Nieuw Amsterdam Dec 11-23, 2021 Summary

[NCTribeFan]

There were kids on the 5-night portion and I imagine there were even more who boarded when we disembarked for the Christmas sailing.  I do think most that I saw were wearing their masks.

 

As far as I know, HAL is still 100% vaccinated sailings still (through 3/31/22 I think).

[NCTribeFan]

I "may" have figured out some of my confusion regarding the OBC.

 

I have my first X sailing coming up in April.  It was originally for this past March.  This was booked way back in June 2019, before they went to all-inclusive.  It was a great fare w/drinks and tips included plus a little OBC.  Then, it was changed from a 4-night sailing to a 5-night sailing on a different ship, and we were given additional OBC.  I also applied for, and received, my SH OBC. 

 

Since I've never sailed X, I did a lot of reading on that board after I booked.  It appears that you CAN give NR OBC to specific crew members.  And there are some who say you can use your card in a slot machine to "transfer" NR OBC to your machine and then just cash out.  Not sure about that one.

 

I do like that you can use OBC to pre-purchase items.  I just used $100 OBC to purchase $55 of slot credits and $55 of table credits, so you not only can use some ahead of time, but you get a bonus.  I may upgrade my drink package, which you can also do prior to sailing and use OBC.

 

Seems like I may have confused the OBC policies of the two lines.  I'll try to keep things straight going forward. 😉

[NCTribeFan]

I just got around to copying my photos from my phone to my laptop, so I'll post a few here.

 

Cabin 1069 that shows the silly placement of the TV, making it pretty much useless if you like to lie in bed and watch a movie.

[NCTribeFan]

Empty beach and pool area at Grand Turk.  I typically avoid the pool but since there was practically no one there, I sat in the shade for a while.  There were lots of workers down in the beach area where I like to sit to get away from Margaritaville.

[NCTribeFan]

Puerto Plata - loved the Umbrella street.  Pics are in reverse order and I can't insert a space between them once they upload.  Sorry about that.

 

[NCTribeFan]

The fabulous crab risotto in Canaletto.  It was enough for a meal on it's own.

 

And the dirty floor in Dive In.

[NCTribeFan]

My favorite pic of the cruise from my favorite spot - the Promenade

[RuthC]

6 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

I just got around to copying my photos from my phone to my laptop, so I'll post a few here.

 

Cabin 1069 that shows the silly placement of the TV, making it pretty much useless if you like to lie in bed and watch a movie.

I love the placement of the TV in the J-cabins on Main Deck. 

When I'm in bed, it's to sleep; I watch TV when I am awake, while sitting on the couch. This is one of the few cabins where one can do that. 

The shelf, with the electrical outlets leftover from the TV/DVD players make a nice out of the way place for charging things. There is plenty of room in front of the bed for my scooter, and the cord reaches to those outlets. There's plenty of room to walk between the bed and the closets (in those cabins where the bed faces the closets). And you can easily watch TV, if that's your pleasure, from the bed when the bed does face the closets. 

[NCTribeFan]

Yes, I much prefer the layout in 1049, with the foot of the bed facing the closets.  I was perfectly happy with the smaller tv in that cabin that pulled out and could swivel to face either the bed or the sofa.

 

I don't cruise to watch tv, but I did occasionally want to just sit down and look at the bow cam or even briefly watch some news.  Couldn't do that without sitting on the sofa and turning your head 90 degrees.  Not comfortable at all.  Or sit in the chair.

[Pacificsunflower]

On 12/26/2021 at 2:27 PM, NCTribeFan said:

The 5-night itinerary was supposed to be Key West, Nassau, & HMC.  That was changed to Freeport, Bimini & HMC.

 

Although I typically go ashore at every port, regardless of how many times I've been there or whether I like a particular port, I stayed on the ship this time.  Walking around Lido that morning, the spa folks had their table out and a couple of chairs.  When I walked by and was asked if I'd like a neck & shoulder massage, I said sure and had a seat.  She immediately commented on the knots in my right shoulder.  Yep, I'll take a 75-minute massage for the 60 minute price, thanks!  She worked on those knots and worked and worked and they were still there 75 minutes later.  She booked me to come back on the last afternoon so she could work on them some more.  I was so sore the next day from the middle of the back of my head all the way down to the bottom of my ribcage.  Ouch.  I decided to cancel the 2nd appointment.  I really need to start having regular massages.

 

My friends went to one of the beaches on Bimini.  I just got off the ship, walked down the pier, and rode the tram around to see what it was like.  Walked back to the ship and spent the day eating, drinking, reading, and relaxing.

 

Unfortunately, we could make the call at HMC.  I was really looking forward to going back to the Lobster Shack!  That's only the 2nd time out of many sailings that I've missed that port.

 

My luggage tags said 8:15 disembarking, but we were called at about 7:50.  I was at the airport even earlier than I had been when I disembarked from E-dam.  I know booking a flight for 11:05 is very risky, I've done it several times and have always been at the gate with lots of time to spare.  I thought it might be really busy because it was the day before Christmas eve, but it wasn't bad at all.  The flight wasn't even full (it was totally full on 11/24), so it was nice to have an empty middle seat.

 

I did a self-test on Christmas Eve afternoon using the last of my 3-pack eMed tests (it expired on 12/19).  I still haven't done laundry!

We are going to Nassau, this week. One member has a foot issue. Are there pedi cabs or trams n case the ship docks at the further berths?