Amsterdam...Great itinerary, questionable ship?

[BarbarianPaul]

My wife and I are considering a 20 day “Grand World Voyage,” from Amsterdam to Ft. Lauderdale, in 2019. We don’t have any issues with smaller ships, but I’m wondering, considering the Amsterdam’s age, what kind of shape is she in? Does anyone have any recent impressions or advice?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[BarbarianPaul]

Also, does anyone know if the Amsterdam has recently had or is due for a refurb? Does anyone think she needs one?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Hlitner]

You are looking at the final leg (segment) of the 2019 World Cruise which begins on Jan 22 and is actually a 113 night journey. Many on that cruise will be doing the full world or much longer segments then that final 20 day leg. Hard to predict the ship condition this far in advance, but HAL usually does try to make sure its World Cruise vessel is in decent shape. We recently were a Rotterdam cruise...and were appalled at the condition of the ship (picture 8 large buckets catching the water from a big leak in the Lido and towels under numerous windows in the Crows Nest to capture the leaking water)! Others who had cruised on the Rotterdam a few months before our August cruise...reported the ship was in pretty decent shape....so things can deteriorate quickly....when HAL decided to "defer" maintenance.

 

One possible consideration on your cruise would be that you are joining a long cruise where there is a tendency for many passengers to form their own cliques and look down on those only doing shorter segments. You would be joining folks...many of whom would have been cruising together for the prior 3 months. Personally we would not care.....but some folks prefer not to be the "interloper" at the end of a Grand Cruise.

 

Hank

[Karen604]

We were on the last Alaska cruise of the season. On her way to CA, repositioning, she was due to get new MDR carpet and some new furnishings in one of the lounges as well as some new carpet.

The staterooms need some work. Our bathroom could use a regroup one the sink fixtures had seen better days. The carpet was tired and some small pieces of veneer were missing from some of the furniture. There was only one outlet in the bed/sitting room area, be sure to bring an electrical strip if you plan to charge your electronics.

[BarbarianPaul]

Don’t care about being regarded as interlopers...though I hope people are friendly anyway. Just found out that the ship is getting refurbished May 2018, which hopefully will address Karen’s issues. Looked at a YouTube ship’s tour video. That clock in the atrium is pretty cool.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Hi Barbarian Paul - You may have already seen this thread, but rafinmd (Roy) is blogging from the Amsterdam as she makes her way across the Pacific on the 2017 Grand Asia/South Pacific Voyage. He is very good at answering questions, and his posts have been accompanied by photos, so if you haven't already seen it, you might want to check it out:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2545523

[BarbarianPaul]

Will check out...thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Tampa Girl]

We are scheduled on the 2018 Grand Asia, so I have been watching the threads closely re this ship.

 

The Amsterdam is scheduled for a full refit in May, 2018, at the end of the 2018 Grand World. In the meantime, she underwent a wetdock partial rehab just before the sailing last week of the 2017 Grand Asia. Included in that rehab was new carpeting. You can view pictures of what was done on the roll call for the 2017 Grand Asia, if my memory serves me correctly.