We boarded Nieuw Amsterdam in Barcelona on 27th October. It is 10 years since we have been on a Holland America ship. We boarded easily at 12 noon and had lunch in the Lido restaurant. We had booked an inside stateroom as that was the offer from our travel agent, so we went to the desk and asked if we could pay to upgrade. We were shown to a outside stateroom on level 1 and as we walked to the room we noticed a lot of vibration and noise and asked the girl if this was a noisy cabin. Her reply was that there was no record of noise reported. We spent 2 sleepless nights before reporting it, and it would appear that there had been noise reported in this area. Once we had bi-passed the desk staff the Officers were excellent and we moved to another room down the corridor, on the next sector of our cruise to the Caribbean we had to move again as this room was already booked. After 2 nights we experienced a noise like a bomb going off and the night after it happened 4 times between 1am and 6.00 am. The desk staff again appeared indifferent but once the Officer became involved it was sorted instantly. Vibration seems to be a problem on this ship maybe this will get sorted when she goes in to dry dock next year.

Now the good bits.

This is a very elegant ship and on our cruise the passenger ratio was mostly American, Canadian, European and a few British. We had opted for any time dining and this proved excellent, eating between 7.30 and 8.30 most evenings in the main dining room sharing a table for 6 or 8 and we always had a friendly crowd. We found the food to be very good, especially the steaks. We ate in the main dining room at lunchtime when it was open, as we found the Lido crowded. The Dive In on the Lido Deck was also very good for lunch. We ate in the Tamarind Restaurant one night (there is a $20 supplement) and it was superb, it opens occasionally for dimsum lunch where there is no charge. This is highly recommended. Read more