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Aft Balcony on Nieuw Amsterdam

Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 19
Helpful Votes: 607

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Nieuw Amsterdam

7 Night Tropical Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 26, 2019

Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6170

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

This is my 23 cruise on Holland America and 4th on Nieuw Amsterdam. Our loyalty was reinforced by the cleanliness, food quality and consistent outstanding service of the employees.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Embarkation was very smooth and organized. We arrived at the terminal at 1100am. There were no long lines and we were processed through security and at the Holland America desk very fast. Boarding commenced at 11:30 and we were in our cabin 6170 a few minutes thereafter. We were fortunate to be able to carry our luggage on so we unpacked followed by lunch.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Food in Main Dining Room (MDR) was excellent and the service from our waiters Gede and David at table 172 made it even more special. After the first meal we asked the maitre D to seat us there for the balance of the cruise. They even kept our table when we dined at the Pinnacle Grill one night. The Pinnacle Grill food was also excellent. I ordered the 10oz filet mignon and my wife ordered the 7oz. Our waiter Andi was also excellent and funny. The Lido Market Place buffet was also Excellent for breakfast and lunch. So pleased with the food selection and we are especially fond of fresh fruit. Love the tasty plums, assorted cheeses, deli sandwiches, pasta station, Asian food that changed each day according to country. The service is also wonderful with smiling and engaging waiters. They were always filling your coffee, orange juice, ice tea and water glasses and whatever you needed. They were especially attentive to our guests in wheelchairs or who needed special assistance. The restaurant was always clean and copies of the New York Times abbreviated paper was provided each morning in several languages. Special recognition to Waiter Putput ( who recognized us from a earlier cruise from a different ship). I dont know how they do it!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
My wife and I enjoyed the Couples Package at the Greenhouse Spa for the week which included the hydro pool, sauna, steam room, ceramic beds and special showers. The Spa staff was very attentive. My wife also enjoyed the full body massage and facial.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
We enjoyed Holland America's music walk which has the BB King All Star Band for 6 nights. They played blues, Motown and other genres. The talent was outstanding and the club was filled with young and older and all groups each night. The BB King All Stars were especially engaging throughout their performances even dancing on the floor with single passengers, and taking special song requests. Lincoln Center Stage was also excellent and we enjoyed them each night of their 6 days on. The quintet of piano, 2 violins, viola and cello played beautiful songs to enjoy. Production plays - there were two. Humanity & Stages Humanity on formal night was very good, however, don't know if the older folks appreciated it. Many walked out during the show. The dancing was excellent and had themes which you needed to follow according to the props and the songs played. There was no vocals from the dancers. Two comedian shows and 3 educational presentations: Blue water, 150 history of Holland America and story of rum in the Caribbean.

Crow's Nest

5 out of 5

Crows NestGreat place to read, relax. play board games and look at the ocean. One has the ability to use the computer graphics to look maps of where you are going and enlarge them right down to the street level. Also quite interesting is a virtual ships bridge where one can see the propeller and engine room statistics.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our room stewards: Ketut (KT) and Yogi were excellent. They were very friendly and kept our room cleaned 2x per day and took care of our laundry which was returned the same evening. We had our laundry sent 3 times during the week. The laundry was very efficient and returned our clothes fresh and cleaned including tuxedo shirt. Underwear and gym clothes returned in wrapped paper with a Holland America hold sticker. Dress items were returned on hangars inside a blue garment bag. Included also was a personal card stating the name of the person who personally checked our items. 2 were personally checked by Wayan and 1 checked by Arsa. We mentioned our MDR waiters Gede and David at table 172 who provided outstanding service. Also Andi at the Pinnacle Grill was also great.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Ship and Design Love this ship and design. It is easy to get around and well maintained. Workers are always cleaning, painting and refurbishing. I also enjoyed Holland America's proud history of 150 years and the many paintings and photos of the ships that have come and those that have gone.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin Comfortable typical balcony cabin except it had an aft view which was wonderful. Entrance into the cabin was very narrow due to narrow hallway and depth of one of the closets. In fact the first closet was very narrow to accommodate the entry way. Clothes had to be hung front to back because of depth. Not very convenient. The view from the aft balcony is quite awesome especially knowing you are at the edge of the back. Kind of scary is that deck 7. 8 and 9 are visibly above us. The floors are staggered so the person above can look down directly on top of you if you are at the edge.

Ship tip

Make friends. It's very easy with the design, service and programs on the ship. Prepay any packages you think you will want as the prices are cheaper before you get on ship. Examples: Spa packages for Greenhouse spa, internet and excursions. Make sure you spend a few nights a BB King All Stars. Enjoy the Lincoln Center Stage performances especially the movie themes. Take advantage of the free Microsoft computer classes on deck 2 aft. Take advantage if the EXC talks they give on board. Brings some gala dress for the 2 formal nights.

Thumbs up

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Disembarkation was orderly and promptly at 07:30 am. We were self assist so we queued up on deck 2 outside of the BB king club as we left the ship.
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6 Comments

cruisereckoning    4 years ago

Thanks for the review and so glad you enjoyed.
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2LoveBikes    5 years ago

HAL is consistently a great cruise line especially for the service and food.
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4Goodtimes    5 years ago

Informative in-depth review. Thank you for sharing.
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Shh813    5 years ago

We were on Nieuw Amsterdam in March of 2018. Loved it. Not a lot to do on the ship during the day but that’s what the ports are for. Our cabin steward always greeted us by name and a smile whenever he saw us and asked how the ports were each day. Cabin always spotless and we never had to ask for anything. Very spacious for 2 people. We had dinner every night in MDR. Food was absolutely delicious. Buffet was great for breakfast and lunch. Staff was the most friendly I’ve ever seen in the buffet. Always smiling and friendly and asking to help. They also serve you at the buffet. Thought it might slow the lines down but did not. Fast and efficient. Loved the Dive-In for hotdogs, hamburgers and fries. The best hamburgers we’ve ever had. Pizza was also very good at the pizza place. Made to order and you get the whole pizza, not just a slice.They also have Caesar salad there which was excellent. It was great relaxing at the pool. No loud bands or DJ’s there. Piped in music, so relaxing. Holland America is geared towards an older crowd so it was perfect for us. We did go on March vacation of school so we had a mixture of ages then. Loved everything and would definitely go on the Nieuw Amsterdam again. We will be going on the Zuiderdam in March of 2020 to Panama Canal. Can’t wait. Cruising is the best vacation ever.
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cruisereckoning    5 years ago

Sounds wonderful. We are going on Holland America a 2nd time the end of Feb 2020. We also did a 17 day Panama Canal this past Apr and it was wonderful.
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bobduck1993    5 years ago

Sounds like the perfect cruise!
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