Wonderful Experience with Upgraded Nieuw Amsterdam Dec 11 Cruise

[friendswithdave]

Hello All,
Big Cruise Critic fan here so I thought I would share my trip highlights hoping your experience can be as fabulous as ours! We are experienced cruisers with 12-14 cruises in our lifetime.
We booked the Dec 11 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise in October when we finally decided to do a cruise and found a great rate on this one. Booked this cruise for a few reasons:
1 – Date – we had to leave on Dec 11 and wanted one week. 
2 – Cost – Better rates than Celebrity which we also considered. HAL and Celebrity are our favorite lines.
3 – Itinerary – We last visited Aruba and Curacao on our honeymoon 15 years ago. We wanted a second visit here.

We booked the cheapest guarantee balcony planning to then book Club Orange and choose our favorite room for a lower price than booking this room directly. If you have a favorite room, definitely use this option to get CO benefits for what is essentially no money. It was kind of a hassle with some back and forth between HAL and the travel agent, but it eventually got worked out.

12 days out I was surfing Cruise Critic and saw others were considering upgrades. I didn’t get any offers, but had the upgrade phone number in my notes. I called, got an offer for $550 per person to upgrade to a Neptune Suite. I thought this would be a nice surprise for my wife, so I booked it. By they way, they refunded my Club Orange upgrade fee, so the net additional was just $375 per person. 

We flew in the morning of the cruise. Frowned upon I know, but I had a full work day the prior day and we could not leave until Sunday morning. Flight left early, landed early, and we had an incredibly fast trip to the terminal via taxi. We arrived around 9:40 and hung around until they opened the doors around 10:00. We were among the first in, first through, and the second couple in the VIP room waiting to board. 

Boarding was promptly at 11:00 AM and we headed to the Lido to enjoy that experience uncrowded. After quality Asian dishes we headed to our room. Wife didn’t figure out what was going on until we were actually in our room when she realized the suite upgrade. She was ecstatic and we took in the room for a spell.
We then headed to the Neptune lounge where the concierge took care of all our needs: gift card credits, restaurant reservations, and questions answered. The concierges were both wonderful.
The suite perks were plentiful, such as:
-    Free laundry, we used this 3 times
-    Lounge access, nice to get a snack any time of day
-    Concierge, always available to answer questions and solve problems
-    Extra entrée choice in dining room, we got this twice
-    Pinnacle Grill breakfast – still a much better experience than the dining room even with the service issues
-    Disembarkation day room service breakfast – very nice perk especially when you need an early exit
-    Of course, the larger room and double wide balcony. Also nicer cushioned chairs on balcony.

-     Free lattes and cappicinos - wife loved these, probably saved us $100

I don’t remember the rest of day 1, but I’m sure it was enjoyable. 

Our cruises tend to be basic. We often don’t have many more expenses than the cruise fare and some drinks. We’ve had a good year so we splurged on this one with internet access (which we shared), the suite upgrade, and the Thermal Spa, the first time we ever got that. We also had a Tamarind visit and two Pinnacle Grill lunches where we usually just get one. 

We’re we glad we got all these? Absolutely. Will we do these every time? Probably not. That said, we enjoyed the extra space and lounge. I enjoyed the thermal spa more than I expected. We also enjoyed the internet surfing on board. The speed was slower, but if your expectations for internet speed are low, you won’t be disappointed. The only issue we ever had was trying to check in to the flight on the last day. I couldn’t do this until I went into the hall and stood under the signal repeater. This gave me the speed needed to finish the task.

Other highlights:
We loved the food and were pleased with all areas. Quality was great in every venue and we tried them all: Lido, Dining Room, NY Pizza, Burger place, Pinnacle Grill, and Tamarind. Service was also great across the board with one exception: Pinnacle Grill breakfast. Nearly every day we had a service issue:
Day 1 – they served coffee and croissants to all tables around us, but not us. Annoying.
Days 2-4 – minor order issues – forgot bacon once, muesli switched with something else another time.
Only on our last day when we were served by an assistant Matre’D was our service flawless. Now, all this didn’t dampen our experience, it just stood out since service was outstanding in every other venue all around.

Entertainment – we went to the variety show in the main lounge on the first night. We wanted to like it but just couldn’t. The presentation was uninspiring and the choreography lacked flair. We didn’t go back the rest of the trip.
On the other hand, the BB Kings Blues Club was outstanding. The band and the female singer were both good, but the male singer was absolutely phenomenal. He poured his heart and soul into every song. Because of their quality, every show we saw was packed 15 minutes prior to show time and was standing room only throughout. 

 

We didn’t attend Billboard Onboard after seeing those singers on the first night. We did not see Lincoln Center Stage either. 
Disembarkation was a minor concern for us. For the first time we booked a 10:25 flight out of Fort Lauderdale. While reading online we worried we may not be able to make it, therefore we carried our own bags off at 7:15. This whole experience was also incredibly efficient. We were completely off the ship and into a taxi by 7:25 and in the airport by 7:45. Now we had to figure out how to kill 2.7 hours in the airport. We won’t hesitate to book an early flight in the future.

Our overall cruise experience was a solid 9 out of 10. More quality entertainment options would have made it a perfect 10. While we paid about double what we typically do for a cruise (HAL got about $3600 from us), for us it was well worth it. Would we have had a good time without all this? Yes. However, at the end we considered this a “Hall of Fame” worthy cruise because of all the extras we purchased. 
 

[Destiny0315]

Thanks for your detailed and balanced review of your cruise. It was refreshing to read a review that just didn't drill down on the negatives and yet still made readers aware of things that were sub-par with the rest of your experiences.

[Sea42]

I'm glad you had a great cruise and what a nice surprise for your wife!

[pirate cruiser]

We are also from NC and will be on the NS next week-glad to see a positive review even with a few snags-thanks !

[mightycruisequeen]

Thanks for your review on what sounds like a really wonderful experience, and kudos to you for surprising your bride with the Neptune suite upgrade!

[albingirl]

Great upgrade. I have yet to experience that, even in my dreams. But I  will hasten to add that I  am happy for you. Good review. Well done 

[mwj]

Thanks for your review! We pretty much agree with your overall assessment. Pinnacle Grill breakfast service was spotty at best. We enjoyed our 14 days very much, and love the ship, even if it is in sore need of a dry dock in spots.

[KAKcruiser]

I didn't know you could get last morning room service breakfast.  Our cabin steward didn't leave the card so we figured it was not available.  

[ski ww]

Thanks for the review, sounds like you had a great cruise. A nice blend of the good & not so good, it's the on board experience that makes or breaks a cruise. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[friendswithdave]

7 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

I didn't know you could get last morning room service breakfast.  Our cabin steward didn't leave the card so we figured it was not available.  

I'm pretty sure this is available to suite guests only. It surprised us too when we saw the card on another door on our hall.

[rhblake]

We were also on this cruise but it seemed all the better entertainment was in the smaller venues which became way to crowed. Did not go to any, dislike SRO crowds.

[friendswithdave]

2 minutes ago, rhblake said:

We were also on this cruise but it seemed all the better entertainment was in the smaller venues which became way to crowed. Did not go to any, dislike SRO crowds.

Yes, the SRO crowds were not Covid safe.

 

Funny, we should have carpooled. I am in Knightdale.

[oakridger]

On 12/20/2022 at 4:29 AM, friendswithdave said:

I'm pretty sure this is available to suite guests only. It surprised us too when we saw the card on another door on our hall.

 

I was in a Signature Suite on NA this fall, and disembarkation room service breakfast wasn't offered.  It must be for Neptune and Pinnacle only then!  I miss this option which set HAL apart from several other mainstream lines!!

 

~Nancy

[horseymike]

So happy to hear how much you both enjoyed your cruise and how well everything worked out.

Thanks for sharing this great experience with us .

[horseymike]

On 12/19/2022 at 5:47 PM, friendswithdave said:

Hello All,
Big Cruise Critic fan here so I thought I would share my trip highlights hoping your experience can be as fabulous as ours! We are experienced cruisers with 12-14 cruises in our lifetime.
We booked the Dec 11 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise in October when we finally decided to do a cruise and found a great rate on this one. Booked this cruise for a few reasons:
1 – Date – we had to leave on Dec 11 and wanted one week. 
2 – Cost – Better rates than Celebrity which we also considered. HAL and Celebrity are our favorite lines.
3 – Itinerary – We last visited Aruba and Curacao on our honeymoon 15 years ago. We wanted a second visit here.

We booked the cheapest guarantee balcony planning to then book Club Orange and choose our favorite room for a lower price than booking this room directly. If you have a favorite room, definitely use this option to get CO benefits for what is essentially no money. It was kind of a hassle with some back and forth between HAL and the travel agent, but it eventually got worked out.

12 days out I was surfing Cruise Critic and saw others were considering upgrades. I didn’t get any offers, but had the upgrade phone number in my notes. I called, got an offer for $550 per person to upgrade to a Neptune Suite. I thought this would be a nice surprise for my wife, so I booked it. By they way, they refunded my Club Orange upgrade fee, so the net additional was just $375 per person. 

We flew in the morning of the cruise. Frowned upon I know, but I had a full work day the prior day and we could not leave until Sunday morning. Flight left early, landed early, and we had an incredibly fast trip to the terminal via taxi. We arrived around 9:40 and hung around until they opened the doors around 10:00. We were among the first in, first through, and the second couple in the VIP room waiting to board. 

Boarding was promptly at 11:00 AM and we headed to the Lido to enjoy that experience uncrowded. After quality Asian dishes we headed to our room. Wife didn’t figure out what was going on until we were actually in our room when she realized the suite upgrade. She was ecstatic and we took in the room for a spell.
We then headed to the Neptune lounge where the concierge took care of all our needs: gift card credits, restaurant reservations, and questions answered. The concierges were both wonderful.
The suite perks were plentiful, such as:
-    Free laundry, we used this 3 times
-    Lounge access, nice to get a snack any time of day
-    Concierge, always available to answer questions and solve problems
-    Extra entrée choice in dining room, we got this twice
-    Pinnacle Grill breakfast – still a much better experience than the dining room even with the service issues
-    Disembarkation day room service breakfast – very nice perk especially when you need an early exit
-    Of course, the larger room and double wide balcony. Also nicer cushioned chairs on balcony.

-     Free lattes and cappicinos - wife loved these, probably saved us $100

I don’t remember the rest of day 1, but I’m sure it was enjoyable. 

Our cruises tend to be basic. We often don’t have many more expenses than the cruise fare and some drinks. We’ve had a good year so we splurged on this one with internet access (which we shared), the suite upgrade, and the Thermal Spa, the first time we ever got that. We also had a Tamarind visit and two Pinnacle Grill lunches where we usually just get one. 

We’re we glad we got all these? Absolutely. Will we do these every time? Probably not. That said, we enjoyed the extra space and lounge. I enjoyed the thermal spa more than I expected. We also enjoyed the internet surfing on board. The speed was slower, but if your expectations for internet speed are low, you won’t be disappointed. The only issue we ever had was trying to check in to the flight on the last day. I couldn’t do this until I went into the hall and stood under the signal repeater. This gave me the speed needed to finish the task.

Other highlights:
We loved the food and were pleased with all areas. Quality was great in every venue and we tried them all: Lido, Dining Room, NY Pizza, Burger place, Pinnacle Grill, and Tamarind. Service was also great across the board with one exception: Pinnacle Grill breakfast. Nearly every day we had a service issue:
Day 1 – they served coffee and croissants to all tables around us, but not us. Annoying.
Days 2-4 – minor order issues – forgot bacon once, muesli switched with something else another time.
Only on our last day when we were served by an assistant Matre’D was our service flawless. Now, all this didn’t dampen our experience, it just stood out since service was outstanding in every other venue all around.

Entertainment – we went to the variety show in the main lounge on the first night. We wanted to like it but just couldn’t. The presentation was uninspiring and the choreography lacked flair. We didn’t go back the rest of the trip.
On the other hand, the BB Kings Blues Club was outstanding. The band and the female singer were both good, but the male singer was absolutely phenomenal. He poured his heart and soul into every song. Because of their quality, every show we saw was packed 15 minutes prior to show time and was standing room only throughout. 

 

We didn’t attend Billboard Onboard after seeing those singers on the first night. We did not see Lincoln Center Stage either. 
Disembarkation was a minor concern for us. For the first time we booked a 10:25 flight out of Fort Lauderdale. While reading online we worried we may not be able to make it, therefore we carried our own bags off at 7:15. This whole experience was also incredibly efficient. We were completely off the ship and into a taxi by 7:25 and in the airport by 7:45. Now we had to figure out how to kill 2.7 hours in the airport. We won’t hesitate to book an early flight in the future.

Our overall cruise experience was a solid 9 out of 10. More quality entertainment options would have made it a perfect 10. While we paid about double what we typically do for a cruise (HAL got about $3600 from us), for us it was well worth it. Would we have had a good time without all this? Yes. However, at the end we considered this a “Hall of Fame” worthy cruise because of all the extras we purchased. 
 

 

[horseymike]

So happy to hear how much you both enjoyed your cruise and how well everything worked out.

Thanks for sharing your great experience with us . 

[Len2006]

Hi Dave,  Great review.  My wife and I returned from a cruise aboard the Koningsdam three weeks ago and were so impressed with across the board food, service and accommodations that we decided to go again on one of the signature class ships.  We love the Eurodam and the Nieuw Amsterdam in the same class, size and layout.  We're holding a booking on the Amsterdam for End of March in the Pinnacle Suite.  Decided to look at the reviews here and literally ALL of the reviews in Dec 22 (ended yesterday) were super critical and poorly rated.  We were thinking about pulling the plug on this and walking away until we read your review.  Thank you for reinspiring HOPE.  In most cases whether you enjoy a vacation is pretty much up to you and your expectations (although food quality is critical and out of your control - so I hope it's not as bad as touted in the december reviews for this ship).  

 

We took a top level Spa suite on SEABOURN 6 months ago and the entire crew was untrained by Seabourn Standards and we felt like we had been robbed after paying so much for the fare.

 

On HAL, We always book Neptune or Pinnacle suites and one of the reasons we wanted this ship is that all of the newer larger ships have club orange, which we hate.  We loved eating breakfast in the Pinnacle grill (reserved for Pinnacle suite level guests).  So we are post pandemic now and hoping for a wonderful experience with great food. I would love it if I had a method to correspond with you directly.  Drop me an email:  Len at MD dash Jobs dot com.  thank you for your positivity and even handed review.

 

[oh2crz]

Thanks for this balanced review of the NA. We are booked for late March and were disappointed to see so many negative reviews of NA. We just got off the Rotterdam in January and loved every minute of our quiet, relaxing experience. The last time we were on the NA was back in 2000, so we are looking forward to returning and enjoying the smaller ship experience. I think the industry in general is still working its way back from all things pandemic. Service on HAL has been one of the reasons we book with them. 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I'd like to add a caution on booking Club Orange. I think you were lucky being able to book it last minute. I found out it is capacity controlled and not always available. I called 4 months ago to add it to a cruise in September but nothing available. A friend also was denied booking it on a different cruise.