Our cruise was booked via Mail Travel/Jetline Cruises on 10th May 2016 for a 14 day cruise with departure on 26th February 2017 with anytime dining. All confirmed – no problem, or so one would think. My wife and I were travelling for the first time with Holland America with two other couples – for one couple it was their first cruise experience.
We all started by sitting down in October ...
Some ships, when you step aboard, elicit gasps and exclamations of "wow." This ship elicits smiles and exclamations of, "how nice." If quiet attention to detail and peaceful elegance is your cup of tea, Holland America and the Nieuw Amsterdam will suit you down to the ground. The staff is everywhere, smiling and never failing to greet you and make you feel welcome, but never hovering or intruding. ...
We choose this cruise for the timing, the price and the ports. We had not cruised Holland before and were very impressed. The crew is amazing, friendly, helpful and efficient.
The food was delicious. The Pinnacle Grille, while expensive option, was 5 star dining. We mostly ate at the buffet as we tend to eat light on vacation and this provided plenty of options, and was always fresh and ...
This was our first ever cruise and the first week went very well. We enjoyed good service, great food and met new friends. During the second week however, Holland America showed their true colors. A large group (app 1000 people) boarded and those of us not in that group were suddenly treated as second class citizens.
We had made reservations for dinner in the main dining room for 7 pm on the ...
We had enjoyed a one week eastern Caribbean cruise with Holland America a couple of years ago and decided to treat ourselves to a back to back eastern and western cruise this year . The first week in the Western Caribbean was very good and I particularly enjoyed the stop in Key West. One of the elements that we enjoyed the first week was the open dining when we could arrive at the dining room any ...
I chose this cruise as a present for my husband, he really wanted to visit Key West. The first week was ok. not quite what we expected with regard to entertainment.
The second week was a disaster a large group of 100.000 people boarded in Ft Lauderdale and completely took over the ship in more ways than one. We lost our freedom dining option that we had booked last August with no warning. We ...
This was my first cruise and I can't wait to sail on Holland America again. The service is impeccable. The food was delicious and you have many options. The ship is clean and large enough to walk off all the food but not overwhelmingly huge. The gym is fully equipped. I recommend splurging on a pass to the thermal suite - you can soak in the hydrotherapy pool after your workout and prevent sore ...
My wife and I (62 years young) arrived in Fort Lauderdale 2 days before embarkation in order to enjoy some Florida sunshine and allow for any transportation hiccups that might occur from possible weather delays or flight disruptions. We stayed at the Bahia Mar located right across from the beach and aprrox. a 20 dollar cab ride from Port Everglades. It suited us very well, not too glitzy but ...
After being on 10 cruises, with 4 different lines, we decided it was time to give Holland American a try. If you wee not over 60, you did not fit in, it is a much older crowd! The food was just like any other, except when it was Gala night. The surf and turf was excellent. The entertainment was lacking. I don't consider movies entertainment. I never saw an activities director. The activities ...
Nieuw Amsterdam is almost a decade along but is in new ship shape. The showroom has business class quality seating and good sight lines.... We arrived at the dock at 12:30 and were in the room in ten minutes. Wife told me this was our tenth HAL cruise, so I guess we must be satisfied customers. Fitness center, visited daily, has ocean view and enough machines for all. There are the fitness ...