Disappointed in Holland America
Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
16 Night Panama Canal Westbound (Ft. Lauderdale To San Diego)
Sail date: April 09, 2017
Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 6123
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
This was our 4th cruise with Holland America over a span of 13 years. We have been on the Veendam to Alaska in 2004, Oosterdam to Mexico in 2008, Eurodam to New England/Canada Fall Foliage in 2014, and Nieuw Amsterdam through Panama Canal in April 2017. All the ships were beautiful! Loved our Alaska and New England/Canada Fall Foliage cruises the most for the destinations. I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed with this last cruise. I feel Holland is coming down in their standards. Having only 650 hard-working crew to approximately 2000 passengers is not adequate. Service in Main Dining Room, was slow--had to continuously ask for water--2 1/2 hours for dinner most nights a little too long. Entertainment less appealing than I have seen on other Holland cruises--they need to have more shows that would appeal to the majority of baby boomers, who travel Holland, would be my suggestion. The food, mainly Main entrees, prepared according to Michellin style restaurants with a lot of sauces and heavy on the seasonings, was just overkill in my opinion. I did like the variety of soups, both hot and cold, and variety of appetizers and desserts. Excursions are getting pricey for the value you get. Did enjoy going in Puerto Chiapas and visiting the elementary school and having them perform their cultural dances. Visiting the Banana Plantation was very interesting and our guide Angel was great. Having a homemade tamale made in banana leaves was the best--better than the food on the ship. Our room steward and wine steward were excellent. Glad to see Holland still does the animal towels as I have heard that is stopping on other cruise lines. Was a little taken aback that we did have to ask our room steward to change the sheets the first day as we discovered several brown stains on them. He told us that happens from the laundry machines that wash the sheets and towels---not acceptable!!! I did like the reasonable laundry package they offered for our clothes--unlimited for $7 a day for this 16 day cruise--no brown stains, clean and pressed and folded neatly. Talking with many of our fellow passengers about Holland and other cruise lines that were traveled on, the general consensus was that many of the cruise lines like Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Holland are changing and not for the better--NCL was not liked by many. It seems like the cruise lines are more interested in the cutting corners for the money and not interested in keeping up their reputation. Unfortunately, I see Holland is doing this too and probably because they are owned by Carnival.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Beautiful ship,expect more mature crowd sailing on Holland, not a cruise line for kids.
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)
Enter Panama Canal At Cristobal
Puerto Chiapas (Tapachula), Mexico
Traveler Photos
