After four and a half days at sea onboard Holland America Line‘s ms Nieuw Amsterdam, we finally made it to Grand Cayman where the weather is spectacular! Due to strong winds and rough seas, we were unable to hit any of our port-of-calls up until today. Some people throughly enjoyed the days at sea, like myself, others…. well, I think if we had to miss today’s port and spend another day on the water there would have been a mutiny.
Yesterday was yet another relaxing day with not much to do but hang out in the cabana and take in the Caribbean sun. The sea was calm, the winds were light and it was a great day for cruising. I spent time relaxing out on the deck of my suite and enjoyed watching the sun fade away into the water as we headed west.
It was a late dinner night, as we experienced the Pan-Asian venue, Tamarind. I ate at Tamarind on the Eurodam a few month’s ago and the experience on the Nieuw Amsterdam was the same – great food, and attentive service. Take note, there is a surcharge for this specialty restaurant. I have come to realize that cruise lines make the food and service bad in the main dining room on purpose, so you’re forced to take in the surcharged specialty restaurants on board. It worked for me! After Sunday’s service in the Manhattan Room, it was off to the concierge to book alternate restaurants through the end of the cruise.
I had the most scrumptious martini at Tamarind, the Flirtini. I’ve had Flirtinis at other places before, but this one topped them all, along with the unique way they presented them. Essentially, it was the top of the martini glass (sans stem) floated on a bowl filled it pea sized balls of ice. I lost count after 5.
Room service was on the menu for breakfast this morning. While noshing on a cold, toasted bagel the size of a quarter, I had a great view of four other ships anchored off the shore – another Holland America Line Ship the Ryndam, Freedom of the Seas and another Royal Caribbean ship which I can’t see the name of, and Carnival Cruise Line‘s, Carnival Conquest.
While my travel mates were desperate to set foot on terra firma, I decided I would forgo the harassment of trinket sellers and guys with monkeys who charge $5 for a photo with the primate. I set out to explore the Nieuw Amsterdam starting on A deck and making my way up to deck 11 at the cabana. I just returned from my photographic expedition which involved taking pictures of inanimate objects that won’t mean anything to me three months from now.
Dinner tonight is in the Pinnacle Grill and features the culinary delights and experience of the famous Le Cirque in New York City. More on that tomorrow. Right now my cabana butlers Sergio and Lenny are coming over with more champagne and a couple hot dogs.
Personal Day-By-Day Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of the Nieuw Amsterdam:
No vacation would be complete without a ton of photos, right? For this particular cruise, I took a bunch of photos of the ship’s interior, pool areas, the stateroom itself, and more. Photos can be found in the Nieuw Amsterdam Photo Tour as well as in the day-by-day review of the cruise at the links above.