We are in our late 40s and have been on 14 Cruises on 5 different cruise lines including Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian). This was our first Holland America cruise. When sailing out of Port Everglades we always stay at the Hilton Marina. This hotel is five minutes from the port, the rooms are comfortable and the restaurants and lounge are nice. As part of this 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. Read more