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

Queen Mary 2's Todd English Restaurant

Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is a unique ship. She is the only ship sailing for a major cruise line that was designed as an ocean liner as opposed to a cruise ship and is the only ship that sails across the Atlantic on a regular basis Moreover, she carries on in the elegant tradition of the great liners in the lifestyle onboard.

This elegant lifestyle extends to the dining. As a nod to the modern age, the ship does have a buffet and some casual eateries but the main dining experience is fine dining. All of the main dining rooms present high quality food, professional service and a sophisticated atmosphere.

On many cruise ships, the role of the specialty restaurant is to offer guests a fine dining alternative. However, since this role is already filled on QM2 by the main dining rooms, the specialty restaurant must have a different role. Therefore, I decided to take an in-depth look at the specialty restaurant on QM2 - - the Todd English restaurant.

Todd English is an American celebrity chef who also owns several restaurants. His unique style of cooking has won him numerous awards. However, how is he able to transplant that style onto a ship that is at sea most of the time. Is it just his name on the door?

To help answer these questions, I spoke with QM2’s Executive Chef Mark Oldroyd who not only supervises the ship’s Todd English restaurant but also all of the other dining venues on QM2. Our conversation is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-review-Todd-English.html


In addition Chef Oldroyd selected several items off the menu at the Todd English for a pictorial in which he discusses those items. http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-review-Todd-English-3.html

Finally, I have prepared a review in which I discuss my experience at both a lunch and a dinner in the Todd English. http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-review-Todd-English-2.html

Talking with Celebrity Summit's Captain; Review of Summit's Specialty Restaurant

Rounding out our update on Celebrity Summit are two new articles that approach the Summit experience from two different angles.

First, we have my interview with Captain Nikolaos Frantzis, the master of Celebrity Summit discussing the ship from a nautical perspective.. Captain Frantzis was for many years associated with Celebrity Mercury and came to Celebrity Summit earlier this year. From a nautical perspective, Mercury follows the traditional cruise ship model whereas Summit is very much based on the new model. Thus, Captain Frantzis is in a very good position to explain such things as the difference between a ship with a traditional propeller system and one with an azipod system. My conversation with Captain Frantzis is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-art-captain.html

Second, we have my review of the specialty restaurant on the Summit. The Normandie restaurant on Summit is out of the ordinary because it purposely tries to invoke the atmosphere of the 1930s ocean liner SS Normandie. It even has artifacts and art work from the liner. The Normandie was perhaps the most elegant and sophisticated ship ever built so a restaurant seeking to recall that ship has to perform up to a very high level. Thus, in assessing the Normandie Restaurant, it was not just a question of whether it was good or not but a question of whether it lived up to its namesake. My review of the Normandie is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-review-Normandie.html

This week Cunard announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be naming Cunard’s new ship, the Queen Elizabeth, on October 11 of this year. This is, of course, quite an honor and underscores Cunard’s unique position in the industry.

Of course, just because Cunard is planning to call its new ship Queen Elizabeth does not mean that that will be the ship’s name - - at least if one goes by historical precedent. In the late 1960s, Cunard built a new ship to replace the original Queen Elizabeth, which had been built in the 1930s and which had served with distinction in war and peace. The plan was to call the new ship Queen Elizabeth in tribute to the original ship. The original Queen Elizabeth had been named after the Queen Mother, the current monarch’s mother, and so Her Majesty was asked and agreed to name the new ship. However, at the naming ceremony she surprised everyone by saying: “I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second.” If the ship’s godmother had been some movie star or minor member of the nobility, this last minute addition might have been overlooked but the monarch’s words cannot be overlooked. Consequently, the new ship became the Queen Elizabeth 2.

While Her Majesty’s addition to the planned name sparked years of debate over whether the ship was named after the original Queen Elizabeth ship or whether it was named after the monarch, I think most people would agree that it was a good move. QE2 instantly had her own identity that was distinct from that of the original ship. One can only wonder whether she would have become such a legend in her own right without that departure from the plan.

Cruise ship specialty restaurants

During my various cruises, I have tired a number of the various specialty restaurants aboard the ships. These are venues that offer an alternative, usually luxury, dining experience for a cover charge above the price of the cruise.

Since they are becoming increasing popular, the cruise lines are putting more of these alternative restaurants on the ships. As such, they are an important part of the cruise experience the various lines are trying to present. Consequently, the topic of specialty restaurants often comes up in the interviews that I do with the ship’s officers.

This week, I thought I would put together an article that focuses on the specialty restaurants and which talks about why the cruise lines have incorporated them into their cruise program. To this end, I have drawn upon my interviews and have included comments by various officers. In addition, I thought I would go a step further and talk about some of the specialty restaurants that I have tried and liked during the last year. These include restaurants on Ruby Princess, Emerald Princess, Queen Mary 2, Carnival Splendor and Celebrity Solstice.

I also thought it would be an idea to have links in the article to the menus of these restaurants. That way, if a restaurant sounds interesting the reader can click and see what that restaurant actually offers.My article on cruise ship specialty restaurants appears at http://beyondships.com/Cruise-articles-specialty-restaurants.html