Amsterdam-14 day Alaska cruise Review 7-8-11

[rajkr74]

We are on the August 19 sailing and you can guess how excited we are. Loved your blog and the pictures. We have a couple of things in common--this is our anniversary (46) and Don is tall 6' 4 ". Also, he is a "foodie". My questions are about the pictures. Was that Pioneer House in Sitka? Did you go inside? They are supposed to have a store with handcrafted items made by the residents? How did you get there? Is it far to walk? We love the dining table you were at. Do you know the number? Also, fixed or flexible sitting? The last questions are about Victoria. How far is it to town. Is there a shuttle? What is the cost? Isn't there a public bus close where we dock? I know that's lots of questions and I know I have read some of the answers. The problem is I don't know where I read it. Thanks in advance for any answers you can give us.

Sandy and Don

 

Looks like Judy answered all the questions and the answers were correct. Joyce did walk up to Pioneer House but did not go in. Yes there is a store inside with handcrafted items she saw on a poster. This is a old folks care center and they make the items.

 

About two tables away from that picture with the four of us, was a table we sat at the first night of the cruise that was 106. It was on the right side of the lower dinning room. There are a number of tables on that side that all have the same view. That is the Port side for you seafarers. The other side (left-looking into the dining room) has the same layout with the same number of tables with just as good of views. As You Wish dining is in the lower portion of the LaFontaine room. We have always had fixed dining but booked too late to get fixed. So we got As You Wish which turned out to be above our expectations. We just showed up for diner most nights and were seated immediately and always with other people generally at tables for 6.

 

An option, when you get on board, is to go to the dinning room lower floor and look at the tables that might appeal to you for dinning. Then we heard you can reserve a specific time and table each night for yourselves. You then would have others seated with you as they come come in. What is nice is to find other couples and reserve the whole table. We did that with four others for 3-4 night, but we did not reserve we just showed up together. They were very

accommodating.

 

Rick

[CRUISEADIK]

Rick: Thanks for the information. Very thorough and specific. Makes it easy.

 

Sandy

[judynorth]

We had fixed seating at a table for 6 away from the windows. After a couple of days the head waiter asked if we would like to move to a table for 6 at the windows at the back of the dining room. The view were spectacular from there so we accepted. I'm not sure that it was a good idea though. It seems like service suffered and it took longer for the meal. The other problem was that it was very hot there, uncomfortably hot. The temperature in the rest of the dining room was fine but not under those huge windows.

[rajkr74]

We had fixed seating at a table for 6 away from the windows. After a couple of days the head waiter asked if we would like to move to a table for 6 at the windows at the back of the dining room. The view were spectacular from there so we accepted. I'm not sure that it was a good idea though. It seems like service suffered and it took longer for the meal. The other problem was that it was very hot there, uncomfortably hot. The temperature in the rest of the dining room was fine but not under those huge windows.

 

We found the MD on the Amsterdam to be more open then the Westerdam and we actually liked it better. We never had the heat like you did. But two years ago on the Westerdam for a Panama cruise we were on an 8 person table next to the window with the sun shining in. It got pretty hot there besides the glare prevented us seeing any thing outside depending on the angle of the sun.

I looked at your pictures again and it sure is interesting to see how you shot photos compared to what joyce shoots. Yours were very good. Looks like you shoot scences that have patterns and Joyce shots large scenics. What type of camera do you use?

[judynorth]

I looked at your pictures again and it sure is interesting to see how you shot photos compared to what joyce shoots. Yours were very good. Looks like you shoot scences that have patterns and Joyce shots large scenics. What type of camera do you use?

 

It is always interesting to see each photographer's perspective on the scenes. They are often very different. That's why I love to see other peoples photos. I use a Canon G-9 point and shoot. Most of the pictures in the recent Alaska albums are taken with that. My DH uses a Pentax DSLR but so far I don't think that he has posted any of his pictures on his Picasa site. The Whale Tails album contains his pictures taken with the DSLR with a 400mm telephoto lens. My camera couldn't get that close to the whales, although I did manage to get a few decent shots.

 

Rick, for some reason Skydrive isn't working and I can't access your pictures. It is probably a temporary thing but I get an error message from Skydrive.

[rajkr74]

It is always interesting to see each photographer's perspective on the scenes. They are often very different. That's why I love to see other peoples photos. I use a Canon G-9 point and shoot. Most of the pictures in the recent Alaska albums are taken with that. My DH uses a Pentax DSLR but so far I don't think that he has posted any of his pictures on his Picasa site. The Whale Tails album contains his pictures taken with the DSLR with a 400mm telephoto lens. My camera couldn't get that close to the whales, although I did manage to get a few decent shots.

 

Rick, for some reason Skydrive isn't working and I can't access your pictures. It is probably a temporary thing but I get an error message from Skydrive.

 

Joyce runs a Nikon D80 with two lenses. We have a backup Nikon P90 which has a fixed lense that goes telephoto and works pretty good.

 

Strange I got on at 6:40am Pac. Daylight Time and got on OK. Here's the link again:

 

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=07afc87cdf2f6dca&sc=photos#cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%212347&sc=photos

 

You are right, it's interesting to see the different perspective of of different photographers. My mom shot photos after she retired. Took a number of photo classes but when somewhat abstract with ther photos. Very different.

[judynorth]

Strange I got on at 6:40am Pac. Daylight Time and got on OK. Here's the link again:

 

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=07afc87cdf2f6dca&sc=photos#cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%212347&sc=photos

 

 

It's working fine now. Must have been a temporary blip.

[trophy_23]

Thank you for the wonderful review! We had planned this trip last summer but took the 7 day Explorer instead due to time constraints. Then planned again for this summer and health issues and a hospital stay got in the way. I am hoping to finally do this in the next year or two.

[carolmacey]

That's great, you will have a good time. Hope you saw the link to our picures we took? If not here it is again:

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=07afc87cdf2f6dca&sc=photos#cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%212347&sc=photos

 

Rick

 

OK, now that I am salivating on the food and my jaw has dropped at the beautiful photos, I still have 10 days to wait.

Thanks for posting these. I can hardly wait, even though it looks like we will have the cabin from HE--.

[rajkr74]

OK, now that I am salivating on the food and my jaw has dropped at the beautiful photos, I still have 10 days to wait.

Thanks for posting these. I can hardly wait, even though it looks like we will have the cabin from HE--.

 

Where is your cabin from HE-- ? How can any cabin on a cruise be a bad cabin? Hope your not in a lifeboat...?

[erewhon]

RAJKR,

 

Thank you for your great review and the link to the superb photos.

[rajkr74]

General Observations:

 

• The ship was great and even though smaller than the Westedam it was very nice. We never felt the spaces were crowded.
  

• The Amsterdam seemed to have many more deck chairs on the promenade deck than any Vista class ships like the Westerdam did. It became very hard to find an open deck chair on the Westedam where there was warm weather and conducive to using them. But on the Alaska cruise with the weather that was cooler there were always chairs available ..…why is that?????
  

• This cruise had a number of kids on board from all ages. It seemed that the HAL Club kept them busy and occupied so they were not running around the ship all the time. One occasion they had come from the HAL Club after an activity during the late night snack and were pretty wound up but still did not cause any problems. We did see quite a number of Grandparents that had grandkids on the cruise with them without the children’s parents. That was pretty nice.
  

• The entertainment did not match up to what we had on the Westerdam in April thru the Panama canal.
  

• The stewards, waiters and staff were very friendly. We got smiles and greetings from all that we passed in halls including those that were not even our stewards. We always went out of the way to met them and converse with them about them and their families.
  

• On the Westerdam, in the Lido, there were drink dispensers that gave complementary fruit juice, lemonade, orange-guava or what ever juice was available at the drink stations. On the Amsterdam those dispensers were behind the counter next to the orange juice squeezer out of reach to customers. I got different answers about why they were not out for general use. When I asked why the juice dispensers were not available I was told all I had to do was ask for what juice was available. Later when I asked if there was juice I was told it was not available. Never got a consistent answer. Drank water instead.
  

• Rooms were always kept clean and ice in the ice bucket all the time. Did seem that the stewards had quite a few rooms to clean each day because ours were not done early in the morning which was not a problem with us.
  

• We were extremely pleased with As You Wish dining in the LaFontaine room lower floor. We generally just showed up for dinner around 6:00pm to 7:00pm and were always seated with others. We reserved one night of a formal evening but could only get a 4 person table but sat with a very nice couple that we got to know more around the ship as the cruise wore on. On 3 to 4 other nights later in the cruise, we met another couple and a mother and her daughter and we all agreed to met for diner together. We just walked up again and were seated immediately.
  

• Sadly, with my height of 6’9” I could not walk the promenade deck for exercise because the ropes around the tenders were about the height of my neckline. That would have required me to duck 8 times during a lap around the deck and I know that if I did walk I would forget to duck and then I would be in trouble. I did not have this height problem on the Westerdam or Ziderdam, Vista Class ships. Of well, just another thing, like short beds with legs hanging over the end, to worry about. I have had to deal this type of adjustment all my life….no big thing.
  

• There seemed to be more digital classes than what we had in April on the Westerdam. They were excellent and Frank the teacher on board the Amsterdam was excellent and has a wealth of knowledge on any subject. He also helped with all computer questions in general.
  

• Our room 3368 on the Lower Promanade deck has a window view that looks over the promenade deck with people walking by all day. They can not see in during the day, I checked it out and in the evening if you “look” real hard you can barely see a pillow on the bed. We just pulled the shears over the window at night. We heard some couples, in this same type of room, had the beds moved to a twin bed configuration whereby leaving good space in-front of the window and also allowed access to underneath the beds for easier storage of suitcases. We did not do this but might think of it next time.
  

• We did notice, on formal nights in the MD, that there were fewer tuxes than we have seen in the past. Most men wore suites and ties. But there were on one occasion where two men came in with jackets and no ties and were seated with us. Overall it was a more casual on formal nights(???) than in the past.
  

• Smoking (notice I put these two subjects at the bottom) was very minimal and did not effect us. Did not experience any smoke in hallways nor did our room have a previous smoker. The smokers did inhabit the stern Lido deck starboard area for smoking that was designated. Of course the casino had smoke but it wasn’t very heavy and we did not frequent that area.
  

[judynorth]

I can hardly wait, even though it looks like we will have the cabin from HE--.

 

We had a guarantee H outside and were assigned a G. It was tiny and at the front of the ship. Those few cabins at the front of the ship (H and G) were much smaller than all the other OV cabins but when we booked there was nothing about them being smaller on the website. We even asked about it when booking and were assured that they were the same size as all the others. I called our TA when we got the assignment and she contacted HAL. She was able to get us a much better cabin midship but we didn't find out until the day of the cruise. You might give it a try.

[TexasGal#35]

I so appreciate your daily reviews and the photos are spectacular. We are not doing this particular cruise but next May (probably a lot colder), we will be doing the 7 day Explorer cruise on the Westerdam. Some of the towns you stopped at are still the same so your information was very helpful.

 

I know you did a Panama Canal B2B, but wondered if you had a photo album somewhere of the Westerdam. It is a long way off till our trip, but its never too early to start planning and looking at our options. There will be 7 of us so it may be hard to plan excursions everyone is willing to do together.

 

My husband hates to plan excursions in advance and prefers to "play by ear". I'm glad to hear that you walked at most of your stops and still had plenty to see without it being part of an excursion.

 

Thank you so much,

Gloria

[carolmacey]

OK, silly question....

Do the showers have the 3 bottles of shampoo, body wash and conditioner?

[carolmacey]

We had a guarantee H outside and were assigned a G. It was tiny and at the front of the ship. Those few cabins at the front of the ship (H and G) were much smaller than all the other OV cabins but when we booked there was nothing about them being smaller on the website. We even asked about it when booking and were assured that they were the same size as all the others. I called our TA when we got the assignment and she contacted HAL. She was able to get us a much better cabin midship but we didn't find out until the day of the cruise. You might give it a try.

 

Thanks for the hope. My TA is working on it, or I think she is.

[carolmacey]

Where is your cabin from HE-- ? How can any cabin on a cruise be a bad cabin? Hope your not in a lifeboat...?

I'm laughing at myself. You are correct, any cabin is better than staying home. We are currently set for cabin #2500. Extreme forward, strange shaped, etc. If all else fails, we will make it work. Still hoping TA can pull off a miracle, even if it the day we embark.

[rajkr74]

OK, silly question....

Do the showers have the 3 bottles of shampoo, body wash and conditioner?

 

Yes, to all three items. There are attached to the wall in the shower.

[rajkr74]

I so appreciate your daily reviews and the photos are spectacular. We are not doing this particular cruise but next May (probably a lot colder), we will be doing the 7 day Explorer cruise on the Westerdam. Some of the towns you stopped at are still the same so your information was very helpful.

 

I know you did a Panama Canal B2B, but wondered if you had a photo album somewhere of the Westerdam. It is a long way off till our trip, but its never too early to start planning and looking at our options. There will be 7 of us so it may be hard to plan excursions everyone is willing to do together.

 

My husband hates to plan excursions in advance and prefers to "play by ear". I'm glad to hear that you walked at most of your stops and still had plenty to see without it being part of an excursion.

 

Thank you so much,

Gloria

 

Here is the link to the April B2B cruise:

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=07afc87cdf2f6dca&sc=photos#cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%211218&sc=photos

 

We did this panama cruise in 2009 on the Westerdam. We liked it so much we did it again this year in April. Here is the link for those albums:

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=07afc87cdf2f6dca&sc=photos#cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%21243&sc=photos

 

There are four albums that you can open and if you click on on of the thumbnail pictures next to the album it will open up a slideshow for those thumbnails.

 

You can get to all of our albums by clicking the "Skydrive" link above the pictures. That will take you back to the home page of all our albums. The links above are just to each separate album.

Rick

[judynorth]

I'm laughing at myself. You are correct, any cabin is better than staying home. We are currently set for cabin #2500. Extreme forward, strange shaped, etc. If all else fails, we will make it work. Still hoping TA can pull off a miracle, even if it the day we embark.

 

Your cabin is a handicapped cabin and should be larger than the normal OV. The biggest problem is that it is so far forward - a long walk from everywhere. The cabin arrangement will probably be quite different from the usual cabin but it won't be impossibly small. We were orignally assigned to 2508 which is about 152 sq. ft. It was tiny with 2 beds, 2 end tables, a desk, and a chair. Oh, and a small table that fills the area between the beds and the desk. We thoroughly enjoyed our upgrade. It wasn't free though. We had to pay about $1.80 in extra tax. :rolleyes:

[judynorth]

OK, silly question....

Do the showers have the 3 bottles of shampoo, body wash and conditioner?

 

The shampoo was fine but the body wash was minty and burned my skin so I asked for bar soap and used that instead.

[carolmacey]

Your cabin is a handicapped cabin and should be larger than the normal OV. The biggest problem is that it is so far forward - a long walk from everywhere. The cabin arrangement will probably be quite different from the usual cabin but it won't be impossibly small. We were orignally assigned to 2508 which is about 152 sq. ft. It was tiny with 2 beds, 2 end tables, a desk, and a chair. Oh, and a small table that fills the area between the beds and the desk. We thoroughly enjoyed our upgrade. It wasn't free though. We had to pay about $1.80 in extra tax. :rolleyes:

 

I read several reviews on this specific cabin and they all said this one was tiny even though it is HC. The bed was pushed to one wall, no couch, just one chair. The desk is smaller than normal and fewer closets. We will make it work if we have to, but a change would be nice.

[judynorth]

I read several reviews on this specific cabin and they all said this one was tiny even though it is HC. The bed was pushed to one wall, no couch, just one chair. The desk is smaller than normal and fewer closets. We will make it work if we have to, but a change would be nice.

 

I hope your TA has good luck getting you another cabin. Those forward H and G category cabins seem way too small for the price that you pay. There should be a much bigger difference between those and the E, EE, and F. Even the HH are normal sized cabins. Still, even if you are stuck with that cabin you will be on the ship and not at home. :D Don't give up hope though. As I said, we didn't find out about the cabin change until the day of the cruise. I was really glad that we booked through a local TA because I don't think we would have had any luck if we had booked through HAL or a TA who didn't know us.

[carolmacey]

I hope your TA has good luck getting you another cabin. Those forward H and G category cabins seem way too small for the price that you pay. There should be a much bigger difference between those and the E, EE, and F. Even the HH are normal sized cabins. Still, even if you are stuck with that cabin you will be on the ship and not at home. :D Don't give up hope though. As I said, we didn't find out about the cabin change until the day of the cruise. I was really glad that we booked through a local TA because I don't think we would have had any luck if we had booked through HAL or a TA who didn't know us.

 

We shall keep our fingers and toes crossed.

 

I just read your home town. DH was born in Newport News.

[judynorth]

We shall keep our fingers and toes crossed.

 

I just read your home town. DH was born in Newport News.

 

Small world! I was actually born in Florida but have lived here longer than anywhere else.