lastlook

Maybe travel by train during the land portion then no one has to drive?

The Royal Viking Sun was built by Wärtsilä Marine at Turku shipyard and launched in 1988. The Prinsendam will return to Turku Finland on June 11. I hear some onboard event is planned to honor 30 years of service!

Thank you for posting this information as we'll be sailing on the Prinsendam then and will look forward to the celebration.

He was there after dinner (main dining, Deck 3) every night on the Nieuw Amsterdam this past February.

Thank you for your delightful review.

Many thanks for taking this on!

Another sincere thank you for your past work to keep us all up to date on dry dock schedules and charters. I have been checking your list for the past few years when choosing a cruise and truly appreciate the time and effort it took to keep it updated.

hello,

We used to enjoy happy hour before dinner (late seating) but on our last cruise on the Amsterdam to Alaska happy hour was very limited at at a ridiculous hour of something like 3 PM. We are leaving on the Nieuw Amsterdam this Saturday and wondered if anyone has recent information on the policy - thanks.

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam recently (Feb. 24-March 3rd) and I just looked through the "When & Where" daily programs for you:

2/24 - Sail Away Day: No Happy Hour(s)

2/25 - Half Moon Cay Day: 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.

2/26 on - 4 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

We were just on the Nieuw Amsterdam (2/24-3/3/18), which recently had a major refurb, and both Clinique and Lacome were still available.

Just sailed on the NA last week. The carpets were beautiful!

 

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Beautiful photo, which highlights the matching floral design on the elevator doors! We were also on the NA last week (third time on her for us since 2011) and we thought everything looked lovely. Even the changes in the former Crow's Nest looked fine to me. Glad they still had the forward facing seating with the nice views of the ocean to enjoy. I easily found an interesting book to read, so they do exist. ;)

Hope you can tell me about the music and shows on the Niew Amsterdam. We have been on 24 Celebrity cruises and only 2 HAL cruises. We're going on the Niew Amsterdam in three weeks. I find that Celebrity BLASTS their music to the point that it's almost painful (and possibly ear damaging:mad:) and certainly not enjoyable. That is one of the reasons we are going to try HAL.

How did you find the volume level on your trip?

Thanks..

Phil............floridacruisers

We completed a cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam yesterday. The volume in the main show lounge was perfect IMO - not too loud. However, the shows were just okay. I also thought that the volume in the BB King venue was appropriate (much improved from what we experienced on the Koningsdam last year which was painful just in passing by on the upper level of that open area.) I really enjoyed the BB King band this past week - the male and female lead singers were very good. Since many people go there night after night, it would be even better if the band expanded/switched up their song list.

Just off the NA yesterday and was pleased to see the cruise log in our cabin the last night. It's very attractive but an odd (rectangular) size. I hated to fold it in half but had to so that I could put it in my travel folder with my other paper work. I was afraid it would be ruined if I'd tried to pack it unfolded in my suitcase.

A bit off topic, but we're also just back from the same cruise and were delighted that we could make HMC, since two days prior, the sea conditions were not safe for tendering. We had a great day enjoying the sun with hats and sunscreen and lots of time in that gorgeous water.:)

Headlamp - hands free lighting in case of emergency.

About 5 years ago we were on the Westerdam for a New Year's cruise. We arrived at the Main Showroom (Vista Lounge) after dinner on New Year's Eve, to find that it was packed. As we stood there for a moment to see if we could spot any open seats, two elderly women right in front of us got into it over the placement of a walker that belonged to one of them! We quickly left when they both took hold of the walker and started yanking back and forth, trying to wrestle it away from one another. We ended up spending the evening in the Crow's Nest instead which was quite peaceful, thankfully.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned the "Quench" beverage package which includes a variety of non-alcoholic drinks such as smoothies, mocktails, etc. and is roughly $20 pp perday.

We've had a Retreat Cabana twice on the Nieuw Amsterdam, once on the Noordam, and once on the Westerdam. All good past experiences and a quiet, peaceful atmosphere where one could read, relax, sun, snooze, have lunch inside our Cabana, etc. The atmosphere matched the "Retreat" name.

However, the Retreat Cabana layout was changed on the Koningsdam, and they were made smaller, with a canvas divider partition on one side (rather than solid partitions on both sides) and the canvas was already tattered and torn (January 2017), so the privacy was lacking since you could easily hear (and somewhat see) your neighbors through the torn canvas. There were only two loungers and a low, small table between the two loungers in the Koningsdam Retreat Cabanas. No additional round table with two chairs (as on the other HAL ships), so one was forced to either eat from one's lap, or dine at a table in the Retreat's common area outside your Cabana. There was a large table that seated 6-8 people just outside our Cabana, where a group would gather to socialize, have their lunch, etc. Gone was any semblance of peace and privacy. In addition, our Cabana neighbors (on the canvas wall side) were loud and animated so we were subjected to their personal family conversations/gripes. We asked if we could be moved to another Cabana, but the entire Retreat was booked, so that was not possible. To compound the situation, the Retreat Cabanas were closed entirely for a couple of days due to an unusual week of rough seas/weather in the Caribbean. Obviously, mother nature cannot be controlled but we had paid for an entire week and got very little enjoyment from that Cabana experience due to the changes in the layout. So while I recommend the Retreat Cabanas in general, I cannot recommend the ones on the Koningsdam. I am hoping that the next new HAL ship (Nieuw Statendam) will not have the same Retreat Cabana layout as the Koningsdam, as it was very disappointing compared to the original Retreat Cabana layout on the other HAL ships.

Yes - no luck here either.

Hey CocoKai, maybe this is what happened. Looks like a seasoned cruiser got stung with a monster bill.

 

 

https://cruiseable.com/blog/are-maritime-carriers-hijacking-your-smartphone-when-youre-on-a-cruise-ship

Many thanks for the link to this article warning about "Cellular at Sea" appearing on your phone and activating without one being aware of it.

Not on Koningsdam however, when HAL started with the BB King band on Eurodam in March 2013, they did perform one night in the main show lounge starting as a jive session on Beale Street in Memphis, in addition to their five nights in their "own venue". That concept was followed on the Nieuw A and the four Vistas. That "one night in the main show lounge" ended about a year and a half to two years ago and since then, they only perform in the Queen's Lounge aka the B.B. Kings Blues Club

Thanks very much for the update on this as we'll soon be on the N.A. and wondered where the BB King group would be performing since the refurb.

In 2004, we visited Tahiti aboard the "Paul Gauguin" (small ship which holds just a few hundred passengers) to celebrate the year that one of us turned 50 and the other 60. First cruise and loved it. It was a one week cruise that stopped at several islands and then we added on a second week on one of the islands that the cruise did not visit. We splurged on an over-water bungalow but there are other choices if that is not in the budget or does not appeal to you. We were traveling from the Northeast, so wanted to stay for two weeks to make the most of the long flights. Too far for just one week.

A good reminder to use your phone to take a quick photo of the cab and number. I hope that the complaints at FLL will also be investigated. I am familiar with the cost of cab fare from FLL to the local hotels and from the local hotels to Port Everglades, and always pay in cash to guard against any credit card issues.

Blue Glacier Martini while on our last HAL cruise following scenic cruising of Glacier Bay. Looking forward to having another in the Caribbean next month!;)

Thank you. I will take a pass on the cabana. I was placed in a Juliette balcony on deck 11 for my stateroom, and since I was near Retreat thought I would inquire. Oh well. I will take my chances with a spa package instead.

When you board the ship, you could check with the front desk to see if there are any available for individual days. If they are not completely sold out for the entire 10 days, you should be able to book a couple of days. We did that back in 2011, when we were on a very port-intensive Mediterranean cruise and were able to book just the two sea days. Unfortunately, the Retreat Cabana pricing has gone up recently - we used to get one for the week for $299, but this year the price has gone up to$399 for the week.:o

Thanks for the replies, sound like the N/A might be a good fit and a nice change of pace for us.

 

Thinking of sailing the first part of March which has me concerned that there would be more kids on board the N/A due to kids being on Spring Break. Initially I just assumed since it was a HAL ship, that would not be an issue as the line tends to cater to more older folks (in my 60s myself) . But maybe I am wrong and there could be a boatload of kids! One time we made the mistake of going on Celebrity during Spring Break and it was really crowded!

I think March would be fine. We've sailed on the NA twice before - once during March, and we don't remember seeing kids - certainly not many of them. If you stay away from those last two weeks in February, I think you won't see many kids. We love the Retreat Cabanas for rest and relaxation and some extra pampering by the Cabana Stewards there.

We only caught the tail end of BB King one night so don't really have an opinion on it....let's just say it didn't grab my attention. We intended to see more however it was a matter of timing....we ate early (around 5:45 each night) so our usual evening consisted of Lincoln Centre Stage for their 7 pm concert followed directly by the show in the theatre at 8 pm which was usually an hour. By the time we were out of the theatre BB King was into their performance and we were getting tired! The venue did not seem to have the following on this cruise that we have seen in the past (standing room only). Groups change all the time so I'm sure some will be better than others.

Thanks very much. Do you know if they were ever the featured performers in the main show lounge? I think I've read in the past that one evening during a cruise, they were the headliners in the showroom.