Nieuw Amsterdam January 4, 2015 onboard

[bjarrett7]

We are still on the ship. Great day at Half Moon Cay. We are not in any code now. We did not have to leave the ship in Fort Lauderdale, but stayed in the lounge. There were some problems with cards getting scanned, so we had to stay longer. It was comfortable, and there were refreshments so no complaints from me.

 

 

 

We have some groups onboard this time. So far, there has been no impact on my cruise. If anything of interest happens, I'll try and post depending upon my internet minutes. I will write a review once I am home.

 

 

 

All is well onboard.

 

 

Glad to hear the good report! I look forward to reading your review. 😃

 

 

 

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[Siesta Fiesta]

On the topic of the cruise, my wife and I enjoyed our time overall. Our favorite things were our time in Key West, our dinner companions at our table of 10, and our Chichén Itzá mayan ruins shore excursion.

 

At Key West, we got on the hop on hop off trolley and hopped on and off several times. We ate at the original Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville café, which is the predecessor to all the Margaritaville restaurants. We visited the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory which was much niftier than expected. I was tempted to breeze past the video at the beginning, but it was only about 10 minutes long and gave me lots of cool tidbits of information that I didn't know before so I was glad I didn't skip it. The butterfly area itself was amazing with tons of different butterflies everywhere, along with a handful of birds, and soon-to-be butterflies that were cocooned up in one area near the end of the tour. We also got a quick photo by the buoy at the southernmost point in the continental US, toured Ernest Hemingway's house (complete with 6 toed cats roaming around the yard everywhere), and had key lime pie at Kermit's.

 

My wife and I thought dinner would be more entertaining with others, so when we booked our cruise we requested the maximum number of people at our table (8) and were seated at a round table with 10 including us. It was an eclectic friendly bunch and I enjoyed the conversations immensely. If my wife and I go on a cruise with just the two of us again in the future, we'll do this again. We had breakfast in the lido deck every day except one day where we had breakfast in the main dining room and ate with another random couple, which was a fun conversation as well.

 

The Chichén Itzá mayan ruins shore excursion was excellent, but I really wish we had a lot more time. The ship got in to port at 11am instead of the promised 10am and by the time we were going in the Chichén Itzá gate it was 3pm on the dot and we had to be on the bus at 5pm, which is when the place closed. I think they could have requested we be on the bus by 5:15 in retrospect, even though it was just outside the gate. The bus had everyone on it and rolled out promptly at 5pm. The tour guide was nice and had a flip book with photographs and knew his stuff well. During the first hour of the bus trip, he gave some information too. Personally, I could spend several days at Chichén Itzá, but my wife would have been happy with 3 or 4 hours because she's not into Mayan history really. I think a cruise with an excursion was a good compromise for the two of us, as opposed to going there for a stay. Unfortunately, the tour guide's talk didn't end until 4pm, so we weren't able to go around at our own pace until then. Fortunately, I remembered that the site had something called El Caracol, which was a mayan observatory that looks a bit like a planetarium and at 4:10pm I asked where it was and was told where it was but was told that area would be closing at 4:30pm, so my wife and I literally raced down to see the section it was in. I'm so glad we did, because we saw a lot of cool ruins in that area. I'll wager that most of the people on our excursion did not see it and probably didn't even know about it at all. We didn't get to see any cenote, Akab Dzib, or see things near the warriors temple up close. Despite all this, it was really great to be there. If I had to do it again, I think I would have politely asked the tour guide how to meet at the end of the excursion and struck off on my own from the start. While the tour guide's information was nicely done, it's all stuff that I can read online before or after. What I can't do from afar is actually explore the site itself at my own pace and try to see everything. Pictures will never give you a good sense of what it's like being there. I also purchased a large carved figurine, a blue clay figurine, a t-shirt, and a nice king-sized blanket that was weirdly being sold at the beginning of the ferry ride home. It's really nice. Holland America chose a very professional tour company for our excursion and the bus that we were on was brand new. The clear protective plastic wrap from the factory on the bus seats had just been freshly pulled off the seats. The bus had hanging video monitors that I think could be put to use in the future to show you an hour long presentation of key structures at the Chichén Itzá site and talk about them, so the tour could be streamlined at the site, giving you the option to strike out on your own or take the "hand-holding" tour guide tour.

 

Overall, entertainment on the ship was on par with a low-key show at Busch Gardens, which means it was pretty good, but not super impressive. The shows on our previous cruise on the Disney Fantasy were immensely better. There was also an 11pm show on the Nieuw Amsterdam that was put on by several members of the crew to display their heritage. While I applaud the idea, the production was very substandard. It felt like a middle school talent show competition. It was the only show I walked out on in the middle, partly because I was rather sleepy.

 

I really liked the itinerary which stopped at Half Moon Cay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Key West. My wife and I both agreed that Key West would be a great port for future cruises. It was also nice to have regular mobile phone service while at Key West.

[RuthC]

On the first two days and to a lesser degree on the last day of this trip, people just walked in without doing anything to clean their hands, which I found to be a little disgusting, especially since I had to handle serving spoons etc after them. I didn't even realize there was sanitizer at first because it was off to the side instead of front and center. I think if sanitizer was always insisted upon, the code red probably could have been avoided altogether.

In the future you can rest easy when people don't use the sanitizer. It does nothing to prevent the spread of virus, including norovirus. Only washing hands with good old soap & water will do that.

[Topsham]

There was also an 11pm show on the Nieuw Amsterdam that was put on by several members of the crew to display their heritage. While I applaud the idea, the production was very substandard. It felt like a middle school talent show competition. It was the only show I walked out on in the middle, partly because I was rather sleepy.

.

 

 

 

 

'Production'? It is NOT a 'production'. The crew in this show is done by waiters, stewards, bar tenders, engine room crew, deck crew etc... they don't get paid and they take their own valuable time out of their off time to put the show on. The crew show is a tradition with Holland America Line. Sorry that you feel that you think it was 'substandard'. Your waiter was up at 6 in the morning, your breakfast, lunch afternoon tea, dinner and then they put a show on at 11pm. To walk out in the middle of the show...... :(

[Siesta Fiesta]

they don't get paid and they take their own valuable time out of their off time to put the show on. The crew show is a tradition with Holland America Line.

 

Again, I applaud the idea and was looking forward to it. I have a hard time believing that Holland America would cajole people to do this on all their ships for free. The crew works hard enough as it is. That would be worse than slave labor.

 

If Holland America really isn't paying them for this and it is a tradition, then it's my opinion that they should start paying performers from abroad to put on a higher quality show with talent that is at least on par with their other shows. How much would that cost really? The "crew performers" could overlap with the performers in the other stage shows a little to save costs too.

 

It's not like Holland America is spending big money on waterslides, virtual portholes, ice skating, bowling, miniature golf, carousels, Vegas quality acts, 4d motion ride theatres, chart-topping musicians, top notch comedians, fireworks, rock climbing walls, sky diving simulators, bumper cars, flowrider surf simulators, planetariums, zip lines, costumed characters from popular children's tv shows and movies, shuffleboard, tennis courts, team trivia at a time that doesn't overlap with the evening's dinner and show (I'm looking at you 7:30pm trivia), a free app that gives you the whole week's itinerary & other info on your smart phone with free wifi for that app in particular so updates can be sent on the fly, two complimentary portable phones for your stateroom that work anywhere on the ship or at Half Moon Cay without charge to call or text others on the ship, reasonably priced internet that is billed at a per MB price as opposed to a per minute price, complimentary soft drinks, golf simulators, separate kids pools, lots of kids activities, karaoke, pirate dress up night, video game rooms, huge poolside movie screens, a gourmet burger stand, dancing lessons w/ a competition, a section of the lido dining area sectioned off for an extra fee w/ all the noise of the lido deck and no real privacy or better food. Oh wait, Holland America did spend big money on those last three. But nevertheless, I've made my point. They're not spending as much money as their competitors and can therefore afford to ante up for better quality stage shows, crew show or not.

 

On a positive note, the crew show performers seemed to be having a lot of fun and the ship's guests seemed to appreciate their enthusiasm. :)

Edited January 13, 2015 by Siesta Fiesta

[Topsham]

Thanks for your input. A pity that you do not understand what the 'Crew Show' is about.

 

I'm curious. Have you done many cruises or have you seen many crew shows on other cruise ships?

[cruz chic]

Again, I applaud the idea and was looking forward to it. I have a hard time believing that Holland America would cajole people to do this on all their ships for free. The crew works hard enough as it is. That would be worse than slave labor.

 

If Holland America really isn't paying them for this and it is a tradition, then it's my opinion that they should start paying performers from abroad to put on a higher quality show with talent that is at least on par with their other shows. How much would that cost really? The "crew performers" could overlap with the performers in the other stage shows a little to save costs too.

 

It's not like Holland America is spending big money on waterslides, virtual portholes, ice skating, bowling, miniature golf, carousels, Vegas quality acts, 4d motion ride theatres, chart-topping musicians, top notch comedians, fireworks, rock climbing walls, sky diving simulators, bumper cars, flowrider surf simulators, planetariums, zip lines, costumed characters from popular children's tv shows and movies, shuffleboard, tennis courts, team trivia at a time that doesn't overlap with the evening's dinner and show (I'm looking at you 7:30pm trivia), a free app that gives you the whole week's itinerary & other info on your smart phone with free wifi for that app in particular so updates can be sent on the fly, two complimentary portable phones for your stateroom that work anywhere on the ship or at Half Moon Cay without charge to call or text others on the ship, reasonably priced internet that is billed at a per MB price as opposed to a per minute price, complimentary soft drinks, golf simulators, separate kids pools, lots of kids activities, karaoke, pirate dress up night, video game rooms, huge poolside movie screens, a gourmet burger stand, dancing lessons w/ a competition, a section of the lido dining area sectioned off for an extra fee w/ all the noise of the lido deck and no real privacy or better food. Oh wait, Holland America did spend big money on those last three. But nevertheless, I've made my point. They're not spending as much money as their competitors and can therefore afford to ante up for better quality stage shows, crew show or not.

 

On a positive note, the crew show performers seemed to be having a lot of fun and the ship's guests seemed to appreciate their enthusiasm. :)

 

I'm quite happy that hal doesn't have a lot of the things you mentioned. It's not a cookie cutter line. It sounds like hal is really not your type of cruiseline. Nothing wrong with that.

[Topsham]

Shows on board cruise ships can range from excellent to 'painful'. Some shows cost a dime and are great and good fun.... others cost a mint and leave one cold.

 

Broadway shows.... range from great to dull.... the same dull might be better in London, Sydney even in Bermuda.

 

Crew shows... are not intended to be 'perfect'.... some times can be delightful.. but all are for our enjoyment.

 

Some of best crews show are with Saga. Filipino crews. One fellow sings all of his own written works. One of the captains does the bamboo dance... as good at the waitress'. Chief Engineer, Hotel Manager, Cruise Director, Staff Captain dance a Hawaii 'dance'.....dressed with coconut bra, grass skirt and fake 'tans'. Great fun.

 

Have you ever enjoyed the show and see your own cabin steward sing and dance? The look on their face next morning and when you recognize and make a kind, "Thanks for the Show?" Don't devalue their hard work just because HAL has not paying top dollars. Sorry end of rant!

[cormike1]

Having sailed on 5 Princess ships, they to have a crew show. We always like to attend as it sometimes amazes me the talent some of the crew have. We have listened to some wonderful musicians and singers over the years. Yes there are the crazy acts like men dancing with coconut bras and grass skirts but there is also some great talent. I just appreciate that they take the time out of their busy schedules and their time off to entertain us! Thanks to all of them who do this for us!

[mariners]

I started a new thread for the January 11 sailing.