Review: Nieuw Amsterdam- 7 day Carribean

I wanted to write this sooner, but going back to work after vacation is exhausting.

A little info about me: first time cruiser, my husband and I are in our mid 30s. My parents were also on the cruise and they have been on 3 different cruises. We choose this cruise because of the dates worked with our time off from work and some of the ports. I started reading about the ship after we booked. We live 4 hours away from the port and drove down the night before. My dad booked a chain hotel room using his points. We like to relax and drink when we are on vacation.

Embarkment: We parked at a place that my dad found. It was a mess and a wait, we got there at 11, The shuttle dropped off others at different ships and wow, I was glad we weren't going to those ships. We were dropped off and it was not busy, probably around 12:30. We walked dropped off our bags and walked right through security, didn't even check our champagne and wine we had in our carry-ons (no extras, just the allotted amount). Filled out the health survey and got into line (odd or even staterooms) to check in. We were in line for ten minutes and got our picture take and our card. The lady handed us a little envelope to open. It confirm our drink package. They way she was acting, I thought I won something.

For some reason, it took my parents longer to check-in. I never found out what took them so long, as their side of the line was faster than ours.

We went up the escalator, into the terminal (like an airport), took a group picture, then on to the ship. It was busy, but thinking back nothing too bad. There weren't a lot of directions given on where to go or what to do. Since this was all new to me, I didn't know exactly what to do, but I got on the elevator and went to our deck. We found our stateroom and then went with my mom and dad to theirs.

We had a balcony and toward the front of the ship. The room was clean and ready to go when we got on board. We did not stay in the room long, we had a cabana to get to.

Will post most more about the cabana and the rest of the week soon.

Looking forward to hearing more from your " brand new eyes". Particularly your age group. Thanks for taking the time and hope you get the time and rest to tell us more. We are long time HAL cruisers but had our own "first trip" on the Nieuw Amsterdam and thought she was a very lovely ship, the fairest of all among her many other sisters.

Retreat cabanas: If it wasn't for this board, I wouldn't have know about them! I am so glad they had a family one available.The guys, Daryll and Arsheed were awesome. They took care of anything we needed. At sail away it was raining, but they were making sure we had everything we needed. The rest of the week was the same. The chocolate strawberries, frozen grapes, and champagne was something I looked forward to everyday. I am so happy we got the cabana. If we didn't, I don't think I would have enjoyed the ship, as I am not a fan of crowds. Seeing all the people around the pools is the reason I never wanted to take a cruise. The cabana made my cruise.

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Glad you enjoyed your Cabana.

Food: We ate at the Lido, Pinnacle, Dive In, New York Pizza, and had room service.

My favorite was the Pinnacle. We went with my parents at 5:30. I called the morning to get reservations and they got us in that night. It was not very busy and sat next to the windows. Our waiter, Daniel was great! He had good stories and entertaining. We started with a mushroom kind of soup. I don't like mushrooms, but tried it. It wasn't for me, but dh and my dad loved it. We all ordered something different for our starters. There was a salad, lobster bisque, shrimp and crab cakes. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered. Main meals: steak, salmon, lamb, and halibut. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered. I tried both fish (not a real big fish fan) and liked the halibut better than the salmon. The sides to share were mash potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots and mushrooms. I liked the carrots and potatoes. I did not try the mushrooms, but once again the guys liked them. On to dessert. Cheesecakes and berries were ordered. Everything was excellent. They even gave us an extra chocolate cake for our anniversary to take back with us.

I would go back and eat at the Pinnacle again. It was a lot of food and all very good. My dad said it was so much better than the other cruises he was on.

Dive In and New York Pizza were both good. Nothing amazing stuck out to me.

Lido- I like the salad bar the best! DH really liked the breakfast. He would go and bring me back breakfast. They had a chocolate croissant that I had everyday. My dad really enjoyed the lobster tails one night.

Room service- It was okay. We ordered breakfast once and dinner twice. It was okay, not bad but not outstanding.

Thanks for posting. We are going on the Nieuw (first time Holland cruise) next week and am enjoying your reviews:D

Entertainment: First, I am happy sitting with a drink in my hand and relaxing. That is what I did. We went to trivia a couple of times. The first one we went to, I didn't really enjoy it because random people joined our team. They were nice and added answers, but I prefer to play trivia with people I know. After that, we sat at the bar and played. No one joined us (except my parents) and we were happy. We didn't win, but got close a couple of times. We checked out The Band before dinner one night. To my disappoint they didn't play the one song I know by them. Maybe they did at a different time, but not when I was listening. We went to the piano bar a couple of times. 50's night was packed, so get there early for a seat. If you have to go to the bathroom, have someone you know save your seat or it will be gone. We did browsed the shops on board, but didn't buy anything. My mom and dad checked out the BB King lounge and said they were fine. My parents enjoyed the cooking shows. My dad found things to do, but didn't comment much on them. My mom relaxed because that is what we do. DH and I spent a lot of time at the casino, because that is what we do. We played slots, blackjack and tried Craps for the first time. They had a lesson on Craps, I still don't get how to bet, but had fun throwing the dice. There were some great dealers for blackjack. We sat at the same table and usually played with the same people. We are not hard core betters or players, but always have fun. I usually didn't know what time it was when we headed back to bed, but we were not the only ones still up. The casino seemed busy at night.

We didn't watch any movies in the theater, but checked out the set up. It was small and looked nice. They played movies that are on on-demand now.

We didn't use the pools, but they were packed. There were some kids on board and took over the lido pool. Since, it was Spring Time, I can only guess that is why there were so many kids. I know I didn't want to be around that all day.

I know it sounds like we didn't do a lot, but I don't need to do a lot to have fun on vacation. On our next cruise, maybe we will do more.

Sorry you could not use the pools. Other than that, it sounds like our first cruise was a winner! Hope you continue to cruise and use this board often. Welcome aboard! :)

While we found the mid-pool (covered) crowded due to both narrower design and addition of the one row of poolside cabanas, we found the aft open air pool to be very generously sized on the NA.

Sorry you could not use the pools. Other than that, it sounds like our first cruise was a winner! Hope you continue to cruise and use this board often. Welcome aboard! :)

I've been to the Caribbean on the NA twice and loved the ship. Breakfast on the balcony is what I most looked forward to. We only ate in the Lido when we were around during lunchtime so I could have sushi. We really enjoyed ending our evenings having drinks and listening to the BB King band. If I lived closer I would cruise more often!

Thanks for posting!

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

Drinks: We had the drink package, 15 a day. There probably wasn't a day when we didn't reach the limit. We never went over. Tried the Wang Wang. It was fine, not a big fan of sweet drinks. Chrispen in the Casino bar or Lido, made some great drinks. He even remembered my parents' names, even though they went to his bar twice. If you drink, you will want to get the drink package.

Ports: We went to Grand Turks, San Juan, St. Maarten, and Half Moon Cay.

In Grand Turks we took the tram around. It was nice and very informational. Not much to do, except the beach.

In San Juan, we walked around Old San Juan and went shopping. Then we walked up to the Fort and toured it. My parents took the double-decker bus around. We were in port for awhile, but spent most of the time on the ship.

St. Maarten- This was the first time my husband was here, but my parents and I have been here before. We took an excursion to visit some art galleries. We had our own driver and went to three places around the island. I wish we had more time here. We will go back and stay longer another year.

Half Moon- We went in and walked around. It is a nice beach area. We didn't stay long and went back to the ship.

Overall, I enjoyed the cruise so much that I am already planning my next one. The ship was beautiful, easy to get around, and very relaxing. Yes there were people older than us, but it doesn't bother me. I do not want to be around loud drunk college kids, or around a bunch of little kids. There was only one time when our age was mentioned from another cruiser, but I think he was trying to make a joke.

Thank you all that helped me with my questions before the cruise. I know I will have more.