Live from the MS Nieuw Amsterdam with thekuhnfamily...!

[ASIWISH]

Sunday Morning:

 

Well, we woke up and took it easy at the hotel, and left as planned at 12:00 noon, to arrive at Terminal 26 after the crowds… well, it sounded like a good idea, anyway!

When we arrived at the terminal, the line to get inside was about 400 people; spilling through the parking lot and onto the road leading up to the terminal. I tend to exaggerate distances, but I’d say the line was about 2-3 miles long… Nancy, however, claims it was about 120 yards (let’s go with her numbers). Apparently, the HAL crew was running late, but everyone – passengers, port staff, and HAL crew – was in terrific spirits. At first, I was afraid it was the line the Lido Buffet, and I panicked, but when I realized it was just the line to get on the ship I was OK.

 

We took a van from Five Star Shuttle Services, Inc. 786-314-0514. The Driver was Rochenel – great guy and only $14 from the beach. Seemed cheap, and worth it. Very nice man...

 

All told, it took us about 65 minutes to get onto the ship once we arrived. Not a big deal. As some have wondered, we boarded onto the Promenade Deck. What a feeling that is… There is nothing better than the feel of teak beneath your feet.

 

Our room was available, but the luggage not there... we didn’t expect it to be. It’s 4:00PM, and we’re getting ready for the Muster Drill. I’m writing this from our Family Cabana and just finished some champagne and Chocolate Covered Strawberries…. Just like I do every afternoon at home…!!! The Retreat Stewards are incredibly nice, as you’d imagine, and interviewed us to understand our preferences. For the record: There WAS a wine opener in our room, but we didn’t take any chances!

 

We arrived at the Muster Drill early. I like to be the first there, so that I can watch everyone in my lifeboat arrive. It’s never too early to try and identify who we might have to eat, in the event we are stranded at sea for several days…. My advice: Never eat an Asian person. You’ll just be hungry an hour later.

 

(That was not meant to be offensive, just a joke referencing Chinese food, and how people claim to be hungry an hour after they eat it.)

 

All went well, and we set off to explore the ship. It is as beautiful as the Eurodam, but the colors here are just remarkably gorgeous… With the exception of the Manhattan Dining Room… what were they thinking? It’s like being inside a Rhubarb Pie! I don’t get the colors, but the smiles on the face of the MDR Staff, and the fact that EVERY SINGLE one of them says “hello” as you walk by makes up it! Such wonderful people…

 

We grabbed our favorite spot for sail away, and texted my sister ILLINOISFIVE the entire time! We waved for the Port Everglades WEBCAM, as we left. Then, turned the Blackberry off for the week.

 

Our luggage was waiting when we returned, and bottle of our wine was put on ice... nice touch!

 

We grabbed a quick cocktail at the Pinnacle Bar before dinner, and said “hello” to some old friends from HAL. Great to see them again!!!!

 

We secured table 122 in the MDR for the week… which is our favorite on any HAL ship… the Honeymoon Table… as secluded as you can get… we love it! The service was impecabke, as you’d imagine… and yes, the HAL logo on our plates was placed perfectly…! The highlight was that tonight’s featured Council Chef was Chef David Burke from CHICAGO!!! I love this guy, and his restaurant!!!! I had to order his Spice Crusted Prime Rib with Whipped Potatoes – served with sautéed asparagus and baby carrots. I promise you, and I’m not kidding, it was the best steak I have ever had – and it was on a cruise ship!! Amazing…

 

Nancy had the Calypso Shrimp Cocktail, Chopped Farmer’s Salad, and a seared Cobia Fish Filet with Cilantro-Tomato Salsa. It was hand-rubbed with spices and presented with a corn medley and pesto risotto. We were certain that it was just photographed for a magazine before they brought it out. I swear she almost cried, as she cut into it because she ruined this masterpiece.

 

For the record: I was the only one in a sport coat, and about 10-15% of the men were in T-shirts… But, I’m thinking that was just because of the fact it was the first night. Tonight’s Dress: Smart Casual.

 

Without reciting the entire menu, I’ll just say that the other David Burke dish was a Roasted Chicken with Sausage Cornbread Stuffing. Served with roasted vegetables with bacon, green beans, and apple cider-chicken gravy… (Is anyone else getting hungry?) We ate at 8:00, and at about 9:30 left the MDR, saying goodnight to about 20 Dining Room Stewards on the way out… God, I love that!

Walked the ship a bit, and then called it a night… a wonderful night!

 

Housekeeping:

Laundry in the bag (all you can fit): $20

Unlimited Laundry: $49

Unlimited Pressing : $28

Captain: Master Rik Krombeen

Cruise Director: John Mann

Weather in Ft. Lauderdale: 79-degrees and sunny!

 

Monday Morning:

Weather at Sea: 81-degrees and partly cloudy. We had a few showers from about 9:30-10:30… really more of a mist than anything. They just opened the the Lido Pool cover beneath our cabana, so it must be ending for a while!

Travelling at 13.7 knots

Wind Speed: 33 mph

Sunrise: 6:22 am

Sunset: 5:15 pm

Tonight’s Dress: Formal

Reservation: Pinnacle Grill, sitting at Ana’s Table!!!

Ship’s Location: Somewhere that feels like Heaven.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions…

 

Sweet dreams…

 

…from the beautiful and elegant MS Nieuw Amsterdam!

[ASIWISH]

Have a fabulous time. Safe sailing and thanks for sharing with us. :) We appreciate the 'live from' threads.

 

 

Also....... Someone will correct me if I am wrong but you do not have to use your room key/HAL ID in the slot in order to turn lights on in your cabin. I think you can use any card that fits the slot. I hope we can use the card we had as room key at Hyatt Pier 66 for our precruise stay.

 

[/b]

 

I'll try it, tonight...

[jtl513]

... but the colors here are just remarkably gorgeous… With the exception of the Manhattan Dining Room… what were they thinking? It’s like being inside a Rhubarb Pie!

Yaaaaay!! Finally someone agrees with me! :D If there was just one thing on the ship that I could change it would be toning down that Chinese Red. (The second would be getting rid of the nuisance Lido cabanas.)

[ASIWISH]

Have a fabulous time. Safe sailing and thanks for sharing with us. :) We appreciate the 'live from' threads.

 

 

Also....... Someone will correct me if I am wrong but you do not have to use your room key/HAL ID in the slot in order to turn lights on in your cabin. I think you can use any card that fits the slot. I hope we can use the card we had as room key at Hyatt Pier 66 for our precruise stay.

 

[/b]

 

Yes, my airline membership card worked just fine. Hotel key should work, too...

[Typhoon1]

I don't think that cuts off the a/c. On our warm-to-hot days on our East Med cruise last year we never came back to a warm cabin. And since we don't like cold air blowing on our heads at night, I think we would have discovered that we could shut off the a/c by pulling the card. Please test that. :)

 

We insert a key card from the hotel into the slot to avoid the inconvenience of having to insert and remove our cards every time we leave the cabin.

[bet410]

Sunday Morning:

It is as beautiful as the Eurodam, but the colors here are just remarkably gorgeous… With the exception of the Manhattan Dining Room… what were they thinking? It’s like being inside a Rhubarb Pie!

 

I've never been on the NA, but I absolutely love the visual! Too funny! :D

[jtl513]

We insert a key card from the hotel into the slot to avoid the inconvenience of having to insert and remove our cards every time we leave the cabin.

We also use a different card to avoid the nuisance of swapping room cards if just one of us is leaving the room and the other still wants the lights on. We leave one alternative card in the slot all cruise, and just lift or lower it as needed.

[Susie51]

Before last week, it had been months since I was on the CC boards. This is the first I have heard about a key card for the lights.

[jtl513]

Before last week, it had been months since I was on the CC boards. This is the first I have heard about a key card for the lights.

They're only on the Nieuw Amsterdam. It's not likely they'll be retrofitted to other ships ... too much involved.

[innlady1]

Is that only on the Signature Class ships? The key card for the lights....

[woodworker&knitter]

Friends of mine will be on the NA after your cruise. They were wondering if you could comment on the entertainment.

 

Barbara

[jtl513]

Is that only on the Signature Class ships? The key card for the lights....

Only on the N.A., not the E'dam or anything else.

[sail7seas]

Is that only on the Signature Class ships? The key card for the lights....

 

 

I'm happy I read here about this key system a while ago as our cabin on Eurodam did not require a card in the slot.

 

I am hoping it does not have to be the ship's ID/key card but can be any card of that size (which I've been led to understand is the case.)

[innlady1]

Thank you, Sheila! It wouldn't be a HAL cruise without a Happy Sailing from you! You bid me farewell on my first cruise in March 2008, too!

 

As for the sail away..

 

We walked down the beach from our hotel, the Marriott Harbor Beach. It is a little longer walk than I'd like, but very doable... it takes about ten-minutes. The sand is so soft, it's hard to walk on...

 

I noticed that there appears to be a public beach access, I assume with parking, just a couple buildings north of the condo buildings at the mouth of the harbor. On Friday, there were about 20 people watching... last night, there were probably 70 people watching. Some walked back to the hotels, but most appeared to walk out of the beach by the beach access.

 

My guess if that you need to drive in the neighborhood north of the condos and look for a beach access sign. Wish I could help more! It is a wonderful way to spend an evening!!!

Why, you're welcome! ;) Thanks for the info on the beach access...we went along the Inlet Road (west); next time we'll try north!

Glad you and Nancy are having a great time...I'm loving your "Live from..."

[jtl513]

I am hoping it does not have to be the ship's ID/key card but can be any card of that size (which I've been led to understand is the case.)

Yes. Also see post #29.

[mamaofami]

Can't find a dining room layout for this ship. Where is the honeymoon table?

[Himself]

Today is a sea day and I hope theKuhn Family is having a good on this formal night

[jtl513]

Can't find a dining room layout for this ship. Where is the honeymoon table?

Far aft port corner, downstairs. Click this to enlarge once it opens:

 

http://www.wa70.com/hal/dining/lowerlevelsignature.jpg

[IRL_Joanie]

I'm happy I read here about this key system a while ago as our cabin on Eurodam did not require a card in the slot.

 

I am hoping it does not have to be the ship's ID/key card but can be any card of that size (which I've been led to understand is the case.)

 

Sail as I use an old library card. All you need, as jtl513 stated earlier in the thread, you just need something to break the circuit. Think of it as an eye and you just need to stick something in front of the eye to make it blink. The when you leave the room just raise the card enough to shut the lights off and leve the card as it is. Always there. Heck, I think even a slip of paper would work.

 

Joanie

[CR dude]

Thank you kuhnfamily for the great reporting which is of special interest to us as we are booked on B2B cruises aboard the NA for departures of 20 and 27 Nov.

This will be our second cruise with HAL . . . . Does that make us repeat offenders?

Jim and Flora in Costa Rica

Previous cruises and ocean voyages:

March 2011 - HAL Maasdam 25 day collectors voyage out of Ft Lauderdale..

2008 NCL Pearl out of Miami – got the presidential election results at sea.

2005 Carnival Conquest – out of New Orleans before Katrina.

2004 NCL Sun Repositioning cruise Miami to LA.

2001 Carnival Jubilee Clothing Optional Cruise out of Tampa.

1996 Carnival Mardi Gras - Carnival’s first cruise ship – out of Port Canaveral - booked the evening before the sail date.

1957 US Navy vessel with wife, daughter and newborn son from Panama to NY with stops at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

1954 US Navy vessel with wife and newborn daughter from Yokohama Japan to Seattle via the intercostal waterway with a stop at Adak in the Aleutian Islands.

1951 US Navy troop ship from CA to Japan during the Korean War.

[AmyinVail]

I think the Kuhn Family is having too much of a good time to report in! :D I'm anxiously awaiting an update!!!

[ASIWISH]

Tuesday Morning from Turks and Caicos!

 

Yesterday was a rainy, dreary day at sea… We woke to a wonderful breakfast at the Honeymoon Table in the Manhattan Dining Room. Poached eggs for my DW and Belgium Waffles for me… Everything served very quickly and hot… my only real disappointment on HAL is the toast… it is always cold and hard as a rock. Thinking I will ask to get it “to order”. I’ll let you know if that works.

 

After breakfast, we headed up to our cabana. Even in a storm, it was a beautiful was to spend a day… Nancy had a little difficulty adjusting to the ship’s movements and slept most the morning.

 

We had lunch in the cabana, and slept the afternoon away… A little tip, my daughter gave us a battery operated iHome iHM16 speaker for our iPhone. You just plug it into your iPhone and it plays your music. Afraid it might be disturbing, I asked the attendants and they said it was fine. I also went next door to the people next door and said if it was too loud to let us know. You couldn’t even hear it there…. Perhaps because the cabana is so large, and we have it on softly. It really makes a great addition, as there are no outlets.

 

Also, the Retreat Cabanas are a WiFi hot-spot, so the internet is almost as fast here as at home… my faster than even the Explorations Café. (Great Italian whole been coffee!!!)

 

Now… for the controversy!!!!

 

Usually, I will leave for dinner about fifteen minutes before Nancy to give her a little extra time and room to get ready. I find a nice spot in the Pinnacle Bar or Ocean Bar and wait for her. Then, she shows up… and takes my breath away.

 

As I walked to the bar, I could not find one person in a Tuxedo – and it was formal night! I walked and walked and finally even went to the front desk to make sure it was formal night!! It was!

 

All told, no more than 5% of the men wore tuxedos… about 25% wore dark suits, 35 wore sport coats… and the rest wore simply shirts. I was amazed, and have never seen that before. A HAL friend informed me that they were rejecting people in the MDR for not wearing coats and asked them to return to their rooms to change if they’d like – or go to the Lido. Even he was surprised at the low turnout for tuxedos.

 

(talk amongst yourselves….)

 

Anyway, the entertainment was ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE!!! The show, NYC, was great – and the singing terrific. We couldn’t identify the featured male and female, as all the singers were just as talented as the others…. Fabulous.

 

Dinner at the Pinnacle was terrific… Nancy had the lobster – prepared perfectly. I had the Black Cod and Jumbo Shrimp on a Cedar Plank. Wonderful, although I think Black Cod is to delicate a flavor to hold up to the cedar plank… but, it was a good as it could possibly be.

The Manager remembered us from past cruises, which was flattering… and we got to see Ana..!!! Our favorite server!!!! She is so cute and friendly, and ran to hug Nancy when she saw her… again, flattering. They don’t miss a beat…

 

We ordered dessert, but didn’t touch it. Lava Cake and Baked Alaska. (Skip the Alaska… but, the lava cake will change your life.) We just felt we should order it, but when it arrived, our tummies suggested we call it a night…

 

Strolled a bit, then called it a night.

 

Tuesday Morning: Turks and Caicos.

 

Woke early and had a nice breakfast in the MDR. Cereal and Lox and Bagels. Not exciting, but we wanted to get off the ship…

 

We walked out of the Cruiseport parking lot and rented a golf cart from Nathan Smith. $ 80/for the day. What a great, great idea! 649-231-4856. Look for information on the T&C boards….

 

Driving on the left was intimidating for a few minutes, but after that was a breeze. It is a great way to see the island… and every time we saw excursion vans we pulled over to see what it was all about. Loved all the wild horses and Burrows!

 

Came back to the cruiseport, shopped a bit – bought nothing – Sorry Carnival Corp!

 

Headed right up to the cabana for lunch, a quick nap, and to watch sail a way!

 

My very best, from the beautiful and elegant Nieuw Amserdam.

 

Sweet dream….

 

Housekeeping:

The Honeymoon Table: is 122, and is secluded in the very back corner. It is the same on the Eurodam and NA. Unsure about other ships.

Weather: 82-degrees.

Tonight’s show: Live at the Avalon Ballroom.

[ASIWISH]

I think the Kuhn Family is having too much of a good time to report in! :D I'm anxiously awaiting an update!!!

 

Hi, Amy!!!!

[mamaofami]

Far aft port corner, downstairs. Click this to enlarge once it opens:

 

http://www.wa70.com/hal/dining/lowerlevelsignature.jpg

 

 

Thanks, John. I knew you would have it.

[Boytjie]

We woke to a wonderful breakfast at the Honeymoon Table in the Manhattan Dining Room.

 

You slept in the Dining Room? :eek: :eek: :eek: