We sailed on HA from San Diego through the Panama Canal departing on 10/06/21 on Nieuw Amsterdam which was the continuation of the ship's Alaska cruises that marked HA return to North American cruises after pandemic. While the cruise was certainly a decent value there were some issues that made it less so than the same trip on HA in 2018. Most notably are the surcharges on food in the dining room ...
Stateroom Attendant service was outstanding.. Quality of Lincoln Center Stage musicians and recitals were world class. Panama Canal presentations and speaker were excellent. The actual transit was normal : 8 hours from coast to coast...glad it was cloudy to keep the hot sun at bay...
Visible changes to the ship from last dry dock are minimal....New cushions on the deck chairs and Lido pool ...
Traversing the Panama Canal had always been a "bucket list" for my husband and me ages 67 and 72, respectively); being veteran HAL cruisers, we chose the NIEUW AMSTERDAM 21-day Panama Canal Cruise, 28 September to 19 October 2019, from Vancouver BC to Ft Lauderdale FL. We enjoyed a few days visiting Vancouver, BC before boarding the ship. Embarkation/disembarkation was fast and smooth. If there ...
Embarkation in Vancouver was fast and smooth. I was told it might be different the next day when four ships would be in port, rather than just this one.
The vaguely Art Deco décor of the ship's public areas was lovely, and everything was always clean and fresh. The stair landings and corridors displayed beautiful art and sculptures, and there were many historic pictures and maps associated ...
Nine of us traveled together to cruise the Panama Canal. Our group consisted of three married couples and three single ladies ranging in age from 50 on up. Despite different interests among the members of the group, I don't remember anyone complaining of being bored. Three of us enjoyed the trivia contests, others spent lots of time (and money!) at bingo, some enjoyed the movies and ...
We wanted to see Panama Canal, particularly the old part of it. I have done one passing in my previous career at sea more than 30 years ago, on a freighter.
Since HAL had a good itinerary suiting the best for our schedule and that there was so good ratings with HAL with travelers with similar preferences we did not hesitate to book this trip, our first on HAL.
Our preferences were quite ...
I chose this cruise because it the most interesting, historical cruise to celebrate my retirement! Loved every minute of it. We are big fans of Holland America, especially the Nieuw Amsterdam ship. Embarkation and disembarkation always go smoothly. People! There are thousands of people in the cruise terminal. You have be patient and get a grip! You are not the only person on this ship! The ...
We have only sailed on Celebrity ships before; enough to rise to the elite level which also entitles us to several perks. So why sail on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam? We wanted to do the ocean to ocean Panama Canal itinerary in the late winter or early spring when it was cold in the Washington, DC area. Celebrity no longer offered this cruise during this time of the year. So, we reviewed ...
Cruising through the Panama Canal was on the bucket list. HAL cruised all the way through which was the high point of the 14 day cruise. The ship was beautiful and the service overall was good, but the spa staff was highly aggressive and treatments way too expensive. Watch your bill - we had multiple charges for other people's alcohol and for things that were included in our beverage package. ...
Ship is very pretty & clean. Lovely decor and artwork. Our cabin 5090 had plenty of storage, and a bathtub! Bring a bar of your own soap if you don't like the liquid soap dispenser on the shower wall. There were inconsistencies between our cabin and our friends next door. We had a mag makeup mirror and a small note pad on the night table (which I used a lot). Our friends didn't have these things. ...