Med Tapestry review - Nieuw Amsterdam

[Katie333]

We are a couple aged 39 and 43, and this was our second trip on HAL. We sailed with friends who were new to HAL and it was interesting to see it from their perspective as well. We did primarily private tours, or DIY while in port, and this was a very port intensive cruise.

 

 

We set sail out of Barcelona during a gentle rain. The grey weather did not dampen our spirits and we looked forward to sailing again aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam. Our room (7089) was ready for us and we were soon greeted by our fabulous room stewards, Christina and Trishna.

 

 

On this cruise, we had retained the explore4 perk which we received after our initial booking. We were happy with our discounted TA price and this cruise only continued to climb in price. Explore4 turned out to be a great bonus for us. It was a real treat to be able to pick up a beverage without the usual mental debate over cost (I’m usually pretty frugal when I cruise). We never came close the 15 beverages per day, and we did treat ourselves to everything from lattes to limoncello. The ship actually ran out of large bottles of Pellegrino fairly early in the cruise (or they took them off the offerings), so I think there were many others taking advantage of the explore4 deal. We also were able to rebook our Pinnacle dinner from the date they originally gave us, and then enjoyed it very much.

 

Ports:

 

 

Marseille was our first port stop and while the city is not entirely beautiful the area along the pier (where the ship’s shuttle drops you off) was nice. We took the petit train up to the Notre Dame cathedral which was well worth it. Wonderful views, gorgeous church. After we got back to town, we stopped at a few shops along the waterfront to pick up some souvenirs and back to the ship to relax the rest of the day.

 

 

A pleasant sail into Monte Carlo and another sunny day. Polar opposite from the grittiness of Marseille, Monte Carlo was clean and beautiful everywhere we looked. It was almost too perfect, but very charming and once again, we hit did this port DIY thanks to Tom’s Port Guides. It was a great day and we’d love to come back here again and see more.

 

 

Our next stop was Livorno and our originally booked shore excursion to a winery was changed from 1pm to 8:30 departure. Since we didn’t want to hit the winery so early in the morning and knew we had many ports ahead, we stayed on the ship and enjoyed our own version of a sea day.

 

 

Another sunny morning awaited us as we docked in the port of Rome (cannot spell Civatecchia for the life of me!). We had a private tour booked with Tour of Italy and since I believe I cannot provide a review of a private tour operator, we’ll leave it at that unless anyone has questions.

In Naples the next day, we once again used the services of Tour of Italy for a full day of touring.

 

 

We woke up to a rainy cold day as we sailed into Taormina, Sicily. Our TA is an American Express agency and this was a designated ‘mariner club sailing’ – no affiliation with HAL. As such, we were given a private group tour to Mount Etna and a winery. Despite the dreary weather and the fact that Mt Etna was shrouded in pea soup fog on the way up (thankfully cleared on the way down in order for us to see the surroundings), we had an enjoyable day. The winery was great, wonderful snacks and 4 wines to taste.

 

 

Finally a sea day! We needed a break despite all the great ports. We spent a relaxing day onboard and made good use of our explore4 package.

 

 

Unfortunately it was raining again as we arrived in Croatia. Many folks had their tours cancelled, and we took the ship’s shuttle into town and walked around the walled city in the rain. Not really ideal, but we could see how beautiful it was. We found the souvenirs very much like the tacky array available in the Caribbean, which was disappointing. This was a long port stop and it continued to rain all day.

 

 

 

A short stop (via tender) in Kotor, Montenegro was next. This was a very exceptional sail-in, through the fjords and mountains. The town felt like a smaller version of Croatia, and had a similar walled city with shops and restaurants.

 

 

Finally, our cruise wound up in Venice. Another beautiful sail-in, with terrific vantage point and views of the city. The sun returned for a nice change, and though we docked in the afternoon, it was an overnight and then off the ship the next day, so lots of opportunity to see the city. Easily available vaporettos (water bus) near the port stop made it quick and fun to get into the heart of the city.

 

 

Food and Drink

 

 

As is usual for us, we ate primarily in the buffet and found the food to be generally quite good. We had room service a few times and also enjoyed lunch and dinner in Pinnacle and lunch in the Tamarind. Because of explore4, we experienced just about every beverage venue on the ship. Definitely saw the variation in bartending skills after trying the same drink at multiple places. We disliked (for the first time ever in any cruise we have taken) the service in the explorations café coffee bar. We found the server Edwin to be snarky, insincere, and generally offputting. He seemed to be rather unhappy working there, and often served us a poorly made beverage. I did not bother complaining on the ship (make this guy nicer???) but did provide my feedback on the post cruise survey. On a positive note, we loved the Dive In, and wished it was open longer than 11:30-5:30 daily. I’d much rather that venue than the Slice pizza place (I dislike HAL pizza, and found myself wishing for Princess). The Dive In was a treat; we tried almost everything on the menu, and think this is a nice addition to the meal options onboard.

 

 

Overall Impressions

 

 

Great cruise, interesting ports, enjoyed this ship and HAL once again. Service was good everywhere except the coffee bar, and most employees did their very best to make this a pleasant experience for all passengers. We enjoyed BB King’s Blues Club and went several times over the course of the cruise – definitely a great addition to the entertainment. Just realized as I’m typing this I never got my ship tile. I did not attend the mariner luncheon but was wrongly informed by the front desk that if I indicated ‘no’ on the reply card, the tiles would be delivered to my stateroom. I may follow up with HAL directly. At any rate, this was an enjoyable vacation, and we do plan to sail with HAL again.

[MAHLO]

See where you had room7089 could you please tell me if you heard the noise of the elevators as we were looking into that for our next cruise. Thanks:confused::confused:

[cruz chic]

Thx for the review. I wonder if I've run into the same explorations server. Most of them are nice but the one I'm thinking of was really surely. He also charged my card with extra coffee. I was unable to get the charges reversed even though I complained to him and the front desk. Since it was only around $5 I didn't pursue it.

[POA1]

Just realized as I’m typing this I never got my ship tile. I did not attend the mariner luncheon but was wrongly informed by the front desk that if I indicated ‘no’ on the reply card, the tiles would be delivered to my stateroom. I may follow up with HAL directly. At any rate, this was an enjoyable vacation, and we do plan to sail with HAL again.

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Call Holland America's Mariner Services desk at 1-800-547-9139 (outside of the U.S. call 206-281-3535 ext. 8353) about your missing tile. They should send you one in the mail.

[etmanch]

Thanks for posting this review.

 

My DH and I are booked for Sept 2015 so we have a long wait till we get to enjoy.

[Katie333]

See where you had room7089 could you please tell me if you heard the noise of the elevators as we were looking into that for our next cruise. Thanks:confused::confused:

 

Occasionally I did hear the elevators, but it was never an issue falling asleep. The proximity did make it easy to get up or down several floors easily (or by using the stairs which are also located in that spot).

[Katie333]

Thx for the review. I wonder if I've run into the same explorations server. Most of them are nice but the one I'm thinking of was really surely. He also charged my card with extra coffee. I was unable to get the charges reversed even though I complained to him and the front desk. Since it was only around $5 I didn't pursue it.

 

It made me wonder where the barista sits on the roster of server rankings on the ship. My guess based on this experience, that it falls really rather low.

 

On Princess, I'll admit the barista is usually not the most pleasant person either, but this guy was by far the worst.

[3ssn]

Thanks for your review. Still 3 months to go and then we will take the same itinerary on the same ship.

[davedex]

Thanks for this review, we are doing the same trip on this ship in august this year and although have done some Of the ports have not done any up the Adriatic. Is there much to do by yourself in Taormina? What is the port like? What was the entertainment like on board?

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[davedex]

Sorry, also forgot to ask a couple of things, what the situation was with regards to shuttle busses in port are they provided and is there a cost? Our booking allows us $100 per day beverage credit, do you know if all drinks are included in this?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Wonderful.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[SeaWatch]

Katie,

Thanks for the review, will be just down the hall from your cabin next month!

 

I also would like to know if there was any cost for the shuttle in Marseille.

[CGYCruisingFamily]

Hi Katie

 

Thanks for the review. We are taking this same cruise in August on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Like a couple of others, I am wondering about the shuttle buses offered by the cruise line. I keep reading from some of the other posts on CC that there is a cost for them. Is this true? If so, how much are they (if you remember).

 

What was your favourite port?

 

Also I am not sure if we have the beverage pkg or not but ditto to what it covers - am I reading right that its pretty much everything?

 

Just wondering if you took in the Culinary Arts program and if so, how much did it run? This is a really busy itinerary with the single day at sea. We love the Culinary Arts Centre usually and are trying to figure out if it will run or not.

 

Finally, I understand you took a private tour in Rome, did you encounter any issues with timing getting back to the ship at the end of the day?

 

Thanks for the review. Reading it makes me even more excited for August :)

Edited May 6, 2014 by CGYCruisingFamily

[ger_77]

I'm glad you enjoyed the itinerary and the Nieuw Amsterdam. You said you didn't take any tours at Livorno - when we were there we went to Pisa to of course, see the Leaning Tower, and thoroughly enjoyed the trip there and back. Sure, it's a cheezy tourist site, but how many times will we ever be there?

 

We look forward to our return to the Nieuw Amsterdam for our T/A in Oc tober.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Jean1946]

We got on the ship in Ft Lauderdale and got off in Venice! Had a lovely trip. I generally try to get to know the room stewards as well as the bar servers. We had the best on the ship. Plus, we found a great wait staff team that we went to most every night. We had the Explorer4 plan as well!

[lizziebargain]

I was on the ship with Jean 1946 from FLL to BCN. I can say that the shuttle in Motril cost $15.00 US and $14.00 US in Palma de Mallorca. You can also read a review of this segment under reviews(passenger) of N.Amsterdam April 2014 where our cruise critic leader reviews the cruise and talks about the public bus available in Palma. You can try to research the public bus available in your ports ahead of time but sometimes you don't always know exactly which port you will dock at in advance so it can be a bit challenging. I found the N.Amsterdam to be a great ship, good food and generally well run. For the person asking about elevator bell noise I was in cabin 5102 and although I did hear it faintly, it did not bother me or keep me up at night. In any case I ran a fan at night for white noise to block any sound from the corridor-the ship provided one upon my request.

[lizziebargain]

I meant click on Reviews, then member reviews in the top left of CC the home screen.

[Katie333]

Hey all,

 

The ship shuttles were a consistent charge of $14 USD for a roundtrip. You could buy them in advance (ideally from the self-serve shore excursion machines) the day before the stop, or once you get off the ship right in front of the bus. If you have your tickets in advance you can get right on the shuttle.

 

My favourite port, I'm torn, they were all good. Probably Rome or Monte Carlo, but this itinerary is just excellent overall.

 

Sorry I don't have the answer on the Culinary center. We took advantage of the sea day to do nothing. :)

 

Beverage package covers everything up to a $7 menu price, POA did a great thorough update on this, but suffice to say you will have a lot to choose from.

 

Taormina is a tender port and for us, wasn't quite a full day. There were lots of tours available that sounded interesting and I would recommend Mt Etna or winery like we did. It didn't look like this was a good port for DIY unlike many/most of the others.

 

Regarding Tour of Italy in Rome, we got off the ship very early (8am) and our driver was about 15 minutes late in arriving. We did ALOT, a private car gets around easier/faster than a huge bus. We could drive almost right up to the Trevi Fountain for example. We told him when we needed to be back by (and allowed an extra 30 minutes on top of that) and absolutely no issues being back on time. We also found the price we paid was half of the cruiseship charge for a private car tour.

 

Finally I found the entertainment to be not too great. BB Kings was the lone exception, imo, and well worth attending.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Katie333

[cknic]

Thanks for your review. We are booked on this cruise--Barcelona to Venice in April. Do you remember how long it actually took to be off the ship once it docked? HAL tells me that if the arrival time is listed as 1pm, we can leave then. Is that true? I'm trying to coordinate tour times, especially in Venice. I know for the tender ports, the ship excursions go off first but otherwise, could you walk off at arrival time?

Thanks,

Carolyn

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post the review of your Nieuw Amsterdam cruise.

[freestyling]

we are doing this trip in May and appreciate you posting this review

[erewhon]

Thank you for your interesting review.

[Katie333]

Thanks for your review. We are booked on this cruise--Barcelona to Venice in April. Do you remember how long it actually took to be off the ship once it docked? HAL tells me that if the arrival time is listed as 1pm, we can leave then. Is that true? I'm trying to coordinate tour times, especially in Venice. I know for the tender ports, the ship excursions go off first but otherwise, could you walk off at arrival time?

Thanks,

Carolyn

 

Yes, this did hold true. I think we booked most of our private tour pick ups for at or within 1/2 hour of scheduled arrival time.

 

So funny my old thread is getting new attention. :) I'm about to board another dam ship so I'll have to make sure to write another review.

[kazu]

Thanks for your review. We are booked on this cruise--Barcelona to Venice in April. Do you remember how long it actually took to be off the ship once it docked? HAL tells me that if the arrival time is listed as 1pm, we can leave then. Is that true? I'm trying to coordinate tour times, especially in Venice. I know for the tender ports, the ship excursions go off first but otherwise, could you walk off at arrival time?

Thanks,

Carolyn

 

not the OP, but we have done these ports a number of times. You can definitely walk off as soon as the ship is docked and cleared.

 

for Katie - thanks for the review and taking the time to share with us.