vicd1969

For a 5-day sailing, you may not get the chance to really get to know your cabin attendant or dining steward. But if they exceed your expectations, a little bonus is nice but not necessary.

Canaletto not opening on the first night sounds a bit suspect. Maybe they needed a night to switch to the new menu? I ate at the Canaletto on the first night on board the Nieuw Amsterdam three weeks ago.

Maybe the Nieuw Amsterdam Food and Beverage manager had a bit more leeway. She is married to the Captain and seemed a bit more visible around the ship and with passengers than other F&B managers on my previous sailings.

On my recent Alaska Nieuw Amsterdam sailing, the MDR had each night a “crew meal” offering. Bami Goreng was an option one night. We tried a few different “crew” offerings and they earned the consensus thumbs up. Not sure if this was a fleet-wide initiative or just on the NA. The food experience was just better than on my Caribbean sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in November, so maybe HAL is slowly improving post-covid with its dining operations.

I may try that the next time i get CO. Was leery previously because there is a lot of good Peruvian chicken in the DMV area. Still have yet to dare taste the crab cakes onboard lol. Maybe @rafinmd can vouch for either ones?

HAL gave me a cloth canvass bag a few weeks ago on my Alaska sailing. Better quality than the plasticky ones. But not as good as the Club orange bag 😄

Not sure this would apply for a table for two, but i was able to secure reservations soon after boarding on the Nieuw Amsterdam. I went to the deck 2 entrance to the MDR and the assistant dining mgr helped me reserve for the second and third night the same table for 8 at 530. Then during night 3 he came by and asked if we wanted to keep the same table and time, which we of course agreed to. I am not sure you can reserve for the first night, which is usually chaotic. We scheduled our Canaletto on night 1, much calmer atmosphere.

Yes you can. Just go to the spa front desk to get your sticker and swap for the spa entry card. However, you may get groups of people interrupt your zen as spa staff give tours of the facilities to promote it.

If you don't have work or personal commitments that discourage a longer cruise, definitely go for the Norwegian Fjord / Iceland combo, especially if it includes either Geiranger or Flam. Also, highly recommend booking the cheapest cabin in your category and then getting the free upgrade by purchasing Club Orange. The Rotterdam's separate Club Orange dining where I had one of the best dining experiences in all my HAL cruises was well worth it. Just upgrading to middle of ship unobstructed balcony from an obstructed balcony paid for itself.

Speaking of travelling from Vancouver with 2 small kids ... The US Customs and Immigration that you need to go through before boarding the ship in Vancouver was absolutely the longest time-wise I ever spent going through US Immigration. It took me 1.5 hours and I've heard of horror stories of more than 2 hours. Global Entry or Nexus did not matter for the line. Make sure your kids have stuff to be distracted during the wait, as wells as some snacks and water!

Certainly! - I have in the past given candy and Indonesian coffee packets to my cabin attendants as well as cash tips.

Great attitude, yes it helps to bring extra cash. US Dollars may be preferred, but I don't think the crew will turn down Canadian dollars for additional tips (if deserved), especially if the ship stops in Canada (like Alaska sailings).

I've closed down the joint a few times in my recent sailing 😁. I also prefer to use the showers in the Eurodam/Nieuw Amsterdam locker room, which should be similar to the Oosterdam. Please let me know how your spa experience on the Oosterdam is. I have a booking on her for August 2024 and intend to use the thermal suite as well.

Not sure on start time - maybe 8 am. Closing is 10 PM.

I'd only be concerned about the water if you spot Godzilla from the promenade deck.

Couple of other data points for premium internet pre-purchases for shorter sailings. 7- day: $128 - $18.29/day 10-day: $168 - $16.80/day

My ship is scheduled to dock in Naples in July 2024 for only from 11 AM to 7 PM, meaning effectively 7.5 hours available. And the ferry schedules don't seem convenient given the later arrival of the ship. Adding a buffer of 30 minutes, would a 7-hour excursion to both Pompeii and Positano be possible? Or maybe something between Naples and Positano and then Positano? We'd look to book a private tour, given the large number of people in my travelling group.

This reviewer expected to drop off their 4-year old so they could hike and bike by themselves. I couldn't believe the level of entitlement either! https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=703604

For two people, air credit is pretty much a pass-through. Let's say you get $900 in air credit - your total cruise fare would be lower by $900 if you didn't get it. Example - you booked a cruise fare for $2900 including air credit, - that fare can be considered as $2000 without it. The actual air ticket on Flight Ease costs $1200, so your total cost is $3200 (2900+300, or 2000+1200 either way). Where the air credit bonus can kick in is if you have a 3rd or 4th person in your cabin. Their fare may only be $600 per person, but they also get the $900 air credit promotion, so essentially they are cruising for free or nearly free once you factor in gratuities and taxes. If you amortize their actual costs with the costs for the first two people, the per person cost cuts down a lot. In this example, first two people pay $3200 each, third and fourth pay 0 (600+300-900). So average cost is $1600 per person for 4 people in a cabin. Also - Flight Ease pricing usually has the flexible option, changing flights would cost you no fees. That's one advantage about using it - you can monitor airline pricing and switch to cheaper options before final payment.

You may have been given a bad link, but the Tamarind menu is clearly shown on this page on my browser, which is pretty easy to get to from the main page --> The Experience --> Dining -->Select Tamarind under fine dining, you do have to scroll to the second set of fine dining options: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/dining/tamarind.html

My cousin also has kids that are 3 and 6 years old. They really enjoyed their time on the Nieuw Amsterdam Club Hal last week during our Alaska cruise. A couple of times, he or his wife were told by their kids to come back later because the kids wanted to stay longer at Club Hal to continue doing their activities. Often, the two boys were the only ones in their age group segment, so had very personalized attention. The Club Hal staff member got a generous tip from my cousin. Their kids are pretty good about eating in the MDR, Club Hal was mostly used post-dinner, or during the afternoon on the sea/glacier days. The hours are more limited on port days, I hope you don't expect to drop off the kids while you go about on your shore excursions, like a review I read on the Oosterdam!

One time this past sailing last week, the robe provided by the spa was the same kind as the in-room robes, much more comfortable. I kept it and brought it in my provided HAL day bag to my next spa outing. Like some of you, I actually prefer to shower in the spa rather than in my cabin bathroom, after a nice relaxing session in the thermal suite. I don't wear the bathrobe from my cabin to the spa, but I've seen some passengers do that. It doesn't bother me, however. If anything, a person wearing a bathrobe to the lido after a spa session is likely to be cleaner than someone who just did a long shore excursion and came straight to the lido buffet line.

I did a 7-day Norway trip on the Rotterdam last year. Had both Club Orange and HIA, and a balcony. CO allowed me to upgrade my “obstructed” balcony to an unobstructed one near the middle of the ship, more than paying for itself. Also had the best dining service ever with the separate dining room intimate space. I never came close to using up 15 drinks per day with HIA, as a moderate drinker like the OP. I also do a lot of self-tours so the shore excursion benefit is minimal for me. So definitely prefer Club Orange over HIA.

At the very least, free spa passes for the rest of the cruise to use the showers and toilet there should have been given to the OP.

Another endorsement for the halibut sandwich. I was thinking of also getting the mushroom and tarragon crepes but glad i didn’t. The crepes were thiiick and major calories, not the light wraps i was expecting.