Tropical Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale, 24 November 2024 (7 nights)

Alaska Glacier Discovery from Vancouver, just returned. We chose H&A because things appear a little more laid back, the food is good and there is not much noise after midnight on their ships. We had a great week around Alaska. We pre-booked the whale watching tour which was first class, or perhaps we were lucky with the company of whales we saw. Bad bit, the crew were perhaps not as focused as on previous cruises. There was no sign of the ship's dance crew, without their performances on the main stage, the main stage offering was poor. The food portion sizes were reduced. Which leads me into the good bits. You could always ask for a bit more which does save on waste and some were still receiving more than they could eat. The Lincoln Centre Stage provided a good area for classical music. The music selection was a not from a top 100 list of most popular but made up for a lack of quality activity on the main stage. Our intention was to view whales and that was achieved. Would I book H&A again? yes.

Our first cruise, which was to Alaska, was brilliant. Iglu cruise answered all my questions, and were very helpful, so we decided to book with them. However, the embarkation process was awful, and first impressions of the Lido cafe we’re not good, as everybody was there for lunch after getting on the ship, so it was very hard to find a table. The ship is clean and well maintained, and the staff are very friendly and helpful. I thought the shopping onboard could be better, there wasn’t really that much to purchase. If you want a cruise with fantastic scenery, and glimpses of wildlife, then an Alaskan cruise is for you. We had been on a 9 day tour of the Rockies, prior to boarding the ship, and having had the scenery in Canada, we did wonder if it could match what we’d seen, but this cruise did. We had fantastic weather during the 7 days we were on the cruise, and of course that helped!  I would advise to book the trips early as they seem to sell out - we had to do our second choices as we’d left it until the day after departure to decide which excursions we wanted to do. Overall I would recommend this cruise line, the ship, and definitely a cruise to Alaska, and I’d do it all again tomorrow, because it was awesome..

The ship was disappointing. It had no buzz about it and seemed sedate. The entertainment on the main stage was poor. Everyone we spoke to said they would not recommend HA to friends. It was lots of little things that irritated. No self service in the buffet, always having to be given a pager for open seating dining as no tables available, lack of staff so service slow, ridiculously long embarkation process ( over 3 hours ) , Air con on all night so sleeping difficult with the noise of the fan, wine ridiculously expensive, food choices average, not enough seating in entertainment venues, cabin design poor with wardrobes adjacent to bathroom leaving little room in corridor, smoked mirrors not suitable for women applying makeup.

Our first cruise with HAL and an excellent overall experience. Quality staff and decent, considerate guests. Nieuw Amsterdam is medium sized ship, traditionally and beautifully finished. The only odd area for us was the expansive aft section behind the bar and pizza spot. We felt that this could do with more theming and an overall spruce up. Compared with other cruise lines we've tried I'd say the food and the staff were the best. Main Dining Room brilliant and the Steak House a wonderful meal. Entertainment was a little samey and some more production shows would have been good. The one that was staged however was simply brilliant. The magician and comedian we saw I'm afraid weren't to our taste. Must mention the lifts which on all other previous cruises have been a pain. All lift groups on Nieuw Amsterdam worked brilliantly. Hardly any wait time at any time of day. A mat was placed inside each lift marked with the day of the week which was a real help. The Alaskan itinerary is well known and of course a life enhancing experience. Our cruise did this justice, including Glacier Bay National Park which was carefully chosen and not to be missed.