Our review of the 14 day Alaska Amsterdam cruise--6-22-14

[RuthC]

OK, thanks. The sandwich and salad bars were probably open on one side, and closed on the other. That's the normal procedure.

I was a little worried there for a minute, as I normally eat lunch between 2:30-3:30. I would hate to be forced to eat a burger every day.

[Hope to Cruise]

Thanks so much for the excellent review and fabulous pictures. We were on the cruise with you and also on the Sitka boat trip. Got our silver medallions at that pre-brunch get together.

 

We had also taken this trip a few years ago and were very happy to find it being offered again. Alaska is always beautiful and indeed we had very good weather. We had the Explore 4 package and it was wonderful for us - specialty coffees, soft drinks, a few beers for the hubby. Hope they have a similar promo in the future.

 

Again thanks and wow for the pictures.

[RetiredMustang]

Rick,

 

Great review, and Joyce's pictures are as great as ever! We are booked on the Aug. 24 trip, so I was very interested to read the thread. One question we've wondered about though, is if they held the international dinner/baked Alaska deal on the last night like on Caribbean cruises, or did they shift it to the last formal night because of the late departure from Victoria, figuring a lot of people would be ashore then?

 

Thanks,

Dave

[brookeinmn]

Wonderful review. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Great pics too!

[rajkr74]

Rick,

 

Great review, and Joyce's pictures are as great as ever! We are booked on the Aug. 24 trip, so I was very interested to read the thread. One question we've wondered about though, is if they held the international dinner/baked Alaska deal on the last night like on Caribbean cruises, or did they shift it to the last formal night because of the late departure from Victoria, figuring a lot of people would be ashore then?

 

Thanks,

Dave

 

Hi Dave how are you doing?

I have to blame you for all the work this review got us into. I got inspired by some of your previous excellant reviews and photos. :eek:

 

The International dinner was held on the Sitka day and there was no Baked Alaska "Ceremony" like they have held in the past. They had a version of Baked Alaska available daily with different versions of ice cream and toppings. The servings were very small also.

 

Also noted your Juneau-Tracy Arm days are reversed to what we did on our cruise. I also think the time you will spend in Tracy Arm is shorter than the time we spent there. Hope you have enough time to get all the way to the Sawyer Glacier because it was a great cruise that day.

[RetiredMustang]

Rick,

 

Thanks for the quick reply -- we were wondering how they would handle the dinner. I hope we can see the Sawyer Glacier, but will be happy seeing any, especially if they are calving!

 

Dave

[jaspersmycat]

Loved your review.

 

Do you know if there was a sommelier or Cellar Master dinner?

[rajkr74]

Rick,

 

Thanks for the quick reply -- we were wondering how they would handle the dinner. I hope we can see the Sawyer Glacier, but will be happy seeing any, especially if they are calving!

 

Dave

Hubbard put on a pretty good show for us. Joyce got some pretty good multiple shots of some. We were not as close to Sawyer as we got to Hubbard. I picked out one chunk of ice at Hubbard that I thought would come down and kept the video camera on it the whole time but it did not come down. I did that 3 yrs. ago and got a pretty good calving event on video but not this year.

Edited July 15, 2014 by RAJKR74

[rajkr74]

Loved your review.

 

Do you know if there was a sommelier or Cellar Master dinner?

 

We are not wine drinkers and was not aware of this dinner. We rechecked the Daily schedule and do not see any reference to it. Everyday at 5:00pm there was a "Sip & Savor" event put on at the Wine cellar.

[vbmom87]

I continue to enjoy your review and photos. Thanks for the effort. It is appreciated.

[lcand1923]

Loved your review.

 

Do you know if there was a sommelier or Cellar Master dinner?

 

I ate in The Pinnacle Grill one night when the back room was closed off. I asked what was going on and found out that they were having a Sommelier/Cellar Master dinner. If memory serves correctly, they had 22 or 24 attendees.

 

It was not announced in the On Location newspaper. It was not mentioned on the special paper that they put out for Wine/Beer Tastings. I don't know how the folks who attended found out about it. If I had known about it, I would have signed up as this is something I've always wanted to attend.

 

If you are interested, I would stop at The Pinnacle Grill one of the first days you are onboard and talk with the Maitre D (Chris) to find out if they are offering it. You could also question the Sommelier (Matt) if you attend one of the early Wine Tastings.

[jaspersmycat]

Thanks Icand1923

[rajkr74]

I ate in The Pinnacle Grill one night when the back room was closed off. I asked what was going on and found out that they were having a Sommelier/Cellar Master dinner. If memory serves correctly, they had 22 or 24 attendees.

 

It was not announced in the On Location newspaper. It was not mentioned on the special paper that they put out for Wine/Beer Tastings. I don't know how the folks who attended found out about it. If I had known about it, I would have signed up as this is something I've always wanted to attend.

 

If you are interested, I would stop at The Pinnacle Grill one of the first days you are onboard and talk with the Maitre D (Chris) to find out if they are offering it. You could also question the Sommelier (Matt) if you attend one of the early Wine Tastings.

 

Thanks for the information, that is why we did not recognize this event. Do you remember which night this was. We ate at the Pinnacle Grill on the Anchorage night and Hubbard Glacier night.

[cruisingagain2011]

Is your pictures of Promenade deck the lower promenade or just promenade?

[rajkr74]

Is your pictures of Promenade deck the lower promenade or just promenade?

 

On the Amsterdam the Promenade deck is described as Deck #3, Lower Promenade. We had an Ocean View cabin on this deck.

Edited July 16, 2014 by RAJKR74

[LottaWata]

Thanks for the review Rick! I've enjoyed reading it and seeing things I didn't see as well as being reminded of things I did see!

 

It was nice meeting you and Joyce, even if it was a brief meet.

[cruisingagain2011]

Thanks for your quick reply. I was confused as the deck plans say Deck 4, Promenade and Deck 3, Lower Promenade. We have a cabin on Deck three leaving on August 17. Nice to see we will have deck chairs right outside our window. Are they usually pretty available? Soo excited for our trip--our third to Alaska but first on Holland.

 

Enjoyed reading your review and getting "inside" information.

[rajkr74]

Thanks for your quick reply. I was confused as the deck plans say Deck 4, Promenade and Deck 3, Lower Promenade. We have a cabin on Deck three leaving on August 17. Nice to see we will have deck chairs right outside our window. Are they usually pretty available? Soo excited for our trip--our third to Alaska but first on Holland.

 

Enjoyed reading your review and getting "inside" information.

 

Yes, the descriptions are a little confusing. The "deck" is on three.

 

We enjoyed deck three with our cabin close to a door to the promenade deck. It made it easy to get out to look at the scenery. There are a lot of deck chairs and with the "cooler" weather of Alaska there were always chairs available. On cruises that we have taken to warmer climates chairs were a little harder to obtain. There will be blankets available to use if the weather is cooler and you still want to sit out on the deck. I enjoy the chairs and used them during the cruise when one day I found a sliver of sunlight shining on one chair that kept me warm. Hopefully you will get better and warmer weather than we had. :)

 

I am sure you will enjoy this cruise and HAL.

[rajkr74]

Thanks for the review Rick! I've enjoyed reading it and seeing things I didn't see as well as being reminded of things I did see!

 

It was nice meeting you and Joyce, even if it was a brief meet.

 

It was a pleasure meeting you also. We got pretty busy and did not get a chance to spend more time talking with CC roll callers. But it was still a great cruise.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

My 2nd report is comming. Its to bad many of the cc did not get together mmore offton. I had late seating and wonderfulful tablemates, now it we were always the last to leave and chatted with the crew many times except when I saw a sunse about to star and I left. I met a few womwn aat the crows nest at 11-12 for happy hr and dancing. I went there every night. Some nights were better than others. When I was on the Zuriderdam in November they had officers one night ti dance with solo women. As I said the only officers I met were aat the meet and greet. I never saw one after that. I did feel insulted when the cd told us he was to busy to attended the mariniers lunch that was held the last days of cruice. Maybe I had not been on the Zuiderdan last November where the Captian was always available. I saw him every where talking to the passengers and listening to them. Also the Officers were always visable. Not so on my beloved Amsterdam.. The crew on Amsterdam or any HAl ship makes me keepinig back to HAl

 

Mary

[utahtea]

Hi

 

My 2nd report is comming. Its to bad many of the cc did not get together mmore offton. I had late seating and wonderfulful tablemates' date=' now it we were always the last to leave and chatted with the crew many times except when I saw a sunse about to star and I left. I met a few womwn aat the crows nest at 11-12 for happy hr and dancing. I went there every night. Some nights were better than others. When I was on the Zuriderdam in November they had officers one night ti dance with solo women. As I said the only officers I met were aat the meet and greet. I never saw one after that. I did feel insulted when the cd told us he was to busy to attended the mariniers lunch that was held the last days of cruice. Maybe I had not been on the Zuiderdan last November where the Captian was always available. I saw him every where talking to the passengers and listening to them. Also the Officers were always visable. Not so on my beloved Amsterdam.. The crew on Amsterdam or any HAl ship makes me keepinig back to HAl

 

Mary[/quote']

 

Mary,

 

This was just our third cruise (all on HAL) but on the other two cruises (Alaska & Panama Canal) the captain had a book signing and I was looking forward to that on this cruise but I never saw one on the daily schedule.

 

Utahtea

[lcand1923]

Thanks for the information, that is why we did not recognize this event. Do you remember which night this was. We ate at the Pinnacle Grill on the Anchorage night and Hubbard Glacier night.

 

This dinner was held on Monday, 06-30-14, Homer night.

[utahtea]

Hi Utahtea,

Yes, it was a pretty good one. Hope you did not mind the M&G photo of you? Joyce picked it out...:D

 

 

My picture from the M&G.

 

Utahtea

[rajkr74]

 

My picture from the M&G.

 

Utahtea

Thanks for getting Joyce in a picture...:D

[utahtea]

Thanks for getting Joyce in a picture...:D

 

I've got a couple other pictures of her ;)

 

Utahtea