Live From Nieuw Amsterdam Through the Panama Canal Followed by One Week in the Caribbean

[Georgeny]

On 10/24/2023 at 3:59 PM, Crew News said:

Embarkation Day ended with a visit to the Lido Market Late Snack for a bowl of potato chips.  Of immediate note to me, as well as the Asst Lido Manager, was the average diner age at least 20 years younger than the Panama Canal passengers.  There was even a line at the NY Pizza that I had not witnessed over the past 16 days.  One entire side of the Lido was filled, and I later learned that 300 meals were served which is significantly higher than the 40 that I was used to seeing. 

 

The first day of the second cruise segment began and ended in Fort Lauderdale with the Nieuw Amsterdam still undergoing repairs.  Breakfast in the Lido Market was a stark contrast to the repositioning segment.  Passengers consumed their meal and departed.  I saw only one book reader occupying a table after their breakfast dishes were cleared and very few diners in search of tables.  With a younger demographic, plates were piled high with bacon, waffles, eggs, pastries, etc. while the yogurt line not busy.  On a personal level, I quickly found a table for the first time in 16 days.

 

This day was our CC Meet & Greet and as promised by the Events Coordinator, Maria, there were at least nine ship officers present, that included the ship’s Captain and new Hotel General Manager, Mark Pells.  Sadly, and based so many people taking advantage of the free shopping mall shuttles, the officer contingent outnumbered the CC roll call members. I seized the opportunity gather information.  After nearly seven years on the Nieuw Amsterdam, Captain Jeroen von Donselaar will be moving to the Eurodam next March, He shared some of the upgrades coming in the December 2023 drydock:  All new Crow’s Nest windows, remodeled Fitness Center, add Rolling Stone, new carpeting and furniture, air conditioning and heating upgrades, azipod replacement, and Starlink upgrade are planned.

 

The table selection at 12:30 PM in the Lido Market for lunch was unlimited with so many passengers off the ship and shopping in Fort Lauderdale.  There could have been no more than 50 people present while I was there.  I learned that at 1:30 PM, the returning mall shoppers filled every Lido Market table.

 

My second dinner in the MDR was efficient and completed in 50 minutes, perhaps, because of the smaller portions.  I remained still amazed at the big changes since my May cruise on this same ship.  The only identifiable change that I can identify is the  new MDR Maitre’d, Damien. 

 

The magician/comedian, Fred Moore, was quite good and very funny.

 

The Late Lido Market Snack was filled with more diners than Embarkation Day and required more crew members to clean the tables.

 

More later.

 

I'll just make a few quick comments here. We were on the 7 day Caribbean sailing aka the cruise to Fort Lauderdale. Sadly though many good points we are disturbed by how far down HA has dropped. After recent RCL sailings we had hoped The HA would still have any of the older facets in place but no! Just all the main cruise lines much has changed. We had sailed the N Amsterdam in 2017 pre pandemic. This sailing was our 6th HA sailing through the years. We found it differs now little from recent RCL Liberty of the Seas sailings and Oasis of The Seas. This was our 4th sailing post pandemic.

 

Cruising today is so far different than when we started in 1984. Since then we have filed over 100 cruises so there are vast differences for decades of cruising. Holland America is no different now than the others, reduced staff, higher and more onboard costs etc.

 

We had a good cruise with friends yes but just like all the lines little things disappeared. Choc on pillows ( two days I think ) drink servers that had no clue and were few are far a part. It was work to get a cocktail in lounges pre-dinner. No lobster at all unless paid. Waiter and assistant cordial hard working but nothing like before. Served me wrong dinner 3 times during cruise ( late seating ). No recommendations , in one case I asked what something was and they had no idea. Just like all the lines now take full order including dessert at one time. Yes many things very small, some might say petty, but really that was what cruise were all about, those great little things. One shining light was our cabin Steward, barely seen everything always as requested. Staff are a cruise, food is a cruise, service is a cruise or else why open yourself to possible high seas rocking etc. 

 

The good, though no lobster nights included the food that was still superior to what RCL is now serving. Room service was great! Buffet and Dive In good. Frankly NY pizza HA should be sued calling that offering pizza much less NY pizza.

 

Yes good cruise despite FLL dock days, a little rocking. no food to be served on private island due to windy conditions, bath drainage problems but a disappointment for what was hoped might be the line to be better than most and was not! I remember when Carnival took over direct supervision and it was said HA will be no different to what was HA. Really, we sail Carnival too, much like a Carnival ship.

 

PS: the direct luggage program, room to destination airport at $25 a bag. We arrived in NY yesterday at LGA 2:30 our luggage didn't! I will say Delta was right on it tracking. Delivered it to me home's door at 10 am this morning. It hadn't arrived at LGA until after 6pm. Was home eating traditional real pizza by then.

 

George in NY

[Crew News]

The first day at sea after azipod repairs was a mixture of Black Friday and Midnight Madness sales.  Even after my lunch, hundreds of passengers with their extra OBC to spend continued emptying the Shops shelves.  The line to get lottery tickets stretched down the hallway.  Reported elevated prices for scarves, bathing suits, and purses were not a deterrent.  To spend the total OBC or not was the question. Spend won out.

 

For some unknown reason, the "night auditor" kept updating my account statement during the cruise as I cancelled my prepaid dining and paid with OBC. Only on the final day did I feel comfortable making a big purchase with my OBC bonus.   With the Shops' shelves nearly emptied, two pairs of Vortek binoculars were purchased at the Photo Gallery on the day before disembarkation.

 

Dinner at the PG ended with a slice of key lime pie.  All was well in the world.

[Cyberhwk]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:39 PM, Woodfaerie said:

 Though many of my fellow passengers were green around the gills, hubby and I embraced it.

 

Yeah.  We hate for it to come at others' expense, but my mother and I kind of liked it.  Like getting rocked to sleep at night like a baby.  Made showering an adventure at times though. 😁

[scubacruiserx2]

15 hours ago, Crew News said:

The first day at sea after azipod repairs was a mixture of Black Friday and Midnight Madness sales.  Even after my lunch, hundreds of passengers with their extra OBC to spend continued emptying the Shops shelves.  The line to get lottery tickets stretched down the hallway.  Reported elevated prices for scarves, bathing suits, and purses were not a deterrent.  To spend the total OBC or not was the question. Spend won out.

 

For some unknown reason, the "night auditor" kept updating my account statement during the cruise as I cancelled my prepaid dining and paid with OBC. Only on the final day did I feel comfortable making a big purchase with my OBC bonus.   With the Shops' shelves nearly emptied, two pairs of Vortek binoculars were purchased at the Photo Gallery on the day before disembarkation.

 

Dinner at the PG ended with a slice of key lime pie.  All was well in the world.

 

It sounds like the house always wins with the  OBC .

 I do like the Key Lime Pie in the Pinnacle Grill . While not my favorite it's pretty good which is saying something with 70+ years as a Florida native and many Key Lime Pies under my belt . The worse ? British Air on a overnight flight .

 

[Crew News]

The day before disembarkation I realized that something was wrong as I had yet to receive a Disembarkation package with luggage tags.  I had not received an in-transit letter for the first segment of my cruise and had to stand in the Disembarkation eve line to get one.  It seemed like another visit to the Front Desk might be in the offing for this segment as well.  With the ship forced to charge Florida sales tax while the bars were in port and lots of drink purchases with the $250/person OBC gift, I again dreaded the lines at the Front Desk with guests questioning their statements.

 

After many minutes listening to, 'We are currently helping other guests,' on my call to the Front Desk, I gave up. I took a deep breath and headed for the Front Desk ready to experience their busiest hours of any cruise. When the glass elevator door opened on Deck 1, and the hallway empty, I breathed a sigh of relief.  No line. Nearing the turn to the Front Desk, I spotted the end of the line and began counting. 

 

25 guests questioning their bills were already in line so I sat for two minutes to watch the line go down a bit.  Complaints of sales tax being charged, demands for refunds, withholding one days crew appreciation because the Room Steward was late, not enough OBC, no refunds for HIA excursions, and too much OBC, were being voiced.  When I glanced back to the line, at least 30 more had joined the line that was then down the hallway.  With an estimated waiting time of more than an hour, I gave up.  There would still be luggage tags sometime before the midnight luggage push to the hallway.

 

On the way back to my Deck 7 stateroom, I spotted two Disembarkation packets on a chair by the midships elevators and wondered if my Disembarkation packet had suffered the same abandonment fate as these.  I delivered them to staterooms near the Neptune Lounge.

 

My return to the Front Desk after 10:00 PM found me at the end of a line with only 10 guests in front of me.  After agreeing with the Front Desk rep that I should have received my Disembarkation packet two days ago, I obtained a new letter and lime (used to always be black) luggage tags for 5 Star Mariners.  All was well in the world again.

[crystalspin]

On 10/15/2023 at 4:31 PM, Crew News said:

More later. 

Roger, did it seem like the three "chops" nights were always going to be Veal-Lamb-Veal, or something more random/chefs-choice?

[Crew News]

Disembarkation Day was time for breakfast and to say goodbyes to the amazing servers who kept me supplied with potato chips, cookies, muesli with a smile each morning, and their chef supervisors.

 

Disembarkation at 9:15 AM was a breeze.  Immigration was only a facial recognition scan, no customs declaration forms to prepare, no opportunity to declare all of the goods I imported, and no questions about visiting a farm. Surprisingly, the couple behind me brought to life the story I heard during my in-transit waiting time the week before.  Both the husband and wife thought the other had both passports that remained still locked in their stateroom safe.  I left the terminal as the couple were blaming the other.

 

There were plenty of taxis available and my ride arrived at the airport four hours and 51 minutes from my flight time.  Unfortunately, American Airlines' system will not process luggage and check-in until one second under four hours before flight time.  The terminal had no seating so many passengers sat on the floor while I found my TravelPro suitcase could be a rolling stool.  At precisely 10:51 AM, I stepped to the counter and turned-in my luggage for my 2:51 PM flight.

 

As I proceeded to the TSA PreCheck line, I noted that the departure terminal was nearly empty as all of the disembarked cruise ship passengers had moved to their gates.  The new hand-carry luggage scanners reminded me of a Cat Scan medical device.  I watched the agent looking at my luggage contents from many angles with just a swipe of his touch screen.  As I removed my camera bag and roller bags from their respective trays, my military ID card was missing. A TSA agent had to locate the ID inside the giant scanner and reported that anything laying loose in the trays might be swept away by the heavy curtains.  I made a mental note not to leave anything loose in TSA trays if the huge scanners are in use.

 

As I entered the front door of my home after being away for 22 days, I heard a strange sound and my search for the source found a stream of water running in my bathroom sink.  The FCC windfall from my B2B cruises was disappearing down my bathroom sink drain.

 

Safely back at home, with my luggage to be unpacked over the coming days, my Nieuw Amsterdam cruises came to an end.  For my 22 days at sea, I was well fed, pampered, and shaken but not stirred.

 

Over the coming days, I will review the little notebook that I carried for 22 days and add some reflections to this thread.

 

More later.

 

[Crew News]

42 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Roger, did it seem like the three "chops" nights were always going to be Veal-Lamb-Veal, or something more random/chefs-choice?

It was explained to me that these three specials are at the random discretion of the chef.  It will be awhile, but I will verify the sequence in February on my 11-Day Eurodam.

 

IMHO time will probably void the chef option and establish a specific sequence for the lamb and veal chops.

[canadarocks]

@Crew News I see you've shared the Mariner's Lunch menu on you site. I don't remember you mentioning it on this thread, apologies if you have. Can you tell me when it was and if it was restricted to a certain "star" level?

[Crew News]

37 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

@Crew News I see you've shared the Mariner's Lunch menu on you site. I don't remember you mentioning it on this thread, apologies if you have. Can you tell me when it was and if it was restricted to a certain "star" level?

The luncheon followed a Mariner Medallion ceremony (silver and gold medallions) during the Panama Canal segment. I did not pay attention to a "star" level but by the limited number (80) of attendees at the ceremony, I would guess only 5 Star Mariners were invited.  When I asked, I was told that Mariner Luncheons are restricted to longer cruises of 15+ days.  Our group was escorted past those lined up at the MDR for lunch to our elevated seating area of the MDR.   I sat next to a Presidents Club member who proudly wore his diamond earrings and had some hilarious cruising stories.

 

The portion sizes were just a bit more than 50% of my previous Mariner's Luncheon portions.  A plate of nachos was needed a few hours later to hold me over until dinner.

[canadarocks]

Thanks for letting me know. 

[*Miss G*]

20 hours ago, Crew News said:

As I entered the front door of my home after being away for 22 days, I heard a strange sound and my search for the source found a stream of water running in my bathroom sink.  The FCC windfall from my B2B cruises was disappearing down my bathroom sink drain.

 

Holy smokes and sorry to hear that!  Do you think you left it on before you left or was there some other obvious reason for it to be running?  I hope it was on for only a short while!

 

I have enjoyed reading along on your voyage, so thank you for posting.  Welcome home!

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Holy smokes and sorry to hear that!  Do you think you left it on before you left or was there some other obvious reason for it to be running?  I hope it was on for only a short while!

 

I have enjoyed reading along on your voyage, so thank you for posting.  Welcome home!

As much as I would like to blame a housemate, personal trainer, personal chef, or chauffeur, they are all me.  Looks like I have to make a "home departure" checklist in addition to my packing checklists.  Fortunately, the stream was only 25% of the full capacity.

 

Thanks for following along my investigative live thread.

[Dobby36]

Your detailed notes (not to mention all the photos!) do us all a great service.  Many thanks for this!

[pilot]

Does the Nieuw Amsterdam have USB ports bedside and desk?

[WetterWashington]

1 minute ago, pilot said:

Does the Nieuw Amsterdam have USB ports bedside and desk?

It did on deck 10 in Sept, one on each side of the bed.
I used converters at the desk

[pilot]

8 minutes ago, WetterWashington said:

It did on deck 10 in Sept, one on each side of the bed.
I used converters at the desk

Thanks 

[Crew News]

25 minutes ago, WetterWashington said:

It did on deck 10 in Sept, one on each side of the bed.
I used converters at the desk

The desk has two USB ports, two European AC outlets, and two US AC outlets in addition to the single USB outlets on each side of the bed.  All USB outlets are USB-A.

[Crew News]

Tidbits:

As noted in an earlier post, I discovered that my Android phone had a better WiFi signal than my laptop in my aft stateroom.  This left my phone available for Whatsapp calls while tethered to my laptop.  As strictly a 15-minute experiment, I connected another laptop and two tablets at the same time to the internet through my laptop hotspot.

 

I learned that if you have a lot of OBC, prepaying Specialty Restaurants to get an ideal dining time and then cancelling the payments at the Front Desk allows all payments to be made with OBC.

 

If you are on B2B cruises, you can make MDR reservations for the second week during the first week.  You can make the next cruise Specialty Restaurant reservations on the next to last day of the first cruise leg.

 

Room Stewards now manage the minibars and not Beverage Services.  When the minibar is "cleaned out", the contents are stored in one of the bed drawers.  Refill items are ordered through the Room Steward.

 

New Samsung TVs are mounted far enough from the wall to enable access to HDMI ports.  I did not have an HDMI cable to try to gain access.

 

The advertised Lido Steak dinner on Embarkation Day was devised to relieve pressure on the MDR the first night.  Both serve the same steak menu.  Lido is now packed and the MDR is 50%.  Choose the MDR for Embarkation Day. 

 

Only 50% of the Deck 2 MDR is eligible for reservations.

 

Bring Ziploc bags (gallon size fits a Lido Market saucer) for storing food items requiring minibar storage.

 

Food portion sizes are reduced in MDR, Tamarind, and PG.  Increased in the Canaletto.

 

VPNs for secure transactions do work but at a slower speed.

 

No tablets used in any dining venue.

 

The Nieuw Amsterdam had a very professional crew with a customer service mindset and more than willing to answer any of questions.  For me, this cruise was a very fulfilling moment in time.

[WetterWashington]

31 minutes ago, Crew News said:

Tidbits:

 

Room Stewards now manage the minibars and not Beverage Services.  When the minibar is "cleaned out", the contents are stored in one of the bed drawers.  Refill items are ordered through the Room Steward.

 

...

 

No tablets used in any dining venue.

 

The Nieuw Amsterdam had a very professional crew with a customer service mindset and more than willing to answer any of questions.  For me, this cruise was a very fulfilling moment in time.

We were on the NA in Sept and our room stewards stored the minibar in a pillow-case under the bed. That left the drawer for us to use.

We never took the tablets anywhere but the Lido and no-one said a word there (we do most of our reading via our tablets)

[Crew News]

1 minute ago, WetterWashington said:

We were on the NA in Sept and our room stewards stored the minibar in a pillow-case under the bed. That left the drawer for us to use.

We never took the tablets anywhere but the Lido and no-one said a word there (we do most of our reading via our tablets)

My post was meant to say that none of the dining venue servers used tablets to take orders.  They made a big deal introducing tablets pre-COVID.

[WetterWashington]

1 hour ago, Crew News said:

My post was meant to say that none of the dining venue servers used tablets to take orders.  They made a big deal introducing tablets pre-COVID.

ahh.....

Yup, not a tablet in sight.

[pilot]

9 hours ago, Crew News said:

Tidbits:

As noted in an earlier post, I discovered that my Android phone had a better WiFi signal than my laptop in my aft stateroom.  This left my phone available for Whatsapp calls while tethered to my laptop.  As strictly a 15-minute experiment, I connected another laptop and two tablets at the same time to the internet through my laptop hotspot.

 

I learned that if you have a lot of OBC, prepaying Specialty Restaurants to get an ideal dining time and then cancelling the payments at the Front Desk allows all payments to be made with OBC.

 

If you are on B2B cruises, you can make MDR reservations for the second week during the first week.  You can make the next cruise Specialty Restaurant reservations on the next to last day of the first cruise leg.

 

Room Stewards now manage the minibars and not Beverage Services.  When the minibar is "cleaned out", the contents are stored in one of the bed drawers.  Refill items are ordered through the Room Steward.

 

New Samsung TVs are mounted far enough from the wall to enable access to HDMI ports.  I did not have an HDMI cable to try to gain access.

 

The advertised Lido Steak dinner on Embarkation Day was devised to relieve pressure on the MDR the first night.  Both serve the same steak menu.  Lido is now packed and the MDR is 50%.  Choose the MDR for Embarkation Day. 

 

Only 50% of the Deck 2 MDR is eligible for reservations.

 

Bring Ziploc bags (gallon size fits a Lido Market saucer) for storing food items requiring minibar storage.

 

Food portion sizes are reduced in MDR, Tamarind, and PG.  Increased in the Canaletto.

 

VPNs for secure transactions do work but at a slower speed.

 

No tablets used in any dining venue.

 

The Nieuw Amsterdam had a very professional crew with a customer service mindset and more than willing to answer any of questions.  For me, this cruise was a very fulfilling moment in time.

Which VPN did you use?  I am currently on Regal Princess and using Express VPN and haven’t noticed a slowdown. 
 

Will be on Nieuw Amsterdam in February and Nieuw Statendam in April. 
 

Thanks for your info. 

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, pilot said:

Which VPN did you use?  I am currently on Regal Princess and using Express VPN and haven’t noticed a slowdown. 
 

Will be on Nieuw Amsterdam in February and Nieuw Statendam in April. 
 

Thanks for your info. 

MalwareBytes Privacy

[Shih Tzu Momma]

On 10/17/2023 at 10:13 AM, Crew News said:

Thanks for the photos.  The front decks were packed earlier this morning until the heat began building. I go out to my Deck 7 aft balcony periodically for pictures.  I'll put out my New Mexico flag for the Caribbean set of locks.

 

The canal is much more interesting with a ship following or beside you through the locks.  It is a relativity thing.

Where in NM are you from? I'm from Grants/Milan area!!!