Wonderful. Star rating is low due to my view of the ports.

Item: Nieuw Amsterdam
Rating: 3.9
Author: Catkarma

Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Catkarma

Contributor Level: Third Mate

130 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 64

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

17 Night Panama Canal - Eastbound (San Diego To Ft. Lauderdale)

Sail date: October 06, 2021

Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 7055

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 years ago

Review summary

Great cruise. Considering it was during COVID, we were pleasantly surprised how well Holland handled everything.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Fine. No problems. Very smooth.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Buffet food tended to be greasy. There is a wide variety of food. Asian and Italian every day Bread was just okay. Room service is top notch and efficient. Main dining room was a little disorganized and slow. Specialty dinning was good. Dive-In food was amazing!! Those fries!!!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Typical pool/spas. Fitnesses center is well equipped.

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Trivia and other games were great. All musical performers were sub-par, except the Alley Cats, the a cappella group. They were amazing. Comedian wasn’t funny. The BB King lounge lead singer was horrible. Lincoln Center group was not good.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All were very good and worked very hard at going above and beyond our expectations.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Layout, what can I say? Except for a few differences, most cruise ships are laid out the same. In the age of COVID, I’d say it was clean, but still could use some work in that area.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Neptune suite. What’s not to like?

Ship tip

Have fun. It’s a nice ship.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

San Diego, California Did not visit port

Got on board there.

Thumbs Up 0

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Did not visit port

Didn't feel well.

Thumbs Up 0

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

2 out of 5

No excursion. Ship docks where you face a Sam’s Club and Walmart. Not within any walking distance to any thing you’d want to see.

Thumbs Up 0

Manzanillo, Mexico

3 out of 5

Cute, old typical little Mexican town. Fun to walk around. The area with all the resorts are on the other side of the bay.

Thumbs Up 0

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5

Incredible. Holland does a great job at educational options about the canal.

Thumbs Up 0

Oranjestad, Aruba

3 out of 5

The excursion was really stupid, except the butterfly place. Maybe next time we’ll try the ATV’s or will just walk around the cool town.

Thumbs Up 1

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

4 out of 5

Kinda cheesy with the pirate ship and touristy things. But, if you look past that, it’s beautiful. A huge amount of lounge chairs on the beach. Glass bottom boat tour was bad.

Thumbs Up 0

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida Did not visit port

End of cruise.

Thumbs Up 0