Rare MVPinBoynton Posted November 12, 2017 #1 Share Posted November 12, 2017 We have just posted a review to our website with lots of photos of our recently completed Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam. Also included are menus from all the bars and eating venues. This was just our second HAL cruise and we just loved it. The HAL service really is as great as everyone claims. It was so nice to see the staff constantly smiling and appearing to be very happy in their work lives. With some lines, they are friendly to guests; but don’t appear as happy when not guest facing. Although the Signature Class ships are very similar to the Vista Class, we enjoyed the Nieuw Amsterdam more than the Westerdam we were on three years ago. With us cruising on the Zaandam in just 2 months, we will soon be able to compare the R Class to the others. I am sure we will enjoy it too. The itinerary was significantly changed due to damage in the planned ports caused by this year’s hurricanes. We still had a great time and enjoyed the three ports we were able to stop at. I will say that I fell in love with Half Moon Cay. Just a gorgeous place. I look forward to returning in the future. How can you not love a place that looks like this? The review is located at www.thepreismans.com. I hope it is helpful for those of you that are planning a cruise; and that it brings back some fond memories to those of you who have been able to visit these ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old As Dirt Mom Posted November 12, 2017 #2 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Hi Mike - I always love reading your beautifully photographed and detailed reviews. Thank you for the latest. However, when I click on your link above in your post, I only get "URL not found". I can get to your Nieuw Amsterdam review by clicking on the link in your "public profile"; that gets me to your site and your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MVPinBoynton Posted November 12, 2017 Author #3 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Hi Mike - I always love reading your beautifully photographed and detailed reviews. Thank you for the latest. However, when I click on your link above in your post, I only get "URL not found". I can get to your Nieuw Amsterdam review by clicking on the link in your "public profile"; that gets me to your site and your review. Thanks for letting me know, I guess that CC has disabled links in posts, since it isn't working on our roll call either. I normally do just refer people to link in my signature; which, as you said, does work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver1821 Posted November 12, 2017 #4 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Thank you for your wonderful review and delightful pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trub Posted November 12, 2017 #5 Share Posted November 12, 2017 great review and informatkion - thanks - appreaciate these things take time to produce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted November 12, 2017 #6 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Got the review on your signature link. Great review and nice format. Nice photos too! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MVPinBoynton Posted November 12, 2017 Author #7 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Thanks for the nice comments. They are appreciated. Yes, the reviews do take a lot of time to produce; but, they help us to remember so much of our wonderful vacations, that we would quickly forget without them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cbr663 Posted November 12, 2017 #8 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Wonderful review. Great pictures. The NA is our favourite ship and I cannot wait to be back on her again. Isn't HMC the best? Your pics showed in wonderfully, however, I did notice that you didn't have any of the chickens in the pics :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggers Posted November 12, 2017 #9 Share Posted November 12, 2017 I really enjoyed reading your review. Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to write and post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted November 12, 2017 #10 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Thank you for your post. I plan to check out your website. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonneh Posted November 12, 2017 #11 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Excellent review and photos, much appreciated! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajkr74 Posted November 13, 2017 #12 Share Posted November 13, 2017 That was one of the best if not the best review of a HAL ship that I have ever read!!! Excellent photos and narrative!. You covered everything about the ship, ports and shows. You must have worked hard to get photos without a lot of people in them. I have never been on the Nieuw Amsterdam but this review has me going to the HAL cruises to look for one on the Nieuw Amsterdam. :D Thanks, I have bookmarked your website to read additional reviews that you have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisyloo Posted November 13, 2017 #13 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Great review and photos. It was nice reading the menus too. We will be on the Koningsdam in a month and hope we might see some of the dishes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare erewhon Posted November 13, 2017 #14 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Thank you for such a great review and photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MVPinBoynton Posted November 13, 2017 Author #15 Share Posted November 13, 2017 That was one of the best if not the best review of a HAL ship that I have ever read!!! Excellent photos and narrative!. You covered everything about the ship, ports and shows. You must have worked hard to get photos without a lot of people in them. I have never been on the Nieuw Amsterdam but this review has me going to the HAL cruises to look for one on the Nieuw Amsterdam. :D Thanks, I have bookmarked your website to read additional reviews that you have done. Thanks so much. You are correct, it is a lot of work; but a labor of love. I think you will love the NA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rower52 Posted November 13, 2017 #16 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Thank you for the detailed review of the Nieuw Amsterdam. I will be boarding this Friday and now feel like I know what to expect. I loved snooping through many of your past trips. How nice of you to take the time and effort to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liv2cruise4ever Posted November 13, 2017 #17 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Wow..what a review! Awesome job! I will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam for the 3rd time, in 2 weeks. Like yourself..we really love Half Moon Cay... So glad we will be going there twice on our 11 day cruise. Thank you for your time and expertise of that review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissyCruises Posted November 13, 2017 #18 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Thank you for posting such a very detailed review, including so many pics and menus! Your website is amazing, as is your past cruise history. You have some amazing cruises coming up, and look forward to your future reviews. Cheers, and happy sailings to you and Carol 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted November 13, 2017 #19 Share Posted November 13, 2017 I just got finished reading your review. It is great and so are the pictures. Thank you for taking the time to do all that work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0bnxshs Posted November 13, 2017 #20 Share Posted November 13, 2017 We have just posted a review to our website with lots of photos of our recently completed Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam. Also included are menus from all the bars and eating venues. This was just our second HAL cruise and we just loved it. The HAL service really is as great as everyone claims. It was so nice to see the staff constantly smiling and appearing to be very happy in their work lives. With some lines, they are friendly to guests; but don’t appear as happy when not guest facing. Although the Signature Class ships are very similar to the Vista Class, we enjoyed the Nieuw Amsterdam more than the Westerdam we were on three years ago. With us cruising on the Zaandam in just 2 months, we will soon be able to compare the R Class to the others. I am sure we will enjoy it too. The itinerary was significantly changed due to damage in the planned ports caused by this year’s hurricanes. We still had a great time and enjoyed the three ports we were able to stop at. I will say that I fell in love with Half Moon Cay. Just a gorgeous place. I look forward to returning in the future. How can you not love a place that looks like this? The review is located at www.thepreismans.com. I hope it is helpful for those of you that are planning a cruise; and that it brings back some fond memories to those of you who have been able to visit these ports. For some reason the BB code has 'boards.cruisecritic.com' embedded in the beginning of the URL. I corrected it above and it seems to work now. Nicely done review. We'll be on NA in December for the short 4 day pre-dry dock cruise and expect to really enjoy the time. Thanks for your efforts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeniEncinitas Posted November 13, 2017 #21 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Nice photography!!!! We love her. Glad you had a nice cruise. Denise:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debcruising Posted November 13, 2017 #22 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Thanks so much for your comprehensive cruise review! - I sail the NA 11/18 and your photos are wonderful. Now I can plan my route through the buffet. The menus make my mouth water!! Thanks too for one of the great tips about putting a key card into a slot by the door to keep the electricity on. I am so doing that! I really appreciated your review and photos. The descriptive writings and photo editing demonstrate to all of us that you really enjoy what you do! Happy travels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseMGM Posted November 13, 2017 #23 Share Posted November 13, 2017 We have just posted a review to our website with lots of photos of our recently completed Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam. Also included are menus from all the bars and eating venues. <snip>. Thank you so much for your review and pictures. Love, love, LOVE Half Moon Cay! We've been lucky enough to visit there 3x and they were all, without a doubt, PERFECT days. We would stay there for the full week if we could ("just pick us up when you come back by!"). Love the Nieuw Amsterdam, too. We sailed her when she was just 6 months old (E. Carrib), and then again this past September (Alaska). Loved re-visiting her and she looked really good to our eyes. We have read some of your reviews before (especially your Asia trip a few years back, just prior to OUR Asia trip!) and loved them all! Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MVPinBoynton Posted November 13, 2017 Author #24 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Thank you all for such nice comments. We really appreciate them. These responses to our reviews make the many hours spent on creating the reviews even more worthwhile. I am so glad they can help in reminding you of your past cruises and for planning your future ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipfriend_max Posted November 13, 2017 #25 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Thank you for the review!! I had my first HAL experience in late summer 2017, on a Norwegian Fjords cruise on Koningsdam, I enjoyed it a lot! Your menus are very helpful and I must say, the dishes and food look as tempting as on our cruise. It seems HAL changes the menus from destination from destination, whereas other cruise lines already standardize all the menus. I also really enjoyed HAL and I wont hesitate to book them again! Besides the new great Koningsdam I'd also like to try out Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam, and the Vista-Class ships. :) Nieuw Amserdam is going to be refurbished soon. Let's see what HAL will do with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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