My First Cruise.

Item: Nieuw Amsterdam
Rating: 4.1
Author: mpug1946beach

Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

mpug1946beach

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 19

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 25, 2023

Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam

Cabin number: GUAR

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 11 months ago

Review summary

This was my first cruise and overall it was a good experience with new and interesting travel.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Service at any of the food facilities is top notch. An incident with our A/C did not get attended to in timely manner, which lead to a very uncomfortable night trying to sleep with the sheets literally sticking to us in the high humidity climate of the Caribbean. When I went down to follow up the the customer service folks at around 11:30 PM due to the uncomfortable conditions, I was informed that there was no staff available at that time of night and they sent up a floor fan for us to use... they should had the appropriate staff take a look at it earlier in the day when I informed them of the issue and they probably should have the appropriate personnel on call. I've worked in property management, and A/C calls will typically be at least checked on as quickly as possible, even at night by on call personnel or sub-contractors if necessary.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The A/C went out one afternoon and no one came to address/repair it even though we informed them in the afternoon. This lead to a very uncomfortable night trying to sleep with the sheets literally sticking to us in the high humidity climate of the Caribbean. Additionally the room was supposed to have one bed and it was setup for two which they just pushed together, leaving a crack down the middle of the bed.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

4 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5

It should be noted that Half Moon Cay, Bahamas was the highlight of the trip... beautiful beach with okay snorkeling. The water was this amazing blue green color that was absolutely stunning.

Thumbs Up 0

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

2 out of 5

This was my first cruise and overall it was a good experience with new and interesting travel. I would suggest that the Jamaica stop (Ocho Rios) should be replaced with someplace different... safer, cleaner, more appropriate for tourism. Cruise lines should refuse to stop here again unit such a time that the Jamaica government cleans up the riff raff, cities, streets... and makes their ports more presentable. Way too many drug waste cases hanging around in too many areas.

Thumbs Up 0

George Town, Grand Cayman

4 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

8 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe 3 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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Ladyjunecliff 10 months ago

Sorry to hear about a night without AC. Yikes. We agree about Jamaica too. Don’t stop there! Several folks did not go into port there.

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Lawnboy1956 11 months ago

I wholeheartedly agree with you about Jamaica! Almost the worst port I was ever in, Nicaragua was the first by far. Within a few minutes of getting off the ship I was offered drugs within a few feet of the local police.

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javawoody 11 months ago

Glad you enjoyed your first cruise

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Gwbigdog 11 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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karlgrgurich 11 months ago

I agree with your comments! You are an amazing first time cruiser!!

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Niavlys 11 months ago

Happy you loved your first cruise... First one of many i hope for you.. Cheers

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cruising2004 11 months ago

Glad you enjoyed your first cruise!

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Other reviews of this sailing

We had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Definitely will be sailing HAL again. Next trip is likely Alaska!

Great cruise!

Will use Holland American again!