Photo Guide to Bermuda; Review of Portofino Restaurant; Inside Shore Excursions

The Bermuda cruising season has begun and is actually well underway. Although Bermuda is sometimes grouped together with the Caribbean islands, it is actually much further north - - about on the same latitude as North Carolina. Consequently, it is not a winter cruise destination. But, during the Spring and Summer months, it does not get as hot as the islands further south. This is one reason why it is a great summer cruise destination.

Another reason is the beauty of the island. It has a bevy of world class beaches - - many with pink sand and artistic looking rock formations. In addition, the landscape is charming with brightly painted houses nestled in amongst the sub-tropical foliage.

A Bermuda cruise is a short cruise from the US East Coast - - there are ships that leave regularly from Boston, New York and Baltimore. The first day is a lazy sail as the ships have to travel at a slow speed to avoid arriving too quickly. Then, most ships spend at least a couple of days in Bermuda. Not only does this allow guests to see the sights during the day but one can sample the island’s culture in the evening.

The culture of the islands - - Bermuda is actually a chain of small islands linked together by bridges and causeways - - is a unique mix. For example, there is the traditional business attire of a suit jacket, tie and shorts. One can see British influences and African influences.

Bermuda is an international business center. As a result, although the island is tourist friendly it is not as commercialized as some of the Caribbean ports. Most shops have a Bermuda flavor and the chain stores that one sees in every Caribbean port are conspicuous by their absence.

Bermuda is home to a sizeable number of billionaires and film stars. Their mansions are sometimes visible perched along the shore. Similarly, there are resorts such as the Elbow Beach Club that cater to the rich and famous. Perhaps it is the romance of the islands combined with its scenic beauty and easy lifestyle that attract them. In any case, it is a good recommendation for Bermuda that people who could spend their time anywhere in the world choose to spend time in Bermuda.

Beyondships’ new photo guide to Bermuda is at http://www.beyondships.com/Ports-Bermuda-1.html

One ship that is a regular visitor to Bermuda is Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas. The specialty restaurant onboard her is the elegant Italian-style Portofino. My review of this specialty restaurant is at http://www.beyondships.com/Explorer-Review-Portofino.html

Finally, most people who cruise take a shore excursion purchased through the ship’s shore excursion office. Accordingly, I spoke with Beatrix Bense, the Tour Office Manager on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 about how a tour office works and how shore excursions are arranged. That interview is at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Bense.html

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

Half Moon Cay - - Photo Tour and Commentary

Half Moon Cay is a private island in the Bahamas that was purchased by Holland America Line in the late 1990s. The line has constructed a resort complex on this previously uninhabited island and it now serves as a port of call for Holland America ships and for the ships of sister company Carnival Cruise Lines.

Several of the major cruise lines have private island resorts that have been developed into tropical paradises. Half Moon Cay has been consistently rated highly by cruise ship passengers.

The most outstanding feature of Half Moon Cay is the nine-mile long crescent shaped beach. It is covered with white sand and crystal-clear water laps up on it Deck chairs, hammocks and cabanas lie under the shade of palm trees around the lifeguard-supervised swimming section. Further up the beach, there is just pristine sand.

Half Moon Cay is not just a beach, however. There are the usual beach-related playthings such as paddle boats and floats. But, there are other things to do such as a string ray encounter and riding horses along the beach. You can get a massage, renew wedding vows in the Bahamian church, snorkel, parasail or go for a guided tour on a jet ski, a kayak or a glass bottomed boat.

For the guests’ convenience, the crew of the ship that is visiting the island prepares a barbeque lunch in the restaurant pavilion. There are several bars but members of the bar staff also walk along the beach so that guests do not even have to leave their lounge chair.

Children can play either in the Aqua Park or in the separate Club Hal playground area.

Meanwhile, adults can indulge in shopping or have their hair braided in the Bahamian market area.

The resort is only a small portion of the island. Most of it has been left undeveloped as a wildlife sanctuary. There are guides and tours to instruct the intellectually curious about the island’s ecology.

Half Moon Cay is a fantasyland. It is an escape from the real world. But I think that everybody needs to do that once in a while. Beyondships’ photo tour and commentary is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-HalfMoon-1.html

Talking with the Captain and Key Players on Celebrity Constellation

The objective of Beyondships is to give readers a feel for the various ships profiled on the website. One of the ways that we do that is to let the people who run the ships talk about the ships and the kind of cruise experience that they seek to provide on their ships. I think that gives you a more personal perspective. This week, we present four interviews with key people on Celebrity Constellation.

As shown in the new photo tour of Constellation posted last week, the ship has come though a multi-million dollar refurbishment. Such refurbishments are often a turning point in a ship’s career.

Captain Gerry Larsson-Fedde took Constellation through the two week refit. In our interview, he describes what was done and how it was done. As Celebrity’s first non-Greek captain and as a veteran of Royal Caribbean, Captain Gerry has a unique perspective on Celebrity and the Constellation in particular. His interview is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-captain.html

The changes made to Constellation were made with a goal - - to make the cruise experience on Constellation more consistent with the cruise experience on Celebrity’s Solstice class ships. The Solstice class ships - - Celebrity Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse and coming this summer Silhouette - - are beautifully designed and innovative ships. While Celebrity’s Millennium class ships, which includes Constellation, have long had a reputation for providing a good premium cruise product, Celebrity has decided to upgrade them by taking features from the Solstice ships and incorporating them into the Millennium class ships. Celebrity calls this process “Solsticizing.”

Hotel Director Ryan Kingston worked on the Solsticizing of Constellation and is slated to work on the Solsticizing of sister ship Celebrity Infinity. In his interview, we discussed how the changes made to Constellation relate to each other and how they make the cruise experience more like the experience you have on the Solstice class ships. It is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-HD.html

Leaving aside what changes have been made to Constellation and why they were made, there is still the question of what type of cruise experience is being offered on the Constellation today. To answer this we have interviews with two more key players.

Cruise Director Rich Clesen describes Celebrity’s new emphasis on entertainment and gives examples of how this has affected the programming onboard. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-CD.html

Finally, with all of the additions to Constellation, the ship now has quite a few dining venues. Executive Chef Andy Bouchard discusses what to expect from each of these venues including some of his favorite dishes. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-CD.html