Nieuw Amsterdam missing week before heading to Europe

[HALaftSuitesfor2]

We booked this year's NA ,T/A 29 + 12 last year as soon as we got back home from Venice. We noticed then there was a gap of 7 days from when NA leaves the Caribbean until she sets sail to Europe, unlike last year's, straight out in 10 hours. This has not changed all year. Does anyone know what is happening for that week with her? Charter, maintenance?

[Krazy Kruizers]

I checked this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2142710&highlight=dry+docks

And don't see her listed for anything.

[crystalspin]

@ aftSuites

 

I noticed that too on the master calendar

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/Miscellaneous/Holland-America-cruises-Sailing-Schedule.pdf

 

I make it 10 days (nights anyway) from the 29th of March to the 8th of April. We will be on the 26-day TA+Western Med with you! Can't wait to ask the cabin steward, what have you been doing for the last week-plus???

[Topsham]

Dry or Wet Dock... probably. Being spruced up in time for the summer.

[HALaftSuitesfor2]

We felt the ship a bit rushed up last year leaving out for TA, seemed disjointed. Plus it took much longer to board, 12:00 and get into our Suite.

[sun~]

Dry or Wet Dock... probably. Being spruced up in time for the summer.

 

It needs it. We were on the NA Jan 18-25th, carpets are disgusting, furniture worn and ready to be pushed to the curb. We had a/c issues and always with the plumbing issues. The retractable roof was under repair on the last day of our cruise. Oh and the blown engine....

[cruz chic]

I guess the ship went to heck since I got off the ship at the end of November. It looked pretty good to me at that point.

[take us away]

wonder if it is a charter ? .....

[Daisyloo]

It needs it. We were on the NA Jan 18-25th, carpets are disgusting, furniture worn and ready to be pushed to the curb. We had a/c issues and always with the plumbing issues. The retractable roof was under repair on the last day of our cruise. Oh and the blown engine....

 

I don't agree that she was disgusting, but I do agree she needs an overhaul. We found her carpets stained and worn and she needed some overall sprucing up.

[freestyling]

We were on here for 2 weeks in December and really didn't feel she was in that bad of condition.

[MissShelllly]

We were on the NA for a TA in November. During a tour of the Showroom at Sea, we were told the NA would undergo a dry dock in March. Extensive work will be done to the stage area, including replacing all the stage props and removing the orchestra pit from the stage itself.

 

I haven't seen any mention on these boards of this dry dock, so I don't know what other work is planned.

 

Michelle.

[c-legs]

Hi,

Based on historical habits, she would be just about due for a regular routine maintenance visit in a drydock session. I suggest this is the ''gap'' we all noticed and it may be just a case of an oversight on the part of the ''source'' which supplies our colleague - poster with all those useful data.

 

If someone has a drydock client schedule for those dates, GBSY in Freeport, we can always check if she is indeed booked for drydock space.

Cheers

Edited February 16, 2015 by c-legs

[POA1]

Hi,

Based on historical habits, she would be just about due for a regular routine maintenance visit in a drydock session. I suggest this is the ''gap'' we all noticed and it may be just a case of an oversight on the part of the ''source'' which supplies our colleague - poster with all those useful data.

 

If someone has a drydock client schedule for those dates, GBSY in Freeport, we can always check if she is indeed booked for drydock space.

Cheers

We spoke to an employee who said his contract was finished right before the dry dock. He's leaving in March,so that would line up.

[C2C2C]

Carpets carpets.

We were on the inaugural TA in 2010 and it seems that, since then, there has been more complaints on these boards about the condition of carpets than I can count. Hope they don't replace them with some unsightly heavy duty material.

 

Being creatures of habit and probably returning to the NA by 2016, we may get a chance to see whatever upgrades do ensue on this beautiful ship.

[luv2 cruise]

We just got off NA on Sunday and I heard that a lot of the crew had contracts coming up in March also heard rumor of dry dock. The carpets were being cleaned often but there was some stains in areas. Some toilets in public restrooms were consistently not working. One thing that we were wondering is why the ship vibrates so much and we spoke with many other people who thought the same thing. Some had been on this ship before said that they didn't experience that before so hopefully they look into fixing that. It is a young ship but didn't feel like it. At times in the lido restaurant the table vibrated so much as well as in our 6120 cabin as well as other areas. The ship is in pretty good shape they were always painting and cleaning.

[Boatdrill]

It needs it. We were on the NA Jan 18-25th, carpets are disgusting, furniture worn and ready to be pushed to the curb. We had a/c issues and always with the plumbing issues. The retractable roof was under repair on the last day of our cruise. Oh and the blown engine....

 

 

I sailed 2/1/2015 on the NA. It was immaculate and well maintained; we had none of problems you mentioned.

It was my 4th time on in as many years, so I would have noticed something.

 

BTW...Having to endure the crew fixing the retractable roof on the last day of your cruise is definitely a first world problem. :)

Edited February 20, 2015 by Boatdrill

[DeeniEncinitas]

Good morning all!

 

Love the Nieuw, did collectors cruise in 2013 Mediteranean 24 day and so loved it. We will be on her b2b Western/Eastern Carribean 3/15-29th. Will we still experience a wonderful cruise, or seeing changes like we did on the Oosterdam where during our cruise they started removing the cushions in the crows nest, and removing fixtures prior to docking 2 days before our cruise ended.

Hopefully our experience will be as memorable as our last on her.

 

Sailing Nieuw Amsterdam B2B Western/Eastern Carribean Cruise 3/15/2015

Becoming 4STAR MARINER on this cruise

[sun~]

We just got off NA on Sunday and I heard that a lot of the crew had contracts coming up in March also heard rumor of dry dock. The carpets were being cleaned often but there was some stains in areas. Some toilets in public restrooms were consistently not working. One thing that we were wondering is why the ship vibrates so much and we spoke with many other people who thought the same thing. Some had been on this ship before said that they didn't experience that before so hopefully they look into fixing that. It is a young ship but didn't feel like it. At times in the lido restaurant the table vibrated so much as well as in our 6120 cabin as well as other areas. The ship is in pretty good shape they were always painting and cleaning.

 

The carpets are stained and grubby looking in several areas of the ship. The worst was on deck 4 aft by the elevators. They were disgusting. Filthy. I have no idea why that area was so bad. We were on deck 8 aft, the carpets need to be replaced, but going down to deck 4, I didn't even want to walk on that carpet.

 

My past three cruises on the NA there has been serious issues with the public restrooms. The 2014 cruise was the worst. All of the public restrooms on the Lido deck either had only one toilet working or none. Most for the entire week. Similar issues were the restrooms by the Tamarind and by the Show lounge. This past January, there were many public toilets out of commission, but nothing like 2014. There were strong sewage smells in various parts of the ship. Sewage smells are pretty common on most ships in certain areas of a ship. I wonder if the ongoing toilet issues and the sewage smells are a much bigger issue on the NA.

 

Our friends who travelled with us on the 2014 and 2015 blues cruise really noticed the vibration of the ship. My one friend found it quite bothersome. They may have felt it more in their cabin, which was on deck 4 aft. We are always on deck 8, underneath a couple of 15' stack of Marshalls. So the vibration didn't bother me ;)

 

The retractable roof IS a major issue for many folks. We were lucky and had pretty great weather the whole week of the Blues cruise. The roof was open the whole week. But for folks who like to be able to use the pool deck area in all weather will be upset. Many folks choose a particular ship because of this feature.

 

This ship needs a good going over, not only to do cosmetic things like replacing carpet, but to fix the ongoing sewage system issues, the vibration problem, and hopefully prevent another blown engine while at sea.

[cruz chic]

I think I may have been on the same cruise as you in 2014. I didn't notice and toilets being out of order. I did eat in the tamarind and use the the bathroom too. You seem to be very disappointed in your cruises with hal every time you go. It's like the way I feel about celebrity so I don't book with them.