27 wounderful days on the Nieuw Amsterdam

[ksm77]

We returned Saturday night from a great cruise, 27 days on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We did the transatlantic 15 day from Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona. We then did the cruise from Barcelona to Venice.

 

The trip from FL to Barcelona was very restful. We loved the sea days lots of relaxing. We thought the entertainment was some of the best we had seen in 25 cruises. The ship board entertainers were all very good and the entertainers that were brought on board also very good. In this area HAL gets an A from us. We enjoyed the MDR we tried anytime dining for the first time. After about 3 nights of moving around we found a great waiter and staff and we made a reservation for that table (table for 2) every night for the rest of our cruise.

The stops for this portion of the cruise were:

 

Funchal, Maderia, we took a ships tour of the island, then walked around town, had drinks in a waterfront cafe. Beautiful place.

 

Cadiz, Spain, this was one of our favorite stops. We had 2 days here. First day we went to Seville all day ships tour with lunch. We enjoyed this tour but very rushed. Would love to go back and spend more time here. The next day spend the day doing our own thing in Cadiz. Loved walking the streets and spending time seating in the cafes, people were very friendly and nice to us.

 

Gibraltar, This was ok not my favorite maybe because it was cloudy, we could not see from the top of the rock.

 

Cartagene, Spain, beautiful place we did our own thing here walked to the fort and a beautiful park also there is a Roman Theatre there all with walking distance of the ship.

 

Valencia, Spain, This was also a another beautiful city. We took a ships tour here because it was Sunday and nothing was open. It was a city tour & the San Jose Caves. The Caves were ok. I would have liked to spend more time in the city.

 

Barcelona, Spain We also did this on our own because we had been here before.

 

I will be glad to answer any questions. I will go ahead and tell you we did not use the Spa, Casino, piano bar, not our thing. The Movie Theatre is too small for the ship. If you wanted to see a movie you had to get there at least 30 minutes before the show started. They have great reclining seats and popcorn. We did buy the drink cards you save about $10 for every $100 you spend. My DH bought the soft drink card for $25 you get $50 in soft drinks a good value. The only specialty restaurant we went to was the Asian restaurant. It was well worth the $15 charge per person, go hungry it is a lot of food. I will write more about the second part of the cruise later.

[Krazy Kruizers]

welcome home

 

glad you had a wonderful cruise on the nieuw amsterdam

 

agree -- love the tamarind

[paganwoman]

We were on her for the same cruise starting in Barcelona. I mirror everything you said about the crew and the ship. Just wonderful. The ports of call were great. Loved every minute. Now I just wish I could have taken my cabin steward and dining room steward home with me. Just returned yesterday (we spend a few extra days in Venice) and my laundry is still sitting in a pile on my bedroom floor. And who is going to cook for me tonight?????

[paganwoman]

Sorry for the double post......

[Tonklily]

We are going on the NA June 15th, same cruise itinerary that you had. Especially interested in hearing more about the entertainmnet and about the ports. Would like to know which ports are good for just walking around on your own, and which ports would you recommend taking a tour of some kind? Looking forward to hearing more from you. Glad that you had a great time. :D

[SwissMyst]

Very interested in your great trip report. We will be hitting a lot of the same ports on two other HAL ships, so was very happy to learn you could to a lot of them on your own.

[portofrome]

Thank you for the report.

[sapper1]

I just got home last night from the same cruise and will be writing something up in the next few days after I get some rest and some laundry done. We had a wonderful time and the seas were mostly calm for the whole trip.

[KirkNC]

Glad you enjoyed it, that is plenty of time to relax. Look forward to the second part of the cruise.

 

Kirk

[meterman2]

We were on the transatlantic portion (15 days) of your cruise. I wholeheartedly agree that it was wonderful, relaxing and a great ship. The entertainment was very good and as always, the crew was the best. We had a nice time in every port and like you, we really liked the extra day in Cadiz.

 

We too were told that Valencia would be "real quiet" because it was Palm Sunday. However, we found it to just the opposite during our trip into the city. We went to area around the Cathedral and the Silk District and the sidewalks were packed with people, all of the cafe's seemed open and we stumbled upon a flea market. Plus it was a beautiful day to stroll.

 

We're heading back in August for a quick seven day'er on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Welcome Back!

[kazu]

Thank you so much for your report. Sounds like a great time to me.

 

thanks for sharing with us :D Cadiz is a favourite port of mine too.