Nieuw Amsterdam Review

Fantastic 12 Day Med Cruise on the new MS Amsterdam!

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam
User Avatar
5rivers
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: Jul 2010
Cabin: Interior Stateroom
Traveled with children

We got back from our Venice to Barcelona cruise last week and still have the glow. Our experience was excellent and initially concerned with have interior cabins. Recommend doing this if you want to save some money for on-board wine and on shore excursions since you are rarely in your room. * Baggage limit: None on the ship but if you travel from the US to Venice with no lay overs, you are limited to 1 bag each weighing less than 50 pounds! They are sticklers but most carriers will charge you $50 more per additional bag. If traveling within Europe (stop over) careful! 1 bag per person or in our case 360 Euros more for our extra bag....ouch! * Venice arrival: We took the ATVO bus from the airport which dropped us off at the ship terminal. See the link below, 3Euros/person and buy your tickets in the machines where you pick up your baggage. Walk out the front door to the middle island and present your tickets. Bus runs every 30 minutes. (http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice_airport_buses.htm) * On Board Dining: We went with the 5:30 seating in the main dining room which allowed us to see the shows at 8pm. The wine list was excellent and prices reasonable. I had wine almost every night and choose the 7 bottle package for $199. Great selection and recommend 2 on the list, the Martini Reisling and the Chilean Malbec. Food was top notch and service was excellent. Deky was our primary server, great and enthusiastic service from this primarily Malaysia crew. Don't forget to pack for at least 3 formal nights (men, wear the same thing, no one will notice) * Interior rooms - spacious, 2 big closets, regular American electrical plugs (3 prong), big enough for 3 adults, good sized bathroom with shower, sink and toilet. Plasma TV's in all rooms showing great movies for those who want to just relax with one channel showing the front of the ship and one pointing to the back. Fun to watch if you have an interior room as you come into port. * Excursions - If you are not the adventurous type, go with the HAL sponsored tours. In most ports, just climb onto the bus and let them take you where they want to take you. Our best days in port were the ones where we took the shuttle from the ship to the center of town and wandered around. Rome is a different story, we wasted 4 hours zigzagging after Trevi Fountain back across town for lunch. Went to the Vatican (very hot, take water to stand in line) but worth the visit then only 30 minutes at the Colosseum. It would have been better to have hired a taxi to go just to the places we wanted for as long as we wanted. This is the draw back of going on an organized tour. ** Overall experience on this 12 day cruise was fantastic and would absolutely do it again!

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

Cabin K

Interior room, J class - spacious, 2 big closets, regular American electrical plugs (3 prong), big enough for 3 adults, good sized bathroom with shower, sink and toilet. Plasma TV's in all rooms showing great movies for those who want to just relax with one channel showing the front of the ship and one pointing to the back. Fun to watch if you have an interior room as you come into port.

previous reviewnext review

Find a Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise from $291

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.