My experience on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam Mediterranean Empires cruise.

Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Nieuw Amsterdam

12 Night Mediterranean Empires (Venice Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 29, 2014

Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 1044

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

I was very disappointed with the food in the dining room. I have cruised for over 100 days with Holland America and have always enjoyed the choice and quality of food in the dining rooms.  In fact, I cruised on the Nieuw Amsterdam in the Caribbean the first year it was put in service and the food was excellent.  I hope this experience will not be repeated on future Holland American cruises.  The dining room staff were excellent. The cabin stewards were also very good.  The shore excursions were good except for the night gondola ride in Venice.  We paid $129.00 for a 30 minute gondola ride, water bus ride and a long walk from the water bus to the gondola.  Extremely overpriced!!  The entertainment was not good in the theatre.  The ship is very nice and the staff were all pleasant and helpful. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Not what I expect from Holland America.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Not bad, but not very good

Children's Programs

N/A

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Dining room staff and cabin stewards were excellent

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Katakolon (Olympia), Greece

5 out of 5

Piraeus (Athens), Greece

5 out of 5
Parthenon and the Acropolis

Cruise Dardanelles

5 out of 5

Istanbul, Turkey

5 out of 5

Lesbos (Lesvos), Greece Did not visit port

N/A - could not stop due to the weather

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

3 out of 5
My second visit to Ephesus, but still enjoyed it.

Santorini, Greece

5 out of 5
My favorite island - beautiful scenery

Argostoli, Kefalonia, Greece

3 out of 5
Not a lot on this island - not as pretty as most of the other ones

Venice, Italy

5 out of 5
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