A live view from Nieuw Amsterdam on her New Years cruise

[Copper10-8]

Day 1 – 12/29/13; Ft. Lauderdale/Port Everglades, FL; We left the homestead yesterday morning at oh dark thirty, and I’m talking Maria’s alarm was set for 0200 hrs and mine for 0300 hrs. Our new cat, Stiv, had no idea what was happening and, by the looks of him, was in some kind of culture shock; so sorry Stiv!! Had one of those, still new little Toyota Prius yellow cab taxis with a 4;00 am pickup and we arrived at LAX by 0425 hrs. AA Check-in and security was a breeze and we waited at Gate 49 Alpha for our flt to Dallas/DFW, TX. We had one of Mr. Boeing’s new generation 737-823’s. What was really nice, we thought, was that there was U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class in uniform (camies) on our flight, and when there was an open seat left in 1st/Bus class, they put him in there!

 

We arrived at DFW in a pretty fast 2 hours and 30 minutes and had an approx. hour and fifty minutes lay-over for our connecting flt. to Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in yet another 737-823. Had a bit of a bumpy flt over the Gulf of Mexico due to a weather system hanging around there. Two hours and 25 minutes later, we were wheels down at FLL. Got our luggage downstairs and stood in an approx. twenty min taxi line. Once we got one, our friendly (sorta/kinda) Haitian cabby whisked us to the Embassy Suites on 17th Street where we got a room on the 12th/top floor on the east side with a nice view of Port Everglades. Right smack next door to the Embassy Suites is an Outback Steakhouse so we went and grabbed a shrimp on the Barbie there for Code Seven. Back at the hotel, did some gelling and fell asleep in an obvious and deliberate attempt to get back some of the sleepless hours we lost this morning.

 

Woke up at 0700 this AM, got ready and went downstairs for the ES complimentary breakfast among many of our fellow guests from literally all over the place. That breakfast, btw, was good and hot. Upon finishing, we made a quick run across the street to the famous Winn-Dixie where I have spent many an hour as a crew member. As expected, there were many crew already inside, arriving and/or leaving via the van service that supplies a peddle service for crew between Port Everglades and various points in and around Ft. Lauderdale. We grabbed some sodas, waters and some stuff to nibble on and walked back. We had decided to leave at 1130 and so we did, grabbing yet another cab from in front of the ES. I almost fell over when our driver turned out to be a gent, not from Port au Prince, but from Chicago, Illinois. In the approx. 10 minute drive to Pier 21 at Midport, he managed to tell us his entire life history; never a dull moment! Delivered our luggage to a porter who promised not to send the stuff on a boat to Honolulu, and were directed inside.

 

Btw, I obviously chose the wrong profession back when I was a young whippersnapper at 23 yrs old and became a servant of the law if you look at the amount of dough these longshoremen take home on a daily basis. Security (Metal detector for humans and x-Ray for their prized possessions) was next and was another breeze. When we arrived at PE, the number system was already in the works and they called number 11 when we came out of Security and were handed the Health Questionnaire by a shore-side employee. We had splurged on this trip however, and were actually part of the “suite people” so no soup for you……………sorry, no number for us; move straight ahead up the escalator for check-in and the always lovely I.D. pic. That took all of 5 minutes, if that, by a very efficient shore-side lady. Off for the obligatory Welcome Aboard pic by the ship’s image creators. Now, as a crew member, the only pic we get taken is a crew I.D. pic in the appropriately named Crew Office with a lovely blue curtain in the background and no “Welcome Aboard” in it to be found anywhere. As a pax, however, we learned that you know have to give one of the image creators your ship’s I.D. which, in this case, she scanned into a little DVD-looking machine. Before returning it to us. I know lots of people are not fond of the photographers and refuse to have their pics taken. To us however, it took all of three minutes, incl. the wait in line, and no one is forcing you to buy one later on during your cruise so no biggie (to us at least).

 

We walked up the gangway around 12:10-12:15 and were able to go straight to our cabin, a nice one on Rotterdam Deck, about six cabins fwd of the mid-ship scenic elevators and just a bit difference in size than the ones I’m used to a crew member on B-Deck! Got situated and made it up to Deck 9/Lido Deck for a spot of lunch. Ran into several crew up there who I have worked with and still addressed me as “Chief”. Always good to see familiar faces! Speaking of familiar faces, down on Deck 1, we ran into NADM’s current security officer, Alex. I last saw him in February of this year in Rio de Janeiro where he was my security guard supervisor on MADM. Really good to see him today and after having been promoted to security officer. I have the honor of being one of the godfathers to his young and very beautiful, now two-year old daughter.

 

The Passenger Emergency drill was at 3:45 pm and we were assigned Boat #8Boat Commander #8 did an excellent job in a nice loud/clear voice to call his muster and, with the cruise director’s P/A commentary, this drill turned out to be the fastest we’ve ever experienced, and was over in a grand total of fifteen minutes. Within four-five minutes of the drill being over, NADM was on the move with both a Broward County Sheriff and an USCG boat escort. We barely made it back to the balcony to wave at the Port Everglades camera before passing the breakwater and saying ‘See ya’.

 

The plan for tonight is to go to the Deck 7 Welcome Aboard party in the Silk Den, have dinner in the Lido and see the 9:30 pm Welcome Aboard show “Listen to the Music” in the Showroom At Sea. Tomorrow is our first stop at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas and, for a change, I don’t have to work traffic control in the HMC “lifeguard” tower say stuff like “Henry Hudson, the channel is clear, permission to enter the marina!” and/or having to contact Mr. Blaaack, the Island Manager!

[SilvertoGold]

Super, super, SUPER!!

 

What a treat! Thanks, John, for doing this thread. I am going to love this!

 

Have a truly great time and enjoy being a passenger, while you can!

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for the update, John.

 

Enjoy a cruise without working for once.

[OVgirl]

Copper, thanks for your first installment of your holiday cruise. Love that you add some insight re: passenger vs crew experience.

Waiting anxiously for more.

Enjoy your cruise!

[Thebes]

Thanks much copper :)

Reading this is a TREAT ! Looking forward to reading more.

[Love the beach]

I'm going to love this thread as well! Thanks :)

Marge

[startwin]

Thanks Copper, will eagerly look forward to your future reports.

[Mtn2Sea]

Great start on your review. Looking forward to your future posts! Hope you have smooth sailing as you celebrate a new year.

[Himself]

John will be following your thread with great interest. I got off this same ship three weeks ago.

[pris993]

We board April 6th, headed for Barcelona, can hardly wait. Enjoy your cruise. Happy New Year.

[aliaschief]

Thanks you sir for taking us along on your cruise.This is going to be a great read and looking forward to future post. Having disembarked just a few weeks ago I know you and DW will enjoy the experience.

 

Have a great time and Happy New Year. Bruce & Sue

 

PS: You can enjoy a Weng Weng on this cruise vs just beer and wine.:)

[kazu]

I just know this is going to be fun. Great thread and a great start.

 

Can't wait for the next part!

 

Enjoy your cruise and the suite life :D

[Scrapnana]

Looking forward to your "insiders" view of this cruise. Sorry we did not know that was you with the white towel. We did see you, though.

 

Being from a military family (mother was a WAC in WWII, father career military out of West Point, and grandfather career Navy doctor) it did my heart good to hear that the airline upgraded the soldier. I love to hear these stories.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your report.

 

What a very efficient Emergency drill.

[PathfinderEss]

Wow, a live thread from the NA New Years cruise and one from the Veendam we have hit the jackpot this week. Thanks Copper for taking us along on your cruise, as others have said, can't wait for the next installment.

Had no idea you would be doing a live from, what a nice surprise.

[Vict0riann]

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip. Happy New Year!

[expectGREATthings]

Hello Copper,

 

Have a relaxing, and laid back cruise. I know how hard it can be to be a passive observer, but you need to just enjoy. I've followed your comments for quite a while, and I must say I've enjoyed them all. The time you posted the graphic of whipping a dead horse almost made me wet my pants. I feel you are (and thank you for being) a huge asset to these boards, To you I say thanks and Happy New Year. If you could let me know who the MDR maître d' is I'd appreciate it. We'll be on the Nieuw Amsterdam at the end of January and I truly look forward to your reports.

 

Thanks,

Michael

[innlady1]

Thanks you sir for taking us along on your cruise.This is going to be a great read and looking forward to future post. Having disembarked just a few weeks ago I know you and DW will enjoy the experience.

 

Have a great time and Happy New Year. Bruce & Sue

 

PS: You can enjoy a Weng Weng on this cruise vs just beer and wine.:)

 

Loving your thread, Copper...and have a Weng Weng for me, too! Even though the NA is a larger ship than we usually enjoy, we really loved her...and the décor!

[homeschoolmama]

Making us excited for our Feb. adventure on this ship!

 

Sent from my SCH-I915 using Forums mobile app

[Cruising-along]

So happy to see a "live from" thread by our own Copper John! Enjoy your cruise, I know we will enjoy following along. :)

[mudscraper]

Thanks for taking the time to give us a live report from the N.A.

[Lauranne]

Great start to what I'm sure will be a great cruise. Thank you for doing this.

[Copper10-8]

Day 1 – 12/29/13; Parte Dieux; At Sea heading towards Half Moon Cay; Our bags had been waiting patiently for us since before the pax emergency drill so after we were at sea, we took our time unpacking and putting stuff, including the two bowling balls my lovely wife brought along, away. Our Lead Stateroom Attd, Anton, came and introduced himself and told us his junior partner was a dude by the name of “Pit”. Not “Pat” but “Pit” as in “Pitbull”, awwwrighty then! The Neptune Lounge concierge, the main one, is a nice young lady by the name of Cerene. Oh yeah, at around 6:00 pm, the phone rings in our cabin, I pick it up and a female with a French accent says “pardon moi, we have a domestic disturbance in stateroom such and so and we need your assistance”. I told her “not this week young lady”. Turned out to be a French/Mexican International Concierge trying to pull a fast one on me. Nice try, Hodi “Hellooooooo”

 

The little get together for the occupants of Deck 7 was not in the Neptune Lounge but in the Silk Den bar and it was set for 7:30 pm. I really like that place, having last been in the one on NADM’s sister, EUDM, in July 2008. So, exiting the elevator, I saw the back of a lady’s head with a hair color that could only belong to one person we both happen to know and sho ‘nough comedienne Julie Barr is here! Awesome! She was having dinner in the Tamarind with the Event Manager, Rachel. Good to see ya again Rachel and congrats on the promotion from Librarian!

 

The welcome line consisted of a whole bunch of folks starting with the Captain, Hotel Director, Cruise Director, Future Cruise Consultant, Port Shopping Ambassador, Acupuncturist, Casino Manager, Black Label image creator, etc. Oh, and hands were indeed shaken; no elbow bumps, no secret signs! The Silk Den, as does the Northern Lights have these “booth-like” seating areas separated by a see through-kinds curtain taken, no doubt, from one of those old “magic carpet-ride” movies from the twenties, so we joined a couple from Ft. Worth, TX via San Francisco, CA and had some nice conversation over a glass of wine.

 

After that, 8:00 pm rolled around and, instead of the Manhattan dining room, we decided to meander over to the Lido Restaurant for a more casual dinner. Lots of room in that same Lido (the port side is open for buffet-style service) and lots of selection. We both selected a piece of chicken breast, alongside a piece of Barramundi fish with Coconut-Lemongrass Reduction (sorry, but I have no clue what that means but it sounded good and I’m just glad it wasn’t Coconut-Lemongrass addition), over rice and florets (not florists) of broccoli. For desert Maria chose some strawberry ice cream with, naturally if you know her, two pieces of Meringue, and I had some vanilla ice cream. Good dinner, we enjoyed it!

 

On embarkation night, the ships pretty much, for as far as I know, now do the same show at the same time. That means the show “Listen to the Music” at the single time of 9:30 pm. “Listen to the Music” is basically an introduction show of all the entertainers and the “location team”. The cruise director on NADM is Dave and his location team consists of his No. 2 man, DJ/Emcee/Bingo King Styles, Culinary Arts Center Host Beth, Techspert John and Librarian Amanda. The rest of the show featured the ship’s cast members, HAL Cats band and singers Sarah and Danny, four guys by the name of Cantare who we’ve never seen before but heard good things about (they sounded awesome in the one number they performed tonite), A really great steel drum player by the name of Junior from Trinidad (good to see you again Junior), the two Adagio ladies, solo guitarist Brad and piano man Greg.

 

At the conclusion of the show we spent some time in the Piano Bar and more time in the Queen’s Lounge, listening and dancing to Danny & the HALCats. We’ll, fer sure, be back there and, from the looks at tonight’s crowd, we won’t be the only ones! Tomorrow will be Half Moon Cay, HAL’s private island in the Bahamas, weather/swell permitting as always! Pic is a look at a housed NADM Tender #15. Love those bigger tenders! Here's hoping we get to use their even bigger island cousins manana!

[JamesEM]

Have a great trip, and looking forward to more reports.

[Copper10-8]

Hello Copper,

 

Have a relaxing, and laid back cruise. I know how hard it can be to be a passive observer, but you need to just enjoy. I've followed your comments for quite a while, and I must say I've enjoyed them all. The time you posted the graphic of whipping a dead horse almost made me wet my pants. I feel you are (and thank you for being) a huge asset to these boards, To you I say thanks and Happy New Year. If you could let me know who the MDR maître d' is I'd appreciate it. We'll be on the Nieuw Amsterdam at the end of January and I truly look forward to your reports.

 

Thanks,

Michael

 

The DRM on NADM at the moment is Pudja Tjitradjaja, common spelling! ;)