Nieuw Amsterdam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
As we were on our first cruise ever we chose the Niew Amsterdam because it is a mid-size ship. We spent a wonderful week. Embarkment and disembarkment went very smoothly and rapidly as a wheelchair was required for one of us. Easy process. No line!
Once onboard, we were directed to Lido Market for lunch.
PROS:
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
Very nice and comfortable cabin however on the down side there were the life boats hanging by the balcony. The said life boats were hanging all along mid-shaft Deck 5 and there were about 16 on each side of the ship... We could have done without them!!
Cabin staff was so attentive. A big thanks to Amahed and Made.
Port Reviews
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
We had long free hours before flying as our flight was scheduled late pm. Quite a nice and an informative tour.
Food was very limited, mostly snacks.
Grand Turk
Nopt too much to do in Grand Turk. I went on a tour of the island. Despite of the clear turquoise ocean water the island is boring: vegetation is practically non existent, no cultural life.
Half Moon Cay
"I wished I could stay here"... Yes, indeed! Wonderful half day at Half Moon Cay. #1 port!
San Juan
Unfortunately the Niew Amsterdam could not dock at the main port as there were already 3 other cruise liners, therefore our ship was docked 5 miles away from San Juan center. Although the situation was somewhat chaotic at the port in San Juan Holland America did a fantastic job by organizing shuttles to go downtown.
The San Juan Highlights city tour took us to different places. Unfortunately amidst the number of cruise people (16,000) docking at the same time our tour could not take us to Old San Juan.
St. Thomas
Although the tour lasted only for 2 hrs, we had a great view of the island as we drove through the mountains.