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Live From Nieuw Amsterdam Through the Panama Canal Followed by One Week in the Caribbean

Crew News

By Crew News,
in Holland America Line

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billbunger

billbunger

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10 hours ago, mexico8 said:

I have a mobility scooter and I think the power worked above the desk when I was charging my battery during the night.  We would plug it in before going to bed and during the night when I got up to use the bathroom the battery would be charged so I would unplug it.   

 

I am surprised by your comment that the power does not work when the lights are off.   I did not find that on other ships we have been on, HAL and Azamara etc. 

It is just the USB ports that loose power the power outlets are still live. 

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The last day of the Panama Canal portion of this thread was interesting.  Two of my visits to the Front Desk that day to gather information allowed me to overhear several complaints about the little time to spend $200 p/p OBC in the Shops and others in line commenting, "I can spend it for him," .   

With no disembarkation paperwork or in-transit card yet received, a dreaded second visit to the Front Desk on the eve of disembarkation was reuired.  Fortunately, I arrived at a very opportune time with only 10 passengers ahead of me, all complaining about their statement charges, when suddenly 20 additional passengers joined the line behind me giving me a sense of good fortune in choosing my time to join the queue.  As I returned to my stateroom with my in-transit card and disembarkation letter in hand, I knew I was ready for Disembarkation/In-transit in the morning. 

 

FWIW my Room Steward placed another copy of both documents on my bed while I was at dinner later that evening.

 

As has been reported many times here on CC, the best of part being an in-transit passenger is seeing so many pieces of luggage in the hallways and knowing that none of them were yours.

 

Disembarkation/In-transit Day was both bewildering and frustrating.  Being the first cruise of the FLL season, new ground support personnel, a different terminal than normally used, and erratic CBP systems were in my future.    Fifteen minutes after the required meeting time in the theater, less than half of those required to be there had decided to appear.  Announcements, followed by Security and Room Steward motivation, the last in-transit passengers decided to join us around 10:30 AM. 

 

Returning to my stateroom after a brief sojourn through the cruise terminal passport review, I noticed no new key in my mailbox and the old key not working.  Another visit to the Front Desk was necessary if I wanted to access my stateroom  For this Front Desk visit, I was just 13th in line behind incoming crew members but eventually received my new, hole-punched, stateroom key that successfully opened my stateroom door. 

 

Shortly after my Lido Market lunch, my Room Steward appeared with a newer stateroom key.  Indeed, the red light appeared whenever the first new key of the day was tried but the newer key caused a green light.  With a smile and a nod, my Room Steward disappeared, and my thumb passed slowly over the yet “unpunched” newer stateroom card.  As a committed lanyard wearer, after being locked out of my room while wearing only pajama bottoms on a previous cruise, a “hole-punched” stateroom key was imperative and another visit to the Front Desk now necessitated. 

 

Visions of the dreaded Front Desk Embarkation Day chaos in my past haunted me as I maneuvered, through the hallways of recently, waited on overstuffed elevators, and families  delivered luggage and disoriented passengers seeking their assigned staterooms, in sear

I sadly counted the 24 passengers ahead of me in the Front Desk line who were seeking the resolution of their issues and decided that the line was shorter than the more than 100 that I have seen in the past.  I chose to remain in the line. 

 

“No ice in my stateroom, not enough hangers, no USB-C connections, etc.” rippled through the voices of those ahead of me in line.  I noticed a crew member screening some of the passengers ahead of me and when he worked his way back to me, I reported only needed to have a hole punched.  Much to my great surprise, a red-handled hole puncher appeared from his right front trouser pocket and my second new stateroom key of the day was upgraded to lanyard-capable.

 

While attaching my now punched stateroom key to its lanyard clip, I glanced back at the nearly 30 more passengers that had joined the line behind me.  A feeling of great satisfaction that I had overcome the dreaded Embarkation Front Desk Line, swept through me.   For a fleeting moment, all was right onboard.

 

More later.

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CHOPPERTESTER

CHOPPERTESTER

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Hi Crew News,

 

Good saga on the cabin keys. You mentioned you are on a B2B. Was it two bookings or one long booking? Just want to know if under a long booking do they need to change the cabin key on turnover day (for some). We are on Rotterdam next month on 9 & 12 night segments but booked as one 21 night trip.

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LAFFNVEGAS

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23 hours ago, billbunger said:

It is just the USB ports that loose power the power outlets are still live. 

I agree this is what it does but does anyone else find it strange that they disconnect the USB that uses very little power keep live something that takes up more power.

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48 minutes ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

Hi Crew News,

 

Good saga on the cabin keys. You mentioned you are on a B2B. Was it two bookings or one long booking? Just want to know if under a long booking do they need to change the cabin key on turnover day (for some). We are on Rotterdam next month on 9 & 12 night segments but booked as one 21 night trip.

Two separate cruises according to HAL.  It is my experience that the longer cruises combining segments into collector cruises keep the same key but B2Bs that are not designated collector cruises by HAL Sales change keys.  YMMV

 

FWIW my Disembarkation letter was a "collector's voyage notice".  For sales purposes, this was not a collector voyage.

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oakridger

oakridger

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2 hours ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

Hi Crew News,

 

Good saga on the cabin keys. You mentioned you are on a B2B. Was it two bookings or one long booking? Just want to know if under a long booking do they need to change the cabin key on turnover day (for some). We are on Rotterdam next month on 9 & 12 night segments but booked as one 21 night trip.

 

On my last Collectors cruise (10+11 days) on Rotterdam in November 2022 I had one key that worked for the whole 21 days, and it had the dates printed on it.  I stayed in the same cabin for the entire trip.

 

~Nancy

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billbunger

billbunger

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We have never had to re-key on B to B cruises before, but today my key stopped working. My wife’s did not. I got a hair cut this morning at 8:00am and when they scanned my card nothing showed up on their charge screen in the spa.  I think they thought I was a stowaway. I got a new key at guest services 5 minutes later. 
 

As per cruise news our Florida disembarkation letter was sent as a collectors cruise but it was originally sold to us as a 28 day cruise. 

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

Posted
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3 minutes ago, billbunger said:

We have never had to re-key on B to B cruises before, but today my key stopped working. My wife’s did not. I got a hair cut this morning at 8:00am and when they scanned my card nothing showed up on their charge screen in the spa.  I think they thought I was a stowaway. I got a new key at guest services 5 minutes later. 
 

As per cruise news our Florida disembarkation letter was sent as a collectors cruise but it was originally sold to us as a 28 day cruise. 

Agree. Have done a number of B2Bs, both as Collectors Cruises, and with separate booking numbers. Never have needed a new key. 

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1 hour ago, keeponcruising said:

Thank you!

I converted all of my prepaid dining to refundable credit yesterday and retained all of my reservations.  The Front Desk knew exactly what to do and why I was doing it.  Unfortunately, there are more than 2000 other passengers not aware of this process. 

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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8 minutes ago, Crew News said:

I converted all of my prepaid dining to refundable credit yesterday and retained all of my reservations.  The Front Desk knew exactly what to do and why I was doing it.  Unfortunately, there are more than 2000 other passengers not aware of this process. 

The thing is, if everyone starts doing that they might stop it. 
 

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Embarkation Day ended with a visit to the Lido Market Late Snack for a bowl of potato chips.  Of immediate note to me, as well as the Asst Lido Manager, was the average diner age at least 20 years younger than the Panama Canal passengers.  There was even a line at the NY Pizza that I had not witnessed over the past 16 days.  One entire side of the Lido was filled, and I later learned that 300 meals were served which is significantly higher than the 40 that I was used to seeing. 

 

The first day of the second cruise segment began and ended in Fort Lauderdale with the Nieuw Amsterdam still undergoing repairs.  Breakfast in the Lido Market was a stark contrast to the repositioning segment.  Passengers consumed their meal and departed.  I saw only one book reader occupying a table after their breakfast dishes were cleared and very few diners in search of tables.  With a younger demographic, plates were piled high with bacon, waffles, eggs, pastries, etc. while the yogurt line not busy.  On a personal level, I quickly found a table for the first time in 16 days.

 

This day was our CC Meet & Greet and as promised by the Events Coordinator, Maria, there were at least nine ship officers present, that included the ship’s Captain and new Hotel General Manager, Mark Pells.  Sadly, and based so many people taking advantage of the free shopping mall shuttles, the officer contingent outnumbered the CC roll call members. I seized the opportunity gather information.  After nearly seven years on the Nieuw Amsterdam, Captain Jeroen von Donselaar will be moving to the Eurodam next March, He shared some of the upgrades coming in the December 2023 drydock:  All new Crow’s Nest windows, remodeled Fitness Center, add Rolling Stone, new carpeting and furniture, air conditioning and heating upgrades, azipod replacement, and Starlink upgrade are planned.

 

The table selection at 12:30 PM in the Lido Market for lunch was unlimited with so many passengers off the ship and shopping in Fort Lauderdale.  There could have been no more than 50 people present while I was there.  I learned that at 1:30 PM, the returning mall shoppers filled every Lido Market table.

 

My second dinner in the MDR was efficient and completed in 50 minutes, perhaps, because of the smaller portions.  I remained still amazed at the big changes since my May cruise on this same ship.  The only identifiable change that I can identify is the  new MDR Maitre’d, Damien. 

 

The magician/comedian, Fred Moore, was quite good and very funny.

 

The Late Lido Market Snack was filled with more diners than Embarkation Day and required more crew members to clean the tables.

 

More later.

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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4 hours ago, Crew News said:

Or maybe allow OBC to be used when making reservations before the cruise as some other lines allow.

When we cruised Celebrity that’s what they did I think it was allowed after final payment (been a few years since we sailed with them). 

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regan3

regan3

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1 hour ago, Crew News said:

He shared some of the upgrades coming in the December 2023 drydock:  All new Crow’s Nest windows, remodeled Fitness Center, add Rolling Stone, new carpeting and furniture, air conditioning and heating upgrades, azipod replacement, and Starlink upgrade are planned

Do you have any upcoming trips planned on Nieuw Amsterdam so you can report on the upgrades?

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