Nieuw Amsterdam Review
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Let me start my review by saying my husband and I have cruised on many different lines, Carnival, NCL, Celebrity and Princess. This was our third cruise with HAL and our longest ever as it was the 14 day Eastern/Western Caribbean.
The Nieuw Amsterdam was just a lovely ship. We took a inside cabin on the Rotterdam Deck (Deck 7) it was small but thoughtfully laid out with plenty of storage and closet space. The embarkation process in Ft. Lauderdale was a bit of a fiasco because the ship had just returned from Europe so apparently there were U.S. Inspections to go through so it was kind of a slow go.
As is usual on HAL the crowd was an older group although there were quite a few younger folks on board. HAL's policy now seems to be no self service in the Lido (buffet) for the first 48 hours to quash the possibility of Norovirus, an inconvenience but perfectly understandable. My one minor criticism at the buffet was the use of glassware (juice size glasses) for beverages and slow and poor performing coffee machines and water dispensers. As an aside I have to say the coffee was better than most other cruise lines.
Cabin Review
Small room but ample storage and closet space. The bed was very comfortable and the pillows were heavenly. The bathroom area was adequate. Room was a little noisy in the morning as we seemed to be backed up next to a stairway which was used by the crew. Not a big deal. Would definitely take this room again as it was at the back of the ship on the 7th Deck (just 2 decks below the Lido).