LAFFNVEGAS "LIVE" from the Nieuw Amsterdam/The Return.... Part Two

[dobiemom]

On 9/9/2021 at 3:09 PM, ger_77 said:

@dobiemomthe lunch sounds yummy, especially the sopapillas!  I don't want to hijack this thread, but can you please tell me where you got those amazing masks?  Want some!!!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

 

On 9/9/2021 at 3:24 PM, kazu said:

IIRC a post correctly either here or on FB, I believe Marcia had them specially made or made them. 😉 

Shutterfly dot com. I used my picture of the Oosterdam, cropped it, and added words. I think it turned out great! 😉😀

[ger_77]

1 minute ago, dobiemom said:

 

Shutterfly dot com. I used my picture of the Oosterdam, cropped it, and added words. I think it turned out great! 😉😀

Thank you - what a good idea and yes, they certainly did turn out great!!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[dobiemom]

15 minutes ago, Breezinontheocean said:

 Hello! I happen to work for Alaska Airlines as a Concierge in our Lounges at SeaTac 🙂 In our N Lounge where you were, at 11am we switch over to "lunch" - offering soups, salad bar, veggies and dip, cookies and other grab and go snacks, then later afternoon/evening we have lite bites like make your own sandwich on a pretzel bun with a variety of meats and cheeses etc. And of course our famous pancake machine operates all day! Hope you enjoyed your visit!

Yes, I did. 🙂

[kazu]

43 minutes ago, dobiemom said:

 

Shutterfly dot com. I used my picture of the Oosterdam, cropped it, and added words. I think it turned out great! 😉😀

 

they certainly did 🙂. Kudos to you 👍 

[SightCRR]

dobiemom Thanks for the dog sled report. It looks like a fun tour and you got to meet the most important part of the dog sled. 

sightcrr

[Loreto]

3 hours ago, dobiemom said:

Yes, I did. 🙂

We were unimpressed with the Alaska lounge after our July 31 cruise.  There were no comfortable places to sit..all chairs were taken and there were people lying on the floor.  We got the rock hard tables. At least the WiFi worked.  Nicest person was the cleaning lady.  

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good Afternoon from Las Vegas.....We are back and actually were back at home, and totally unpacked by 3:45 yesterday afternoon. Having a 11:56 am flight worked perfect.

Hmmm now where to do I start in writing a wrap up on the two cruises and comparisons. I truly do not want to sound negative and I am just stating my personal experiences. I have read Caviergal's review and do have to agree with some of what she had to say.

The number one thing with Holland America that I learned many years ago is " There is NO Consistancy" as well as Everyone's Experience will also be very different. Things I enjoy doing may not be the same as the people in the stateroom next to me. 

Overall Holland America is a good Mass Market Cruise Line for the money one spends. Staterooms are very nicely appointed, better than many others Mass Market Lines plus on average they are much larger in sq footage. Beds are comfortable along with the linens. Ships are nicely decorated with great public space but HAL has never had the WOW factor that other cruise lines/ships have in the atrium area.

Tom and I both felt this cruise the Lido was much improved over the first cruise July 24th. There was quite a bit more variety in all areas in the Lido. On the first cruise the first three or 4 days had the exact same items being offered it was not till Tuesday we start to see some change then by Wednesday and Thursday items offered got better. This cruise we were actually happy with items offered in the Lido such as having an excellent Prime Rib for lunch on embarkation day. Service was also excellent in the Lido. I like how no one except for crew are touch the food to dish it out for you. Crew were there getting you drinks quickly.With far less passengers it was always easy to get a table. 

I have to admit we did not do much this time, we basically stayed just with our group we were traveling with. We did not attend any show, nor saw any entertainment. I did have two sessions in the Spa which were good and with purchasing in advance on line the pricing was at a good price. Not so sure if subconsciously we just did not want to mingle in crowds due to covid. 

 

While HAL has always been known for smiling happy crew, they most definitely were that on the first cruise July 24th. I can say that I was not feeling it from all the crew this past week. Yes, some were extremely happy but it was not the feeling of the first week.Cabin stewards were definitely always greeting us but there seems to be fewer of them in the hallways compared to last time. We also had towel animals all 7 nights the first cruise but none this last cruise. Not a big deal just a difference. First time (july 24th) we had a regular balcony stateroom and this time a Neptune Suite.

July cruise we ate most of our breakfasts in the Main Dining Room, this cruise we ate 6 of the morning breakfasts in the Pinnacle. This was truly a dissappointment and got worse as the days went by. Our first morning they at least attempted good service, by Friday and Saturday morning it was not good. One example of something that should not be done is the begining of the week I had ordered V8 juice nice and thick as it should be. by yesterday morning it was more than 1/2 water, basically just red water with a hint of V8. Something like that should never ever be done. Just tell me you have run out of V8 juice and offer me something else. I also like the Passion Fruit Yogurt from the breakfast menu by the Culinary Council member Kristen Kish. I has this almost every day on both cruises but in the Pinnacle each day there would be less and less in the bowl. By the last two days there was probably only 2 tables spoons of yogurt, spread out so they could put the mangos, chia seeds and yogurt on top. It was also to have mint leaves on it which it did the first week in the MDR but never had in the Pinnacle not a big deal since I do not think it adds much to the dish.They were obviously trying to not serve as much to make it last longer by reducing the amount being served.

We have always felt the Pinnacle breakfast service was bad and this cruise did not change our minds. I was actually tempted to just go to the MDR. I have always felt like those working the morning shift hate being there. 

Continuing with my comments on Pinnacle. We dined there twice this past week once as a party for two and then the last night as a party of 6. Both times were not nearly as good as it was the first week. We were WOWed the first week, service was excellent, attentive, friendly and the food was all amazing, This time was just the opposite yet it was the same Manager and Assistant and servers.

Tuesday night Tom and I both added the Lobster tail, it tasted so salty all I could do was spit out the first bite. The filet was good but hardly seasoned and not the wow it was the first week in January. One of the dissappointing parts was the Cesar Salad that was so good in July was sadly lacking both times. Tuesday the poached egg the served in the salad was way over cooked and hard boiled wwith barely any Cesar dressing and one tiny slice of anchovy. The last night I asked for the egg to not be over cooked it was fine but there was no dressing at all on the salad and again just a very tiny piece of anchovy. My guess is they were running low on supplies and try to make it go further. The biggest dissappointment is the Key Lime Pie, it truly is not good. First the graham cracker crust is mush, the pie tastes as though it has sat for many days. The key lime portion almost has a gelatin texture which could be what is making the crust mushy. A friend also ordered again on Friday with the same results I had earlier. I really do not mean to be complaining but this is Holland America's Premier Dining. They have raised their charge considerably so you expect high end gourmet dining. Sadly Red Lobster has a far better Key Lime Pie than Pinnacle 

Our last night in Pinnacle the service was truly terrible we sat waiting to even order over 30 minutes. It was another 30 minutes before we saw food. We ordered coffee with desserts that everyone had finished their dessert before the coffee arrived, most of the table ordered shots of baileys to put in the coffee we actually had those before the desserts . Basically the service was a disaster. Tom and I ordered Boneless Ribeyes that were also not good at all and we both left half of it and if you know Tom and steak he never does that.  

While I am writing about Pinnacle I was going to start this next comment as a separate thread but will just add here. Something I discover several years ago that still continues is the various levels of coffee served in the different venues. The lowest end in my personal opinion is the Lido Coffee, for me it has always had a burnt afterbite tast and not the burnt tast of starbucks. Lido coffee has always had a lot of acid in it, Maining Dining Room coffee is actually fairly good and they service this same coffee for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I have always enjoyed the coffee. It's not fancy but it's tasty. Explorations is very good, but then it should be for the up charge but I have found it to be worth it. They just need to have second location they serve this on the ship older than Koningsdam. 

New to the coffee structure on HAL is the small coffee make in the Netune Suites, this is good but this past week they only offered two different pods and did not leave the card to even tell me what they were. The keurig style make had not water in it so we asked our cabin steward and he told us it was up to us to place water in it. We could use tap water or the bottled water that cost money that they provide in our stateroom. Well, that was new to me and not what they had done in the past. Then next coffee is what you can get in the Neptune Lounge which is very good. This coffee that has the foam on the top is the same coffee that is served in the evenings in the Pinnacle. But oddly the coffee served for breakfast in the Pinnacle is not and has never been the better coffee, instead it is Lido coffee. It is not even the better tasting MDR coffee. I ended up for 3 of the mornings going up to Explorations and bringing my coffee with me for breakfast in Pinnacle. We were not able to the very last morning and the coffee tasted so bad, then they gave me the watered down V8, and of course will not serve you the mimosas the last morning. Over all I think HAL needs to do a big overhaul of the Pinnacle products. Other cruise lines that are also mass market have a truly premium service with their suite perks. (I am comparing Princess and NCL which are in the same price range) 

 

We did dine in the MDR for both Gala nights, while we so no one really dressed up fancy, definitely no men in Tux I did feel more were dressed up than what we saw on the July 24th cruise. Out two times in the MDR was Gala nights and I had the same entrees I had in July. The presentations were actually nicer this past week. Food was good for both not amazing but good. Everyone in the Dining Room seemed to have their act together and things ran smoothly. While service was not speedy I also did not feel it dragged. I do miss having the Wine Stewards, I think this is a huge mistake on Holland America's part but I think they feel that most have the Siganture Beverage package so no need to order bottles of wine. You actually did not see anyone with any bottles either.

 

Talking about MDR the other thing that is dissappointing is the extremely limited and many items to be charged as an upcharge. I originally thought this was due to being post covid and that all cruise lines were doing this. Sadly that is not the case I follow all of the lines and people that are posting menus on recent cruises. A friend was on Oasis this past week and would post the daily menus, the offering each night were amazing with three times the number of entrees, yes they had a steak as an upcharged but shrimp cocktails were offered every night with no charge along with desserts like creme brulee' this is the same for other lines such as Princess, Carnival and Celebrity. Then several days during lunch in the Lido the Dining Room Stewards were going around trying to upsell these items for that evening. I really felt bad for them. It felt like an episode of The Office sending out the employees to try to make what is a huge mistake profitable or to make the boss look good. Sorry but this is not working.

 

One last complaint not that it has not been mentioned before but it is the Internet, Holland America needs to improve this and needed to improve this years ago. Yes I agree there may be a day or two in Alaska that reception is not goo but it most definitely is not the whole cruise. No other cruise lines are having internet problems like HAL is having.

 

OK I will stop now, the HAL cheerleaders may be upset with my writing today but I am just givng fact of what we experienced. We honestly did have a very good relaxing cruise, thankfully there were no mistakes this time on our onboard account or at least none that I know of right now. We are so darn close now to both our 300 day medallion and our 5 Star both will be reached before we complete 3 more 7 day cruises. May have to throw in a Panama Canal or Hawaii before our July 2022 Rotterdam cruise. Life is not perfect one must go with the flow. 

Thanks for following along....Next up is mid November on the NCL Bliss or at least it is to be the Bliss but would not be surprised if they change it to the Encore. We are in The Haven so will be good comparison to Neptune Suite.

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sorry for all the spelling errors and corrections of wordage I should have made. After spending two hours writing it I clicked submit and I lost it, I should have saved. Thanksfully I was able to retrieve it, it never posted but then when I did post it I tried to go in to correct proof reading and it was too late but I think you will understand what I was trying to say 😁  

[Traveling Dot]

You should copy it and put it on your survey.

[Florida_gal_50]

Thank you for the comparison between the two cruises.  I enjoy hearing good and bad.  You are right about the cheerleaders 🙄.  I don’t know why they get so offended.  It’s like a personal assault to them.  I make good use of the ignore function.  It’s a shame that hal has taken the opportunity to dumb down the product and put upsells on everything under the name of product shortages.  Like you have said no other line seems to be having that problem.  The pinnacle should be much better than they are showing here. Thank you for devoting so much time to both of your threads.  I appreciate it.

[julia]

Thanks Lisa... your thoughts and opinions are candid and well presented.  I'm wondering if many of the issues you have noted are perhaps due to HIA?  Was Pinnacle overly crowded, since a dinner is included with HAI??  Were there more suite guests at breakfast this time?  Also, while cruises may sometimes run low on items, they should never "stretch"...  that is not good.  

Was there any discussion about the covid testing requirements onboard?  

[oakridger]

Thank you. This review sounds bad.  It doesn't encourage me to book.  I really enjoyed HAL the last couple of times I've been onboard (other than a really awful Sel De Mer on Oosterdam in December 2019).  My feeling is, sadly, if they can't deliver an upscale "main stream" cruise, I'll go elsewhere.

 

I'll keep watching,

 

~Nancy

[kazu]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, Lisa 👍 I appreciate your candid review and thoughts.

 

Sorry to hear that the Pinnacle was so disappointing 😔 and the issues of food selection and quality in the MDR 😔 Now, I’m feeling a bit of trepidation about our cruise.  Other than one sailing, we’ve found that the PG had good service and food at breakfast as well as lunch and dinner.  If that is not the case,  If that is not the case, it will be a big disappointment.

 

Hopefully this improves dramatically and very quickly 🤞

 

Thanks again for all your reports 🙂  

[LAFFNVEGAS]

11 hours ago, julia said:

Thanks Lisa... your thoughts and opinions are candid and well presented.  I'm wondering if many of the issues you have noted are perhaps due to HIA?  Was Pinnacle overly crowded, since a dinner is included with HAI??  Were there more suite guests at breakfast this time?  Also, while cruises may sometimes run low on items, they should never "stretch"...  that is not good.  

Was there any discussion about the covid testing requirements onboard?  

To answer your question regarding covid testing there really was no discussion regarding it that I heard. Although on the last Sea Day Tom and I were invited to a VIP/Higher Mariner status reception that was actually very nice and I felt honored to have been invited. We sat next to and spoke to a nice couple from Victoria CA and they were conerned about being tested to fly home on Friday. They were originally told that Holland America would provide their covid test for them on the last Sea Day so that they could fly home. They were informed the evening we left Ketchikan that Holland America would not be providing that for them. All they were able to do was give them suggestions as to where they might get a test. Luckily their flight was not till later in the day and most likely would be able to get one at Sea Tac but it left them scrambling as well as a large chunk of money to be poured out. These were 5 star Mariners that had been on two World cruises and were booked to go again.

Answering about Pinnacle, was Pinnacle crowded for breakfast, that would be a no. As the week went on less and less Neptune Suite guests were in there for breakfast. At the most in the mornings there were never more than 10 table with people dining. For evenings yes possibly a bit more but there were always open tables. I honestly do not think the Have It All is the source of the problem with Pinnacle, the offering of Pinnacle has been included in every promotion HAL has offered for many years so the demand has always been there. Also remember this ship is functioning with only about 1400 passengers. It was 250 less than the July 24th cruise yet had more crew on board that were not in quarantine. The first sailing still had crew that had arrived but needed to stay in quarantine from just arriving. The first two sailings of Nieuw Amsterdam had the most passengers on board, since then the numbers have declined. Although our week was higher than the previous two weeks. I was told the number would decline again for the remaining Alaska sailings. Our week most likely was higher due to the fact there was a holiday in the week. 

[Florida_gal_50]

That really bothers me about the Canadians not being able to get a test on board.  That is a deal breaker for me.  I have a hal booked flight the same day my cruise ends around one so this is going to be a problem.  If I can’t get a test to get on my flight I wonder how that will be dealt with.  I’m still working so I don’t have the luxury of staying multiple days after my cruise.  I don’t plan on traveling if the travel advisory is still in place.  I’m wondering if not having many international passengers onboard is weighing into that.  Thank you for mentioning it.

 

This is what the hal website says before I get jumped on (not referring to you Lisa).   Nothing might or possibly or maybe about it.
 

Pre-Disembarkation Test
Antigen or PCR test on day 5 or 6 for guests that require it for return home (administered on board, no charge).

Edited September 13, 2021 by Florida_gal_50

[echoshipmate]

@LAFFNVEGAS, thank you for the review. Sorry to hear about the Pinnacle problems. Do you know how the Manager is and do you happen to know if she/he will be staying on the the Oct. 2 Panama repositioning? Thanks for taking your time onboard to take us along.

[echoshipmate]

*who the Manager is

[woodworker&knitter]

Lisa you stated that there were crew that did not quarantine. So are you saying they just boarded the ship and went right to work

[Loreto]

Thank you for all your information, Lisa!  Our last evening in the Pinnacle with family was not great.  We waited at least 45 minutes for our entrees with no explanation from stewards.  I agree the Key Lime dessert was terrible ( I have won many ribbons for my baking so I can speak from experience.)  They used to have a very good similar tart, but dropped it from the menu.

 

I think the Pinnacle has lost its luster.  The Tamarind is still superb.  My 12 year old grand daughter gave it 2 thumbs up!

Karen

[tompeter]

As always, thanks for the candid thoughts. Hoping Bruno will take a few minutes and share how He and his DD enjoyed their cruise as well.

[julia]

55 minutes ago, woodworker&knitter said:

Lisa you stated that there were crew that did not quarantine. So are you saying they just boarded the ship and went right to work

I believe what she meant was that there were more crew that "were NO LONGER" in quarantine from back in July.  There's no way crew would board and then immediately work.

[Thorswife59]

3 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

It was 250 less than the July 24th cruise yet had more crew on board that were not in quarantine. The first sailing still had crew that had arrived but needed to stay in quarantine from just arriving.

 

[julia]

@LAFFNVEGAS

Lisa: Thx for the long reply.

 

And wow...  the fact that HAL would not covid test for departure (when their website CLEARLY states it!) is seriously not good. I wonder if it was just this couple?  And what about testing B2Bs in the future?

You might want to do a PSA on a separate thread about this...  it is that important!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, woodworker&knitter said:

Lisa you stated that there were crew that did not quarantine. So are you saying they just boarded the ship and went right to work

No, I did not state that or if I did I meant that the crew on board were all out of quarantine. All Crew must quarantine for 14 days once they get to the ship, no matter the position.

[kazu]

4 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

We sat next to and spoke to a nice couple from Victoria CA and they were conerned about being tested to fly home on Friday. They were originally told that Holland America would provide their covid test for them on the last Sea Day so that they could fly home. They were informed the evening we left Ketchikan that Holland America would not be providing that for them. All they were able to do was give them suggestions as to where they might get a test.

 

Well, as a Canadian, I find that very concerning.  HAL states they will provide testing for those that need it.  Do Canadians not count?  (Rhetorical question - I know you can’t answer it, Lisa).

 

Now, I’m glad I couldn’t do my cruise at the end of October.  If I was going to have to struggle to get testing done in FLL, that would have been awful.  Our plan was to get out of Dodge asap.  

 

Hopefully thing are different on the Eurodam for those that are supposed to be crossing the pond 🤞 assuming it goes.