bvocruise

I appreciate this topic and the different perspectives. We currently have 5186 aft for the Nieuw  Amsterdam going from Alaska to Canada. We might switch to mid ship location but booked the aft for now as they go quick.

On 4/10/2023 at 2:53 PM, KroozNut said:

 

For the comfort of all of our guests, all staterooms (cabins), showrooms and most other indoor areas are designated non-smoking. No smoking of any kind will be permitted on any stateroom verandah.

 

Designated Smoking Areas:

Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Zuiderdam

• Sea View Bar area

We are going on the Niew Amsterdam in Alaska next year. We are not smokers but think we can get by with only one smoking area on the ship. We might have to avoid the Sea View area but can live with that.

We booked an aft balcony, 5186 for our Alaska cruise. We were going to get a mid ship one but decided for the aft port side sailing from Alaska.

47 minutes ago, Moriah said:

My feeling exactly.  Having to hike up to the Crow's Nest really makes no sense - As I mentioned, on the Rotterdam and her sisters, there is the Dutch Cafe in a prime location right across from the front desk, but on NA and Eurodam, they took away the great Explorations Cafe that we have on the Vista class, but didn't replace it with anything nearly as good.  One bright spot... the coffee from room service and the Lido are much MUCH better than they were just a few years ago.  On my last cruise I started getting room service because it was more convenient, even though it meant I would not see Dexter than morning LOL

Someone mentioned the Pinnacle Bar opens at 7:00 am and you can get coffee and water to take off the ship there. I will be checking that out for sure. 

14 minutes ago, Moriah said:

I just got off NA and the Explorations Cafe is the Crows Nest Bar.  I am not a fan of this, and MUCH prefer the cafes in the older and smaller ships (Vista class ships and Zaandam) The larger dedicated cafe is much nicer, IMO.  At least on the newest ships there is the Dutch Cafe in addition to the Explorations being part of crows nest, but on NA, sadly, there is only the less than adequate combination on deck 11.  I will say, though, that the "baristas" (the Crows Nest bar tenders) led by Dexter, on my NA cruise last week were stellar, and did a great job with the coffee, and we never encountered any long lines, but that might be down to our hours - I am often the first in line for morning coffee when they open!

I guess my wife and I were spoiled back in the day on our Oosterdam cruise. The cafe was in the perfect spot on a lower deck and we could easily grab something in the morning before heading out. It seems out of the way and an inconvenience to deck 11 to grad coffee or a bottle water for a shore excursion. I'm not sure who thought that was a great design as I certainly do not. It won't keep is from the cruise, but we might pass on purchasing specialty coffee that week.

1 hour ago, cabinluvn said:

The lido or the dining room when open. Lido coffee largely undrinkable

I'm surprised there isn't anything on the lower decks. Especially on the morning of shore excursions. It would be much more convenient to grab something there before heading off the ship.

1 hour ago, cabinluvn said:

Just off the Oosterdam. Only cafe is in the crow’s nest

Are there other places to get coffee in the morning? It seems a bit inconvenient to go to the Crow's Nest. We loved the Oosterdam when sailing on it years ago.

5 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

An aft corner in Alaska is fantastic! You will have great views, and if you get a cold or drizzly day ("liquid sunshine"), you can duck inside to warm up. 

I was lucky to get one because they booked up quickly. I wanted the deck 7 one but it was gone the moment the 2024 season opened.

2 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

On NA's sister, Eurodam, the PInnacle Bar had specialty coffees. On sea days, I went there for a mid-morning latte. Because I had an aft cabin, I didn't want to hike to Explorations just for coffee, so I was pleased to discover it midships. I was also able to get cans of water on my way to an excursion. 

 

The deck 11 forward Explorations is not at all like the old Crows Nest. It has tabletop screens where you can search for cruises or where your ship is or some such thing. It has very cool screens with all kinds of ship data, like the angles of the azipods and how fast they're turning. Unfortunately, these screens sit right at the center of the windows, breaking up that lovely panoramic view you used to get when you first walked in. As nice as the forward view is, I found sitting in the Pinnacle Bar with a coffee much nicer. 

 

 

Thank you for the information. I am happy to hear the Pinnacle Bar serves coffees and things in the morning and we can grab water on the way to shore excursions. I assume the NA has this if the sister ship does. We ended up with an after corner suite for our Alaska cruise. I'm hoping the longs walks to everything and being isolated  in the back of the ship are worth with amazing views. We booked a port side on deck 5 on the cruise from Alaska. 

Evidently the GDC has an amazing cream puff and soup according to some people on You Tube. They indicated the GDC was the best part of the ship and just blew them away to no end. I can live without a good cream puff and soup for a nice Alaska itinerary.

My wife and I were on the Oosterdam many years ago and loved the Explorations Cafe. It was on the center of deck 3 I think and very convenient. We would often go there for coffee and event stop on the way off the ship to grab a bottle of water to take with us on a shore excursion. The location could not have been any better in our opinion. We are booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam next year and I noticed the Explorations Cafe is at the front of deck 11. This does not seem like a convenient coffee place, unless I am missing something.

Are there other places on the ship to purchase coffee or water to take into port? It is not a deal breaker bur seems pretty inconvenient.  I could be wrong, but thought for some reason the Crows Nest areas is where people smoked cigars all hours of the day. Again, I have not cruised on HAL for many years and my data set could be off.

I am interested to see what people think of the Explorations Cafe on Deck 11 and if there are other places to grab coffee or bottled water on shore excursion days. We would also get the Vita Water sometimes using our drink package. Do most people think the Explorations Cafe is a good fit on deck 11 forward?

Youtube reviewers seem to love the GDC but I'm glad it isn't worth changing the cruise ship for. We almost went on the Noordam, but our vacation ability fits the Niew Amsterdam itinerary better. 

I appreciate all of the comments and we will keep our cruise the middle of July. We have the aft corner suite on the 5th deck port side and are excited. I was just surprised by by watching numerous YouTube videos mentioning the Grand Dutch Cafe was the best part of Holland America. I think we will be okay with out it. It would have been nice to have some of the goodies served there but is not the end of the world.

We haven't cruised HAL in quite some time but decided to book a cruise to Alaska in 2024. We are currently booked on the Niew Amsterdam. The reviews are the CC website are a bit troubling and I heard it does not have a Grand Dutch Cafe. I've heard several people rave about the GDC and am wondering if we should switch our cruise to a ship with one. The problem is neither of the North/South Alaska cruises from Vancouver have the GDC. We would have to change the itinerary completely and do an inside passage from Vancouver. This would also cause a drastic change to our pre-cruise tour.

I'm open to thoughts on weather it would be worth it to change ships. I have heard amazing things about the GDC and would not want to know what you all think.

I know this is an old topic but did not want to start a new one. Does anyone know the dining times for Alaska on the Niew Amsterdam? We booked open seating but might change to early fixed.

I found this topic a few weeks after booking a cruise with HAL. I did the online verification but the I need to cancel the cruise and book again to get the credit unless reading it wrong.

We are excited to stay in Suite 5187 and are okay with using the lounge. We might order some room service now and then though.

15 hours ago, LindaSSF said:

We have stayed in all these on port side. 8 - never again with pool noise. 
 

deck six was exceptionally small, relatively speaking. 
 

I would grab either 5 or 7. 

Thank you for the advice. We switched to deck 5 as the port side one on deck 7 is already taken. I will check periodically in case it opens up.

Do you have information on the tour?

35 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Why are you set on port side? I'd grab the deck 7 cabin. It's a hike to the lounge, but at least it's on the same deck.

We were told by friends the port side view is better for Alaska cruises going to Canada. It appears to be the case looking at how many port side cabins are already taken for the 2024 season in comparison to starboard ones. It would not matter if we were doing a round trip though. 

2 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Yes we received one for Passage to India cruise this May, but for the one that was about to leave in 2022. (It's only done once a year as a repositioning cruise north to south or reverse) It gave us an idea of which ones were likely to sell out. DV for our May cruise opened up this week and the same excursions rapidly sold out on ours as well. 
 

Make sure when your window opens you are at the MVJ before the actual time and keep refreshing. They opened up to the minute. If there's an excursion you really want, pay for it immediately and don't keep it in the basket while looking for others. If not paid for, it can get sold out before you pay. 
 

Within 10 minutes of our booking window opening, many were sold out. 

Wow, I did not know the excursions go that fast. What about the ones they include at each port?

14 minutes ago, Vagabond51 said:

A while back someone passed along a great tip. If you give Viking a call you can ask if they would email you the Pdf of shore excursions from 2022. It does exist. All may not be offered in 2023, but it would give you a good idea. If they give you an excuse, keep calling a rep until you get one who will send it to you. I was going to PM you but it looks like you have messages off. We lived in SE AK for nearly 50 years. Many ports you can get a cab, see more and pay less. Very competitive in most all AK ports. Would not include flightseeing though. 🙂

Thank you for the information. 

My wife and I are considering the 11 day Alaska cruise. We would have to book a lower class cabin to make the finances work. It is my understanding those who book the higher level cabins have a longer booking period for the most sought after included shore excursions. I'm trying to figure out what types of things might be open when booking is available for the lower category cabins. Is there a place to see what the ship excursions are? I tried searching on the website and could not find them.

Viking is expensive but doable for us. I would be heartbroken though if not able to book some of the cooler included excursions.

2 minutes ago, dfish said:

We had the port side aft wrap on deck 8 of the Nieuw Amsterdam in 2021 for an Alaskan cruise.  There was no problem with noise and I didn't notice cigarette smoke coming down.   It might be more prevalent if the weather is good.  

 

We loved that cabin and would book it again.  

I went to change from deck 6 to 8 and it was already gone. My current choices for port site are 5 and 6. The starboard ones are still available on 4, 5, and 7. They are all available early last week.

26 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Your travel agent it right, The aft wraps are a hike to get to the Neptune lounge, so lounge access may not  even matter that much - you are buying the view with Neptune aft wraps, and all the other Neptune perks, which still are plenty. 

I don't know if we will go to the lounge much anyway. My wife might send me to get her coffee and things. I think the view from the back and side is a better perk than quick lounge access for this particular cruise. My favorite perk is being able to eat in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. We did that before and it was great. It looks like they added Club Orange since we last sailed. I think the only noteworthy perk is one extra entree to select from at dinner. I'm excited to try the Dive In burger place. I wish the hours were longer and that they did not close around 5. We might just splurge and pay the room service surcharge to get a late night burger.