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Holland America Line

MS Amsterdam

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Eileen Healy
# previous cruises: 7
Date of Trip: August 29, 2008
Itinerary: Nowhere

I really enjoyed this cruise. For starters, it went out of the Port of New York, just about an hour south of where we live. Because we have sailed out of New York three times before, we know the parking situation, etc. so this was an easy to get to cruise. I drove to the City from Peekskill, New York and met my husband at the pier. He then took the car to the pier parking after dropping me off with the luggage. For those who can drive to New York, this cruise is a no brainer in terms of ease of embarkation/disembarkation. Also, it is always dramatic to sail out of New York, with the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan Skyline and then under the Verrazano Bridge to the Ocean. However, a cruise to nowhere is really something one should do if they love the sea and being on a ship. If one primarily cruises for ports, this is obviously not the cruise for you.

The public areas were gorgeous! Yes, the atrium was only three decks but the design of it was beautiful. My favorite bar was the Crow's Nest, although there was a lounge on Deck 3 that had the string quartet that was also very nice. This is not to say other interior bars were also very nice. The amazing aspect of this ship was the all teak decking by the pools and pool bars, as well as the Deck 3 walk around teak promenade.

The casino seemed typical (I don't gamble) but did seem a bit smokey (we are non smokers and my husband had a slight cold on the trip that precluded him from even considering the casino). Overall, other than the casino, it seemed less smokey than other ships I have been on (Carnival ships come to mind). There were two pools, the Lido Pool and the Seaview (aft) pool. The Lido was lovely, with fountains at one end, although there were many children there.

The aft pool was also nice,with two hot tubs and children not allowed unless supervised. There are mens and women's saunas by the pools, although I am not sure which one (I left the map of the ship on the ship). I must say, I liked all the public areas on the ship. Dining room was also very attractive, however I will address the dining in the next section.

I do not like this "dining anytime anywhere" concept. I wanted traditional dining with late seating but was assigned the flexible dining option. First night we met a person we somewhat hit it off with and decided to dine with her for the rest of the cruise. So, we kind of did traditional dining despite the dining anytime concept. I did not like not having the same servers every night. Despite their efforts, the service was less personal than when one has the same servers every night. Food was okay. Not great.

I did not experience a lot of difference between the dining room food and the buffet. This is a complement to the buffet and a not so great comment about the dining room. Granted, I was only on the ship for three days but this is my impression. We did not go to the alternative restaurants. I really hope that Holland America does not go the way of NCL where the dining room food is terrible because they want to force you to go to the alternative, extra pay restaurants. The infamous comment about the waiter in the Lido carrying the trays to the table did not occur on a regular basis however, I did see them carry the trays for an elderly couple.

The best desert I had was in the Lido Restaurant, a flourless chocolate cake. Room service was terrific. They would tell you 20 minutes and it would be there in five. Equally as efficient (at least for us, didn't appear to be the case for others) at picking up the trays. The room service eggs that arrived disembarkation day though I believed were of the powdered nature (previous room service eggs were clearly not), although when I went to the Lido the eggs were fine.

We were in Cabin 8158, inside, aft. I was anticipating noise since Deck 9, the Lido deck was right above it. No noise! It was great. Decent size, king size bed, closets were fine, and would be fine for a longer cruise. My husband, who is 6 feet tall and 240 lbs. (just a tad hefty) fit in the shower with no problem. Room steward was excellent. Even after I told him that we are late risers and not to bother to make the room up in the morning he always did. Always had ice in the bucket! Our travel agent sent us a bottle of champagne and he put it on ice before even delivering it to us.

We did not go to any of the main shows because the times did not work out with our dinner time and on formal night, when we did make an effort to go, the theatre appeared hot. The string quartet in one of the lounges was very nice and the disco was rocking the last night of the cruise.

There were no ports. The pool areas were utilized but one could always get a lounger, no reason to "reserve" one at 6 AM. The pools were never really crowded, although at times one would have to wait to get in the hot tub. The health club, on the map of the ship, comes under the auspices of the Greenhouse Spa. It is actually not in the spa per se, but to the right of the spa. I found it to be well equipped but somewhat crowded in the layout. They had a separate aerobics/spinning area, however, there is an $11 charge for most classes. Again, I find this disturbingly nickel and diming for what should be included. My impression of the Carnival ships is their gyms are much more attractive. I booked a spa treatment for 9:00 AM Sunday morning. I arrive at the spa and they tell me it is not for 9 AM but for 8:45 PM that night. I asked if I could use the spa pool and thermal suite and they said no, not until I paid for the spa treatment. Now, I was not sure if I wanted a spa treatment at 8:45 PM the night before disembarkation so I left. I decided to cancel. The Steiner people were snotty, to say the least, when I explained at 11 AM why I was canceling. Please, can't there be other spa companies out there that can take over this amenity? Obviously, I am not giving the spa great marks.

This cruise had the HAL President, Mr. Stein, on it. As well as many high producing travel agents. This explained those who were in formal wear when we embarked on Friday night, with embarkation night not being traditional formal night. They were in formal wear because they were invited to a Stein party that night after the crossing. WOW! I have to say, I was impressed. For me (though not for my husband), it was like being with rock stars of travel. We had the honor of eating with two of them at formal lunch on Sunday and it was great. Fellow passengers, at least according to the travel agents I sat with, were considerably younger than a typical HAL cruise. The typical HAL cruiser is very elderly, perhaps traveling with adult children and grandchildren. HAL is trying to position itself as a more middle age family cruise line.

I did like this cruise line. Summary is, I loved the pool areas, teak decks, the wrap around promenade, the look of the ship from the port, the Crow's Nest, the string quartet.

I really think, as the baby boomers age, we do not want to hear disco or 50's music. We want more of the YES and other specialty cruises regarding at least more contemporary artists or their tribute bands on the cruises. An example of this would be the popularity of the Curve Ball Brothers popular on the Sensation, 02/99.

I would like to hear from others of the late baby boomers regarding the issue.