Review of Nieuw Amsterdam October 23 Cruise by Celebrity Cruisers

[GeorgiaPeach51]

We are long time Celebrity cruisers, elite—we’ve done nothing but Celebrity for years.  We decided to try HAL again after many years.  We had done two previous HAL cruises. One was our very first and one was about 15 years ago.

 

We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam October 23 from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale. I’m sorry to say we were not impressed.  For us, the food was well below Celebrity.  That is not to say it was awful.  It was not.  It was just so average.  It was kind of like eating in a cafeteria to us.  We felt the MDR has just given up any pretense of making that venue significantly different from the Lido.  White and red wines arrived in the same size and style glass.  Used wine glasses remained on the table if we changed wines.  We finally gave up and started handing them to the servers.  The bread arrived sometimes.  We didn’t enjoy the ambiance in the MDR and the colors were, to our eyes, garish.  Purple and orangey-red, maroon, tan, black.  

 

The menu was very scaled back as far as choices, and we were put off by the highly priced extras on the menu.  There was no option for “every day” choices, which we missed.  I tried the French onion soup one time—watery and salty.  Nothing like what is served on Celebrity.  We have never seen an MDR offer tacos for an evening meal choice.  I had a strange dessert one formal evening that had a filling that tasted EXACTLY like the instant pudding you get at the grocery store.  Ick.  But, taste is subjective and I do realize that what I hate is possibly delicious to others. 

 

The design of the MDR has many, many tables that are adjacent to or in view of the server stations, where you are treated to staff scraping plates...there is no barrier to block the noise or the view.  In addition, the same tables suffer from the constant traffic of people going to and from their tables all during dinner.  This was in anytime dining.  I guess this would not be a problem in set seating.

 

I was startled to see shorts on both men and women in the MDR for dinner.  Lots of tshirts and many ball caps.  Guess I’m just old!  I don’t particularly like it, but it doesn’t affect my evening.  Things surely do change, don’t they!

 

We ultimately ate most meals in the Lido where the service was always good, we could have plenty of choices, and in the evening in particular it was rather quiet and peaceful.  We enjoyed the salads in the Lido, and the Asian station.  At least, if you tried something and didn’t like it you had other options.  We always ate breakfast and lunch in the Lido, and never tried the MDR for either meal.

 

We ate twice in the Pinnacle Grill and thought it was outstanding in every way.  We ate once in Canaletto and enjoyed it.  And, we ate twice in Tamarind and thought it was pretty good but not nearly as good as the PG.  Service in all three was excellent.

 

We missed Celebrity’s Cafe al Bacio, with all the goodies to pick from.  In Explorations they offered only biscotti, sometimes macarons, a few times a mini carrot cake.  The biscotti was crumbly rather than crisp.  The choices were very sparse, and what was offered was displayed on a cake plate with lid like I have at home. But we enjoyed the Explorations area a lot.  Big tables where people came and went doing puzzles, games available, and nice seating. 

In the Lido there were many less dessert options, and many suffered from the same issue as Celebrity....where they look great but taste off, like they are made with additives or things other than real butter and sugar and cream.  Mostly I find this in the desserts that have a creamy filling or topping, but both cruise lines are kind of disappointing as far as desserts to me.  They are really pretty but really disappointing.  Both lines offer ice cream, which was a saving grace for us. 

We had room service twice.  The first time was fair.   Everything came, but it was cold.  When we wanted to order for another morning there was no room service menu card to be found.  We had to call down to guest services and wait for about 20 minutes for someone to bring us an order form.  After we used that one, once again there was no order form left, so we gave up on room service.  BTW, we tipped the room service waiter $3 and he said it was the first tip he had received all morning.  I was dismayed to hear that.

 

We thought the entertainment was good.  As someone mentioned they do have dual pianos, not dueling pianos.  We enjoyed most of their sets, and boy, they work hard.  We did not do the dance shows, but thought the pianist, Hyperion Knight, and the Singing group The Alley Cats were fabulous.  Both were also very gracious with passengers, stopping to talk and open and amenable to short conversations. 

 

Ship staff was uniformly pleasant and hardworking and eager to please, and we found the service in the Lido to be excellent.  We rarely saw our room steward.  I did note that a piece of paper that I dropped under the vanity that landed in the far back corner laid there for 5 days before it disappeared.  I did not desire to get down on my hands and knees to retrieve it, so there it lay.  I mentally noted it because I saw it every time I pulled the chair out.  Not a big deal, but one of those “not much” little incidents that are cumulative and give you a final impression.  When there are many “not much” incidents that are little niggling negatives, it adds up to a somewhat negative or neutral experience. 

 

We had some trouble with the beverage card.  As we were told, because there is nothing on the card to signify the beverage package a passenger has, the staff doesn’t know who has what.  My husband had to make four different trips to guest services to get extra charges taken off.  A few times even though we always gave both cards, two drinks were put on the same card and we went over on the number of beverages allotted for the day.  (We drink a lot of water).  It was a little annoying to have to mentally count how many beverages we had had during the day.  Every bottle of water, every Explorations coffee counts as one and a double espresso counts as two.  So, if you drink 6-8 bottles of water a day, which we generally do, and have a tall cappuccino twice a day (tall coffees count as 2), you are already at 10-12.  With a limit of 15, you could have one glass of wine at lunch, or a drink by the pool and that leaves one glass of wine for dinner and an after dinner drink….and bam, you are at the limit.  We were always having to be aware of where we were on the count, and we missed the freedom of the Celebrity package where you just enjoy whatever you want and don’t worry about it.

 

We were tested three times while on board, which would make it seem that HAL is sincerely focused on the health of safety of passengers in this Time of Covid.  However, I will give you an example to demonstrate that is simply for advertising.  

 

In one Mexican port we came back from a HAL excursion on a blazing hot afternoon,  as we passed down the area to the tender they had the usual staff with the handheld clicker to count passengers.  We boarded and spaced ourselves out, but to no avail.  Passengers continued to board until every possible seat was filled and we were all sitting knee to knee and elbow to elbow.  It took about 10 minutes to mostly board and then another 5 as they continued to put passengers on.  It was simply sweltering.  There was not a breath of air and many people began to drop their masks, and kept them down, so stifling was the air.  So there we sat, a big old Petri dish, roasting and right on top of each other, breathing the same air, about 10 inches away from each other.  If ever there was an ideal venue for Covid, that had to be it.

 

So, I fault HAL for putting passengers at risk on the one hand, as they outwardly play nice with Covid rules.  These were not the open air tenders at their private island,  but the ship tenders that are totally enclosed with no air unless moving.  And even when moving the air was only intermittent, and depended on the direction of the tender.  I did express my dismay to an officer and he took notes...but?

 

My message to HAL is this:  You are either all in or all out.  Don’t give lip service to protecting passengers and then put them in such a compromised position.  Don’t pretend that passenger safety is your number one priority, ask us to wear masks all day long, and then put us in such a position.

 

Odds and Ends

No bar snacks available other than unsalted peanuts.  My husband is allergic so he was out of luck.  Nothing else was available.

Sticky buns much better than on Celebrity.

 

In the ladies restrooms, there is a place to hang a purse with a strap but no place anywhere for a clutch purse or book or kindle.  Aggravating. 

Internet was appalling.  Just AWFUL.  A constant source of aggravation.

 

One quirk is that a room key is used to operate the lights in the room.  When the key is removed the lights go out, except for the ambient light in the bathroom and the bedside light.  So, when my husband would take both key cards to get drinks before dinner, bam....I’m getting dressed in the dark, or close to it.  Hotels have the same thing, but when one person leaves the room, they generally don’t require both cards, which leaves the person remaining in the room with light.  The good thing is that it didn’t affect the air conditioning, since this was a very hot climate.

 

We will not sail HAL again.  We had a 35 day cruise booked on the Zuiderdam for 2023, and based on this experience, we have cancelled it.  We went on HAL with open minds, truly hoping to love it and we just didn’t.  We talked with some longtime HAL fans, and several commented that this was not a typical sailing….certainly not what they were accustomed to from HAL.  Some blamed it on COVID, and that may be the case, but we sailed on the Edge in July and did not encounter the food challenges we found on this ship regarding menu choices and food quality.  So, unfortunately, we will not give HAL another chance. 

I recognize that HAL Mariners love their chosen line, and more power to you.  It’s just not for us. 

[julia]

GeorgiaPeach:  We too, are long time Celebrity fans, and recently sailed the Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska.  I really must concur with many of your points, and appreciate your candid review.  While we really enjoyed our trip, there were times I was wishing we were on a Celebrity ship.  I can't say "never again", but HAL probably won't be our first choice in the future.  Oh, and thank you for the detailed report of the sweltering tender...  ouch!!  I hope you noted that on your survey!

[OVgirl]

Than I you for your review of the cruise. Very disappointing to here what seems to be quite a decline in the quality of their product.  Hope at some point that it improves again.

[shiner6]

Thank you for being upfront and circumspect in your review. We are booked for our first HAL cruise in  July 2022. I certainly hope that things will improve before then. I had a difficult time choosing between Celebrity and HAL ( never been on either) and hope my choice won't disappoint my family. While we cruise to travel, we also expect the food to be part of the experience. When we travel on land we don't eat 4 star meals every day, but we do splurge on several days. When you prepay for an experience, you expect a good product. 

Edited November 1, 2021 by shiner6

[510picker]

I appreciate your honest review. I hope some of the issues encountered will be resolved by the staff simply "working out the kinks" after not having passengers for so long. Even after reading your review, I am very much looking forward to my November sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam,

[MTAK]

It's unfortunate to hear your experience. We were on Nieuw Amsterdam in January 2020 and had a great experience, especially the food. Hopefully this is not the beginning of a Nieuw trend.

[Sushicat]

We were on the same cruise. In some ways it felt like a shakedown cruise -- especially when it came to the HAL excursions and limited entertainment -- but "buyin' large" I was pleased with the trip after so long in pandemic land. We always stay in Neptune suites and enjoy the Neptune Lounge. With this trip the "under the dome" snacks in the Lounge were not as interesting/plentiful and covid protocols meant everything had to be handed to you by the folks staffing the Lounge (shout out to Hector for handling our issues and questions). Also it seems to me the Lounge closed down for the night earlier than I recall. They need to post Lounge hours.

 

The whole Club Orange concept was silly given that the ship was operating at about 65% capacity and "Priority" seating was not needed. We never encountered lines at the dining room. And yes, tastes are subjective. We rarely if ever eat at the Lido Market. Breakfast is always at the Pinnacle Grill. Dinner at Tamarind was excellent. As they say, hunger is the best sauce: after a full day on an excursion we were ravenous and EVERYTHING at MDR tasted great!

 

Our favorite entertainment was at the Lincoln Center Stage. A fabulous quartet performed a range of music from classical to pop, including Latin tango, Copland, Bernstein, Brahms, Brubeck, Beatles, Coldplay (gasp!), Queen and yes, Billy Joel.

 

Agree about the slow internet service. Plus my ancient iPhone 6 didn't play well with the Navigator app. And Safari is not HAL's preferred browser on any device.

 

We do want to try a Celebrity cruise one day. But our next cruise is on the Eurodam in March. Will be interesting to see how that one shakes out.

[albingirl]

We will be sailing soon, and needless to say, we are looking forward to it.  We were on a NCL cruise at the end of August and enjoyed it tremendously.  Not everything was perfect, and I expect we will feel the same after our next cruise with HAL.  We are just so starved for travel at this point, and will take the good and bad with a grain of salt.  It's good to read what other people experience, but for us, usually the story is quite different.

[john2003]

Your experience is disappointing. Hopefully not fully representative of the post-Covid HAL. We will be able to firm our opinion in June in Alaska. I shall remain optimistic.

Our own Celebrity experiences have been a little less than stellar. I would certainly try them again for the right itinerary and price.

[bcummin]

 Thank you, GeorgiaPeach51, for trying another Holland America cruise.  Please remember all of the good people who tried to please you.  I hope that you enjoy your future cruises.

Barbara

[NCTribeFan]

I'll be on my first X sailing in April.  Just 5 nights, but I'm looking forward to trying a new line.  I'm hoping I won't fall in love, though, since their new all-inclusive pricing puts them out of my typical cruise budget.  If I want to continue to cruise multiple times a year, I have to keep my costs down.  I'm not going to cut back to once yearly just to have slightly better food choices in the MDR.

 

I never, ever eat dinner in Lido, although I enjoy breakfast and lunch there.  I'm always a little surprised when I read that people pretty much split their dinners between specialty restaurants and Lido.  I have a hard time believing that a buffet dinner is better than sit-down.  But, as is always noted, food is very subjective.

 

I'm perfectly OK with water from the buffet.  And I'm a hot tea drinker, so I get that from the buffet as well, so I don't think I'll need to worry about exceeding a 15-drink limit.

 

I thought I read that room service could be ordered on the app or via the TV.  Am I imagining things?

 

I'll be on Eurodam in two weeks and Nieuw Amsterdam not long after.  It will be interesting to see what I think.  I very much enjoyed my last HAL sailing; almost 4 years ago, 11 nights on Koningsdam.

Edited November 1, 2021 by NCTribeFan

[GeorgiaPeach51]

41 minutes ago, john2003 said:

Your experience is disappointing. Hopefully not fully representative of the post-Covid HAL. We will be able to firm our opinion in June in Alaska. I shall remain optimistic.

Our own Celebrity experiences have been a little less than stellar. I would certainly try them again for the right itinerary and price.

John, I think we can all agree that cruises are like Goldilocks....some are too much of this and not enough of that...and some are just right.  Even within one cruise line.  We can honestly say that we have only been on one “bad” cruise, and that was years ago.  Every cruise since then has been a mixture of likes, loves, dislikes, tolerates, etc.  We have never found the perfect cruise or cruise line, and never expect to find it.

 

We have had cruises where we hated to get off the ship.  Those are the best.  We were okay with getting off this ship.  That doesn’t mean it was a bad cruise.  It was just okay.  I sincerely hope it is just HAL getting things back in the groove and hope your cruise to beautiful Alaska is all you hope it to be.

 

Joanie

 

 

[luvteaching]

FYI to future cruisers. You don't have to put your room key in the slot for the lots. I used an old gift card and it worked just fine! 

 

Karen

[Sir PMP]

5 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

We are long time Celebrity cruisers, elite—we’ve done nothing but Celebrity for years.  We decided to try HAL again after many years.  We had done two previous HAL cruises. One was our very first and one was about 15 years ago.

 

We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam October 23 from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale. I’m sorry to say we were not impressed.  For us, the food was well below Celebrity.  That is not to say it was awful.  It was not.  It was just so average.  It was kind of like eating in a cafeteria to us.  We felt the MDR has just given up any pretense of making that venue significantly different from the Lido.  White and red wines arrived in the same size and style glass.  Used wine glasses remained on the table if we changed wines.  We finally gave up and started handing them to the servers.  The bread arrived sometimes.  We didn’t enjoy the ambiance in the MDR and the colors were, to our eyes, garish.  Purple and orangey-red, maroon, tan, black.  

 

The menu was very scaled back as far as choices, and we were put off by the highly priced extras on the menu.  There was no option for “every day” choices, which we missed.  I tried the French onion soup one time—watery and salty.  Nothing like what is served on Celebrity.  We have never seen an MDR offer tacos for an evening meal choice.  I had a strange dessert one formal evening that had a filling that tasted EXACTLY like the instant pudding you get at the grocery store.  Ick.  But, taste is subjective and I do realize that what I hate is possibly delicious to others. 

 

The design of the MDR has many, many tables that are adjacent to or in view of the server stations, where you are treated to staff scraping plates...there is no barrier to block the noise or the view.  In addition, the same tables suffer from the constant traffic of people going to and from their tables all during dinner.  This was in anytime dining.  I guess this would not be a problem in set seating.

 

I was startled to see shorts on both men and women in the MDR for dinner.  Lots of tshirts and many ball caps.  Guess I’m just old!  I don’t particularly like it, but it doesn’t affect my evening.  Things surely do change, don’t they!

 

We ultimately ate most meals in the Lido where the service was always good, we could have plenty of choices, and in the evening in particular it was rather quiet and peaceful.  We enjoyed the salads in the Lido, and the Asian station.  At least, if you tried something and didn’t like it you had other options.  We always ate breakfast and lunch in the Lido, and never tried the MDR for either meal.

 

We ate twice in the Pinnacle Grill and thought it was outstanding in every way.  We ate once in Canaletto and enjoyed it.  And, we ate twice in Tamarind and thought it was pretty good but not nearly as good as the PG.  Service in all three was excellent.

 

We missed Celebrity’s Cafe al Bacio, with all the goodies to pick from.  In Explorations they offered only biscotti, sometimes macarons, a few times a mini carrot cake.  The biscotti was crumbly rather than crisp.  The choices were very sparse, and what was offered was displayed on a cake plate with lid like I have at home. But we enjoyed the Explorations area a lot.  Big tables where people came and went doing puzzles, games available, and nice seating. 

In the Lido there were many less dessert options, and many suffered from the same issue as Celebrity....where they look great but taste off, like they are made with additives or things other than real butter and sugar and cream.  Mostly I find this in the desserts that have a creamy filling or topping, but both cruise lines are kind of disappointing as far as desserts to me.  They are really pretty but really disappointing.  Both lines offer ice cream, which was a saving grace for us. 

We had room service twice.  The first time was fair.   Everything came, but it was cold.  When we wanted to order for another morning there was no room service menu card to be found.  We had to call down to guest services and wait for about 20 minutes for someone to bring us an order form.  After we used that one, once again there was no order form left, so we gave up on room service.  BTW, we tipped the room service waiter $3 and he said it was the first tip he had received all morning.  I was dismayed to hear that.

 

We thought the entertainment was good.  As someone mentioned they do have dual pianos, not dueling pianos.  We enjoyed most of their sets, and boy, they work hard.  We did not do the dance shows, but thought the pianist, Hyperion Knight, and the Singing group The Alley Cats were fabulous.  Both were also very gracious with passengers, stopping to talk and open and amenable to short conversations. 

 

Ship staff was uniformly pleasant and hardworking and eager to please, and we found the service in the Lido to be excellent.  We rarely saw our room steward.  I did note that a piece of paper that I dropped under the vanity that landed in the far back corner laid there for 5 days before it disappeared.  I did not desire to get down on my hands and knees to retrieve it, so there it lay.  I mentally noted it because I saw it every time I pulled the chair out.  Not a big deal, but one of those “not much” little incidents that are cumulative and give you a final impression.  When there are many “not much” incidents that are little niggling negatives, it adds up to a somewhat negative or neutral experience. 

 

We had some trouble with the beverage card.  As we were told, because there is nothing on the card to signify the beverage package a passenger has, the staff doesn’t know who has what.  My husband had to make four different trips to guest services to get extra charges taken off.  A few times even though we always gave both cards, two drinks were put on the same card and we went over on the number of beverages allotted for the day.  (We drink a lot of water).  It was a little annoying to have to mentally count how many beverages we had had during the day.  Every bottle of water, every Explorations coffee counts as one and a double espresso counts as two.  So, if you drink 6-8 bottles of water a day, which we generally do, and have a tall cappuccino twice a day (tall coffees count as 2), you are already at 10-12.  With a limit of 15, you could have one glass of wine at lunch, or a drink by the pool and that leaves one glass of wine for dinner and an after dinner drink….and bam, you are at the limit.  We were always having to be aware of where we were on the count, and we missed the freedom of the Celebrity package where you just enjoy whatever you want and don’t worry about it.

 

We were tested three times while on board, which would make it seem that HAL is sincerely focused on the health of safety of passengers in this Time of Covid.  However, I will give you an example to demonstrate that is simply for advertising.  

 

In one Mexican port we came back from a HAL excursion on a blazing hot afternoon,  as we passed down the area to the tender they had the usual staff with the handheld clicker to count passengers.  We boarded and spaced ourselves out, but to no avail.  Passengers continued to board until every possible seat was filled and we were all sitting knee to knee and elbow to elbow.  It took about 10 minutes to mostly board and then another 5 as they continued to put passengers on.  It was simply sweltering.  There was not a breath of air and many people began to drop their masks, and kept them down, so stifling was the air.  So there we sat, a big old Petri dish, roasting and right on top of each other, breathing the same air, about 10 inches away from each other.  If ever there was an ideal venue for Covid, that had to be it.

 

So, I fault HAL for putting passengers at risk on the one hand, as they outwardly play nice with Covid rules.  These were not the open air tenders at their private island,  but the ship tenders that are totally enclosed with no air unless moving.  And even when moving the air was only intermittent, and depended on the direction of the tender.  I did express my dismay to an officer and he took notes...but?

 

My message to HAL is this:  You are either all in or all out.  Don’t give lip service to protecting passengers and then put them in such a compromised position.  Don’t pretend that passenger safety is your number one priority, ask us to wear masks all day long, and then put us in such a position.

 

Odds and Ends

No bar snacks available other than unsalted peanuts.  My husband is allergic so he was out of luck.  Nothing else was available.

Sticky buns much better than on Celebrity.

 

In the ladies restrooms, there is a place to hang a purse with a strap but no place anywhere for a clutch purse or book or kindle.  Aggravating. 

Internet was appalling.  Just AWFUL.  A constant source of aggravation.

 

One quirk is that a room key is used to operate the lights in the room.  When the key is removed the lights go out, except for the ambient light in the bathroom and the bedside light.  So, when my husband would take both key cards to get drinks before dinner, bam....I’m getting dressed in the dark, or close to it.  Hotels have the same thing, but when one person leaves the room, they generally don’t require both cards, which leaves the person remaining in the room with light.  The good thing is that it didn’t affect the air conditioning, since this was a very hot climate.

 

We will not sail HAL again.  We had a 35 day cruise booked on the Zuiderdam for 2023, and based on this experience, we have cancelled it.  We went on HAL with open minds, truly hoping to love it and we just didn’t.  We talked with some longtime HAL fans, and several commented that this was not a typical sailing….certainly not what they were accustomed to from HAL.  Some blamed it on COVID, and that may be the case, but we sailed on the Edge in July and did not encounter the food challenges we found on this ship regarding menu choices and food quality.  So, unfortunately, we will not give HAL another chance. 

I recognize that HAL Mariners love their chosen line, and more power to you.  It’s just not for us. 

Great review, this is what you get when a mid size cruiseline, and they were really good at it, goes into

the big ship like Carnival business..

[john2003]

GeorgiaPeach51 thanks. We know our Alaska trip will be great. After all our cancellations it can't be anything else!!

[HALrunner]

Thanks for sharing your experience! We are loyal HAL fans, but will be trying Celebrity this winter. It sounds like you are a foodie, so it was nice to hear your specific opinions on the different venues and dishes. It also makes me excited for the food on our Celebrity cruise!

HAL truly does value your feedback on the post cruise survey. I've even noticed some changes made accordingly. I hope you took the time to provide this feedback to HAL so they can learn from their mistakes (especially the lacking covid precautions on the tenders)!

[opa&oma]

We were just on a 12 day Celebrity cruise and as we are Elite Plus, have been on many.  The food in both the MDR and buffet was extremely disappointing, some downright bad.  We also are HAL 3 star Mariners and have always thought their food was just as good as Celebrity's.  So, if both lines are now so disappointing, I guess we all had better adjust our expectations. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

39 minutes ago, HALrunner said:

Thanks for sharing your experience! We are loyal HAL fans, but will be trying Celebrity this winter. It sounds like you are a foodie, so it was nice to hear your specific opinions on the different venues and dishes. It also makes me excited for the food on our Celebrity cruise!

HAL truly does value your feedback on the post cruise survey. I've even noticed some changes made accordingly. I hope you took the time to provide this feedback to HAL so they can learn from their mistakes (especially the lacking covid precautions on the tenders)!

Hi, HALrunner, we both did the survey and gave as many positives as we could and tried to make the negative feedback constructive.  I really hope they do something better with the tender situation, for the benefit of all their passengers.

 

I hope you enjoy Celebrity.  I have no idea if things have begun to slide downward there are not, but I am hopeful for you!  I hope you will post your thoughts later!

[idiebabe]

Thank you for your Review.  We Sailed Nieuw Amsterdam in July on the first Cruise. 

 

I agree that the MDR Menus need some improvement with Variety but thought the food was actually very good.  We all had the Onion Soup several times and it was very good.  One night mine was a little salty but other times not and never watery.  I guess it’s how one hits it.  We do Fixed Main Seating and the Waitstaff and Service was excellent.  We’ve only done Open Seating once on HAL and once on NCL and that was enough for us. We feel Service is better in Fixed and enjoy getting to know our Servers.   We also have only eaten in Lido for Dinner once in 2016 and that, too, is not our cup of tea and thought it felt like a Cafeteria.  We only eat in Lido for lunch and sometimes MDR for lunch.    

 

What I was really surprised with was your  experience with Room Service Breakfast.  We order Room Service daily for Breakfast no matter how long the Cruise or the Ship and have always had it served hot including the Tea water.  The NA was no exception.  Everything was served hot.  We also ordered Room Service the Evening we got back from a Whale Watch and it was very, very  good.  Dive-In items yummy!   We always tip!  
 

There were no Apps in the Lounges (maybe in time they will return) and only Peanuts.  Most Lounges do have Goldfish that they will bring instead of the Peanuts if they are asked.   
 

We use a Room Key from another Cruise for the lights.  We leave it in but will pull it up so the lights go off.  When we enter the room we just push it down.  
 

We also didn’t go the Show Productions but enjoyed the Guest Entertainers.  BB King were awesome as well as Billboard.  The Duo were very talented and two of the best we’ve seen.   The one thing the NA lacked was no Entertainment in the Ocean Bar.  Hopefully, this will change on all the Ships since it’s been reported that Rotterdam does have it.  
 

Everyone’s experience is different and so good that we all have choices!  
 

Happy Sailing!  

[Nymich]

Been on both of these lines several times.  They BOTH have strengths and they BOTH have weaknesses.

Given the fact we know all this we have a GREAT time on either of them!  Next up B2B on HAL!

[dobiemom]

6 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

I thought I read that room service could be ordered on the app or via the TV.  Am I imagining things?

I was on the NA this past Sept. The room service menu was on the TV (no “book” in the cabin) but we had to make a phone call to order. 

[KAKcruiser]

I thought the October 23 cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam was a round trip Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean.  

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to review your cruise.

[nooligans]

6 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

I thought the October 23 cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam was a round trip Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean.  

I believe the cruise OP is referring to ended October 23.