Absolutely fantastic!

Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Nieuw Amsterdam

24 Night Magic Of The Mediterranean (Barcelona To Venice)

Sail date: July 03, 2015

Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11009

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

The ship itself is wonderful. I've sailed on it twice. If you're already spending the money on a verandah stateroom, for a minuscule amount of money you can get a spa stateroom. Choose one on the 11th deck (observation deck) because there are only 5 staterooms on either side of the ship, in a quiet hallway nestled between the coffee shop/library/forward observation lounge and the private cabana club. So a stateroom there feels very private and exclusive but really is not more expensive than an ordinary verandah room.    The food on board was very good, and it is definitely worth it to reserve at the specialty restaurants. At the Pinnacle Grill steakhouse you'll pay $30 for a delicious meal that would cost well over $100 at any other restaurant. The Tamarind is also very good.     Service on board is always great, the crew very friendly and accommodating. The itinerary was the reason we chose this particular cruise. Each stop seems more beautiful than the last. However, the first stop, Marseille, is a real letdown; It is an ugly town with little to offer. One has to venture about an hour out of port to see anything remotely worthwhile. And since it was the first stop and on Saturday, it caused problems for the next 2 ports because Sunday in Monaco all the shops are closed and Monday in Florence all of the state museums are closed. That being said, there is still plenty to do in and around Monaco and Florence! But it annoyed me and I'm sure others would feel that Marseille was not just a waste but a real problem with this particular itinerary.  Make sure to book at least 2 days in Barcelona before sailing, and the same in Venice.  All in all, this was the best vacation we've ever taken. But be prepared, you'll want to revisit almost every port to spend much more time in each one!

 

 

 

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5
Explore the Gothic quarter. If you are interested in Gaudi, particularly the Sagrada di familia, book ahead.

Marseille (Provence), France

1 out of 5

Monte Carlo, Monaco

5 out of 5

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

5 out of 5

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

5 out of 5
One needs more than a day in Rome. But I'd recommend finding 2 major attractions and booking them ahead of time, rather than trying to see it all, which is an impossible feat.

Naples, Italy

5 out of 5

Cruise Strait Of Messina

5 out of 5

Taormina, Sicily

5 out of 5

Corfu, Greece

5 out of 5

Dubrovnik, Croatia

5 out of 5

Kotor, Montenegro

5 out of 5
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5 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

WeCruiseToo    9 years ago

Thanks for the great review jrajsky!  We’d love to see some photos of this awesome itinerary!  If you get a chance, you can easily add them to your review through your ctuiseline.com profile page.  Happy cruising!

joanlovesbob    9 years ago

We are big fans of the he spa staterooms too! The verandahs on 11 have smaller balconies, so we like 10. Your cruise sounds wonderful!

BalletFan    9 years ago

Great info thanks, we're going on our first ever cruise on this ship in October and have a verandah stateroom booked, the spa stateroom sounds wonderful. I agree with you on Marseille, went there years ago and felt very unsafe and couldn't wait to leave.

foxyfox    9 years ago

Thank you for the info. We book already 2 days in Barcelona.