Disappointing Caribbean cruise

Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Caribbean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 31

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5
Nieuw Amsterdam

21 Night Tropical / East / West Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 24, 2018

Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8121

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Cruise was ok. We found we will never go on a large ship again. The facilities on this large ship appeared to be undermanned. This is the most disappointing cruise I’ve been on.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Efficient, with friendly staff.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Great selection. Had a difficult time trying to get an ample amount in the buffet line. Due to the amount of people on board, certain stations had so many people in line, it was necessary to resort to my second choice. One morning while waiting for my blueberry pancakes, which takes time, another person came up and ordered the identical order. In about one minute, they gave him my order and he walked away. I ask where my order was and they immediately started my order. I had also ordered two eggs and as I was getting my pancakes they were giving my eggs to another customer.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5
Based on previous cruises, the entertainment was second rate, with the exception of B.B. King and the rest of the musicians. The singer was very talented but needs some work on her act.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Very good cabin stewards. Efficient and friendly. Bart, a supervisor in the Lido and main dining room, handled a problem we had, gracefully and efficiently. It had to do with a foreign object in my wife’s food. Evan and another young omelet cook were very friendly and good at what they were doing. One young gentleman at the mint station on floor two was friendly and very pleasant, with a positive attitude.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Very different than what we are use to, well marked , clean.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Atim and Yohan did a very good job. Very attentive and friendly. Very clean and comfortable room.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5
We started our cruise here, no excursions.

Key West, Florida

4 out of 5
This stop was nothing special. We could have driven here. Appeared to be a fill in stop. Enjoyed the history part of the city.

Grand Turk Island

2 out of 5
Not much to see. The history was interesting. I’ve seen my share of donkeys.

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic Did not visit port

Weather prevented us from visiting the one Port we were looking forward to seeing.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

4 out of 5
Great beach, good barbecue, not a real highlight.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Efficient, well organized.Cruise was ok
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4 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

LordRob    6 years ago

Found your comments interesting. HAL features mid-sized ships. We enjoy them more than some others because of the smaller numbers on-board.

dyers    6 years ago

We loved the Nieuw Amsterdam. So much food and so enjoyable.

IkeDeb    6 years ago

Interesting

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