavecchia to the Etruscan Ruins because we've already been to Rome. For information on private shore excursions, you might want to check the Nieuw Amsterdam roll call for our June 17 cruise, or you can email me at dmwilson89@gmail.com and I'll provide details. We took a shore excursion in each port and in retrospect we wish we had taken maybe one port to just relax, but we're glad we saw as much as we did.

Dennis

[lynn2002]

We are also doing a 12 night cruise on the NA next month.

 

Can you remember which nights were formal nights? Also, did you happen to keep the menus and/or daily events sheets?

 

Did you use the unlimited laundry - if so, were you permitted to send laundry out on embarkation day?

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[aqua]

Thank you. I reviewed your Roll Call as suggested. It looks like we have some different ports in our itinerary. I was very impressed by the organization of the tour posts regarding open spots, etc. It made me realize that I need to get to work planning this trip. Thanks for the good information!

[RuthC]

Did you use the unlimited laundry - if so, were you permitted to send laundry out on embarkation day?

I wasn't on this cruise, but I want to assure you that I send out laundry on embarkation day on almost every cruise. Never a problem.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your review. Sounds like you had a great time.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

Glad you had a good cruise.

[anaco_angler]

We are also doing a 12 night cruise on the NA next month.

 

Can you remember which nights were formal nights? Also, did you happen to keep the menus and/or daily events sheets?

 

Did you use the unlimited laundry - if so, were you permitted to send laundry out on embarkation day?

 

Formal nights were: Day 3 (Monte Carlo; I'm fairly certain on this one but don't hold me to it), Day 6 (Naples), and Day 11 (Kotor). Sorry, we don't save the menus or dailies, but I can tell you that surf & turf night was the last formal night. And Ruth C. kindly answered the laundry question. We did not use the ship's laundry.

Dennis

[KirkNC]

We also go back and forth based on price and itinerary. The worst thing to me about the beverage card is HAL does not have any good wines you can use it for. On X it was good for wine up to $13 per glass and they have a MCUh better wine list.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

[anaco_angler]

Couldn't agree with you more, Kirk. The beverage card was restrictive for the guests but even worse, it was clearly a pain for the beverage staff. Several mornings I watched as other cruisers gave the beverage staff grief because they couldn't get the type or quantity of beverages to take with them ashore. For example, if you wanted to pick up bottled water at the desk that's usually located near the gangway, you couldn't use your beverage card because the staff there were not connected to the beverage department's computer system. People were rightfully upset but that's no reason to give the staff an earful for just doing their job. As I said, while the beverage card may be a good idea, its implementation is not well thought out. And it's distressing to see people lose their cool over a $2 or $3 bottle of water. You're on a cruise, folks. Lighten up!

[boards]

We had the Explore4 promotion for our Sept. cruise, but what you have stated about it makes me glad we rebooked and got an OBC and lower rate.

[SeaWatch]

Couldn't agree with you more, Kirk. The beverage card was restrictive for the guests but even worse, it was clearly a pain for the beverage staff. Several mornings I watched as other cruisers gave the beverage staff grief because they couldn't get the type or quantity of beverages to take with them ashore. For example, if you wanted to pick up bottled water at the desk that's usually located near the gangway, you couldn't use your beverage card because the staff there were not connected to the beverage department's computer system. People were rightfully upset but that's no reason to give the staff an earful for just doing their job. As I said, while the beverage card may be a good idea, its implementation is not well thought out. And it's distressing to see people lose their cool over a $2 or $3 bottle of water. You're on a cruise, folks. Lighten up!

 

We used our SBC for water every time we left for a port - the staff member simply took the card and returned after 'charging' it.

[anaco_angler]

Kirk, we tried that the first day as we were disembarking but it didn't work. Maybe after that first day they changed the procedure and had a charging mechanism near the gangway. We did find that we could get water at a table set up near the Queen's Theater or Queen's Lounge as there was usually a member of the beverage staff there with access to the charging system. You just learn the workarounds.

[jimsmith]

Interested to hear that HAL had a Catholic priest on board. Is this always the case? I hadn't seen that mentioned before.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[kazu]

Interested to hear that HAL had a Catholic priest on board. Is this always the case? I hadn't seen that mentioned before.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

yes, there is usually a Priest on board and daily mass. There are also inter denominational services and Jewish service (congregation done as not usually a rabbi) as well.

Edited August 9, 2014 by kazu

[POA1]

We used our SBC for water every time we left for a port - the staff member simply took the card and returned after 'charging' it.

We had to get our water at a bar or in the Lido before leaving the ship. We could not get water down by the gangway. (Noordam in March) I'd recommend being safe and getting your water where there's a POS terminal. While you may get lucky and have a beverage steward who will run up a few decks to ring up the water on the computer, it will slow things down for your fellow passengers who are in line behind you.

[SeaWatch]

We had to get our water at a bar or in the Lido before leaving the ship. We could not get water down by the gangway. (Noordam in March) I'd recommend being safe and getting your water where there's a POS terminal. While you may get lucky and have a beverage steward who will run up a few decks to ring up the water on the computer, it will slow things down for your fellow passengers who are in line behind you.

 

On a different note, did you happen to do a review of your NOORDAM cruise? We are booked for Alaska this summer and it is a new ship for us and my in- laws. I would love to read your impressions.

[POA1]

On a different note, did you happen to do a review of your NOORDAM cruise? We are booked for Alaska this summer and it is a new ship for us and my in- laws. I would love to read your impressions.

We didn't write up a formal review. We were just focused on specific aspects of the cruise.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41856620

 

 

I have no reservations about booking the Noordam or recommending it. We would book it again without hesitation.

[SeaWatch]

We didn't write up a formal review. We were just focused on specific aspects of the cruise.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41856620

 

 

I have no reservations about booking the Noordam or recommending it. We would book it again without hesitation.

 

Thank You