Review of Nieuw Amsterdam October 23 Cruise by Celebrity Cruisers

[cruisemom42]

15 hours ago, opa&oma said:

We were just on a 12 day Celebrity cruise and as we are Elite Plus, have been on many.  The food in both the MDR and buffet was extremely disappointing, some downright bad.  We also are HAL 3 star Mariners and have always thought their food was just as good as Celebrity's.  So, if both lines are now so disappointing, I guess we all had better adjust our expectations. 

 

We had such an opposite experience on Millennium in Alaska in August. We were extremely happy with the food in the MDR, always something delicious and often 2-3 appetizer selections that were difficult to choose between. (My 20-something DS frequently ordered seconds of something particularly good!)  As well, Celebrity still maintains their "always available" menu which has basic grilled chicken, salmon, and steak choices. As well as their caesar salad, onion soup and their popular escargots. Oh, and a traditional cheesecake that was a favorite with DS.

 

In my experience Celebrity has always done well with soups, with appetizers and with meat (especially lamb).  I also appreciate that Celebrity still tries to create a decent plating. So many of the food photos from recent HAL cruises look like just a hunk of meat and a spoonful of vegetables on a plate with no real attempt to make it look less like it was plonked on your plate by someone in a cafeteria line.

 

We also appreciated promptly being presented with a bread basket (with three different types of butter/spread -- different choices each night) and promptly having our drinks order taken. Our waiter was never hesitant to make recommendations and we generally let him guide our choices, though not always. And the nicer 'gala' night still includes lobster (with willing offer to make it a 'surf n turf' entree). Say what you will, but to me cruise ship lobster is better than no lobster, especially when presented well and served with drawn butter....  (Certainly better than tacos as a dinner entree!)

 

We ate in the MDR every night. Speaking of which, that was another thing that worked extremely well on Celebrity. Early fixed dining was too early for us, but late was....er, too late. Before even getting onboard ship I used their app to reserve the same time for dining every night (7pm) and once onboard was able to request the same wait team every night as well. It worked perfectly. I have had trouble doing this successfully on HAL and particularly on Princess, so to me a big plus for Celebrity.

 

Dining in the Lido (our breakfast and lunch choice) was easy and convenient -- and overall it was good, with occasional surprisingly good to delicious choices. That's about all I expect from a buffet and the big plus was that the ship was only half full so there was never a line or a wait. Had there  been, we may not have eaten there as often.

 

 

 

 

 

[KirkNC]

Has HAL really done away with the everyday items.  Can you order them even if they are not on the menu?  It really makes no sense as the were simple inexpensive items to prepare.  We would select them probably once per week.

[aliaschief]

Our visit to Catalina Island was an uncomfortable tender ride. It was the first time the crew had tendered guest since the shutdown. With the waves it was difficult boarding the tossing tenders. So they stopped and readjusted the ramp which made it easier for guest to board. It was hot but the vast majority of us remained masked. Those that didn’t probably wouldn’t have done so in ideal conditions. Yes, there was a delay but it was done for the safety of the boarding guest.

 

When it comes to wearing mask the ships crew does not go around enforcing mask violations. They educate the proper safe protocols and expect the passengers to be responsible enough toward others and comply. 
 

We all know there are folks who only think of themselves!

[Vict0riann]

We were not thrilled with the MDR on Eurodam in October.  We only ate there three times in 24 days, but checked the menu occasionally.  I think the "everyday" items usually showed up (except on the gala nights), they just were not listed as such.  Then there were probably only three or four other choices.  We thought it was probably because of the lower number of people on board, and just made our choice to eat in the specialty restaurants or the Lido.  

 

I appreciate the critique of NA, as we are looking at a Panama Canal cruise on her next year.  Does Celebrity do Panama Canal cruises?  Wee have done Atlantic to Pacific a couple of times, and would like to to Pacific to Atlantic now.

[Sushicat]

1 hour ago, KirkNC said:

Has HAL really done away with the everyday items.  Can you order them even if they are not on the menu? 

On the NA in October, the menu no longer had a section listed as "everyday." But generally the everyday stuff like salmon was still on the menu. And yes, if you want French onion soup or a cheese plate but it's not on the menu, the waiter can get it for you. I do think the MDR menu was pared down for the reduced capacity. If I couldn't find an entree I was interested in, I'd order several appetizers. And several desserts.

[AncientWanderer]

Thank you for the thoughtful review.

Reading the various feedback from recent cruises has made me a lot more self-aware about our own priorities.  That's super helpful in choosing a cruise.  I've come to realize that although we can distinguish good food from bad, the overall onboard experience and ship life is more important to us than the food.  Or at least we can do dinner work-arounds more easily than we can change other aspects of the onboard experience.

I'm also doing some soul-searching about pre-pandemic survey feedback we gave HAL -- and wonder if others did same as we did.  Our oft-repeated feedback was that we wanted to see more focus on quality -- offer fewer items, but make those offered of excellent quality.  In other words, a couple types of excellent cheeses, instead of five mediocre ones.  From what we've experienced post-pandemic, that has been the case.  There aren't junky foods onboard.  Might be more limited, but all good.  We're not tasting fake cream onboard anymore and that makes us happy.

 

Anyhow, as OP said, no perfect cruise line and we all are looking for just the right porridge.  Mostly no terrible cruises, though.

 

[Caribbean Chris]

So sorry your cruise didn’t meet your expectations. I’m just glad to be able to cruise at all this year, and I suspect (hope, trust?) that the post-Covid & supply-chain glitches will gradually work out for all the lines. Next year’s cruises on all the mainstream lines may be much more consistent.

 

We’ve sailed X & HAL each at least once a year about equally for years and are also at Elite level with X as you are. We had some negative and inconsistent experiences in early years on Celebrity until we switched to Sky Suites on the Solstice class ships which were better. The Edge class ships, however, are not for me, and that’s the direction X is headed.
 

Meanwhile we have always loved the HAL crew and enjoyed their newest Pinnacle class ships in the fleet very much. I think in the end, many people feel more “at home” on one line than another, and I feel at home on HAL. It’s great that there are different options to try.

[kapitch]

I can confirm the crowded tender issue as we were on the same cruise and when tendering back from Cabo, the staff continued boarding passengers even though there was another tender waiting.  If there was one seat open, another passenger was asked to board until the entire boat was jam-packed.  With a lack of air, masks, and high temps, it was very uncomfortable and we could not wait to disembark.  As the OP mentioned, HAL defeated the purpose of Covid protocols onboard by crowding strangers together in a closed vessel.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

44 minutes ago, kapitch said:

I can confirm the crowded tender issue as we were on the same cruise and when tendering back from Cabo, the staff continued boarding passengers even though there was another tender waiting.  If there was one seat open, another passenger was asked to board until the entire boat was jam-packed.  With a lack of air, masks, and high temps, it was very uncomfortable and we could not wait to disembark.  As the OP mentioned, HAL defeated the purpose of Covid protocols onboard by crowding strangers together in a closed vessel.

Kapitch, I had no idea there was another tender waiting!  That makes HAL’s conduct even more egregious.  🙄😡
 

Joanie

[john2003]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:02 PM, john2003 said:

Your experience is disappointing. Hopefully not fully representative of the post-Covid HAL. We will be able to firm our opinion in June in Alaska. I shall remain optimistic.

Our own Celebrity experiences have been a little less than stellar. I would certainly try them again for the right itinerary and price.

Interesting how quickly the world turns sometimes. We are trying to recover an Australia/NZ trip that has been cancelled three times. The last one was for February and HAL booked us in 2023. This conflicts with our attempt to return to Antarctica. We booked a Oct 2022 8 day Grand Princess cruise from NZ and also the Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Perth. Now I see the Celebrity Eclipse has a 12 day roundtrip Sydney, so we are thinking of switching. I will ask my Celebrity questions on their board!

[jabcruiser]

On 11/1/2021 at 5:56 PM, opa&oma said:

We were just on a 12 day Celebrity cruise and as we are Elite Plus, have been on many.  The food in both the MDR and buffet was extremely disappointing, some downright bad.  We also are HAL 3 star Mariners and have always thought their food was just as good as Celebrity's.  So, if both lines are now so disappointing, I guess we all had better adjust our expectations. 

We did not have great experience on our only Celebrity cruise fall 2019. MDR food was ok, but buffet was awful and Very Unsanitary. Hopefully our HAL cruise in March will be better food wise.  We have always liked HAL food choices and always thought food at Lido was very good.  Service was very basic on Celebrity also. Certainly not what we are used to on HAL. Celebrity sweets looked fancy and pretty, but no taste at all except pure sugar.  Yuck.  Taco bar a joke- no salsa, no jalapenos, no taste.

Unfortunately, I assume the HAL taco bar didn't make it thru the pandemic.  Will be missed.

Jane

[Vict0riann]

44 minutes ago, jabcruiser said:

 

Unfortunately, I assume the HAL taco bar didn't make it thru the pandemic.  Will be missed.

Jane

 

You are right there, but all the fixings were behind glass in the Lido restaurant, so I think you could get what you wanted.

[terrydtx]

@GeorgiaPeach51

I  have to agree with you 100%, our last HAL cruise, will be next year which we booked to use some FCC and the itinerary for 14 days was not available with Celebrity. We have in the past booked Signature Suites with HAL which only is just a larger cabin with no suites amenities. Even HAL Neptune Suites are a joke and do come close to the Retreat on Celebrity. HAL suites do not have a private restaurant or lounge that serves alcohol. The new Pinnacle Class ships they do have a restaurant for suites called Club Orange which serves the MDR menu plus 1 or 2 extra entrees not available in the MDR. However, the CO lets non suites passengers dine for an extra cost, so it is not suites exclusive.  They still do not have anything like the Retreat Lounge and deck. The Celebrity Luminae has a completely separate cooked to order menu with service that rivals the finest fine dinning land restaurant. On a cost per day, a Celebrity Sky Suite costs about the same as a HAL Signature Suite and is considerably less than a Neptune Suite.

 

We have found that the Celebrity Retreat is a product that no mainstream cruise line  comes close to in amenities and service. Our cruise lines of choice going forward will  be Oceania and Celebrity in the Retreat. We have the Apex booked in 2023 and Edge in 2024 for a B2B cruise all in Sky Suites. 

[AlaskaNewbie68]

Thank you. We need to decide if we are going on our March Calif Coastal and your tender experience definitely gives me pause. 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, AlaskaNewbie68 said:

Thank you. We need to decide if we are going on our March Calif Coastal and your tender experience definitely gives me pause. 

I agree.  I don't think I'll be riding in any tenders on my upcoming cruise.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

4 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

 

You are right there, but all the fixings were behind glass in the Lido restaurant, so I think you could get what you wanted.

You are correct.  A sweet young server was happy to oblige.  They had chips to make nachos and they had tacos.  Ground beef in a taco sauce.  Lettuce.  Onion.  Sliced chilies.  Cheese.  Sour cream.  Guacamole.  It was certainly all I needed!  I had that for lunch two or three times.

[Alabaster Cruiser]

On 11/1/2021 at 2:44 PM, NCTribeFan said:

I'll be on my first X sailing in April.  Just 5 nights, but I'm looking forward to trying a new line.  I'm hoping I won't fall in love, though, since their new all-inclusive pricing puts them out of my typical cruise budget.  If I want to continue to cruise multiple times a year, I have to keep my costs down.  I'm not going to cut back to once yearly just to have slightly better food choices in the MDR.

 

 

NCTribeFan....I think I have seen your posts on Carnival casino topics.  We have been cruising with Celebrity recently and the casino club (BlueChip) has been very nice to us.  I hope you will enjoy your April cruise as much as we have.  

[GeorgiaPeach51]

5 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I agree.  I don't think I'll be riding in any tenders on my upcoming cruise.

Just to be clear, The tenders I had issue with were the ship tenders.  I had no issue at all with the open tenders at Half Moon Cay.  You could go up to the top, and there was a great breeze and plenty of space.  
 

Since the cruise I have wondered what might have happened if I had protested at the pier.  My guess is nothing, since I doubt the pier staff have the ability to change the loads for each tender.  I wouldn’t have enjoyed trying to swim to the ship!  🤨😉

[Florida_gal_50]

19 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Just to be clear, The tenders I had issue with were the ship tenders.  I had no issue at all with the open tenders at Half Moon Cay.  You could go up to the top, and there was a great breeze and plenty of space.  
 

Since the cruise I have wondered what might have happened if I had protested at the pier.  My guess is nothing, since I doubt the pier staff have the ability to change the loads for each tender.  I wouldn’t have enjoyed trying to swim to the ship!  🤨😉

No, I wouldn’t worry about the half moon tenders.  They are pretty airy .  Thank you for the clarification.

[kokoko]

On 11/1/2021 at 9:20 PM, KAKcruiser said:

I thought the October 23 cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam was a round trip Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean.  

It was I was on it also.   Love all my cruises sometimes I gain alot of weight sometimes not so much all is good.

[colonialinnkeeper]

On 11/2/2021 at 10:00 AM, KirkNC said:

Has HAL really done away with the everyday items.  Can you order them even if they are not on the menu?  It really makes no sense as the were simple inexpensive items to prepare.  We would select them probably once per week.

Just got home from cruise on Rotterdam.  "Always available" didn't show up on the menu every night but those items are still "always available".  Had excellent salmon several nights as well as onion soup, Caesar salad and chicken dish.  Servers were very accommodating to bring something off the menu such as a mixed fruit for appetizer.  Lamb dishes were excellent if you like it.

[KirkNC]

4 hours ago, colonialinnkeeper said:

Just got home from cruise on Rotterdam.  "Always available" didn't show up on the menu every night but those items are still "always available".  Had excellent salmon several nights as well as onion soup, Caesar salad and chicken dish.  Servers were very accommodating to bring something off the menu such as a mixed fruit for appetizer.  Lamb dishes were excellent if you like it.

Thanks for the update!  I guess they are double secret everyday items 😜😳.

[esimon]

I find cruising completely subjective - never had a bad cruise on HAL.  Started on celebrity but that was many years ago -

Georgia Peach Im sure Celebrity will be glad to have you back.  sorry Hal didn't meet your standards.

That's why having so many cruise lines is great - something for everyone

[caviargal]

Thanks much for your detailed review.  We were aboard in September and the highlight of the cruise for us was the entertainment.

I concur completely with your assessment of the food and ambiance in the MDR. Both left much to be desired.  We tried all of the specialties and only enjoyed Tamarind.  I was appalled at the upcharges at every meal, in every venue.  It felt more like what I would expect of a budget experience.



 

[Heartgrove]

I read with interest the OP review. Primarily HAL cruisers, we don't mind a different line if the itinerary is interesting. It is similar to my experience with Viking Ocean this past Summer on a 7-day cruise around Iceland. The experience really disappointed us after all of the accolades placed on VO by its disciples on CC. The cruise did require 100% vaccination and mask wearing except in the stateroom, seated while eating and drinking,  and outside on deck. That was fine. No "freedumbs" aboard but a few chin maskers and those oblivious at times including aboard the elevators.

 

Frustrations prior to the cruise with the Viking Main Office were numerous - so many that quite a number of  passengers cancelled their cruise. These inconsistencies, thanks to the CC forum, were identified between the different cruises. VO uses a matrix based on cruise fares/stateroom reserved to allow signing up for excursions and restaurant reservations. Completely disregarded and thrown out the window on our week! And yet the Main Office continued to repeat the VO mantra.

 

 It seems that VO cannot deliver all of the included amenities they advertise unless on more than a cruise of at least nine days or more. Their ships have accommodations for 930 passengers while we had 860 passengers, so sailing at 93% capacity. I believe we were a test to see just how many could be packed in while social distancing during the pandemic. It seems subsequent cruises sailed with less passengers. We were never able to book a reservation for some of the excursions and two of the three included in the fare specialty restaurants. Our one reservation was at their Italian specialty restaurant late into the evening for that day, plus then we were disappointed with the food and seating . There we were seated into one of the  two-top booths that seated three couples (long bench and three chairs) but disregarded social distancing. Instead of six diners Pre-COVID, VO should have only allowed two couples into that booth.

 

For the itinerary of the cruise, we only tendered at one port as the other tender port was cancelled due to sea conditions. They did social distance aboard the tenders by alternating paired seating on the benches. Instead of twelve in a double-sided row, only six were allowed. But - the excursion buses were a different story.  The first two rows were blocked off to separate the driver and guide -  the rest of the bus was filled for the excursion. Some did have less passengers based on popularity but most had every seat filled. Masks were required on the buses, and the guide did remind us, but many chose to ignore the requirement. The breakthrough cases of COVID that were aboard - and they did happen - required those that had been contact traced to be quarantined. One cruise had 26 passengers disembark mid-point of the cruise to fly home the next day rather than being possibly diagnosed positive and then requiring to be quarantined!

 

Food served aboard VO is one of their selling points. IMHO the quality wasn't any better than HAL. I think that having small ships with smaller passenger loads doesn't allow the variety you would find on a larger capacity ship which makes it rather limiting for choice. The variety served would be fine for 3-5 day cruises but by the fifth day day the menu was being repeated. The MDR service was fine but menu limited. Maybe a Catch-22 with depending on the specialty restaurants for variety but if you don't have the seating capacity, then what? Their buffet line is smaller than what we remember on the Veendam. Really - only two types of pizza on the line? Food was of good quality. There is also a period during the day where food is not being served anywhere including the Pool Grill. The counter to that is 24-hour room service is available.

 

The crew were excellent! The ship in excellent condition. VO is rather staid in entertainment. I did have a short conversation with the hotel director one day complimenting his crew but also expressing my disappointment with the VO Main Office. He accepted my compliment for the crew. Agreed on the Main Office. 

 

We will probably never sail on VO again. But we did receive a mailing this week for their pre-Thanksgiving sale. I did earnestly look at it - especially with the special pricing for previous customers. But then I read postings on the Viking CC forum of topics being discussed five months after we cruised with VO. They are STILL not being transparent with customers regarding the customers upcoming cruises and the same complaints are being expressed. Disappointing!

 

On to the Koningsdam in three weeks!