Where In the World Are Tom and Jet

[Love the beach]

Thank you for taking us along....enjoyed it very much!

[RuthC]

I haven't posted to your report in quite a while (nor to most of this site, so please don't take it personally), but did take the time to catch up, and then continue to read along.

 

Thank you for all of your reports; I enjoyed them. Happy that you had this opportunity, and that Jet had you to help get her around so she could enjoy, too. Glad to know her health is returning.

I hope you both have years to enjoy happy memories, and maybe even the opportunity to do another segment sometime!

[Lizzie68]

I tend not to post on the blogs very often until the end, so just wanted to say thank you so much for taking us along on your specific journey. Each of the WC blogs is different in their own way.

Have a safe flight home.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hope you are home safely.

[ellbelle]

Thank you for taking us along on your journey, hope you made it home safe and will come back to share your final thoughts.

 

 

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[bay guy]

Scrapnana, our schedule got thrown behind on Thursday by the inconsiderate people who didn't show up for their passports and customs check. We sat on our tour bus for almost 2 hours waiting for them to clear the ship. As a result, we didn't get back until almost 5 p.m. We ran to trivia, hoping you guys would be there so we could say goodbye but, obviously, you guys had your tours disrupted by the "inconsiderates" as well since there were about 5 people doing trivia when we arrived. We enjoyed being with all of you and hope you enjoy the rest of the cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Were there any snags getting off the ship and flying home?

[bay guy]

Crazy Kruisers, we had no probleem getting off the ship and our flights home were all on time.

[bay guy]

March 11, 2018

Home

We’ve been home for 2 days and between adapting to the time change and getting back into daily life, it’s been busy and tiring.

The refrigerator was empty and there was a stack of mail about 2 feet tall that my neighbor had collected while we were away. Plus, tax time is quickly coming and we have to get all that information ready for our accountant.

One of the hardest things so far has been missing all the people on the Amsterdam, both friends we made and especially the crew. There wasn’t a Marica or Charisse to welcome us with a smile to the Lido to fix our meal plates. There wasn’t a Julia, Danny or Gema to find us a table and get our drinks. We actually have to decide what we want to eat and then have to fix it ourselves!!! We miss Nas in the dining room and especially Dimas and his mile wide smile as he helped Nas. (Sweet (Dimas) and Low (Nas) make a great team.

Deden and Ipa didn’t greet us in the hall every day and magically clean our room and make the bed. I missed talking to Hamish, the cruise director, for a couple of minutes after the nightly shows or after trivia and I’ve wondered if our trivia team has come in first yet.

With the exception of Jet becoming ill and developing mobility problems, which was a huge issue and definitely made us regroup on what we did and when and how we did it, I have to say that, in general, this cruise was one of the best we’ve had in many years. We’ve been on over 50 cruises, the longest being 2 weeks long, and experienced many things as a result.

Some comparisons between this cruise and others we’ve been on:

1. Crew: The Amsterdam crew is by far the friendliest and most service oriented crew we’ve experienced in many years. Every single crew member, from deck hands to officers, always had a smile and greeting for us, usually before we even had a chance to greet them. They always went above and beyond and no request was too much. They all showed genuine concern for Jet’s health issues and, a couple of times, when I wasn’t around, provided Jet with quick help and assistance when she had a sudden problem, even to the point of taking her to the ship doctor in a couple of cases.
   
2. Captain Jonathan Mercer and officers: Always kept us safe and as comfortable as possible in some difficult and challenging weather conditions. They were always telling us what was going on if there was some problem with weather or, in a couple of instances, when some strange and scary things happened on the ship. We’ve been on several other cruise lines when things happened which frightened us a little and seldom had any explanation from the officers about what was happening. Keeping passengers informed is important and some cruise lines have forgotten that.
   
3. Cruise director and staff: There was a fairly small visible staff on board. The main people we saw were Hamish, the cruise director, and Amanda and Mario, his assistants. All of them were very friendly and willing to take the time to talk. On some other recent cruises, we seldom saw the cruise director except when they introduced the nightly shows. Of course, having 1300 passengers to deal with is much easier than 6000.
   
4. Entertainment: Overall, we had excellent entertainment. The singers and musicians they brought on board were phenomenal and most of the comedians were entertaining. The main orchestra on board had excellent musicians and you would think that they had played with all of the singers and musicians entertainers they brought on board for months versus only having an hour or so of rehearsal time before the shows at night. The ship singers and dancers were also excellent. All of the singers had excellent voices whereas many ship groups may only have one good singer with the rest being OK. If you want Broadway type shows and ice shows, this isn’t the ship for you. We enjoy the big scale shows like they have on the large Royal Caribbean ships now, but we enjoyed the shows on this cruise as much or more than the big shows.
   
5. Food: Overall, the food on this cruise was the best we’ve had in many many years. The quality of the ingredients used, especially the beef and other meats, was top notch. Royal Caribbean, and some other lines, have switched to much lower quality meats and other ingredients over the past few years and the difference between what they do and what HAL had were dramatic. What was most impressive was the food in the Lido for all meals. It was a good, and sometimes better, than the main dining room food. There were many made to order items that you can’t find in Royal Caribbean’s Windjammer. If you wanted a steak cooked more, no problem, the Lido staff put it on the grill to cook it to your specification. Pancakes, omelets, breakfast eggs and French toast were all cooked to order and not just stacked in a pan on a steam table, as Royal does now.
   
6. Itinerary: It’s hard to compare this itinerary to what’s offered by other cruise lines now and looking at itineraries on other HAL ships, it appears that HAL tries to offer a little something for everyone in addition to the standard Caribbean and Alaska routes. As ships get larger, it precludes them from going into many ports, thus limiting options and perhaps their passenger market, especially for experienced frequent cruisers who want something different.
   

Would we do this type of cruise again? With some changes, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m not sure if Jet would agree with me but her health issues on the trip dampened her experience so that jury is still out.

I’ve enjoyed writing this blog and appreciate all of the views and kind comments from everyone that read it.

 

Thanks for coming along with us on our journey.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you both got home safely. That is a long flight.

Thank you for taking the time to do your daily reports which were excellent. At first I had trouble getting into your blog -- but I quickly discovered how to do it so that I could also see your pictures.

Also thanks for summing everything up.

Hope Jet is still recovering and you both will soon be cruising again.

[Sue@thebeach]

I’ve followed your blog and have enjoyed it. We’ll be on the Amsterdam for this fall’s Asia-Pacific and it will be our longest cruise. Your positive review of the ship, crew, food and activities has us feeling pretty comfortable. I am extremely sorry Jet was ill biut glad you both still made the best of the situation. A big thank you!