Just wondering about the court on the Amsterdam: do people play paddle/platform tennis, pickle ball or tennis? Do they use the dense paddle balls, whiffle ball type pickle balls, or regular tennis balls? And what kind of paddles or racquets do they use? We play all 3 and are wondering if we should bring anything. Thanks for any first hand info.
We just finished our 75 day Grand Pacific cruise on the MS Amsterdam on December 4. The Hotel Director and Cruise director arranged to have pickle ball lines added to the tennis sport court. They are painted yellow and are very visible. They also ordered pickle balls and pickle ball paddles which should be onboard by world cruise time. I advertised on cruise critic before our cruise to solicit players. We wound up with about 12 players for the cruise. I brought 4 paddles and 8 balls. Another guy brought two paddles and 3 balls. We lost about 4 balls overboard through holes in the netting and 3 cracked. Bring extra balls in case the ship's get lost or broken. The ship also has 4 paddle tennis wooden rackets and regular tennis balls. If you are fairly skilled at tennis, the paddle tennis game is good. In my opinion the court is too small for regular tennis rackets. We played with the paddle tennis rackets and tennis balls, but using pickleball rules on strong head wind days as the wiffle balls were too effected by winds. If you have the room in your luggage I would bring your own pickle ball paddles and balls so if the ships equipment is missing or broken you can still play. Also bring along a small tape measure to set the net height.
Paddle, pickle ball or tennis?
in Holland America Line
Posted
We just finished our 75 day Grand Pacific cruise on the MS Amsterdam on December 4. The Hotel Director and Cruise director arranged to have pickle ball lines added to the tennis sport court. They are painted yellow and are very visible. They also ordered pickle balls and pickle ball paddles which should be onboard by world cruise time. I advertised on cruise critic before our cruise to solicit players. We wound up with about 12 players for the cruise. I brought 4 paddles and 8 balls. Another guy brought two paddles and 3 balls. We lost about 4 balls overboard through holes in the netting and 3 cracked. Bring extra balls in case the ship's get lost or broken. The ship also has 4 paddle tennis wooden rackets and regular tennis balls. If you are fairly skilled at tennis, the paddle tennis game is good. In my opinion the court is too small for regular tennis rackets. We played with the paddle tennis rackets and tennis balls, but using pickleball rules on strong head wind days as the wiffle balls were too effected by winds. If you have the room in your luggage I would bring your own pickle ball paddles and balls so if the ships equipment is missing or broken you can still play. Also bring along a small tape measure to set the net height.