Inside Nieuw Amsterdam - Captain and Hotel Interviews, Dining Guide, Le Cirque Review

This week we go beyond the facts and figures about Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam and take a look at life onboard.

To begin, I spoke with Captain Edward G. van Zaane, the man who brought Nieuw Amsterdam into service. Captain van Zaane has been with Holland America for 30 years and has commanded some of its most notable ships, including the ocean liner Rotterdam (v), which is now a hotel/museum in its namesake city. I asked Captain van Zaane to contrast his prior commands against his latest command from a mariner’s viewpoint. In so doing, he not only highlighted the radical changes that have taken place in cruise ships during this period but gave an assessment of the current ship’s capabilities.

We also spoke about what it takes to transform “a piece of steel” into something with “a heart.” Thus, he provided some insight into his style of command.

The final topic we discussed was why people from the Netherlands are rediscovering Holland America and the line’s response. My conversation with Captain van Zaane is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-Captain.html


I also spoke with Mark Zeller, who is a second generation Hotel Manager for Holland America. I asked him to speak about the type of cruise experience that passengers should expect on Nieuw Amsterdam and what makes Holland America a premium cruise experience. The interview is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-HM.html

I first encountered Mr. Zeller when he was the head of culinary operations aboard the Noordam. In his role as Hotel Manager, his present responsibilities the culinary operations are within his area of responsibility. Accordingly, in putting together the dining guide to Nieuw Amsterdam, I have included his commentary on each of the dining venues onboard. The dining guide is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-dining.html

One unique concept that Holland America has recently implemented onboard its ships is “Le Cirque Evening.” Once a cruise, the Pinnacle Grill specialty restaurant is transformed into a seagoing version of te famed New York City restaurant. HAL has worked with Le Cirque’s founder Sirio Maccioni and the chefs at Le Crique to give HAL passengers a concise taste of Le Cirque. This includes not only preparing menu items according to Le Cirque recipes but also presentation of the meal in Le Cirque style. My review of the Le Cirque evenings on Nieuw Amsterdam and on Zuiderdam is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-LeCirque.html

Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam - Profile and Photo Tour

Nieuw Amsterdam is Holland America’s latest ship. The sister ship to Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam entered service last summer. She is enlarged version of the line’s Vista class ships - - Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Noordam.

The ship’s name is the Dutch name for New York City, which was founded as a Dutch colony in the 1600s. Accordingly, there are quite a few references to New York in the ship’s artwork and décor. Furthermore, although the ship has a good collection of traditional European and Asian art, the overall atmosphere has a modern sleekness that calls to mind Manhattan.

Nieuw Amsterdam was also the name of one of Holland America’s most beloved ocean liners. Built in the late 1930s, the earlier Nieuw Amsterdam was designed to complement the World’s Fair of 1939. More modern than her contemporaries, she was considered to be one of the most elegant and attractive ships of that period. Unfortunately, only 15 months after her maiden voyage, the Netherlands was invaded as part of the Nazi blitzkrieg. The ship, in New York at the time, was converted into an Allied troop ship and transported thousands of soldiers. After the war, she was restored to her former state and served until 1971 with Holland America, first on the transatlantic service and later as a cruise ship. Thus, today’s Nieuw Amsterdam has a proud heritage.

Life onboard today’s Nieuw Amsterdam follows Holland America’s sophisticated cruising style. There is more emphasis on the intellectual and cultural than on physical activity. However, the ship does have substantial spa as well as two large pool areas. It also has three specialty restaurants in addition to the main dining room and several casual venues.

Beyondships profile page for Nieuw Amsterdam is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw.html It has deck plans, menus, daily programs, recipes and other information about the ship as well as acting as the home page for the Nieuw Amsterdam section of the site.

The multi-page photo tour of the ship begins at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-Tour1.html