Live Nieuw Amsterdam, 9-Days, Dec 30, 2021 - Jan 8, 2022

[Crew News]

This begins my traditional live thread to seek answers for CC members, gather information, and provide impressions that may help those planning to join the Nieuw Amsterdam in subsequent cruises.  I will be continuing my quest for the 10/11-day Caribbean menus and the Half Moon Cay Butler menu from my last cruise this month.  My reports will include passenger capacity, crew changes, testing for Canadians, missed port procedures, crew shortages, check-in procedures, health & safety procedures, internet speed, beaches, and New Years events.  My fingers are crossed for low passenger capacity and great weather.

 

Feel free to ask lots of questions and I will do my best to find answers.

[Florida_gal_50]

Looking forward to read your always informative thread.  Maybe I can save you some running around.  Rich is posting the 10 day menus on this thread.  Have a wonderful time.

 

 

[smlnd]

Crew News:  Can't wait to see how your trip goes.  We are doing the 10 day in February with much the same itinerary.  I hope you are able to get to each of the ports and no Covid on board.  Have a great cruise!

[albingirl]

Yay!  Thanks for doing this.....😊

[aliaschief]

The entire Hal CC Community benefits from your travels. Thanks.

[dobiemom]

Bon Voyage! 🙂

[rkacruiser]

Bon Voyage!  Best wishes for a safe and healthy New Year's Cruise!  

[mrredman]

We will be traveling on the Nieux Amsterdam from Jan 15-22, 2022 during the fully chartered StarVista Country Music Cruise.  Any factual info you can provide throughout your cruise would be MUCH appreciated! 

[SueMo]

I’m currently on this cruise as well.  Embarkation went smoothly.  Nobody checked boarding times at all.  Our luggage actually made it to our room before we did!  
Some disappointments include no live entertainment in BB Kings. Evidently the drummer didn’t make it.  They don’t know when or if he’ll be able to make it to one of the ports.

I’m very disappointed that there won’t be live entertainment for a New Years cruise:(

Another bummer is I had read about the nice cloth masks HAL gave out…ours are paper.

Hazmat guys were fumigating the room two doors down from us yesterday...yikes!

[mrredman]

We appreciate your observations as well!  On which deck are you staying?

Edited December 31, 2021 by mrredman

[mrredman]

I am interested in how the embarkation process worked, the attentiveness of the ship’s staff to adhere to their established safety protocols and any initial positive or negative impressions you have.  Thanks for being our eyes and ears over the next 8 days!

[Sunshineliving]

1 hour ago, SueMo said:

I’m currently on this cruise as well.  Embarkation went smoothly.  Nobody checked boarding times at all.  Our luggage actually made it to our room before we did!  
Some disappointments include no live entertainment in BB Kings. Evidently the drummer didn’t make it.  They don’t know when or if he’ll be able to make it to one of the ports.

I’m very disappointed that there won’t be live entertainment for a New Years cruise:(

Another bummer is I had read about the nice cloth masks HAL gave out…ours are paper.

Hazmat guys were fumigating the room two doors down from us yesterday...yikes!

The drummer was sick on 12/29

[Sunshineliving]

1 hour ago, SueMo said:

I’m currently on this cruise as well.  Embarkation went smoothly.  Nobody checked boarding times at all.  Our luggage actually made it to our room before we did!  
Some disappointments include no live entertainment in BB Kings. Evidently the drummer didn’t make it.  They don’t know when or if he’ll be able to make it to one of the ports.

I’m very disappointed that there won’t be live entertainment for a New Years cruise:(

Another bummer is I had read about the nice cloth masks HAL gave out…ours are paper.

Hazmat guys were fumigating the room two doors down from us yesterday...yikes!

The drummer was announced sick on 12/29.  Nothing about Covid or anything else. 

[St Pete Cruiser]

On 12/30/2021 at 9:06 AM, Crew News said:

This begins my traditional live thread to seek answers for CC members, gather information, and provide impressions that may help those planning to join the Nieuw Amsterdam in subsequent cruises.  I will be continuing my quest for the 10/11-day Caribbean menus and the Half Moon Cay Butler menu from my last cruise this month.  My reports will include passenger capacity, crew changes, testing for Canadians, missed port procedures, crew shortages, check-in procedures, health & safety procedures, internet speed, beaches, and New Years events.  My fingers are crossed for low passenger capacity and great weather.

 

Feel free to ask lots of questions and I will do my best to find answers.

We saw you and your NM flag at Sailaway. Do you like your room?

[travelx4]

3 hours ago, mrredman said:

I am interested in how the embarkation process worked, the attentiveness of the ship’s staff to adhere to their established safety protocols and any initial positive or negative impressions you have.  Thanks for being our eyes and ears over the next 8 days!

I’m currently on this cruise. All of the crew I’ve observed are wearing N95-style masks. A fair amount of the passengers are as well.  There seems to be a very high adherence to the masking rules. Many passengers continue to wear masks even in outdoor spaces. 

[Oceansaway17]

4 minutes ago, travelx4 said:

I’m currently on this cruise. All of the crew I’ve observed are wearing N95-style masks. A fair amount of the passengers are as well.  There seems to be a very high adherence to the masking rules. Many passengers continue to wear masks even in outdoor spaces. 

 

 

wonderful to hear that at least one ship is behaving nicely.  And I am not surprised it is a DAM ship too as those DAM passengers can be counted on to do the right thing.  

[mrredman]

Travelx4 …. Thank you for the update!  We hope you enjoy a New Year’s celebration full of wonderful food, calm seas, great weather and lots of new, positive memories!

[SueMo]

21 hours ago, mrredman said:

We appreciate your observations as well!  On which deck are you staying?

We are on deck 8.

[SueMo]

21 hours ago, mrredman said:

I am interested in how the embarkation process worked, the attentiveness of the ship’s staff to adhere to their established safety protocols and any initial positive or negative impressions you have.  Thanks for being our eyes and ears over the next 8 days!

As for embarkation, we entered a queue behind approximately 50-75 people.  We got in line shortly after 1 pm. Somebody first checked our boarding pass and gave us a paper receipt that became our new boarding pass.  At the next station they checked our vaccination cards and negative COVID test results.  We then went through security and stopped at a facial recognition terminal where they compared our face to our passport.  
we were on the ship by 1:35.  Our luggage was already by our door as were our cabin key cards.  We unpacked and watched the safety video on our tv.  At 2 pm we went to our muster station where they scanned our cards.  We were sitting in the hot tub, tropical drinks in hand, by 2:15.

[Crew News]

My apologies for being late but connecting a laptop to this ship' internet was difficult until midnight on my first day and this first cruise day was a whirlwind.

My ore-cruise hotel, Embassy Suites on 17th Street happens to be the Michigan alumni HQ for the Orange Bowl game which meant the lobby was not crowded on cruise morning.  With checkout time of 11:00 AM, I dragged my luggage to the front door and lo and behold there was a shuttle hoarding. Choosing not to wait for another port shuttle, I, and another Nieuw Amsterdam-bound couple, decided not to wait an hour for the next shuttle and jumped aboard.  With our  respective 1:00 PM and 12:00 PM boarding passes, we headed to the cruise port at  11:15 PM to take our seats on the benches near the front terminal door to await our boarding time.  Mere moments before taking me seat on a bench, a HAL employee beckoned me to approach the port door with my documents.  In spite of announcing I was a bit early and unwilling to offend the folks checking documents at the terminal door, I produced my passport, printed boarding pass, vaccination card, and my recent negative Lab+Doctor rapid antigen test ($49 walk-ins only and right across the street from the Embassy Suites) as requested.  Only four other passengers were in the terminal when I entered the door.

My quick facial recognition photo experience ,just three weeks earlier from the same pier, was replaced by the old handheld camera photo system.  My feet were back on a HAL ship at 11:40 AM.  Experienced enough from many cruises, I avoided the allure of the elevators ahead and made a sharp left turn to see the Specialty Restaurant podium at the entrance of the Pinnacle.  With all reservations verified, my aft stateroom door opened with the waiting keys at exactly 11:50 AM.

I was unable to watch the passenger safety briefing on my TV as it could not get past the notice of missing internet connection.  Housekeeping and an electrician could not fix the TV so I missed the briefing.  At 7:00 PM,  a young lad appeared, moved his hand behind the wall-mounted TV, there was a clicking sound, announced that the internet cable was now reconnected, and I watched the Passenger Safety Briefing.  At least my ship card had been scanned at my Deck 3 station before 4:00 PM.

My visit to the Guest Services Events Coordinator, Daphne, found that her Nieuw Statendam friend, Vanessa, had emailed asking that Daphne take care of her Cruise Critic friends.  Small world.

My PG waiter, Wayan, a budding artist, drew me a Happy New Year sketch and served an amazing filet of beef.  The tower of candy that I remember for previous cruises is now a small plate of chef hat-shaped candy.  No truffles.
1119 Passengers aboard this week.

My stateroom is as I remember with many of its features from 2016.  Good storage space, lots of USB connectors (at each bedside and on desk) and four AC outlets on the desk, nice verandah, and terrible internet connections.

More later.

[Crew News]

21 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

We saw you and your NM flag at Sailaway. Do you like your room?

Room is not as good as the NIeuw Statendam but its is fine for me.  No drawers in the desk and only electric outlets are there too.  Bathroom electrical connection is near the ceiling on the right side of the sink.  MInibar is in the desk.  TV is mounted on the wall across from the bed. 

 

Still trying to get my portable router to work as well as it did in the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale.

[canadianbear]

Good to hear you made it Roger!  Looking forward to your reports. 

[Crew News]

A letter from the Captain stating that I had failed to complete the Passenger Safety Drill process and instructions on how to do so was delivered by the Room Steward during evening turn down on Embarkation day.  I watched the drill video again.

 

The first day at sea found us at Half Moon Cay in great weather followed by our Meet & Great.  The Events Coordinator as well as the newly assigned Assistant Hotel General Manager, Steffan, ensured that we we were happy with our meeting spot.  The latter even spoke to our assembled group which meant my first ship officer attending a CC Meet & Greet in a number of years.

 

The MDR New Years Eve dinner was festive with a special menu that included lobster (at no extra charge) and free glasses of bubbly toasting wine.  The table was decorated with New Years Eve hats , fans, mustaches, and centerpiece.  A complimentary shrimp pastry proceeded our regular menu selections.  As we left the MDR, we picked up horns and noise makers for the midnight. celebration.

 

The scheduled dance performance in the Showroom was replaced with an amazing live performance of Neil Diamond hits performed on stage.  The singer was so good I came back for the second performance at 10:00 PM. Both performances included all singing Sweet Caroline. Between shows there was a live dual piano show in the Billboard that had every seat filled. 

 

FWIW 13 tuxedos were counted between 5:00 PM and midnight.

 

The Lido Market was open until nearly midnight to support the evening revelers.  I sprinkled feta cheese on my hot Deli pizza and munched on a few Greek dolmades on the aft Lido deck.

 

Returning to my stateroom, I found a second letter from the Captain that I had failed to complete the Passenger Safety Drill process even though I had watched the supporting video twice on my repaired TV. 

 

At the stroke of midnight, I stepped onto my balcony to blow the MDR-supplied horns and spin the noisemakers to celebrate the New Year. 

 

Watched the drill video again in hopes of getting credit for completing the Passenger Safety Drill process.

 

More later.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Crew News

[Crew News]

4 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Good to hear you made it Roger!  Looking forward to your reports. 

I had hoped for live reports but the slow internet speed coupled with the requirement to keep refreshing CC are inhibiting factors.  Add numerous occasions of being locked out of CC in 15-minute increments for the wrong password (?????) and my frustration level high remains high.

[BettyNL]

21 hours ago, travelx4 said:

. Many passengers continue to wear masks even in outdoor spaces. 

That's what we do in California, anyway...........