Category VA Veranda 8107
Cruise Ship Review:
We are in our late 40s and have been on 14 Cruises. This was our first Holland America cruise. Before I get into the actual review, I want to address several areas that I feel are misconceptions about HAL and the Nieuw Amsterdam that have appeared in reviews on this site. Keep in mind that this sailing was a NYE cruise and not typical of any non-holiday sailing.
Let’s start with the comments about serious vibrations throughout the ship, specifically at Tamarind ( top deck bow). We found vibrations to be minimal throughout the voyage while at sea. In our experience all ships vibrate at various knots. There was one instance while at the Crow’s Nest (observation deck bow) as we were getting ready to leave Costa Maya where there was significant vibration for about 5 minutes while the ships engine’s were starting up. That was the extent of any major vibrations. In regards to the ship movement while at sea, I would say that this was significant due to wind and currents being strong through most of the week. Because we did have calm seas and smooth sailing for a couple days I can’t say for sure this was an azipod issue. Either way our vacation was not ruined because of vibration or rocking.
Entertainment:
We found the entertainment to be quite good in the lounges. There have been many comments about limited options and limited talent. This is way off base. There was something for everyone in the lounges. The Band was the backing hand in the showroom and they were purely an instrumental group playing music from the 50s to today. There was a pianist/violinist duo that people seemed to enjoy (not our cup of tea). For us, the B.B King Blues Club All-Stars made this cruise. They are very talented musicians and the male and female singers who rotated were the best we’ve seen on any ship. This venue alone pushes HAL to the top of the list in terms of cruise line lounge entertainment. Our headliner this cruise was Almost Elton John. If you closed your eyes, you would think you were at an Elton John concert.
Age of passengers
As I said at the beginning of this review, consider the fact that this was a holiday sailing. There were 223 children on board ranging in age from 6 months to 18. Adult ages ranged from the 20s to the upper 80s. This cruise had something for everyone and to be honest, if you were to sail on Celebrity or Princess when school is in session the demographics will be much older anyways. I have no problem recommending this cruise line to family’s during school holidays. You can see a change in marketing to a younger demographic. This is definitely not your grandparents Holland America.
Food choice
We’ve read reviews that said the food choices were limited and/or not enough choices. The one negative I would mention is the lack of creativity on menus in the dining room. I realize this is subjective so I’ll say that while we were not always thrilled with the choices, the food we did choose was very good. Again, this was a NYE cruise so our second formal night gala menu turned into the NYE menu. It would have been nice to have a special menu for the second formal night instead of the daily menu (I am assuming based on the choices that the menu was not meant for a formal night gala). I do think it’s worth mentioning that the ship has three top notch specialty restaurants at very reasonable prices so check the menus out on line or as early as possible each day. If you don’t like the choices, make a reservation, you won’t be disappointed. The Pinnacle Grill ($29 pp) plus drinks is a high end steakhouse. We ate at the Pinnacle Grills Evening at Le Cirque ($49 pp) and the food (a menu of Le Cirque staples) was well worth the upcharge. There is an Asian restaurant called Tamarind ($20pp) and an Italian Restaurant called Canaletto’s ($10pp) which is casual and is part of the seating at the Lido Buffet. We did not eat at these restaurants but everyone we spoke to raved about them. The comments about the Lido Buffet were also way off base. Yes, there were staples that never changed but each station had at least one special each day for breakfast and lunch. Also, many choices were made to order. You could also eat at the Dive-In for hamburgers and hotdogs or NY Slice for made to order pizza. Both free and on the pool deck. So, plenty of good food choices and I haven’t mentioned the Crows Nest for cappuccino and finger sandwiches, cookies and petitfors etc. I also want to add that the breakfast served in the main dining room on sea days was the best on any of the cruise lines we’ve been on. The menu was diverse and the service was prompt. The lounges also had happy hour with drink specials and hors d’oeuvres. Again there are plenty of choices so it’s on you if you can’t find something to eat.
Some other nice little extras that are complimentary: Afternoon tea was served each day with a different theme. Also, towel animals every night (this might not seem like much but it shows how important the passengers happiness is)
I feel it’s also important to mention that the service throughout the ship is spectacular. Staff on the Nieuw Amsterdam have been trained to remember every detail. A bar server who served us once at the beginning of the cruise would ask me every night if I was going to have the drink he served me that evening. They knew our names and greeted us each day. I do think that having a staff of only two nationalities (Indonesian and Filipinos) builds a camaraderie that other lines don’t have.
We are in our late 40’s and have been on 14 Cruises. This was our first Holland America cruise. Before I get into the actual review, I want to address several areas that I feel are misconceptions about HAL and the Nieuw Amsterdam that have appeared in reviews on this site. Keep in mind that this sailing was a NYE cruise and not typical of any non-holiday sailing.
Let’s start with the comments about serious vibrations throughout the cruise ship, specifically at Tamarind ( top deck bow). We found vibrations to be minimal throughout the voyage while at sea. In our experience all cruise ships vibrate at various knots. There was one instance while at the Crow’s Nest (observation deck bow) as we were getting ready to leave Costa Maya where there was significant vibration for about 5 minutes while the cruise ships engine’s were starting up. That was the extent of any major vibrations. In regards to the ship movement while at sea, I would say that this was significant due to wind and currents being strong through most of the week. Because we did have calm seas and smooth sailing for a couple days I can’t say for sure this was an azipod issue. Either way our vacation was not ruined because of vibration or rocking.
Entertainment: We found the entertainment to be quite good in the lounges. There have been many comments about limited options and limited talent. This is way off base. There was something for everyone in the lounges. The Band was the backing hand in the showroom and they were purely an instrumental group playing music from the 50’s to today. There was a pianist/violinist duo that people seemed to enjoy (not our cup of tea).
For us, the B.B King Blues Club All-Stars made this cruise. They are very talented musicians and the male and female singers who rotated were the best we’ve seen on any ship. This venue alone pushes HAL to the top of the list in terms of cruise line lounge entertainment. Our headliner this cruise was Almost Elton John. If you closed your eyes, you would think you were at an Elton John concert.
Age of passengers: As I said at the beginning of this review, consider the fact that this was a holiday sailing. There were 223 children on board ranging in age from 6 months to 18. Adult ages ranged from the 20’s to the upper 80’s. This cruise had something for everyone and to be honest, if you were to sail on a Celebrity or Princess cruise ship when school is in session the demographics will be much older anyways. I have no problem recommending this cruise line to family’s during school holidays. You can see a change in marketing to a younger demographic. This is definitely not your grandparents Holland America.
Food choice: We’ve read reviews that said the food choices were limited and/or not enough choices. The one negative I would mention is the lack of creativity on menus in the dining room. I realize this is subjective so I’ll say that while we were not always thrilled with the choices, the food we did choose was very good. Again, this was a NYE cruise so our second formal night gala menu turned into the NYE menu. It would have been nice to have a special menu for the second formal night instead of the daily menu (I am assuming based on the choices that the menu was not meant for a formal night gala).
I do think it’s worth mentioning that the ship has three top notch specialty restaurants at very reasonable prices so check the menus out on line or as early as possible each day. If you don’t like the choices, make a reservation, you won’t be disappointed. The Pinnacle Grill ($29 pp) plus drinks is a high end steakhouse. We ate at the Pinnacle Grills Evening at Le Cirque ($49 pp) and the food (a menu of Le Cirque staples) was well worth the upcharge.
There is an Asian restaurant called Tamarind ($20pp) and an Italian Restaurant called Canaletto’s ($10pp) which is casual and is part of the seating at the Lido Buffet. We did not eat at these restaurants but everyone we spoke to raved about them. The comments about the Lido Buffet were also way off base. Yes, there were staples that never changed but each station had at least one special each day for breakfast and lunch. Also, many choices were made to order.
You could also eat at the Dive-In for hamburgers and hot dogs or NY Slice for made to order pizza. Both free and on the pool deck. So, plenty of good food choices and I haven’t mentioned the Crows Nest for cappuccino and finger sandwiches, cookies and petitfors etc.
I also want to add that the breakfast served in the main dining room on sea days was the best on any of the cruise lines we’ve been on. The menu was diverse and the service was prompt. The lounges also had happy hour with drink specials and hors d’oeuvres. Again there are plenty of choices so it’s on you if you can’t find something to eat.
Some other nice little extras that are complimentary: Afternoon tea was served each day with a different theme. Also, towel animals every night (this might not seem like much but it shows how important the passengers happiness is)
I feel it’s also important to mention that the service throughout the ship is spectacular. Staff on the Nieuw Amsterdam have been trained to remember every detail. A bar server who served us once at the beginning of the cruise would ask me every night if I was going to have the drink he served me that evening. They knew our names and greeted us each day. I do think that having a staff of only two nationalities (Indonesian and Filipinos) builds a camaraderie that other lines don’t have.
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