Great Friends, Great Time, but HAL Fell short of Expectations

Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

TravlinArchitec

Contributor Level: First Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 221

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Tropical Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 31, 2016

Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 7125

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

We had come to expect 5* service from HAL. Our dining service was one of the worst ever. Two hours to get thru eating. Missed items. Wrong items.

Our room steward was one of the best

Ship was clean, and it good condition.

Our room was NOISY, and we had read it had "thunking" problems on line. It did, and HAL is unable to address this. Not one night of good, quiet, sleep.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Food was fine. Service was terrible NO food after midnight. CRAZY.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Kinda lame. Not much, and very little participation.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Greg in the Piano Bar was the best. Katie, an entertainer - WOW!!!! Unfortunately ALL entertainment occurs at the SAME time, so you have to choose WHICH thing to see. AND it ALL quits about 11pm. NO later evening activities.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Room Steward Yudi was Great. But, the dining staff..... UGH

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

NOISY!!!!!!!

Ship tip

DO NOT do any time dinning!!! ALWAYS a wait. If you do late dining you will NEVER get to the show. If you have a unique diet, like no dairy or gluten, DO NOT tell them, as it takes them FOREVER to get you things, and they will simply not bring a dish (not offer a substitute) if there is an issue.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

1 out of 5

Key West, Florida

1 out of 5

STUPID. TOO commercial.

Thumbs Up 0

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5

Go snorkeling on a private tour. Or rent bikes and GET OUT OF THE PORT. there is a VERY cute town, but you can't walk it. The immediate port is STUPID.

Thumbs Up 1

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

5 out of 5

Go to the 27 waterfalls. Still not offered as a cruise excursion, but a GREAT asset, FUN, and affordable.

Thumbs Up 4

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

1 out of 5

Cruise line fund raiser. Wish they would skip this.

Thumbs Up 1