Christmas & New Years On The Amsterdam 2014

[Wakepatrol]

I was torn on which ship to book for Christmas/New Years. I've started to like the newer/bigger ships with bigger t-pool and the B.B. King Band. The newer ships only made the milk run ports and did back to backs. We find the turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale a wasted day. We decided on the Amsterdam. We had 9 ports in 14 days (including HMC)

 

We usually like to be the first ones on the ship but couldn't pull it off this time. I left my dog looking at me as if to say "I Know They Allow Dogs On The Ship,I read About One On The Amsterdam". She promised me she would be on her best behavior and not bark commands to the omelette maker like "Gimme More Bacon,I said Extra Cheese On Top" like some of the passengers do. She would just wait patiently and thank the omelette man. I told her it wasn't possible to take her.

 

We first had to go to the post office and I got behind the woman who wants to "See" the Christmas stamps while there's 15 people on line and one clerk. Then it was off to the bank,where the guy in front of me had a fistful of rolled coins (are we ever going to get to the ship?) then we had to stop for shoes my wife had to have.

 

We got to the port and walked right aboard in 5 minutes. Ahhhh nice to be home.

 

Had some lunch and went to our cabin we had an ocean view On Dolphin Deck. We had plenty of room and didn't even need the shoe thingy you hang over the door.

 

We went to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the atrium which is always fun. We had late seating and had a table for two.

 

The show the first night was called "Too Hot" I think and was very good.

 

Next day was Half Moon Cay. An absolute perfect day,it appeared to be a little windy so I didn't bring the snorkel gear. As it turned out the wind died down and it was beautiful. I had a few salsa chips and got loads of fish around me with them and even hand fed them. We had chairs by the last cabana closest to the pirate ship. I could vaguely hear music,when they were singing. So any worries that Guns and Roses is playing there is simply drama.

 

The next two days were sea days and Christmas Eve and Christmas. Just relaxed, read books and slept in 27 different places on the ship. They had a Christmas show which was the best one I've ever seen,really well done.

 

Then these pesky ports started and it was 8 days of my naps coming to a halt.

 

St. Thomas- we took a cab to Sapphire Beach and just had a relaxing day and did a little snorkeling.

 

St Kitts- We booked with Thenford Gray and took the 'Tour" this was a fantastic tour. We went to botanical gardens a fort and then he took us to a beautiful beach for 2 hours. He is a gentleman and really loves his island. You can't go wrong with Thenford.

 

St. Lucia- we went with Cosol (this was our second time) great tour then we scratched an item off our bucket list and went snorkeling between the Pitons. The snorkeling was fantastic. The only bummer was all aboard was 2:30. Then they fart around till 5:30 to pick up two tenders worth of people on Hal excursions. The next time we go there I will skip Cosol and head right to sugar beach. That's in between the pitons and is breathtaking. Nothing wrong with Cosol (we've just done his tour twice now) I would highly recommend him if you've never been there.

 

Grenada- We went with Mandoo who we've gone with before. What can I say about Mandoo? He's fantastic, professional and gives you a beautiful tour. I've never had bananas like he gave us,wow were they good.

 

Barbados- This was another bucket list,we swam with turtles. We went with Calibaza. This company knocks it out of the box. They only take 12 people on their gorgeous catamaran. They wait on you hand and foot all day long,and the food is all gourmet. It was the best food I had all trip (sorry Hal) the coffee when you arrive is delicious,the pastries,appetizers and then lunch,all gourmet. They also take pictures of everybody all day long then when you get home they send you a link with 300 pictures all for FREE how cool is that? We went to 3 wrecks to snorkel and this was what I always have envisioned while snorkeling ,literally thousands of fish all swimming around you. You then go to a place where the turtles hang out and get to swim with them. Then you sail along the coast throw the anchor and eat your lunch and swim ashore if you want. Can't rave enough about this tour.

 

Guadeloupe- This is where I blew it. I guess I didn't research it enough. I read you need euros and need to speak french to get by. I played it safe and booked a shore excursion on the ship, Guadeloupe Highlights or something of this nature. This was the dumbest biggest waste of time. I asked when booking about beaches and they said we would go to a beach for an hour. The tour operator told us on the way out we were going to the beach for an hour. 4 1/2 hours on a frigging bus and you get to get out of it for roughly an hour. The first stop is a market beach town which has vendors selling fruit and crafts (not one person asks you to buy anything which is kind of nice) they don't speak english or take credit card or dollars. We have 30 minutes there. We then stop for 4 ounces of juice at a restaurant for 10 minutes. Then the tour guide tells us this whole long winded story about a cross on a hill. We get to the cross on the hill,there's loads of people walking up to the top of it,but we only have 20 minutes there,don't have time to walk up and are told to buy an ice cream off of some woman.

Then we go to a beautiful beach and the whole bus groans,nobody wants to go to the beach or has brought towels etc. Everybody wants to go back to the ship and eat. We were promised an hour by the shore excursion desk and the woman on the bus on the way out there. With everbody groaning the woman decide to compromise and cut our hour down to 30 minutes. Well by the time you get down to the beach apply sunscreen it's time to go back to the bus. Guadelope was beautiful and the beach was spectacular,however I was stuck on this stupid bus tour (now I know how Patty Hearst felt.

 

St. Maarten- Probably got a little lazy here,took a cab to a beach and just chilled. Now I can't remember the name of it but it was on the Dutch side. 5 ships in there that day and total bedlam chaos,getting taxis.

 

Puerto Rico- Started to come down with cruise crud, upper respiratory sinus infection,so just stayed on the ship.

 

Then it was two relaxing sea days home.

 

 

Food- I thought the food was really delicious. no complaints. The dive hamburger bar was really good as well

 

Lido- A really well run Lido- they have staff to carry your plates (they ask you) and a guy who wheels a coffee cart around with the newspaper. They are constantly clearing away dishes and keep in the area clean. Endless smiles as usual.

 

Entertainment- The shows started out really good,then seem to suffer a little. The production shows were great. They had Nester Torres a Grammy winning flautist. A singer named Jesse who was great,then a magician meh and a woman singer with a bright pink glitter jacket meh again.

 

Piano Bar - Never saw many people hanging out so kept going

 

New Years Eve- I didn't think anything could top last year on the Noordam with the B.B. King band,but the ships singers and Hal cats put on an off the chain show,great time great New Years.

 

Decorations- The ship was all decked out for Christmas,and New Years decorations in the dining room were really beautiful.

 

Dining- Our waitstaff just couldn't get it together for the first 4 nights. Just not on the same page. There were people complaining all around us (says my wife) we never said boo. I guess the dining captain must have said something to them,for they seemed to get it together and all was smooth. The dining captain came over every single night to just check in and have some conversation. A nice touch which I haven't experienced in recent cruises.

 

Cabin stewards-Were phenomenal

 

 

Spa- Friendly staff- and remembered us from our cruise a few years ago,as did a handful of other crew members which is fun.

 

Canaletto- Very good and a nice change for a night

 

Minor complaints- I miss having live music at dinner,they only sang a few songs on Christmas Eve,other than that,it was piped in Kenny G Meh.

 

I wish they had some hot tubs on the stern. The ones inside are basically full of kids.

 

Overall- The ship has a really good vibe,with a super friendly crew. It's going into dry dock after the world voyage, it could use a little spiffing up,but it's still a beautiful ship and we had a great cruise. We never waited on lines for anything,ship never felt crowded.

 

Lido Sightings- I did see a guy in a bathrobe with a camo ball cap. yea I know it's already been done "You Just Might Be a Redneck"

[Skipper's Mom]

Thanks for your humorous review. You made my day! One of these years, I plan to do a holiday cruise. It's on my bucket list. ;)

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your great review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the wonderful review.

Loved the humor you put into your review.

[arzz]

Wakepatrol

 

We were also on this cruise and posted a review a while ago. I am glad you had a great cruise - and for the most part so did we. Thank you for posting your review and your perspective on the cruise.

 

I usually do not complain about anything and I am so glad your dining experience improved - as we could see the dining experience at most tables was fine - unfortunately our experience never did improve. Most nights there were, inexplicably, not even enough menus for everyone at our table which contributed to our lengthy waits to order. Slow service, mistakes almost every day, etc. is why we were unhappy. Eventually all we could do at our table was laugh. It was not clear how much of our issues were waiter related and how much were related to issues the waiter could not control. That combined with the water issues in and near our cabin ... Well, this cruise for us just had issues.

 

That is why this forum is great as everyone can see that one person's experience is not the same as another's.

 

We love the Amsterdam and as you can see we are booked for 45 days next fall - we have not been turned away from this ship by the issues that we had this time. I, too, hope that the upcoming dry dock will address some of the ship's more annoying issues such as the water leaks all over the ship.

[ger_77]

Just relaxed, read books and slept in 27 different places on the ship.

 

Only 27? I don't think you were really trying! Loved your review - you sound like a glass half-full kind of person, the type we enjoy cruising with.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Wakepatrol]

Wakepatrol

 

We were also on this cruise and posted a review a while ago. I am glad you had a great cruise - and for the most part so did we. Thank you for posting your review and your perspective on the cruise.

 

I usually do not complain about anything and I am so glad your dining experience improved - as we could see the dining experience at most tables was fine - unfortunately our experience never did improve. Most nights there were, inexplicably, not even enough menus for everyone at our table which contributed to our lengthy waits to order. Slow service, mistakes almost every day, etc. is why we were unhappy. Eventually all we could do at our table was laugh. It was not clear how much of our issues were waiter related and how much were related to issues the waiter could not control. That combined with the water issues in and near our cabin ... Well, this cruise for us just had issues.

 

That is why this forum is great as everyone can see that one person's experience is not the same as another's.

 

We love the Amsterdam and as you can see we are booked for 45 days next fall - we have not been turned away from this ship by the issues that we had this time. I, too, hope that the upcoming dry dock will address some of the ship's more annoying issues such as the water leaks all over the ship.

 

Thanks - I read your review and could certainly relate to what you were talking about. Thanks for posting it. The ship will be all spiffy for you on your next cruise, sounds like a great one.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Wakepatrol

[Lizzie68]

Wakepatrol

 

We were also on this cruise and posted a review a while ago. I am glad you had a great cruise - and for the most part so did we. Thank you for posting your review and your perspective on the cruise.

 

I usually do not complain about anything and I am so glad your dining experience improved - as we could see the dining experience at most tables was fine - unfortunately our experience never did improve. Most nights there were, inexplicably, not even enough menus for everyone at our table which contributed to our lengthy waits to order. Slow service, mistakes almost every day, etc. is why we were unhappy. Eventually all we could do at our table was laugh. It was not clear how much of our issues were waiter related and how much were related to issues the waiter could not control. That combined with the water issues in and near our cabin ... Well, this cruise for us just had issues.

 

That is why this forum is great as everyone can see that one person's experience is not the same as another's.

 

We love the Amsterdam and as you can see we are booked for 45 days next fall - we have not been turned away from this ship by the issues that we had this time. I, too, hope that the upcoming dry dock will address some of the ship's more annoying issues such as the water leaks all over the ship.

 

I see from one of the World Cruise blogs that the water issues on the Amsterdam continue. It seems to be quite a serious problem.

[erewhon]

Enjoyed reading your review, thank you.

 

During our Volendam cruise (October/November) we were disappointed that there was no live music in the dining room.

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[USN59-79]

Enjoyed reading your review, thank you.

 

During our Volendam cruise (October/November) we were disappointed that there was no live music in the dining room.

A different take on music in the dining room: A few years back we took a 49 day Carnival cruise. Each night at dinner they would turn on loud music and the wait staff would jump up on the empty tables and dance. If I never again hear music while dining on a cruise ship I will be happy.

[mollyanne]

I looked at Calabaza's website and don't see any pricing. Would you be willing to share the cost of your excursion?

[Jellifer]

Great informative review - thank you!

[Wakepatrol]

I looked at Calabaza's website and don't see any pricing. Would you be willing to share the cost of your excursion?

 

We paid $110 per person

 

Thanks for reading my review

[pearliemae]

Glad to read you had a great cruise and did not have to face your dreaded turn around day in Ft Lauderdale.

 

That turtle tour sounds like a real winner.

 

Got a kick out of your 'fish and chips' experience!!!

 

Great review!!

[Wakepatrol]

Glad to read you had a great cruise and did not have to face your dreaded turn around day in Ft Lauderdale.

 

That turtle tour sounds like a real winner.

 

Got a kick out of your 'fish and chips' experience!!!

 

Great review!!

 

Thanks for reading my review. Only on cruise critic could a thread on a tote bag garner more interest than a review:D