Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Just finished the repositioning cruise from San Diego to Vancouver and it was excellent! We loved the addition of Billboard Onboard (dueling pianos), Lincoln Center Stage, and the Gallery Bar! The food and service were excellent, as always on a HAL cruise! Our waiter was very accommodating and friendly even though we were only with him four days. He arranged a special request for escargots for two evenings even though it wasn’t on the menu. We had three women in a Neptune Suite and the cabin was superb! And we enjoyed the added amenities provided in the Neptune Lounge for suite guests. And finally, our dinner at the Tamarind was first class! Our favorite dining venue! 🍸

This was the best crew I’ve had on a ship in years. Everyone did whatever they could for you and always with a smile. We could have stayed another few weeks.

This was an enjoyable cruise, as has been our typical experience on Holland America ships. The crew was helpful, happy, smiling and oh so efficient in providing an enjoyable atmosphere!

Sailed in the Caribbean for seven days! This is definitely a refined and older crowd. Which has its perks! No screaming kids, everyone is in control of the alcohol and it’s relaxing and smooth sailing. No drunks or idiots. Perfect way to cruise in my opinion. The ship is beautiful, looks brand new still. Crew and stewards were amazing as always with Holland America. One thing I will say is that if your looking for slides and wake boards and party boat, then look elsewhere. Everyone is usually in their staterooms around 12 every night. On our sailing, the adult pool area was closed three times due to someone throwing up in the water. That was the only bad thing to say. Food is good enough. It’s like a classy Luby’s, Furs Buffet, or Golden Corral. Holland America overall is top notch. Classy cruise line. Will sail again and again.

Came back last week. Hopefully this review will be helpful for those traveling with kids. First of all you must be aware that this line caters for more mature crowd therefore the programs are designed around that demographic. That being said, they do have kids program separated by age group 3-6, 7-12 and I believe 13-17. Siblings with different age group are not allowed to be together. The kids program is alright for younger kids. If you’re looking for more kid oriented activities in this shop, it’s not for you. But if you’re trying to relax, enjoy the ship and the ports, this is not bad even if you kids. On a 7 night cruise, there are only 2 full sea days, the rest you’ll most likely be spending time in the port. Food was hit and miss, some days they were great , some days meh. Lido food was similar most of the days except the Asian side. Staffs were awesome throughout. These guys work hard and made sure their guests are well taken care off. Our MDR wait staff Eric Victor goes above and beyond to make sure our needs are met. BBC planet earth was good, the pianists were good. Comedian Nathalie Blum - hmmm, I would skip all her shows. Not our type at least. The illusionist was really entertaining especially for kids. The Filipino crew show. Remember these are crews that spend their free time to practice and entertain the guests. They are not professionals. So appreciate their effort and give them support, I do believe they could do better if include more fast beat numbers. We did do the kitchen tour and that was not bad as well. They do the tour in small batches , so there could be a small wait. Do make sure to wear closed toe shoes for the tour. We really enjoyed all the ports except San Juan. Half Moon Cay was pristine!!! Enjoyed snorkeling in Grand Turk as well, you don’t need any excursion, buy your own gear and have a good time right at the beach close to the ship. St Thomas, we took a bus with a wild ride to coki beach. Not bad... just a relaxing beach day and beautiful landscapes. Again, we travelled with kids and went in knowing what to expect. We travelled with another family, it was 4 adults and 3 kids (5,7,8). We had nice relaxing vacation and the kids had fun in HMC, Grand Turk and St Thomas. We enjoyed our company and had a great vacation. Can’t ask for more. One more thing, the movie selection in the room was unusually great.

A great cruise and experience. Food was amazing and the Islands were a great way to spend a week of vacation. Great time with family and lots of private time for Rest and Relaxation. More of an Older crowd 60+ for avg, which seemed to limit the Activities, but great conversations and limited lines every where we went. Our teenagers said not many activities for the two days at sea, but had fun with family and other friends they met on board

Enjoyed the trip.................. ...........

Just finished a 7 day eastern Caribbean cruise. This was the best cruise we've had so far. The staff took great care of us, the food was phenomenal, and excursions were all perfect. They could have done a little better with the soft serve ice cream and parts of the ship need to be upgraded. We love HAL and already have our deposit for the next cruise!

This was our first cruise so we didn't have a lot of experience when choosing the boat and ports of call. However, on the cruise we did talk to a lot of people and in retrospect we could not have made a better choice. Holland America pays great attention to detail and the dining and entertainment is second to none. Will more than like choose Holland America again.

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.

We had An awesome relaxing cruise. Many changes some we liked others not so much. Overall staff were very good.

Ship was nice. Staff was very friendly and accommodating. Service in main dining room on "my time" dining was very slow, but staff was busy but provided the best service they could. Cabin stewards greeted us by name and did a great job. Entertainment was ok. Singers, dancers and band were very good. Other shows were only fair. Our cabin was good with plenty of closet and storage space, however, was quite noisy being below the galley. Heard things being moved around constantly. Food was very good in both the main dining room and the lido market. Did not try the specialty restaurants. Not a lot of things to do, but was relaxing. Itinerary was good. Grand Turk had a spectacular beach. Missed Amber code due to weather. Half Moon Cay was a beautiful private island with a nice beach.

Also. The food was fabulous. Have been on other lines where the food quality was apparently poor. Talking about the main dining room. Never had a bad meal or complaint and i am a picky eater and know my way around a kitchen real well.

Overall, it was a very good cruise, we enjoyed it enough that we are already looking forward to another cruise.

We were unsure about cruising but after this wonderful experience we can't wait to go again! HAL is a wonderful company; our ship was beautiful; the staff was fabulous; and our vacation was magical!

We had another wonderful cruise with HAL! Each aspect of the Nieuw Amsterdam was done excellently and we have been reminded of why we love Holland America so much. Our staterooms, 1065 and 1067, were spacious, clean, and we'll furnished. The shower tubs were large and I never felt cramped in the bathroom; there was more than enough space in the wardrobe and drawers for clothes and personal belongings. Our window sill in 1067 was deeper than in 1065, and allowed us to store a room service tray there if we wished, or even sit in and observe the port activity. We were conveniently located in between midship and aft elevators, and had easy access to the front desk, theater, and a quick jog up the stairs to the Lido Marketplace. The food was outstanding, in Holland America fashion, and except for a churro dessert on Mexican night, we couldn't find a single dish that was underwhelming or disappointing. We were, however, disappointed with the coffee available aboard - the room service coffee, in particular, was the worst, and tasted stale. Lido Marketplace's was marginally better, and the MDR's coffee was the best brewed coffee on the ship, although it's quality was really just tolerable, and comparable to Cracker Barrel Country Store in the United States; sufficient for most, but some who are used to better coffee will be disappointed. The espresso bar was likewise underwhelming, although getting a double espresso for $1.95 was about the best coffee, altogether, on the ship. The service was exemplary, and we, once again, felt attached and appreciative of the wonderful crew aboard HAL. Each of the men and women, hailing from Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand, particularly, did a fantastic job of making us feel welcome and pampered, regardless of their own fatigue/stress. Overall, we were pleased with our experience; we are boring cruisers, though, altogether, and spend most of our time in our staterooms reading or watching movies. The entertainment and activities may be found lacking by those used to Las Vegas-style shows, but we found the Planet Earth 2 show, in particular, to be satisfactory.

So yesterday I boarded the beautiful Nieuw Amsterdam in the port of St. Thomas, I was only onboard for a couple of hours. But in those hours I was fully immersed in what the Holland America Line is all about. First my friend and I were given visitor passes and waited for our friend who works onboard to come down to meet us. He has worked on many of the different ships so he was able to give us a private tour of the whole ship. My favorite spot was Exploration Central which is at the very front of the ship with many electronic device tables where they have interactive maps along with information about the captain and his job. I found that this was very relaxing and informative. I realized that the ship has gorgeous decor like the New York skyline which is the atrium chandelier. Although I did not get to view any entertainment I did get to try out the lido “buffet” and let me just say... this might be my favorite lido onboard any other line, this was my fourth cruise line. There food was so delicious. I look forward to booking the Nieuw Stantendam very soon.

Had a great time relaxing in the Caribbean. Loved the variety of food and the staff and service was excellent.

We enjoyed the front line staff and the dining. The (lack of) on board entertainment was just SO bad

Overall slightly disappointed in Holland America.