Nieuw Amsterdam (Eastern Caribbean; Dec 4-11, 2016) - review, suite, cabana, ...

[Dogstar]

Hi All,

 

First off, thank you everyone for all of your input & Bon Voyage wishes. We had a great cruise ... beautiful ship, neat ports & fantastic weather. Very relaxing vacation, notwithstanding the bonus whirlwind Walt Disney World 1-day Magic Kingdom open-to-close theme park adventure afterwards.

 

Here's another related same-cruise review so I will attempt to not bore you with repetitive details, I hope:

 

* brief review of Dec 4-11 Nieuw Amsterdam Eastern Caribbean

 

 

BACKGROUND:

* Nieuw Amsterdam, Eastern Caribbean, 7-day itinerary.

* 3 adults, 1 stateroom - Signature Suite, deck 6 (SS 6055)

* Dogstar & Mrs. Dogstar - 11th cruise, 2nd with HAL.

* SIL - 1st cruise ever.

* Demographic - Active, not retired (but wish we were!)

* Celebrations - 50th birthday, 25-year anniversary.

* Cabana - Lido (Cannes)

 

Flew in to FLL the Sat evening before Sun cruise afternoon embarkation. Rental car (Alamo) to/from hotel (Ramada Oakland Park - satisfactory for price/value/convenience, plus free FLL/PE shuttle included) was cheaper than taxi/Uber, & more convenient than hotel shuttle for our needs. Purchased snacks & alcohol easily (Publix - across street from hotel). Visited Fort Lauderdale beach boardwalk in morning prior to returning rental car to FLL. Free shuttle (Alamo/Enterprise) to Port Everglades (Pier 26) took far too long to get to destination, stopping at every pier/ship before ours. Embarkation in terminal (@ 1230 hrs), with our cruise e-docs in-hand, was straightforward with minimal lineup. Boarding process was pleasant, but I'm so done with the usual cheesy photography setups on the gangway.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

The Nieuw Amsterdam is a beautiful mid-sized cruise ship - nicely appointed & well-maintained. Crew is polite, friendly & attentive - very professional. Ambiance is elegant yet relaxed. Dining options sufficiently varied to venues, tastes & budgets. Entertainment options plentiful & enjoyable, with one notable exception - production stage shows quality was sub-par, in our opinion.

 

FOOD:

Such an objective part of cruising we can say, without a doubt, that we enjoyed the food selection, quality, portions & presentations. Ordered room service almost daily (pre-breakfast for sunrise viewing from balcony) from the "new" menu - delivered on time, as-ordered with modifications (self-added/crossed-out items), each time, without fuss. Ate breakfast daily from the Lido Restaurant, either there or in our poolside cabana - again, good selection with attentive service. Same locales for eating lunch, but expanded our meal selections to include the Dive-In at the Terrace Grill & New York Pizza options. Content with traditional dining (ie. not paying extra for specialty restaurants) we had dinner nightly in the Manhattan Dining Room (early seating; 4-person table on upper floor at window). We didn't snack toooo much, if you don't count the daily ice cream cone (afternoon) or cookie (evening) from the Lido Restaurant.

 

SUITE:

Signature Suite was upsell (($324 CDN pp) from Verandah VD (Deck 7). Loved it. Super size, especially the extra space in living room, plus larger bathroom with whirlpool tub & separate shower. Accommodated us 3 adults perfectly. Hard to consider not purchasing this stateroom category next cruise, or every cruise for that matter.

 

CABANA:

First time having one on-ship & will likely get one again, itinerary & price dependant. Inquired very late (with HAL Ship Services; approx 2 weeks before sailing) about Cabana Club availability (1 left), however, when I phoned back next day it was gone ... reserved an available Lido cabana instead. For the price ($199 USD) we really enjoyed the convenience, accessibility, amenities & service received. The privacy was limited, but having an assigned semi-private space on the ship, adjacent to the pool, out of thee direct sun, to congregate, relax, leave belongings, eat, drink, read, sleep & be attended to, was definitely worth it.

 

PORTS:

Grand Turk - first time here for us. None of the island sights or tours intrigued us so we planned to stay on the cruise port beach all day, using the provided cruise line loungers & umbrellas (green) in front of Margaritaville. Very relaxing day snoozing, swimming & snorkelliing. We each meandered off on our own to leisurely explore the port, pool & shopping plaza as the mood struck, or Mother Nature called. As an aside, I did not appreciate beach vendors hustling chairs/umbrella rentals in the cruise port area - very noticeably placing their wares in front of the cruise ones, or blatantly relocating the "free" cruise chairs/umbrellas to be rented out on unsuspecting cruisers/tourists for profit. (As a secure facility purpose-built by Carnival Cruise Corp this activity/behaviour should be stopped immediately, if possible, enforced with the port agency by the on-duty officials, security & police in attendance on the beach.)

 

San Juan - self-designated as our no-beach tourist day. Visited Casa Bacardi across the harbour (via public ferry across water, with Uber connection to Bacardi HQ), took short on-site factory Historical Tour & bottled my own personalized Bacardi Special Reserve Rum - happy birthday" present to myself. Returned same-way to Old San Juan, went up to the Fort (via free open-air trolley) & leisurely explored streets on foot back to the cruise ship pier.

 

Philipsburg (Sint Maarten) - took shared taxi from cruise port to other side of island (Orient Beach), strolled to far end away from activity central area, & firmly planted butts in loungers under umbrellas, for the expected modest rental fee. Snooze, swim, repeat - perfect! Returned same-way, with drop-off in town for a brief tourist street-wandering before catching ferry shuttle back to cruise port.

 

Half Moon Cay - still our favourite private cruise island, hands down! We had a beach cabana last visit (2012) but opted for the on-ship cabana this time around. Only ship here today so not overly crowded, especially once you stroll down the beach away from activity central. Claimed a hammock in the tree'd shade for me, moved some loungers in to the beach sun for the ladies & we were set. Easy, peasy. The BBQ food was okay, plentiful & tasty but nothing special to write home about. I was so relaxed in "paradise" I completely forgot to check out the Lobster Shack until I spotted it when walking back for the tender - closed. Doh!

 

DISEMBARKATION:

No real rush to get off the ship since we were heading up to Walt Disney World for a couple of days before flying home. (Another story for another day.) 0800 hrs 'Pink' disembarkation selected, announced & we joined the throng of people in the terminal (Pier 26). Only 2 CBP agents working so Mobile Passport option not being accepted due to insufficient agents on-duty - bummer. Took far too long for my liking snake through to Customs for the brief 30 second pleasantries which was supposed to be avoidable. Oh well, summoned an Uber out front & within 5 min was enroute to FLL to retrieve car rental (Alamo) for one-way drive to Orlando - fast, cheap & easy compared to taxi/shuttle experiences.

 

UBER:

Worth noting since this was our first time using it as we don't have Uber back home, yet. Definitely liked this travel option in lieu of taxi/shuttle services. Efficient, timely, cost-effective & personable. Super value for the convenience. Worth considering if you've never tried Uber.

 

OVERALL:

HAL is doing a good job maintaining a solid product with excellent service e at a reasonable price point for vacation value. We don't want mega-ships with their climbing walls, bowling alleys, water slides, party-until-you-drop loud crowds, etc. - been there, done that. It's not for us, at least without a young Dogstar Jr. in tow any longer. We really like the refined HAL atmosphere.

 

Booked a Future Cruise Deposit onboard. Applied it yesterday (along which the Welcome Back email promo) to our next HAL cruise adventure, this time aboard the Koningsdam (Southern Caribbean Wayfarer; Nov 2017) - worth a shot to try the newest 'Dam, plus we've exhausted the usual Eastern & Western port itineraries.

 

Safe travels & Bon Voyage all.

 

Cheers. Dogstar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2016 by Dogstar

[aliaschief]

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise experience. Nice review.

 

We board her in 10 days. Who was the Piano Bar entertainer?

[Beyondthe7Seas]

Thank you for your review! We will be boarding on January 18th - did you spend any time in the BB King's lounge?

 

 

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[tbogie]

Wow.....solid review. Appreciate you taking time to post. On April 2nd sailing out of FLL.....this will be our 1st time on HAL-- My question for you is if the $199 USD cabana benefit was for 1 day....OR ...the week?

 

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[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Thank you for a wonderful report!!

She is our favorite!!!

4 Med cruises and 1 Carribean cruise!

Denise:)

[kftw]

Great review. Thank you.

[Dogstar]

We board her in 10 days. Who was the Piano Bar entertainer?

 

 

aliaschief, I do not recall who the Piano Bar entertainer was nor is it shown on the daily Explorer, sorry. Have a great cruise!

 

 

We will be boarding on January 18th - did you spend any time in the BB King's lounge?

 

 

Beyondthe7Seas, we attended BB King's lounge a few times. Really enjoyed this venue & entertainment. Definitely upbeat, captivating performers. Bon voyage!

 

 

On April 2nd sailing out of FLL.....this will be our 1st time on HAL-- My question for you is if the $199 USD cabana benefit was for 1 day....OR ...the week?

 

 

tbogie, the Lido cabana was $199 USD for the week. Well worth it, in our opinion. We used it every day, at sea & in ports - the attendants couldn't have been nicer. Enjoy your cruise!

 

FYI, here's a recent HAL cabana brochure with prices (June 2016) ...