Review of Nieuw Amsterdam Eastern Caribbean - Easter

A bit of a belated review of our cruise. This was posted on my travel blog Please see the link in my signature if you would like to read more about our cruise and view the pictures and the Ports we visited!!!

 

This was our first time sailing on Holland and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. I had expected the demographics to skew much higher in age. I don’t know whether or not it was because it was Easter that were far more children aboard than expected. It seemed as though there were many family groups and not nearly as many older people on this trip.

 

Despite being platinum on Carnival, I was not happy with how the dining experienced has been cheapened on that line. I love the white tablecloths, charger plates, extra services etc and that does not happen on Carnival any longer. I was feeling like I was eating at Chili’s or someplace similar. That is not the experience I want on my vacation. I want that ‘extra’.

 

Carnival has also increased the number of cabins a steward has to clean and the last cruise we were on, we were asked to choose either morning or evening cabin service and Ice is now a special request.

 

So, we were searching for a line that still provides the level of service we want on our vacation.

 

 

 

Cabins:

 

We had two inside cabins, aft on Deck 6. I would highly recommend this location. Three floors up to the Lido and three down for dinner. I didn’t notice excessive movement in this area but then I don’t notice it unless it’s really bad.

 

The cabins themselves were nicely appointed. Large bed, 2 nightstands, a desk/dressing area with chair, the mini bar to the right of the desk area—built in and a small table. Closet space was ample and I loved the fold-down shelves in the closets!

 

I also loved that there were USB ports on either side of the beds! No need to fight over outlets on the desk.

 

 

The bathroom was a standard cruise ship design—our rooms had a shower and no tub. The shower was equipped with Spa shampoo, conditioner and body wash and also had 2 grab bars. The sink was wide and had glass shelves on the right side.

 

One thing I noticed in all the hallways were the bars on one side of the hallways to the cabins. These would come in handy for those not so steady on their feet.

 

The Lido Market

 

We ate here many times and enjoyed the variety of food that was served. The thing I liked the most is EVERYTHING was served by employees. That appeals greatly to my germophobic personality and has got to cut down on the spread of Noro-Virus. There are also hand sanitizer placed in the entrances.

 

Back to the food though. We loved the cooked to order eggs station. It was very organized and the line moved quickly. You could also get bacon, turkey bacon, sausages, hash browns, bagels and toast here. Depending on the day, they also served pancakes or French Toast too.

 

There were self-serve plated items on chill trays such as Yogurt, fresh fruit, cereals & milk.

 

 

 

Lunch

 

In my opinion, lunch was the best meal. Again the Lido deck had such variety. They had one station completed devoted to fresh fruit and another making these huge fresh salads to order. They had sandwiches made up and wrapped with varied ingredients too.

 

They had a made to order Thai food area as well as made to order pasta. The Thai food was wonderful and I ate there twice. The pasta bar should have been wonderful as well, but I found the sauces very bland despite having them add lots of garlic and some other seasoning. I think that was really the only “miss” we had.

 

We ate at the Burger Joint and the Pizza place a few times and enjoyed the food. The French Fries were a huge hit.

 

 

The Ice Cream station was also a huge hit (and this is also where you can find Bread Pudding!) They serve regular ice cream and soft serve in waffle cones or bowls. Toppings can also be added. They did have varying flavors or regular ice cream too.

 

Late Night Snacks

 

The Lido also provided a surprising amount of food between 10:30pm and 11:30pm. You could get an entire meal if you wanted to. Mostly my companions hit it up for the French fries!

 

 

 

Dinner-Main Dining Room- late seating

 

We ate in the main dining room 5 of the 7 days and most everything we ordered was good—but nothing over the top. We did not go hungry by any means, but I felt most of the food was just average. The only below average item I had was the French Onion Soup. The broth tasted like dishwater. On another night, all the croutons in the Caesar Salad were soft. Blah. The group at the table next to ours did mention this to their water and one of the Chefs came out to apologize.

 

The one standout for me was the Lobster Tail. It was cooked perfectly and very tasty. The steak that was served with it was “meh”. I think I just prefer things a bit more seasoned.

 

Regarding desserts—the items we chose were good, but I have to say I miss the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake on Carnival’s dessert menu every night!

 

Pinnacle

 

We ate here the last night and the food was amazing. Between the 3 of us we got: Filet Mignon, King Crab Legs and Halibut with Shrimp Scampi. Each main dish was excellent. The portion of Crab legs was enormous—far more than one person could eat. The sides were very good, beginning with a Caesar Salad mixed at the table. Shareable sides included mashed potatoes and asparagus. I ordered a baked potato.

 

For dessert, the Molten Lava Chocolate cake with a side of ice cream and raspberry cheesecake. Both were delicious but we couldn’t finish them—we were too full.

 

I felt it was worth the money and normally would tip here. However, our waiter was not the caliber we expected. Not once, did he notice our water glasses needed to be filled. And we had to ask him more than once for more water. He did not check back with us regarding our entries to see if everything was good. He just acted like he didn’t want to be there and that we were disturbing him with our requests. We did not let that stop us from enjoying the meal—we all loved it and would go back there again.

 

Shows

 

The only show we managed to see was the BB King Tribute. The performers were so talented and the show seemed to be full always. We enjoyed the set and at only about 45 minutes to an hour long, it was just the perfect length.

 

Piano Bar

 

They relocated the Piano bar and increased the space to allow more people to attend. For us, and others on the cruise, the fact that they moved it to an area directly across from the casino was rather painful. Had the dueling piano players been talented, I’m sure it would have been entertaining. However, I think I can speak for the majority of people on the cruise and report that they were AWFUL. The dealers were grimacing at the off-tone, voice cracking noises and we actually heard more than one person say they were leaving the casino because they couldn’t stand it any longer. Not good news for the casino.

 

Casino

 

The casino is quite small on the ship but does have a nice selection of slots. The table game area is small and they only had 1 3-Card Poker table. Most nights it was challenging to get a seat. They did not increase the number of tables yet Black Jack table were idle. Not sure about the purpose—but I did manage to spend some time at 3 Card Poker-with decent results I might add.

 

 

Seaview Pool and bar area

 

We spent most of our time in this area. The pool was a decent size and over seven feet deep. Plenty of loungers were set out each day but during peak hours you had to watch and wait for a chair. (The chair hogs were out in force as they are on every line) There was no policing by any staff that I saw despite the notice about the 30 minute rule.

 

The pool itself is supposed to be for adults only and, again, that was not being enforced. I know the Lido pool was closed one day for cleaning due to someone vomiting in the pool so all the kids were allowed. However, on days when the Lido pool was open, I still saw children in and out of the Seaview pool all day.

 

The starboard side of the bar area is the only place to smoke on the entire ship. (The info in the room stated the Casino would allow smoking on certain nights. However, they did not allow smoking there at all as far as I know.

 

There were quite a few smokers onboard and, at times, it was challenging to find a spot to sit. I understand the non-smoker’s point of view, but smoking is LEGAL and they should have more than one spot for smokers to congregate.

 

Shops

 

There was a small area of shops on the ship but the biggest surprise for me—and others: They did not have cartons of cigarettes for sale, and their liquor selection tended toward the very high end stuff and was quite small.

 

They did have a shop with all the cruise wear you expect, a perfume cosmetics area and several higher end jewelry stores.

 

Ship Décor

 

I absolutely loved how this ship was decorated. You could spend hours just wandering around looking at all the interesting art. The NYC skyline piece hanging in the atrium was gorgeous. The walls in the passenger cabin hallways were filled with black and white photos of people and places in NYC ‘back in the day’.

 

There were comfy seating areas scattered all over the ship making it very easy to rest your tired self. The Crow’s nest area, we only visited once but it was also very nice and ‘user friendly’. There was a bar up there and lots of seating, including tables where folks could play cards or boards game or just sit and look at the ocean. Lovely area.

 

Bars/Drinks

 

We did not have a drink package but did indulge in 3-4 adult beverages most days. They had a nice variety of alcohol and I thought the drinks were very good. I heard people complaining about the prices, but I think $10 including a tip is about the norm on any ship.

 

There are an adequate number of bars on the ship for the size.

 

Service

 

The service was excellent (with the exception of Sterling!) Most of the staff went out of their way to make sure you were comfortable and had what you needed. For example, one morning I stumbled up to the Lido deck to wake up a bit before breakfast and right there was our favorite waiter, Noel, asking if he could bring me a coffee. Ice water, iced tea or lemonade was served to you in the Lido seating area. Our cabin stewards were like genies, popping in and out of our cabins and leaving them made up beautifully even if we were only gone for 15 minutes or so.

 

I would put this service on-par with what I experienced on the Pacific Princess 2 years ago.

 

Conclusion

 

The size of the ship is great. I think it’s about 2000 guests. Perfect size. The mega-ships are not for me and I’m glad Holland still has a variety of smaller ships to choose from.

 

 

Overall, I felt the ship is very elegant and one I am looking forward to sailing on again. Our vacation was perfect and just what we all needed. For details on the ports, please see the link in my signature to view my travel blog.

 

jilly

thank you for taking the time to post your review it was very informative and lad you enjoyed your cruise

:)

Great review. Sounds like you had a great time. The Nieuw Amsterdam is one of our favourite ships. Glad you liked her too.

Thank you very much for your review and link to the photos.

 

Would you happen to remember who the piano players were in the Billboard Onboard dueling pianos area?

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. I did go to your blog -- excellent -- loved the pictures.

We have been on the Nieuw Amsterdam a couple of times over Thanksgiving -- way more children than when we were on her on oft times.

We eat all our dinners either in the Pinnacle Grill or the Tamarind.

Thank you for reviewing your cruise, and sharing your photos.

I have never eaten or drank dishwater, can you tell me what it tastes like????

Thank you for taking the time to post this review. Glad you had a good cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks. Fun review and blog. Your blog as of today:

 

Total Pageviews

 

57,087

 

Thanks for your review!

A bit of a belated review of our cruise.

Thanks for posting it. We're looking forward to our cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam in a couple of months.

 

Despite being platinum on Carnival, I was not happy with how the dining experienced has been cheapened on that line. I love the white tablecloths, charger plates, extra services etc and that does not happen on Carnival any longer. I was feeling like I was eating at Chili’s or someplace similar. That is not the experience I want on my vacation. I want that ‘extra’. Carnival has also increased the number of cabins a steward has to clean and the last cruise we were on, we were asked to choose either morning or evening cabin service and Ice is now a special request.

We experienced everything you listed here on our recent Carnival cruise. However, I didn't view these differences as anything other than a reflection of the difference in price between Carnival and Holland America, on average. My spouse and I are, of course, going to face the choice for future trips, and we'll still make the decision on a case-by-case basis, based on the specific type of cruise (Alaska was a no-brainer for Holland America) and based on our current finances (if things get tight, there will be more Carnival in our future).

 

I also loved that there were USB ports on either side of the beds! No need to fight over outlets on the desk.

Excellent!

 

Back to the food though. We loved the cooked to order eggs station. It was very organized and the line moved quickly. You could also get bacon, turkey bacon, sausages, hash browns, bagels and toast here.

I am a fanatical fan of smoked salmon... Did you see it offered at breakfast in the Lido?

 

They had a made to order Thai food area ... The Thai food was wonderful and I ate there twice.

This is the first I'm reading about a Thai food area in the Lido. Could you (or anyone else) please provide more details?

 

We ate at the Burger Joint and the Pizza place a few times and enjoyed the food. The French Fries were a huge hit.

There is an extra fee at the burger joint, correct?

 

There were quite a few smokers onboard and, at times, it was challenging to find a spot to sit. I understand the non-smoker’s point of view, but smoking is LEGAL and they should have more than one spot for smokers to congregate.

There are a lot of legal things that you're not allowed to do on a cruise ship: Bring on-board your own liquor, for starters. And smoking is one of the few legal things that adversely affect the health of others, so I completely see the cruise line's side of things here, and greatly appreciate the changes they've made to make the cruise ship healthier for all of us. While I sympathize with the situation of those addicted to nicotine (my spouse is one such person), I also sympathize with the situation of non-smokers who are concerned about their health in the long-term, and those who face short-term risks, including those with asthma, and those at higher risk for heart attack or stroke due to exposure to secondhand smoke.

 

their liquor selection tended toward the very high end stuff and was quite small.

Everything I've read indicated to me that the best place to buy liquor, these days, is the liquor superstore near the mall (at home). That is not just a cruise ship thing, but even applies to duty-free purchases in airports: These purchases apparently have become status-driven and/or impulse-driven purchases, and so the sellers are cultivating that. They probably make more money selling much less liquor (and perfume and cigarettes, etc.) by making it more of an exclusive purchasing experience, putting much less money into inventory carrying cost and just a bit more money into glitz and glamour for the purchasing experience.

 

I absolutely loved how this ship was decorated. You could spend hours just wandering around looking at all the interesting art.

We can't wait!

Excellent review Jilly! To answer a couple of bUU's questions: smoked salmon is available every morning and afternoon. I do not know about the evening. There is no charge for the Dive-In items ("the burger joint") unless you order a burger from room service.

To answer a couple of bUU's questions: smoked salmon is available every morning and afternoon.

Thanks!

 

I do not know about the evening.

I'm not that much of a fanatic. ;)

 

There is no charge for the Dive-In items ("the burger joint") unless you order a burger from room service.

Good to know. Thanks again.

The smoked salmon is available IF you specifically ask for it.

The smoked salmon is available IF you specifically ask for it.

Interesting. How would we know to ask for it (other than finding out here)? And more importantly: How would we know where in the Lido to ask for it? I guess I would assume the person closest to where the cream cheese is would know...

Great review, loved your blog, brings back good memories of our cruise on the NA.

Allan

Interesting. How would we know to ask for it (other than finding out here)? And more importantly: How would we know where in the Lido to ask for it? I guess I would assume the person closest to where the cream cheese is would know...

 

One of my favorite breakfast treats - they put out little trays of the smoked salmon with some capers, sliced onions and tomato to carefully compose into an open face sandwich. Cream Cheese is in a little packet among the other condiments. I use a dinner-type roll, but they do have their version of bagels. This could be done better - slices of tomators instead of wedges, and always, always more capers, but I believe you can ask for more of those too. One of God's best food combinations.

I have never eaten or drank dishwater, can you tell me what it tastes like????

 

It tastes just like the French Onion soup on the ship!

Thank you very much for your review and link to the photos.

 

Would you happen to remember who the piano players were in the Billboard Onboard dueling pianos area?

 

No, I'm sorry I do not. I only remember that they were both young and the dealer in the Casino told me that they'd only recently joined the ship.

 

Jill

Thanks for posting it. We're looking forward to our cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam in a couple of months.

 

We experienced everything you listed here on our recent Carnival cruise. However, I didn't view these differences as anything other than a reflection of the difference in price between Carnival and Holland America, on average. My spouse and I are, of course, going to face the choice for future trips, and we'll still make the decision on a case-by-case basis, based on the specific type of cruise (Alaska was a no-brainer for Holland America) and based on our current finances (if things get tight, there will be more Carnival in our future).

 

Excellent!

 

I am a fanatical fan of smoked salmon... Did you see it offered at breakfast in the Lido?

 

This is the first I'm reading about a Thai food area in the Lido. Could you (or anyone else) please provide more details?

 

There is an extra fee at the burger joint, correct?

 

There are a lot of legal things that you're not allowed to do on a cruise ship: Bring on-board your own liquor, for starters. And smoking is one of the few legal things that adversely affect the health of others, so I completely see the cruise line's side of things here, and greatly appreciate the changes they've made to make the cruise ship healthier for all of us. While I sympathize with the situation of those addicted to nicotine (my spouse is one such person), I also sympathize with the situation of non-smokers who are concerned about their health in the long-term, and those who face short-term risks, including those with asthma, and those at higher risk for heart attack or stroke due to exposure to secondhand smoke.

 

Everything I've read indicated to me that the best place to buy liquor, these days, is the liquor superstore near the mall (at home). That is not just a cruise ship thing, but even applies to duty-free purchases in airports: These purchases apparently have become status-driven and/or impulse-driven purchases, and so the sellers are cultivating that. They probably make more money selling much less liquor (and perfume and cigarettes, etc.) by making it more of an exclusive purchasing experience, putting much less money into inventory carrying cost and just a bit more money into glitz and glamour for the purchasing experience.

 

We can't wait!

 

I do see someone else has answered some of your questions. As for Carnival, I would sail that line again if they offered an itinerary I could not find on another line. But for now, I believe my 'go to' line will be Holland. And quite honestly, I didn't see that much different in pricing--at least for this time of year.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for all the comments! It makes the writing worthwhile!

 

Jill

Love that ship! Smoked salmon eggs benedict was awesome in the mornings too especially paired with the baked beans!

The smoked salmon is available IF you specifically ask for it.

 

This comment has me confused. Smoked salmon is everywhere. You don't have to ask for it. It is just there.

Thank you for your very fine report

The smoked salmon is available IF you specifically ask for it.

they put out little trays of the smoked salmon with some capers, sliced onions and tomato to carefully compose into an open face sandwich.

:confused:

 

This comment has me confused. Smoked salmon is everywhere. You don't have to ask for it. It is just there.

That would be great.

 

(Maybe realnurse2 was talking about Carnival?)