The cruise was 23 days and mostly went as planned. The sea was unusually calm so any motion sickness was minimal. We covered a lot ground and the cruise was very relaxing with lively nightlife especially at Happy Hour at the Ocean Bar and Billboard Onboard Bar. Entertainment was varied with good show nights, music nights, etc. Food was generally pretty good with lots of choices. Specialty restaurants added to the variety. Stewards were excellent and Sommelier-sponsored wine tastings were fun and informative. Daytime had many activities or you could just relax around a laid-back ship. It was a great way to emerge from Pandemic restrictions and enjoy the beginning of Autumn in North and Central America.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation much smoother after Testing and Vax requirements dropped.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Main Dining Room, Deck 2 was consistently excellent with part reserved for Club Orange passengers. Both Tamarind and Pinnacle Grill Specialty Restaurants served up great food and had attentive service.
Lido Market buffet was consistently good with Italian, Asian, and American stations. Great for lunch.
Dive-In restaurant at the Lido Pool provided tasty gourmet burgers, fries, and Nathan’s Hot Dogs. They now have creamy milk shakes.
The SeaView Deck NY Pizza venue provided good 10-inch personal pizzas in many variations. Especially liked “the Bronx”.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
I’m told they were good, but, due to my limited mobility my participation was very low, although I did attend three wine tastings offered by the Sommelier that were both informative and educational.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Great performances in scripted, choreographed shows by the StepOne Dance Company. BBC Earth films accompanied by live Lincoln Center Stage musicians were impressive. We also had 2 comics and a Magician that brought you back to Hollywood Palace days. Two talented pianists provided Pop Music performances most nights in the Billboard Onboard venue with a Mainstage performance combining Billboard with StepOne that was quite dynamically entertaining.
Also, most nights a Dance Band with a huge inventory provided American Songbook classic tunes that you could dance to in the Ocean Bar.
Children's Programs
Solo Traveler and very few children aboard.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Dining Stewards were excellent in all restaurants. Club Orange Program extra services provided. Ocean Bar bartenders and bar staff provided outstanding and entertaining service. Cabin Stewards were really on top of their game, performing flawlessly. Excursion and Shore Services staff were always on the ball making people comfortable after a long hot day out exploring.
Captain and Senior Staff worked hard to have stranded passengers (zip-liners in rainforest cut off by Rainstorm) returned to the ship. Had to be negotiated with Costa Rica and Panama. Stranded passengers rejoined the ship two days early in Colon, Panama
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The Nieuw Amsterdam was launched in 2010 and refurbished in 2017. She was in excellent condition and everything was very clean and well-maintained. The design was efficient. My cabin was amidship near the Central elevator Lobby and getting to the activity centers was quick with a minimum of steps.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Mine was a top of the line (not spa) Verandah Stateroom with unobstructed view on deck 5 amidship. I’d say it was about 230 sq Ft, incl balcony. Design was efficient with queen bed and ample closet space. Mini-fridge built into vanity desk. Cabin had a safe. Lighting was ample with LED reading lights. Adequate drawer space. Bathroom had a tub and shower combo with AC outlets and liquid soap, conditioner, shampoo dispenser vials near sink and in shower. Air-conditioning was adequate for the tropics. Stewards also provided a fan upon request. A two person love seat/fold out bed. The 50 sq Ft balcony was fine for one or two with two reclining chairs with footrests. Very nice maple wood decor, wall art, and large wall mirrors which made the room seem bigger. Room service available gratis and very efficient.
Ship tip
Excursions desk is now in the Crow’s Nest instead of deck 1 with Guest Services. Excursion tickets are distributed electronically by Navigator App. Make sure you have a smart phone or tablet as things come down electronically. Smaller than the newer Pinnacle Class ships, but still a lot of walking. It’s a comfortable ship of medium size and definitely at a human scale. Not like a shopping mall . Quiet and mature atmosphere.
Only boarded ship here, but Canada Place terminal interesting as it was a pavilion for Expo ‘86. There were 4 ships her for our departure. Beautiful harbor and always exciting sailing under suspension bridge at forested Stanley Park. Be prepared as street traffic in Vancouver tends to be heavy.
Did not go ashore here as bad publicity about safety and cleanliness. Have been ashore in the past and things were closed then due to government shutdown.
Attractive port tourist area. Ship had to use tenders and then lots of walking. They were highly interested in selling souvenirs and food. I experienced a private tour bait and switch for a tourist boat that “wasn’t sailing that day” despite paid reservation, but another 2-1/2 hours later available. Be careful of non-Holland America excursions.
Same. This was a combination cargo and tourist port with excursions. We had 41 passengers go into the interior for zip-lining, but they were cut off by rainstorms and had to rejoin the ship in Colon after the Canal. The Captain and Senior Staff worked with local governments to help get the passengers transported back to the ship.
The daytime Canal transit was great and was covered via web cam at the Panama Canal Authority web site. Back home, relatives were able to see the ship in various locks. Cruise Director provided running commentary the whole time that could be heard on deck or on the TV system on the Bow Camera channel. I used that and my verandah to follow the transit. Bow deck was open plus many watched the transit from the Promenade Deck and the Crow’s nest Lounge. It was a smooth transit with little delay. Engineering wonder! Our ship was just small enough to use the original canal. Pinnacle Class and larger ships need to use the new channel of the Canal.
This seemed a very prosperous port with good infrastructure. I was motivated to do a Holland excursion here despite my walking limitations. Did the Atlantis Submarine tour from downtown. Submerged to 140 feet and saw coral, fish, shipwrecks etc. Exciting, entertaining, informative. Barge crew and sub crew kept up a running commentary. Although my legs are nerve-damaged and I use a cane, I was still able to descend and ascend the sub ladders to do the tour. We were not at the part of the island where the famous German freighter was scuttled to prevent capture in early WWII. It was a good tour and fun.
As my flight was not until 7 pm, decided to join a tour if Ft. Lauderdale that included various things of tourist interest by coach that included shooting location for “Where the Boys Are” movie. The included paddle riverboat tour roamed the canals and Intra-coastal waterways and featured many fabulous homes of the rich and famous. Thus was followed by a transfer to the airport in Ft. Lauderdale for our home bound flights. Not a bad way to spend time waiting after an early morning disembarkation.
Disembarkation was well-organized and went quickly although it was very early and a lot of people did not have morning flights out. An attractive program was available to get luggage automatically to your airline from the ship, but there was cutoff for flights after 6 pm. Mine was at 7 pm (originally at 2 pm before airline changes) so I was not qualified to use the program. Breakfast was provided on the ship from 6 am to 9 am for convenience of departing passengers. Due to drop in Covid restrictions, Customs was a breeze and baggage collection was straightforward with porters available.
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