Could have been better
Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 26, 2017
Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 1110
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
The Pros: the food and the service and the showers (great water pressure and temperature controls, tv and movie selection in room
The Cons: small vanity section in cabin, no plug outlets in bathroom(!), bed layout not good, lack of enough cubby spaces in closet, not enough lighting in closets, not enough live entertainment in evenings or other activities onboard. I was bored. Costs for everything onboard were high. This is definitely an older person's ship. Many times in the evenings the ship seemed overly quiet and almost empty! The few bars onboard other than at pool areas were either empty or almost empty early evening. Not enough promos onboard in those areas to attract more people. I was shocked.
For me personally, I can't recommend this ship for a more active and gregarious person. It was disappointing. My third time on HAL, but will definitley take another cruise line in the future, sorry to say.
Lastly, while our cabin was comfy and had a tub, it was right BELOW the galley, so it was rather noisy the first couple of nights after 4am, to the point where we complained. We were offered other cabins which were inadequate or too late in the cruise to change. We were finally given a small credit at cruise end for our inconvenience. The front desk staff were very gracious and really tried, but the cruise was completely full, and these cabins came up through cancellations.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
If you like quieter ships with little live entertainment, it is ok. I would not sail on this ship again. It was geriatric city, and I'm over 60 myself, but it was way too quiet.
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)