Life On Board the New Amsterdam.

I I am going to try another method of pre writing my Blog entry so if (and when) I lose it it is still available for me to recover and re post.

Life on the New Amsterdam is not hard to take. The Holland America Line has been around for years and this being one of their newer ships has all the mod cons you would expect.

Our cabin with a balcony on the 7th deck near the stern has plenty of room without being described as roomy. Everything is perfectly designed to make the maximum use of the space available. Grab rails are perfectly positioned, lighting is spot on, the small bar fridge works fine and there is heaps of storage and hanging space. The balcony is great for drinks when the weather permits or for that sensational view as you slide into a new port.

The bed is huge!

When Trish was planning the trip this 24 night cruise came across as good value when you consider the nights we have, the high reputation the line has and the itinerary.

It is an American company and all is done in US currency. With the Aussie dollar losing against the US dollar you have to add around 25% to convert costs. And every time you buy a drink etc there is a further 15% service charge.

I am drinking Budweiser Aluminium @ US$5.25 an aluminium shaped bottle. It is around stubby size. Fortunately there are 3 lots of Happy Hour in 3 different bars daily, the first from 4 till 5, the second from 5 to 6 and the final one at 10 till 11. Happy Hour is full price for your first drink but only $1 for the next. So for around $18 I can get 4 drinks at around $4.50 each. They will sell them 'to go' unopened and allow you to take them back to your room if you want.

The food is excellent and plentiful. There is a bistro which we use mostly, also a sit down fully waited upon dining room, and other first class restaurants which require an extra charge to attend after you have been to your 'complimentary' first meal. We attended our 'complimentary' meal at this top class on board restaurant last night and the bottle of Australian Grant Burge shiraz cost $40 but as our meal was complimentary, the wine was a bargain.

The bistro dining area on the 9th deck (see photo below) is excellent and also is a great laid back place to eat as well. As well there is the free pizza bar or the Dive In which has burgers and cheese smothered hot dogs as well as chips.

The food costs are fully inclusive in our Cruise fares.

Being an American ship which originally set sail from Fort Lauderdale, most passengers are American. American twang permeates the ship and much of the on board entertainment has a strong American bias as well.

Let us now come to the shore excursions arranged for by the ship company. Having travelled in Europe before we have a rough idea on what these extra costs should be. A conservative estimate is ship organised tours are at least double what I would have guessed.

A tour to Sorrento and then Pompeii was available for around US$160 per person from the ship. We did an 'outside' tour to the wonderful Amalfi Coast, Sorrento and Pompeii for 90 euros each, roughly half price. 1 euro is around US$1.

Today is a day at sea, one of only 3 or 4 days we have just cruising. Tomorrow Thursday we arrive in Corfu Greece. Many of the passsengers are like us and will just wander ashore for a look around.

We have been fortunate with the weather. It is a little on the cooler side but today at sea on our way to Corfu I am in my shorts and T Shirt and is around 21 degrees, one of our warmer days.

Now the acid test will come when I have a go at copy/pasting this text into my Blogger app along with the photo. This time however I have a backup.

Remember to keep an eye on Trish's Facebook page for more photos.

At Corfu on free WiFi and removed photo to see if I can publish.  It won't publish with the photo.