First HAL Cruise-Underwhelmed by Nieuw Amsterdam

[serendipity1499]

I will repeat (and I know I better throw on my flame suit) that I totally agree with you. In my humble opinion, HAL does the smaller ships far better than the larger ones. In fact the entertainment on the Prinsendam was FAR better than most entertainment I have seen on many ships.

 

Mind, you it's more laid back, not Las Vegas style, but if you like real talent, we had it.:) As to dining - we stick with fixed dining so I can't comment there - I just go by comments I have heard so we happily stick with fixed dining - HAL does it well - :)

 

and yes, I was on the Nieuw Amsterdam (tightening up the strings on my flame throw protection suit) and it is the LAST ship I would sail on HAL (ok, maybe 2nd last). the service level on this ship, the dining room service, etc simply do not compare to other ships in the fleet. I would rather take my chances with older ships and have good service than new ships and lacklustre service JMO though.

 

Wait, I have to make sure the flame thrower suit is on tight

 

Guess, I better put on my flame proof suit too..;)

We had fixed seating on the NA in Jan & the service in the MDR was good one day & poor the next day..Very incononsistant !..I enjoy Onion soup & would often order it in the beginning of our cruise..But finally gave up because it was not hot..One night our Steward asked why I was not ordering soup & I told him I don't want to keep sending it back..He assured me then, that the next time it wold be hot, which it was.. Several people at our table had mix-up's on their dinners which is very unusual..IMO, the reason was because our Stewards had too many tables to handle..Even our wine steward seemed overworked as his service was slow..However, we really enjoyed the Pinnacle & Tamarind & ate in both several times...

We never paid much attention to the color scheme as we were closer to the door than most tables & not under the lights in the main DR..

Like Jacqui, we prefer the smaller ships too & are looking forward to our cruise on the Prinsendam, (our favorite ship) next Jan.!

Cheers...:)Betty

[Aquahound]

..I enjoy Onion soup & would often order it in the beginning of our cruise..But finally gave up because it was not hot..

 

By now, we all know how I feel about the MDR service on NA, so I won't repeat it again.

 

However, my one food complaint was also about the soups. First night in MDR I ordered a tortellini soup that had no tortellini. Second night I ordered some sort of sausage soup that had no sausage. I swear, I think they brought me the same vegetable soup both nights, but with different names. :rolleyes:

[klbgbcruiser]

Could you let us know how you disembarked in Santorini? We have been reading about the choices in getting to Thira and definitely do not want to ride the donkeys. We are wondering if the HAL excursion is the best, since they dock first. Any suggestions?

[Aquahound]

Could you let us know how you disembarked in Santorini? We have been reading about the choices in getting to Thira and definitely do not want to ride the donkeys. We are wondering if the HAL excursion is the best, since they dock first. Any suggestions?

 

Santorini. This one was a goat rope by the NA staff. But it was due to us getting there ahead of schedule. At first, we were told excursion folks got the first tenders and we were to go to the Queen's Lounge for tender tickets later in the morning. However, due to getting there early and the excursion times being rigid, they said several tenders would be filled before the excursion folks and to be in the Queen's Lounge at an earlier time for tender tickets.

 

Important - They do not issue tender tickets! We were all in there, assumably waiting to be issued tickets, when they said "ok, this half of the room, let's go!" Most of the folks had to step out because their other half wasn't there because they thought it was just to be issued tickets. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky few whose DW came walking in at the last second, so we got on that first tender. Others weren't so lucky, nor so happy. So, when you go to the lounge, go with your whole party and ready to go ashore.

 

On a good note though.....We were not the only ship in port and Celebrity Equinox was already tendering also. Despite the 2 ships, we waited no more than 10 minutes for the cable car. The line moved pretty quick. It takes up 36 people at a time (6 cars - 6 per car). Tenders can only move so fast and so often, so the cable car line does not get too long.