first night on Nieuw Amsterdam

[may1021]

Going on 1/31/16 cruise with friends who have never been on HAL before. On the first night, do they have 1 or 2 shows ? Recollection is one show but haven't gone to this in years so maybe things are different? Is it still sort of an introduction of who the entertainment is?

 

Thanks.:)

[RMLincoln]

Usually the first night there is one show at 9:30. Cruise Director will introduce the entertainment on board. At least that was what we had on NA in September. Enjoy, m--

[RuthC]

On my last cruise (October) the first night was more of a HAL 101 lecture orienting people to what was available. It was definitely a first-timers type of lecture. The CD talked about the various dining venues, shops, activity sheets---things like that.

Boring for anyone who had ever spent one night on a HAL ship.

[cbr663]

We were on the NA in early December and the first night's entertainment was a show by the BB King Blues Band. Mario, the Cruise Director, said a few words about what was coming up on the cruise entertainment wise, and then the BB King Blues Band took the stage. It was a wonderful venue in which to hear them perform.

[beshears]

I'm glad this question came up, as we might be doing the New Amsterdam too.

 

For those of you who have been on the New Amsterdam within thisyear, would you give me (yes this is your opinion) your pros/cons of this ship?

[dakrewser]

On our recent 7-night NA first night featured the BB King Flues band in the Showroom at Sea at, I believe, 10 PM.

[GRACECRUISE]

We did 14 days in Dec. Week of 12/6 it was BB King the 1st night and the week of 12/13 it was a comedian with a terrible cold. Felt sorry for him.

 

I did a review on the trip. Probably of page 2 or 3 by now. The ship, crew, food, etc were all great on the NA. Looking forward for sailing on her again.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you get a chance -- try the Tamarind Restaurant. We love the food there.

[may1021]

Thanks all and hope it is BB King group.

 

Have been on NA before and love Tamarind. Think we will do lunch there one day and will take our friends to Pinnacle the first night. This is their 2nd cruise and first was on NCL Getaway and we all loved it. However, told them I wanted them to go on HAL which is a more traditional cruise.

We have done 109 days on HAL so we know the drill there.

Thanks again.

[cbr663]

I'm glad this question came up, as we might be doing the New Amsterdam too.

 

For those of you who have been on the New Amsterdam within thisyear, would you give me (yes this is your opinion) your pros/cons of this ship?

 

Here's the link to our cruise on Dec 6th. We love the NA and she still retains her title as our favourite ship. Service is excellent and the ship is in tip top shape. The cons - as usual, entertainment could have been better and there were a few food mishaps. Nothing too disastrous, but I did note it in the review.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=520563

Edited December 30, 2015 by cbr663
forgot the link

[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

I believe it's more an orientation type thing. Welcome to the ship, here's a sample of what you'll see here in the theater this cruise.

[RuthC]

I'm glad this question came up, as we might be doing the New Amsterdam too.

 

For those of you who have been on the New Amsterdam within thisyear, would you give me (yes this is your opinion) your pros/cons of this ship?

I did four consecutive cruises, totaling 39 days, on this ship in October and November. I found the service excellent. My cabin steward and dining stewards were superlative. The service in the Lido was very, very good most of the time. Service in the lounge was decent. Bar service around the Lido pool was excellent, as was food service at the Dive-in.

 

Food at dinner in the dining room was so-so. I resorted to the always available more times than I should have needed to. The food served was edible, but never made my eyes light up with joy. I don't know if there has been an improvement now that the ship has returned to the USA.

The Pinnacle dinners were very good; service varied depending on who waited your table.

 

Entertainment was not good at all. The production shows were too loud, and not very well written. I left more than one, and never went to see if the new company did any better with the same shows. Some of the guest entertainers were fun, though, and there were a couple who were fabulous.

The Ocean Bar was an entertainment-free zone too many nights. I remember the days when there was a good band playing dance music in there late into the night, and there were crowds enjoying themselves. Not this time.

The BB King band was far too loud, even from the area of the mid-ship elevators. I never went to hear the strings duo as they ended just about the time dinner was over. (I've never figured out why the entertainment venues are closing earlier and earlier as years go on. There's nothing to do at night anymore!).

The lecture series were excellent.

 

The librarian was surly on her good days.

[tommui987]

We were on the same cruise as RuthC - alas, we missed the M&Gs and didn't have a chance to meet her.

 

Her comment about the Librarian being surly on her good days - totally agree!

[crystalspin]

For those of you who have been on the New Amsterdam within thisyear, would you give me (yes this is your opinion) your pros/cons of this ship?

 

We did the transatlantic + western Mediterranean (26 days!) in April'15. Loved the servers and stewards! Enjoyed serial happy hours in Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest. We spent most evenings listening to Adagio classical duet; went to very few shows (none that I remember...). On the sea days, I would meet with a knitting/crochet group usually in the Crows Nest, and my husband would read on his Kindle in some deserted venue (commonly the Explorers' Bar or in one of the tete-a-tete alcoves along that corridor).

 

Agree with Ruth on the food -- I was happier in the Lido, but my DH likes to be served. The MDR's menu would alternate between having multiple things I couldn't decide between... or nothing that appealed and "having" to have the onion soup and sirloin. Lunch in Tamarind was nice.

[Mary Ellen]

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam this past Oct/Nov for over a month. On this ship, lunch in the Tamarind is a thing of the past, as are made to order sandwiches in the Lido. Lunch in the Pinnacle Grill was very nice. Our dining steward, Yan, was outstanding. We have a future cruise on HAL and he is currently scheduled to be on the same ship then. He was so good that we will be requesting him then as our steward. The dinner menus weren't to my tastes. I'm not a fan of Chef Rudy. While I'm familiar with most of the Culinary Counsel, I've not been impressed by any of their offerings either. I even made a comment to DH that it's a good thing we don't cruise for the food. A few nights an entree salad was a option. I usually went for that or an 'always available' item. When the nicest thing I can say about the menus is that I didn't starve, that isn't a ringing endorsement. :rolleyes:

 

Service in the Lido was hit or miss. We found the female stewards there (servers from Tamarind) were excellent. We tried to sit in their areas whenever possible.

 

I agree with other comments about the BB King show being way, WAY too loud. It was even too loud while we were trying to have a quiet dinner in the Pinnacle.

 

Bar service was very good. We did enjoy the band in the Ocean Bar the few nights they played there.

 

The new, large TVs are quite nice. The placement is a bit odd, but I imagine they had to work around what space was available - as the cabins weren't originally designed to have them. Since the TVs are now on the wall (above the sofa in our cabin), that did free up the outlet (North American style) that they, and the now former DVD player, used to use. Being able to plug in two more things was a bonus. We did enjoy being able to see movies on our schedule.

[MusicalBear]

Going on 1/31/16 cruise with friends who have never been on HAL before. On the first night, do they have 1 or 2 shows ? Recollection is one show but haven't gone to this in years so maybe things are different? Is it still sort of an introduction of who the entertainment is?

 

Thanks.:)

 

May1021, Please come join the roll call for this sailing. We have a nice group and an excursion planned for Amber Cove with a special rate for CC members.

[syesmar]

On my last cruise (October) the first night was more of a HAL 101 lecture orienting people to what was available. It was definitely a first-timers type of lecture. The CD talked about the various dining venues, shops, activity sheets---things like that. . . .

 

While not the same ship, on our first night aboard the Rotterdam December 3, there was only a "Big Screen Movie" at 8pm & 10pm in the Showroom at Sea. Some guests had boarded the day before, so perhaps they had something different the night before. With so many talented musicians on board, I wish we had been given an introduction to them like on previous sailings.

 

In lieu of entertainers, there were 3 nights on our 17 night sailing where a Big Screen Movie was shown. Yet, on the night before disembarkation there was a guest entertainer, but only 1 show at 9:30pm.

 

Just wanted to pass that along. {We had a fantastic time, by the way!}

[wldflr]

Just a little FYI for those sailing on the N.Amsterdam sailing Jan. 24 and Jan. 31...there will be a small group on-board. The Phil Coulter Tranquility Cruise (Irish music group)....and just about every day they will have a show in the main theater in the afternoon and usually another one around the pool area at 10:30pm. All shows are private - don't even think of going near them. The group leader(s) guard their shows like its a nuclear missile silo. A few years ago I heard singing from the theater; I quietly entered at the back of the balcony, sat in very last row with a few minutes left in the show. The group was sitting on the main floor in the first dozen rows or so. Meanwhile, I was so far back (and upstairs), I couldn't see who was on stage, but within a minute, a mature woman was waving a name placard in my face saying it was a private show and to leave immediately.

Oh, and they will have several private parties in the Crow's Nest too...also monitored for trespassers. But for the most part, you won't notice them since their group # is small this year.

Sorry for venting...but the travel agency that handles this needs to learn something about marketing...I could have been a potential future cruiser. They should have taken advantage of my interest in their group. Nope, I've picked another week to sail on the N. Amsterdam!

[sail7seas]

How large is that group? Do you know how many people/cabins they have booked?

[Boytjie]

Sorry for venting...but the travel agency that handles this needs to learn something about marketing...I could have been a potential future cruiser. They should have taken advantage of my interest in their group. Nope, I've picked another week to sail on the N. Amsterdam!

 

It is a cruise line rule that a group's events are only open to those in the group.

[djhsolara]

Is that group on both of those sailings?

[wldflr]

Yes, the Irish music group is on board for 2 weeks. Not sure how large the group is this year - and the fact that they gave people the option of booking 1 week or both so the number will vary. In the past it's been under 200 people when they did 10/11 night cruises so don't worry that they will be taking over the ship...this is the first time they've sailed on one of HAL's bigger ships. Over the past 19 years, they've been on their smaller ships and they obviously had a bigger presence there.

 

You will recognize them by their name tags hanging around their necks during the week. Mostly single women, 70-somethings and 30-somethings.

 

In case you're wondering, the entertainers will vary from piano/easy listening & folk to a few guys from Celtic Thunder performing.