MS Nieuw Amsterdam. Oct. 23-30 Cruise: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

[stevenr597]

Just got off the MS. Nieuw Amsterdam, we completed a 7 day cruise of the Caribbean. My wife and I would like to give, for any interested cruisers a review of the ship. Note that this was our first time on Holland America, although we have been cruising for well over 20 years. Our thoughts and ratings.

 

Boarding: We boarded at Ft. Lauderdale. Easy to get through security and fairly easy to drop off our bags and park in the covered parking lot. To check in we were in a long winding line for approximately 45 minutes. Once we got to the agent, the check in process itself was fairly quick and easy. Ratings: ***

 

The Ship: The Nieuw Amsterdam is a medium size ship, around 90,000 tons. It had a fairly ice layout. We had a mini-suite which had plenty of storage space and a large balcony. Very large flat panel T.V. in the cabin with numerous movies. The ship is starting to show its age. We felt that the colors were rather drab, and you could notice some wear in the furniture. Nothing caught our attention that needed immediate repair, but, in our opinion, there really was nothing outstanding in regards to the appearence of the ship. Ratings: ***

 

The Crew: Many of the passengers did begin to question whether there was really a Captain, or just a computer on board. We heard from him in brief messages twice/day. No attempt to introduce himself, and the senior staff to the passengers as we have seen in RCCL, Princess, Carnival, and Celebrity. Ratings: *

 

Dining: The food on the Lido deck was quite good. An advantage was that the food were served to you, rather than self-service (cut down risk of Noro Virus etc). The lines at the buffet areas were short and they did move quickly. The Pizza which was outside at the pool area was custom made, and one of the best that we have experienced. The salad station also made a great Caesar. Hamburgers were patterned after Johnny Rockets (1950 style), and they would take your order and give you a pager. Well worth the wait. However, simply not enough tables, during lunch and breakfast you often had to hunt for a table and grab it as soon as another party got up. In additon, the hours for breakfast and lunch were to short, they should have remained opne another hour (would have helped with the crowds). Breakfast and Lunch in the MDR was excellent (that is where we preferred to eat), but again the hours of operation were too short. Dinner in the MDR was probably the best aspect of the ship. Menu was not large, but the food was excellent, well prepared and well served. Good selection of wines. Ratings: **** (would have received a "5" if the seating was better.)

 

Anytime Dining: One of the worst things about the ship. If you were with a large party, or didn't mind sharing a table, there was little or not problem. However, if you did request a table for two, at times, the staff seemed to get bent out of shape. On one occasion, when we requested a table for two for dinner, we were told that that the wait would be long, and they strongly suggested we share a table. We were insistent and given a pager. We waited over 30 minutes, and finally we returned to the maitre d, who immediately sitted us at a table for 4 (which they convered by removing two settings) to a table for two. We did note that the MDR was over 30% empty with numerous unused tables. We had the same thing happen at breakfast, except that the maitre d told us he could not seat us, unless we would share a table. Finally a senior maitre d came over, apologized and led us to table for two (again the dining room was fairly empty). It does seem that if Holland American continues anytime dining, the staff need more extensive training. Rating: *

 

To be continued.

[tompeter]

Enjoying your review!

[cbr663]

Enjoying the review so far. Seems so strange your experience trying to get a table for two at the MDR. Perhaps more and more cruisers are requesting two tops and the dining room is simply refusing to accommodate?

[muffin]

Must admit, I do not care if I ever see the captain or other officers....just as long as I hear from him daily for no more than 5 minutes! How was your experience with the crew who interacts more closely with us all?

 

I think all cruiselines will have seating problems as long as they let people who have set times for dinner come and go at will. Out of seven nights there have been times tablemates go to the pinnacle one night, eat on their balcony one night, eat at the lido after a long day of sightseeing, leaving space at our table for 6 with empty spaces which are not available for anytime diners. Hardly fair, or efficient. One line did bring people from ythe anytime line to join us,but they were ill at ease as they felt they were interlopers to an already established group....not true, but if we had wanted anytime, we would have booked it! The whole idea is you create a small group to get to know at more depth.

 

Rant over....look forward to your continuation review...thx

[msmayor]

I will say first that my husband and I always choose fixed dining because we really prefer eating at the same time every night...and we know that once we ensure we are at a two-top for the first night we're set.

 

Its not that we don't enjoy meeting and chatting with others...we do...but our dinners are our 'dates' during vacation and we just enjoy each other. I would hate to wonder and worry about getting our own table every night, and don't want to have to make 'reservations' to avoid waits.

[stevenr597]

con't

 

Speciality Restaurants: We had dinner at both the Cirque (Pinnacle Grill) and Tamarand. Among the best, of any speciality restaurants we had eaten at on any line. Service was outstanding, and only outdone by the preparation and quality of the food. Would highly recommend. Rating: *****

 

Pool Decks: Lets face it, we go to the Caribbean to spend time in the sun. The MS Niuew Amsterdam has two pools, one which has a moveable top, and can be enclosed if it rains, or the weather turns cool, and the other which is outdoors. My wife noted that there is little areas of shading, that is, you can expect to be exposed to the sun which can be quite strong. There are covered areas, but to stay in them, you have to rent a Cabana. In addition, especially in the enclosed pool area, the lounges are taken by passengers rather early, and people tend to leave articles there, in effect, reserving them for the entire day. Interesting there is extra space on the upper decks, but we have found large areas where the lounges were stacked and no effort made by the crew to unstack them, in effect, if you want to sunbate in these areas, you have to move the lounges yourself. Ratings: **

 

Entertainment: There were three broadway shows on our cruise. Not bad for a 7 day cruise. The singers and dancers were fairly good, but not up to the quality of either Princess, or especially celebrity. The shows were also fairly short. Theatre was quite good, and there was no problem getting a seat. BB Kings was a highlight of the cruise with great music and areas to dance. There was a couple, from the Ukraine, who played classic music, and they were outstanding. One major complaint, the entertainment ended early, by 11:00 P.M. you were expected to be in bed with lights out. Just kidding. ***

 

Port Stops: Lets face it, one of the reasons we cruise the Caribbean is to stop at the islands. Our cruise had on the surface, great stops, St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, Half-Moon Cay, and Grand Turk. The stop at Puerto Rico was fairly good, we docked at 10:00 A.M. and left at 8:00 P.M. The St. Maarten stop was from 8:00 A.M.-2:00PM. We were unsure why we couldn't stay longer, it would have been nicer to have the afteroon there. Unfortunately due to weather we cancelled stops at Grand Turk and Half-Moon Cay. No attempt was made to find an alternate port and we spent "additional days at sea" which it seem that the crew was not equipped for. When the Captain announced we would not stop at Half-Moon Cay, many passengers who were planning to have a quick breakfast on the Lido Deck, decided to eat breakfast in the MDR., and the ship simply did not plan for this, the dining room was not adequately staffed. Another point, our stop at Half-Moon Cay was only from 8:00 AM-2:00 PM with planning for a barbecue on the island. How the ship expected the cruisers to eat lung and immediately scarmble to be back on board for the ship to sail mystified us. All in all the port stops were a major disappointment. Rating: **

 

Holland America has a great reputation, it was known as one of the "Great Lines". One question was whether its being bought up by Carnival led to a decline in its quality. Overall, Holland America reminded us of having steak dinner at Outbacks. It was fairly good, but not great. We do feel that at this point Holland America has not really found a niche for itself. You get a decent cruise, better in quality, but more expensive than Carnival. More sophisticated that RCCL, but without the activities associated with this line. And not up to the quality of either Princess or especially Celebrity. Overall, if we had to pick, I do think that Celebrity and Princess would be better choices, but again, that is just our opinion.

Overal Rating: ***

[ken4556]

I was on the Eurodam on the 2008 Christmas cruise and we left St. Marteen at 5 pm and made Half Moon Cay on time. So, they could do it if they wanted too. But typical HAL, they want to save a couple dollars on fuel at the expense of the paying customers by giving just a half a day in St. Marteen.

 

Holland America has been doing the same 7 day Eastern Caribbean itinerary for almost 10 years now. I wish they would add some additional options. Our family has chosen other cruise lines vs. HAL as we are tired of the same four ports year after year on the Eastern run.

[jhannah]

One question was whether its being bought up by Carnival led to a decline in its quality.

I see this mentioned often. Holland America Lines was purchased by Carnival Corporation in 1989.

[cbr663]

Thanks for the review. Very fair and well balanced and having sailed on the NA several times, I have experienced many of the same things.

 

The missed ports would, for me anyway, definitely negatively affect my enjoyment of the cruise. We are not sea days people and prefer cruises with as few as possible.

 

Thanks for suggesting X and Princess. Having sailed X, we find their itineraries have too many sea days. Perhaps a look at Princess is in order?

 

Smooth Sailing.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

We only saw our captain 2 times in 21 days on our cruise on the Westerdam last spring.

One time we also missed Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay.

We have noticed over the years that HAL is spending less and less time in ports. One to save on fuel and Two -- to get people to spend more money on the ships.

[Topsham]

I see this mentioned often. Holland America Lines was purchased by Carnival Corporation in 1989.

 

 

Yes, they did purchase the company from Carnival Corporation.

 

Had they NOT bought HAL, the company would have folded before 1990 or shortly after. Without the money from Carnival there would have been no new ships.... now 16 news ships.

 

Carnival also now own:

 

Cunard. Without Carnival there would have no QM2, Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth.

 

Seabourn

Princess

P&O

Aida

Costa

and.... Carnival Cruise Line.

[ski ww]

Sounds like a fair review. As to the missed ports, nobody can do anything about the weather. We have also missed HMC because it was to rough for the tenders. Hope you enjoy your next cruise, what ever line you cruise with.

Allan

[stevenr597]

Yes, they did purchase the company from Carnival Corporation.

 

Had they NOT bought HAL, the company would have folded before 1990 or shortly after. Without the money from Carnival there would have been no new ships.... now 16 news ships.

 

Carnival also now own:

 

Cunard. Without Carnival there would have no QM2, Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth.

 

Seabourn

Princess

P&O

Aida

Costa

and.... Carnival Cruise Line.

 

I myself am not stating that the purchase by Carnival Corporation has led to a decline in quality. I myself, have always been a big fan of Carnival. When my children were growing up we often took both week long and short cruises (over the holidays such as Christmas) with Carnival. We have also cruised extensively on Princess and also cruised on Cunard. I was stating the perception felt by many of my fellow cruisers on board, that there has been a decline in the high standards of Holland America, and could this perceived decline been caused by overall directives from Carnival Corporation to cut costs.

[Tom O.]

Thank you for your review. We are cruising on the N.A. in 3 months,and we have not been on this ship before. So your review is very useful.

Every cruise has good and bad issues. These issues are important to some, but not others.

Your issues with not seeing the captain, and lack of shade in the pool would not be important to us. We don't care about the captain, as long as he does his job. And, we spend almost no time at the pool.

On the other hand, finding a table to eat at is important to us. We also have open dining. After hearing your story, we will make an effort to try to reserve dining times after we board. We also may have room service more often than usual.

I am glad that you were happy with the food, this is always an important issue on any cruise.

The missed ports are disappointing, but this is not a real issue as this can happen on any ship. The captain has to put safety first.

[Topsham]

. We have also cruised extensively on Princess and also cruised on Cunard. I was stating the perception felt by many of my fellow cruisers on board, that there has been a decline in the high standards of Holland America, and could this perceived decline been caused by overall directives from Carnival Corporation to cut costs.

 

 

Well, ANY corporation will want to cut t the fat to maximize profit.

 

HAL is it's own management. Of course they do answer to Carnival Corporation. To do that they do make 'cuts', but this goes along the board on EVERY cruise line. Passengers want to cruise for less and the way to do that is make cuts.

 

I was just cruising with Saga. Their prices are higher than some cruise line. The fare incudes travel to and from the ship, insurance, all tips, wine in dining room and lido for lunch and dinner. Drinks, wines, shops on board, very reasonable, shore ex, not much. Free WiFi. Bring on board anything you want... wines, spirits, no corkage. No casino. Excellent food! Excellent service. OK.... the ticket price is higher than HAL. If you did the same with HAL, yes, the cruise would be a lot better than what we see today.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review but it seems a tad harsh to give the entire crew one star because you did not meet the Captain. Curious what you would rate the other 928 crew members.

[stevenr597]

Thanks for the review but it seems a tad harsh to give the entire crew one star because you did not meet the Captain. Curious what you would rate the other 928 crew members.

 

Certainly did not wish to give the impression that the one star was meant for the entire crew. In fact, I found the service on the ship to be outstanding. What I meant to criticize was the senior staff, from the Captain on down. I do believe that while it would be impossible to get the know all the passengers, a greater attempt should have been made to introduce themselves at some function, and to be at least seen during the day walking around the ship.

[RGBFamily]

Thanks for the review. I found it helpful as we are considering travelling on the NA this winter.

 

While the captain doesn't bother me I will note that on our Panama Canal crossing last year we saw the Captain several times and he stopped to talk to the kids and explain what was going on and specific points.

 

I am concerned about your comment about not a lot of pool chairs. On the Amsterdam we found a chair no problem every single time. Should I expect the NA to be different? One thing I destested about Disney was I could never find a chair to park on!

 

Thanks for the resturant reviews. They certainly give me some ideas!

[rkacruiser]

Certainly did not wish to give the impression that the one star was meant for the entire crew. In fact, I found the service on the ship to be outstanding. What I meant to criticize was the senior staff, from the Captain on down. I do believe that while it would be impossible to get the know all the passengers, a greater attempt should have been made to introduce themselves at some function, and to be at least seen during the day walking around the ship.

 

I understand what you are saying. 2015, a 21 day Caribbean cruise on the Noordam, the Senior Officers, including the Hotel Director, were mostly invisible. Even when they were "around" or the Captain did his "Voice from the Bridge" report, it was robotic. I firmly believed that the crew "picked up" on this "attitude" and it resulted in the most unsatisfactory HAL cruises that I have experienced. (I reported this to Seattle as well as on Cruise Critic.)

 

There is, of course, no more important criteria in appointing a ship's Master than their competency to command such a vessel. For a Hotel Director, there is no more important criteria in appointing such a person other than one who is fully competent in directing the multi-faceted functions of a ship's hotel functions.

 

But, "Guest Relations" is not the "sole" responsibility of the Guest Relations Director on any given ship. The Captain and Hotel Director need to include this responsibility in their job duties, whether they like it or not. Based upon my 2015 experience, I fault HAL with a failure to recognize this. BUT, I have not seen neither of these men's name's mentioned on CC which makes me think they were thanked for their service and sent on their way. At least, I hope so.

 

Since my 2015 unsatisfactory cruises, I have had 3 more with 4 different Captains and 3 different Hotel Directors. ALL OF THESE MEN HAVE BEEN AS GUEST ORIENTED AS THEY COULD HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN!

[Tarpeian Rock]

Well, ANY corporation will want to cut t the fat to maximize profit.

 

HAL is it's own management. Of course they do answer to Carnival Corporation. To do that they do make 'cuts', but this goes along the board on EVERY cruise line. Passengers want to cruise for less and the way to do that is make cuts.

 

I was just cruising with Saga. Their prices are higher than some cruise line. The fare incudes travel to and from the ship, insurance, all tips, wine in dining room and lido for lunch and dinner. Drinks, wines, shops on board, very reasonable, shore ex, not much. Free WiFi. Bring on board anything you want... wines, spirits, no corkage. No casino. Excellent food! Excellent service. OK.... the ticket price is higher than HAL. If you did the same with HAL, yes, the cruise would be a lot better than what we see today.

 

 

The tricky part, of course, is defining "fat," versus those things that have traditionally given a cruise line its distinctive character. I fear that's a distinction that HAL management hasn't been successful at making the last few years.

[Heartgrove]

I happen to come across my paperwork from a cruise I was on in 1997. A comparable Oceanview today is cheaper than what I paid back then.

[Sopwith]

We spent 19 days on the NA this month, so I'll chime in here. We booked this cruise after benching HAL for several years because of the declining service and quality. We chose this one not because it was HAL, but because the timing, departure port and itinerary was what we were looking for, so we decided to take a chance on HAL again. I was hoping for an improvement in HAL's product, but unfortunately we found it no better.

 

The NA is built on the same hull as the Vista ships, but they have stuffed in a few dozen more cabins and up to 190 more passengers without expanding the public areas or dining facilities. On our cruise the private cabanas were rarely used, which meant there was even less real estate available to accommodate the extra passengers.

 

We also had the Phantom Captain - heard but not seen.

 

The food overall was passable, but not much better. We found the Lido food a bit better than the MDR. We had the open dining option, and found that we had to go at around 7:45-8:00 pm to avoid waiting. This was okay because we like to eat late anyway. However, by that time things were starting to thin out, and on a couple of nights it was apparent that they wanted us out of there so they could clean up and close down. The MDR service was actually better than what we've had before, even though the waiters do not work with an assistant any more.

 

The Lido does not have enough tables for the number of passengers. Tables were not cleared promptly when vacated, which made the problem worse. We also had trouble finding a table and almost always ended up outside. Even then I usually had to clear a table and set it myself. Most mornings there were no coffee cups available at the coffee station. When I asked the head waiter to have the cups replenished he said they don't stock them at the coffee station because they serve coffee at the tables. Doesn't work if there are no tables cleared. Almost every morning I had to search for a simple coffee cup! Ridiculous!

 

The Tamarind was excellent. The Canaletto was very good. Didn't try the Pinnacle, but were shocked by the upcharges, and the upcharges on the upcharges.

 

The entertainment was mediocre at best. Not even close to what we've had before on HAL.

 

Embarkation in Vancouver was slow. Disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale was a complete clusterfumble, but not by HAL. US CBP was causing mega delays. Some people stood in line for up to three hours. It took us almost an hour to get through and that was with Nexus.

 

My overall impression: HAL is now a full-fledged mass market line. If you want a cheap cruise this is the place to be. If you are more experienced and discriminating, there are better options out there. Yes, they're more money, but for some of us it's a better match.

 

We won't be cruising with HAL again. Sorry, but them's the straight goods.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Sopwith

[easyboy]

Thank you for your objective review.

[Topsham]

The tricky part, of course, is defining "fat," versus those things that have traditionally given a cruise line its distinctive character. I fear that's a distinction that HAL management hasn't been successful at making the last few years.

 

 

 

The 'fat' is because it is the accountants! They control everything and I don't think any other ships are different. On top of this there are people making decision are not 'mariners or 'engineers' or 'cruise directors' or 'hotel managers'. Heck, you will have people running the ships and they have never even been on a cruise in their career! Scary.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Topsham

[retdon]

Just off the NA, same sailing and we had a wonderful cruise. The only problem was my sunglasses and a coupon for a free photo went missing from our cabin. (See thread "Theft on NA")

 

So sorry to read about items missing from cabins, another person had a gold bracelet taken from the cabin. I would hate to think the stewards are responsible but they have the keys and sometimes leave the doors open while they step away to get supplies, this leaves the cabin open to other passengers. With 2,000+ people on the ship no telling who is a thief.

 

My only comments on our cruise survey was to open the Main Dining room more to reduce the crowd in the Lido. I also commented on the pre-made sandwiches, please go back to custom made sandwiches.

 

Missing ports does not affect our cruise, we are not beach people and enjoy just cruising. The invisible Captain issue does not bother us as long as he is doing what he is hired to do and on this cruise he did, safety first for the passengers.

 

I was a group leader for 26 folks, many first time HAL cruisers and they all were very impressed with the food, service and ship. Some of them said never Carnival again after a bad experience last year. We will never cruise Carnival, HAL is our cruise line and we appreciate all they do to make a cruise special, especially for us seniors.