Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My cruise on the "Nieuw Amsterdam" was exceptional! The ship was magnificent, the food was fantastic, the entertainment was excellent, and the service was impeccable! I can't wait to return to this phenomenal ship!

Beautiful weather, nice ship and attentive crew. Food was excellent esp. in Tamarind, but drinks are way too pricey. Lincoln center stage was an unexpected pleasure.

We booked this cruise because they listed pickleball as an activity. Not true. No nets for pickleball, equipment broken.

I had a great time. It was very relaxing and the food and entertainment was great.

Enjoyed the cruise and understood going into it that the clientele may have been much older. Activities were geared towards older crowd. Would like to see more variety for the other 25% to enjoy.

I feel that they put money over satisfaction. Need more staff to wait on people. I would have rather they cancel cruise then go on only 1 engine. They could not put stabilizers out due to slow speed so very rough ride. Skipped the 1 port I really wanted to see, Turks and Cacios . It was the main reason I chose this cruise line. Never again.

Would not go back on holland America anytime in the near future. Been on many holland America cruises in the past, major corporate change and not for the better.

Surcharges There are now four specialty restaurants in addition to the specialties within the Pinnacle (e.g. Rudy’s Sel de Mer) There is an additional charge for steak, lobster, cappuccino, and Tazo Tea. Overcrowding The number of passengers on the newer Holland America ships has increased from 1800 to 2100 with the number of crew and officers cut from 1000 to 836. These cuts stress waitstaff and cabin stewards who have to wait more tables and attend to more cabins. The quality of service is diminished because of errors and inordinate wait times for tables. Cutbacks Affecting Quality of Cruise Elimination of cast shows, live bands (HALcats) in the bars, exploration team, expert lecturers, travel team, library, meaningful trivia prizes instead of pins, “dam” brand hats, aprons in shops, toothpicks and after-dinner mints/ginger in dining room. There are no dance classes. There is a paucity of activities and horrific scheduling with attractions opposite one another or religious services during dinner. Holland America/ Carnival are saving money and turning off repeat passengers in favor of a boisterous drinking and gambling crowd. Gifts with strings attached from the shops and spa gave us a $50 discount respectively for our anniversary only on expensive massages, not use of facilities, and expensive items in the shops. A gift is something given freely for an occasion. Horrendous entertainment director Mandy ignored requests to slow down so that passengers could write answers to music trivia. She ignored questions and got very snippy with passengers. She had NO interpersonal skills always insisting she was right even when she was offensive. Combining cruise director and travel director eliminated information about what passengers could do on their own. There is no longer a gathering place in the mainstage to disperse tours. Passengers are sent far away to search for the tours on their own. There was no club soda or Coke at the welcome cocktail party. Flat water and brown water were served as non-alcoholic drinks. Casino and bingo were played in port raking in the money. We were not given the option of making reservations for a set time for dining with one waiter and one wine steward. Instead, we had “dine as you wish,” which turned into “dine as we wish.” When I called to make reservations, the genius David told me, “You cannot make dinner reservations between 5:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. because that is dinner hour.” Aside from an insufficient number of waiters, packets of Equal and Sweet and Low are not served with coffee or tea. Passengers must specifically ask for them. Ketchup in the Dive-In is rationed. Unsatisfactory Accommodations We booked an ocean view cabin but were forced to keep the curtains shut for “navigational purposes.” This directive rendered it a virtual inside cabin at a greater cost. Abysmal Information and Communication The A to Z catalogue does not list how to get general announcements from the monitor. The on-screen menu does not direct passengers to the bow camera. I sent an email, got a message, got a call, and got a note asking me to call Guest Services for the information because no one had told anyone else that I had gotten the answer to the question. I returned a book from the book club a week ago after the book talk. Mandy called me a week later to return the book. No one in Guest Services indicated when it was returned and the cabin number. The captain and cruise director claim they are grateful for repeat passenger business. If so, this list of what Carnival and Holland America have done to curtail features leave MUCH to be desired. Many people are unhappy with these nickel and diming policies and plan to take their business elsewhere. We are no longer treated as guests. Instead we are cash cows to be milked for everything. The amenities we have previously enjoyed with this line are gone. It is a bare bones operation now, and we feel as though we are being given bargain basement treatment. We enjoyed the shore excursions we booked.

Was a great cruise. Loved everything about it. The staff was probably my favorite part. They were awesome.

Holland America is for the older crowd or for someone looking for a certain destination. Bring your own entertainment or just plan to relax and do nothing.

We do recommend Holland America and this ship in particular. We can't wait till we can cruise again!

I am a 36 year old solo female traveler and had booked Holland America because it does NOT have the crazy party atmosphere. I was very happy with that, even though it does tend to be an older crowd. I had no issue with this. Holland America tends to have the look and feel of a more old school traditional cruising experience (think Titanic, maybe not quiet as fancy). I liked that there was more peace and quiet, and yet we still cruised to all the locations all the other cruiselines do. I absolutely loved the cabin I was in, and the service from all the crew was phenomenal. I'd recommend this for anyone wanting to travel alone, want more quiet/down time and if you enjoy a more traditional kind of cruising experience. There were only a handful of other young couples that I saw, so not much mingling/meeting others for me, which I was ok with. I wish more cruiselines would make it easier/more affordable for solo travelers, because we always get hit with the supplemental fee. Luckily in this case, the fee wasn't astronomical, otherwise I wouldn't have booked it! The only "downside" I'd say is that Grand Turk is still rebuilding and doesn't have much to do since there's still a lot of destruction from the 2017 Cat 5 hurricanes. It's definitely a place that is reliant on tourism, and doesn't have the funds to really build much up to see and do. There are some pretty beaches worth seeing, but that's about it. The downtown area didn't have much open, and there was still a lot being rebuilt. That's not the fault of the cruiselines, and I know they still have to make port there under contracts and to assist with the tourism flowing there. It was still nice to tick mark Turks and Caicos off my bucketlist even though it wasn't as nice as I'd been hoping it'd be!

We loved every minute of our cruise and would recommend it to people of all ages. It was our first time on Holland America and we'll definitely cruise with them again!

If you are okay eating really bad food this is the ship for you.

We had an amazing time on the ship and at the ports of call. The ports of call are what you make of them. The Disembarkation was a disaster. Seamed like no cared at that point.

Yup. Short, but sweet. ----------------------> I guess I can't submit this short review, although I think I said it all in those 4 (four) words. Oh well. Software. U-No.

I had the best time in a long time the food was excellent the staff has awesome I will be back

Overall the trip was nice, food was great and the service excellent.

If you want a calming, highly enjoyable adult cruise, this is it. The rooms and spaces have such an upscale feel, and the library is a beautiful room with views all around. If you're not a big drinker, you won't mind the long waits and feeling invisible at the Lido bar. One thing on this and my previous Holland America cruise is that these are without a doubt the most personal crew you will ever meet and they go out of their way to make you feel welcome and valued.

I would definitly sell with Holland America again.