For our recent 7-Day Western Caribbean cruise on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam, we pre-booked a private cabana at the Cabana Club on the Observation Deck.
We had tried to book one of these cabanas before, for the day, once we were onboard the cruise ship. We never succeeded, as the cabanas are very popular and tend to be all booked ahead of the cruise.
For this cruise, we planned ahead and booked one of the Retreat Cabanas in advance through ship services.
Once we got settled in onboard, we headed to check-out our cabana. We were assigned to the Portofino cabana.
There was a note in our stateroom to check-in for our cabana at the lido bar. The bartender did not know what we were talking about, and told us to go to the front desk. (We skipped that advice, and headed directly to the Cabana Club, which was the correct decision.)
The two Cabana Club servers introduced themselves, and soon we were sipping a complimentary glass of sparkling wine.
Each regular cabana on the ms Nieuw Amsterdam measures 13′ x 8′ feet, and has two chaise loungers, and a table with two chairs. There are bottles of water (in an ice bucket) and two Evian Brumisateur misters.
I stuck my head into one of the two family cabanas for a quick photo. These measure 17′ x 12′-6″ feet on the Nieuw Amsterdam. They are hold four people, and are on both ends of the Cabana Club, with a much better view of the ocean. At $449 for a 7-day cruise, I would choose one of these next time if they were available.
Outside of the cabanas is a private sun lounging area.
Here is a better view of the Cabana Club sun lounging area.
The Cabana Club attendants take good care of the guests. They bring menus each day, and you can order lunch from the lido or the Dive-In. They would also get drinks from the bar for us, using our Signature Beverage cards.
Normally, I do not eat hot dogs. Once I had a bite of The Dog Paddle from the Dive-In, however, I was hooked. The Dog Paddle is topped with sauerkraut, crispy bacon bits and German mustard on a poppy seed bun. Yum!
One of our main goals for booking a Cabana was to have a quiet, shaded place to read. (I brought along a big pile of books, most of which are now in the Nieuw Amsterdam “book sharing” section of the library in the Explorations Cafe.)
My favorite use of the Cabana was to spend the morning reading while sipping a coffee from the nearby Explorations Cafe.
Sitting at the table, we could also enjoy a good view. That is Half Moon Cay off in the distance. Of course, we could not sit around and look at it for long; we left our cabana and headed ashore for a walk on that incredible white powder sand beach.
Have you enjoyed a cabana in the Cabana Club on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam or Noordam? What did you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Are you planning a cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam? You may want to check out these related blog posts:
- A Look at the Dim Sum Lunch in Holland America’s Tamarind Restaurant
- A Look Inside a Verandah Stateroom on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Ship
- A Look Around Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam
- A Look Inside Spa Verandah Stateroom 10034 on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam
- Views from the Nieuw Amsterdam
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