I am re-posting this in the HAL forum since it seemed difficult to find it in the "Nieuw Amsterdam" forum. I am a bit new to this and maybe I am just not very good at navigating the site yet.
First, let me apologize for not posting this sooner. We squeezed in this cruise between Thanksgiving and Christmas; with all the holiday activities upon our return, the review got neglected.
I also apologize for its length; I sometimes think I must be related to Dickens. I have tried to break it down into sections so you can find what interests you easily.
My lovely wife (MLW) and I took the cruise to celebrate my retirement after about 34 years with a major diversified manufacturer in Minnesota. Overall, we had a great time and found very little to complain about. I would be happy to take this cruise again.
Travel to the Ship-
We flew in and out of West Palm Beach (PBI) on Delta since the airfares were better for us at that time and we wanted to visit cousins after the cruise. We had to change planes in Atlanta in both directions but all the flights were fine. We picked up a rental car on Sunday 11/28 at PBI at around 11 PM and drove down to Fort Lauderdale. There was hardly any traffic. We arrived at the Marriot Courtyard Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port (400 Gulf Stream Way, Dania Beach) at about midnight. I dropped off the rental car early Sunday morning and caught the hotel shuttle back to the Courtyard. After a light breakfast, we then took the hotel’s 11 AM free shuttle to Port Everglades (they have 10 AM and noon shuttles as well). Before leaving the hotel, we purchased return shuttle tickets at $10pp from All-Star in the hotel lobby. The trip to the port on the shuttle was very easy. Our driver knew his way around and got everyone to their respective ships quickly. He dropped us off right where HAL was picking up the checked luggage. Since we had our express docs luggage tags attached, we could just hand them to the HAL folks without dragging them very far. The next time we cruise out of Port Everglades, I will probably use this hotel & their shuttles again.
Embarkation-
After dropping off the bags, we entered the lower level of the terminal where we had to fill out some short medical forms and maybe a customs form (I do not recall exactly since MLW filled them out, all I remember is that it was quick). Then it was upstairs to the embarkation desks. The line was fairly long but moved at a reasonably steady pace. Once we got to an agent, we got checked in very quickly and were able to board the ship. We were in our room by about 1:30 pm and all our checked luggage arrived by about 3 pm.
The Ship-
The Nieuw Amsterdam is only about 5 years old. The ship is still in very good shape, especially considering the wear and tear any cruise ship faces. It seems to be laid out very intelligently. I thought it was easier to find your way around the Nieuw Amsterdam than it was on the three other ships I have sailed with. I would be happy to sail on her again.
Our Room-
We were in 4054 on the Upper Promenade. It is one of the four VA Staterooms with extra-large rectangular balconies. We had 2 metal/mesh lounges, one wood HAL lounge with cushion, 2 small chairs with cushions, one large chair with cushion and ottoman, and a small cocktail table. I researched these rooms on Cruise Critic a bit before booking it. There seemed to be some mixed feelings about them but I thought it was great. I would re-book this room in a heartbeat. It is true that you can be seen from above on parts of the balcony, but that seems to be the case with any number of veranda staterooms. Too much sun on the balcony was never an issue; the area near the door to the room is as shaded as any other veranda. We did not need all the furniture that was provided (I actually had some taken away) but it did not feel at all crowded even with the full complement. I really enjoyed the extra space. If you are travelling with a group of people, it would be a really great gathering point if someone in the group had one of these rooms. The room itself was the standard layout with adequate storage space and room to move around. It was quite comfortable. Our Room Steward, Budhi, was fantastic. He helped with everything without hesitation, kept the room spotless, and was genuinely friendly and fun to visit with.
Food-
Canaletto: We had purchased a dinning package that gave us one night in each of the specialty restaurants and we were supposed to make our reservations once we were on board. Well, HAL set up a 5:30 reservation for the Canaletto on our first night. That was not what I would have done on my own, but we decided to go with it. It was pretty empty when we arrived but it got maybe half full by the time we left. The recommended 2 small plates, 1 pasta plate, 1 large plate, and dessert is more than enough for two people. We had 3 small plates (eggplant – very good, seared beef – good with a little zing, and salumi – good but could have used more olives). As the pasta plate, the pappardelle with shrimp was excellent, pasta and shrimp were cooked perfectly. Our large plate was the pork loin. It was OK but a little too salty, a little tough, and a little dry. I would recommend trying something different. The service was very good and this place was worth the $10 upcharge in my mind. We went back during the second week of our cruise and had another good experience. I cannot highly recommend the lasagna which was an off-the-menu choice during the two times we went. It was OK, but the flavors/spices just did not seem right to me.
Tamarind: This was our favorite restaurant of the cruise. We first went on 12/3 when we were in Cozumel. We were enjoyed so much we decided to go again on the last night of the cruise to end on a high note. The recommended two appetizers, one main dish, one side, and dessert seemed like the proper amount of food per person. Cappuccino was included in the meal. The service was great, especially our main waitress Angela. On our return visit, they remembered us and went out of their way to welcome us back. In our two visits we tried the satay sampler, sashimi, sushi roll sampler, and pearl of the seas soup as appetizers and all were very good. Our main dishes, red curry chicken, Asian lobster tail, and wasabi crusted tenderloin were also delicious. Unless you are really dislike Asian food, I highly recommend that you eat in the Tamarind at least once. Please note that it is no longer open for lunch. As part of our reservations each night, we got a coupon good for a happy hour deal (buy one drink get another of the same for $1) on the Silk Den Bar’s Asian cocktails. The Silk Den is just across the elevator lobby from the Tamarind in the rear observation deck (11). It is a very nice bar.
Pinnacle Grill: We waited until our second week to go to the Pinnacle. The dining room was very nice and the service was elegant. We both had lobster bisque which was assembled at the table. It was very good but surprisingly did not go at all well with the wine (a decent Australian Shiraz). We both had Dungeness crab cakes, these were fantastic, very meaty, and I would always get these if I could. MLW had a 10oz filet & I had the 18oz ribeye. My steak was OK but it was not real tender and had lots of fat to cut out, I think I do a better ribeye at home. MLW’s filet was clearly the better choice. We shared mushrooms, Brussel sprouts, and shoestring fries with truffle oil as sides. Other than the fries, the sides were fairly small portions. The mushrooms were good but the sprouts were a bit odd to me. They were not very thoroughly cooked and had a lot of cheese (parmesan?) on them. They tasted OK, but were not like any sprouts I was used to. The fries were good but we did not finish them as we got filled up on the other stuff. I would get another veggie or two instead of the fries next time. It would have been very nice if they had a rice option as a side. We both had baked Alaska for desert – too big! It tasted fine but we could barely finish half of it. Our reservation was at 7 PM and we did not leave until about 9; overall it was a very pleasant dining experience (but I did not have any urge to go back).
Manhattan Dining Room: The rest of our diners, except for two, where in the MDR. We had open seating and tended to eat in the 7 to 8 PM time range. There was never a problem getting seated quickly, even the one time I requested a table for two at the door. Usually, we were seated at tables of 6, 8, or 10 people. One night, we were at a table for 4, but no one else was ever seated with us. So we were meeting new people at dinner almost every night. With very few exceptions, everyone got along splendidly and there were good table-wide conversations each night. I thought the food was fine with, as one would expect, some things working better than others. I thought the soups were generally outstanding and often unusual. The surf and turf on two of the Gala nights was quite good as was the prime rib on the Culinary Arts Night. I cannot recall any “to die for” meals in the MDR, but they were all quite pleasant and satisfying. The service seemed fine at diner except one night that was rather slow. But to be honest, our table for 6 barely noticed until desert time since we were having lively conversations. The wait staff was very apologetic and said there was some kitchen problem involving the Pinnacle. They voluntarily poured us a few glasses of free champagne as compensation. We sat down at about 7 PM but did not leave until around 10, partly because we were enjoying conversations with an interesting couple from Quebec. I think we were the last people to leave the MDR. I think they were turning out the lights as we left! We had breakfast a few times in the MDR and it was elegant and relaxing. I was a bit surprised by the dress at dinner in the MDR, particularly on the Gala nights. I wore suits on those nights and there were lots of folks in tuxedos and evening gowns. But there seemed to be lots of people in polo shirts and things I might not even wear on a regular night in the MDR.
Lido: From my previous HAL cruises (Oosterdam and Zaandam) of about 10 and 13 years ago, I had memories of the Lido as a mediocre buffet with hordes of people to fight through for food and tables. I was wondering why anyone would eat there when the lovely MDR was available. This trip definitely changed my attitude. It was crowded at times (you could easily avoid these times), but the serving lines were numerous and seemed to move efficiently. During the crowded times, it did seem like you needed to search around for a table. The wait staff seemed pretty good about clearing and resetting the tables and bringing drinks (coffee, juices, water…). I did see wine stewards and bar waiters in the Lido so it was possible to order wine and cocktails. You might need to search them out, but they were there. We had light lunches fairly often in the Lido; things like plates of 3 sushi roll slices, cups of soup, salads, and premade sandwiches. The only thing I really did not like was the Mexican stuff. You could make nachos and such from the huge bowl of tortilla chips and salsa, guacamole, and other toppings. It looked great and seemed like a wonderful idea. When I tried it, the chips seemed stale and “dampened” the experience. The salsas and guacamole were fine. I tried a carnitas burrito; it also looked good but was very bland tasting. We tried the Lido for dinner one night when we were too lazy to get dressed up for the MDR. I had lamb that was better than what I had in the MDR. MLW had a made to order pasta dish which she really liked. The pasta station always smelled wonderful whenever we walked by due to all the garlic they were sautéing. I will eat in the Lido more often on our next cruise. It is also very nice for breakfast. There are so many options that it can be hard to choose. The breakfast spot I liked best was the one that had Asian fare (Tamarind-like) at lunch and was closed for Canaletto use in the evening. This spot had all the fixings for Full English breakfasts (except for the black pudding, sigh) and did poached eggs to order (so you could get various types of eggs benedict).
Room Service: We used room service for breakfast on the days that we had to leave the ship early for excursions. We usually had greek yogurt, granola, bananas, croissants, juice, and coffee so I cannot comment on any hot items. The breakfasts were delivered at the requested time and the orders were always correct. Everything tasted good, but it would be difficult to mess up a breakfast this simple! One night, MLW had a club sandwich from room service around 10 PM (we had a very late lunch that day due to our shore excursion and skipped dinner) and it was very good & delivered pretty quickly.
Dive-In and NY Pizza: On the same night MLW had room service, I got a pizza to go from the NY Pizza window. They put it in a pizza box so it was still hot when I got back to the room. I think this was the only place serving food on the ship at around 10 PM. The Lido was supposed to reopen for late-night snacks at 10:30, but I did not want to wait. We had these pizzas a couple of other times and enjoyed them. They were not the best I ever had, but they had lots of interesting and high quality toppings. They are thin crust and about the right size for one person. They are a good option for a quick snack or off-hour meal. I liked the Dive-In a lot. The burgers and hot dogs were consistently good and I liked their French fries. The menu board had about 3 different burgers and 3 different hot dogs (I thought the dogs were particularly good). But from what I could see, you could custom order the burgers and hot dogs just about any way you liked (I did not put this to the test).
Drink-
We pretty much stopped drinking soda pop years ago and are perfectly happy with tap water. So I cannot comment on the availability/cost of soft drinks and such. When we craved a non-alcoholic beverage, we got iced tea, lemonade, water, or tropical punch from the dispensers in the Lido. The wine lists at the various venues seemed good and there were a fair number of reasonably priced bottles. You could also get wine by the glass or carafe. We like wine with dinner, but we usually pick things at the lower end of the price range ($5-10 sale price bottles in Minnesota liquor stores; such as Barefoot, Yellow Tail, Columbia Crest, and Ravenswood). There were several bottles on board in the $29-35 price range that were recognizable brands for us (mostly Australian) and carafes and glasses of their House wines for $14.75 and $5.50 respectively. These prices were very comparable to restaurant prices in Minnesota. We were happy with our choices; I would not bother with any wine package as long as they continue to have these wines available. There are lots of options for cocktails on the ship. Most of the typical drinks run in the $7-8 range and beers (cans/bottles) were $5-6. I did not think too much of their beer selection in the bars we frequented; Molson Canadian seemed like the best choice to me. If there were better selections or tap beer somewhere onboard, I did not find them. The cocktails were a little hit and miss and some seemed pretty thin. I recommend staying with the simple stuff, like Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks or Bombay Sapphire gin & tonics for $7.25. You can get a drinks package for something like $45-50 a day, but you would have to drink a lot (more than I wanted to!) every day to make it worthwhile. A much better plan is to find the bars with happy hours and have your cocktails then. In the happy hours, you buy one drink at the regular price and get a second of the same for $1. This seemed to work on all drinks, beers, and glasses of wine that were under (I think) about $9. You could take the drinks pretty much anywhere on the ship. So you could get two happy hour beers (4 cans total) for way less than the $25-30 buckets of beer (5 cans) and put them in the mini-bar in your room if you wanted to. We liked going to the Ocean Bar for their 4-5 PM happy hour for pre-dinner drinks and often had night caps in the Silk Den during their 9-10 PM happy hour. The bars with happy hours may vary on different sailings. I also recommend that you find a bar and bartender that you like and frequent that bar. We found that Chriz in the Silk Den was a hoot to chat with and that she would make drinks to order for me. There were also happy hours by the pool in the afternoon and in (I think) in the Lido around lunchtime. These were the same buy one get one for $1 but maybe only covered beer and the drink of the day. The Explorations Café had good coffee drinks at reasonable prices. We had Americanos for $2.50 (large) and $1.95 (medium). They also have a case full of little sandwiches, small desserts, and other treats that were free.
Entertainment-
We did not go to many shows since we tended to dine late. The BB King band was very good and a lot of fun. There was a 4 or 5 piece band playing in the Ocean Bar that were pretty good and played a lot of different styles. A fair number of people were out on the Ocean Bar’s dance floor during their sets. If you like classical music, the piano and violin duet were really good. Lots of people listened to them in the Explorer’s Lounge on their way to dinner. The Piano Bar was heavily attended, at least on the first couple of nights. The piano player seemed pretty good, but I could see it getting old pretty fast. The library in the Explorations Café was very good. MLW found several books worth reading and they had daily crossword and Sudoku puzzles.
Excursions-
Half Moon Cay: We stopped here twice and had Clamshells each time. They are worth the cost, but you need to book them early. We chose to just relax on the beach and swim a bit. With the even sandy bottom, it is like a giant salt water pool. Some folks were snorkeling, but I am not sure there was a lot to see. The BBQ was fun both times. It is not haute cuisine but I liked it just fine. The salads were very interesting. The seafood salad had shrimp, scallops, squid, and more; it was good. The ribs were not what I expected, being cut thin across the bone, but it worked for me. They were grilled, nicely seasoned and came with an optional BBQ sauce. They were chewy and messy, but tasted good. I might try something like this at home when grilling season rolls around. They had a grilled fish that I thought was very good. The hot dog was pretty boring. MLW liked her burger. Overall, Half Moon Cay is a lovely and relaxing stop.
Sting Ray City, Grand Cayman: This was fun and well worth doing at least once. The tour through HAL seemed a bit disorganized on shore and it took a while before our group got onto the shuttle buses to go to the harbor. Once there, the boat’s crew was great & we got going quickly. The crew got in the water with us and did most of the handling of the rays. You could pet them, hold them, kiss them, or have them draped on you for pictures. Some of us got to feed them also. There were several boats at the sand bar and quite a few people in the water. You could snorkel but it was a bit difficult due to the number of people. The HAL tour was fine, but you could probably arrange your own and maybe get a better deal.
Chankanaab Park & Snorkel, Cozumel: We met our tour guide Luis at the end of the pier around 11:45 and walked through a shopping area to where our cabs were. The drive to the park was not too long. We entered the park and Luis and his assistant Jesus gave us a quick tour on the way to a covered patio/restaurant where there were restrooms for changing and lockers for valuables. We then walked down the beach, got our snorkel gear, and some basic instructions. We entered the water via metal stairs since the shoreline is rocky. We stayed together as a loose group for the 1 hour or so of snorkeling. Luis and Jesus keep close watch on everyone and did a great job pointing out fish and underwater sights. They had a small floating board for anyone that was having difficulties. The water was a bit choppy. The snorkeling area is very nice with lots of fish, coral reefs, and underwater sculptures. After snorkeling, you could shower off. Luis then did a guacamole demonstration and made enough so that everyone got a few chips worth. Some folks also ordered drinks and food at the restaurant. There was then some free time to see the sea lion shows and such. It poured down rain just when we were supposed to tour the Mayan Gardens. That was cancelled and we did the tequila tasting early. They gave us samples of 6 different tequilas that you could buy in the next door shop. Since it was still raining, they sent us back to the ship by cab a bit early. Luis and Jesus were really good tour guides; genuinely friendly, talkative, and very helpful. The park is beautiful and I recommend this tour (or you could go to the park on your own).
Butterfly Conservatory and Aquarium, Key West: We were at the Navy Pier so we could not walk to shore due to security. We met our group outside the ship and got on a shuttle bus which took us to the Butterflies. The tour guide pointed out sights along the way and talked about the history of Key West. The butterfly enclosure is amazing with beautiful plants and lots of exotic butterflies flitting about. There are lots of photo opportunities if you are interested. The gift shop is also quite nice (and large) with a wide variety of butterfly themed items. We probably had about 1 hour at the Butterfly stop. Our shuttle then took us to the Key West Aquarium; the guide pointed out more sights and finished his Key West history talk. The aquarium is old and of some historical significance. If you like aquariums (and I do) you would like this stop. It is not very big but the exhibits are very nicely done. The aquarium is in the Mallory Square area. You can explore further on your own or take a shuttle back to the Navy Pier. I recommend both the Butterflies and the Aquarium but you could easily do this on your own instead of an organized tour.
Bajari Beach, Grand Turk: We met our tour group after passing through the Duty Free Shop at the end of the pier. They drove us in safari buses to the beach facility north of the cruise port. The place has restrooms, bar, restaurant (there is an all-inclusive version that includes food and drinks), lots of lounge chairs, and some shade enclosures. We got a free rum punch with our tour. The beach is pretty but it is rocky in some places. With the swells we were having, it made swimming a bit of a challenge since it was hard to tell how deep the rocks were. The beach was fine for wading and playing around. You could stay for up to about 5 hours or hop on a return shuttle whenever you wanted, they ran every 15-20 minutes. This was an OK excursion but I would not do it again. The beach right by the cruise pier looked as nice or nicer and was free.
St. Johns Safari Bus Tour, St. Thomas: We got on board the “Island Girl” ferry at the dock right beside our ship (we were in Crown Bay) and took the 30-45 minute ride to Cruz Bay on St. Johns. A crewmember was on the loudspeaker non-stop during the trip over and back. Some of what he had to say was interesting but a lot was not. The ride over and back is quite scenic and enjoyable despite his constant jabbering. Our buses met us at the dock in Cruz Bay and took us to multiple scenic overlooks with lots of photo opportunities. At one stop, you can walk down to the beach for a (very) short visit. After the last viewing stop, we simply backtracked to town with no stops. This was disappointing since I expected to get up to the higher elevations on the island like we did on this tour in November of 2002. The views from up high were fantastic that time. I cannot strongly recommend this tour since it seemed incomplete to me. I do highly recommend going to St. Johns, but I would suggest booking a bus tour on your own or something else through HAL.
Debarkation-
We chose a later debarkation since we only needed to pick up a rental car to drive back to West Palm Beach and PBI. This allowed us to have a leisurely breakfast and calmly (and regrettably) leave the ship. We spotted our luggage without difficulty and lined up for US Customs. The line seemed a bit long and moved somewhat unevenly. Once we got to a customs agent, we pretty much breezed through since we only had a bottle of rum and a bottle of tequila to declare. It was rather chaotic outside the terminal but there were people helping folks find where they needed to be. We found the All-Star shuttle stop without too much trouble. I could probably have gotten a free shuttle through the rental car company, but it might have been more difficult than using All-Star. The All-Star shuttle made a couple more stops (we were the second couple to get on) at other ships and they tried to stage the bags in the little trailer according to where you were getting off. Shuttle dropped us off at the FLL rental car facility; overall it was pretty painless and the $10pp fare was pretty cheap for the peace of mind it provided. We hopped into the rental car and headed off to West Palm Beach (an easy 50 mile drive) for a couple days with cousins and then the flight home.