We just returned from the Mediterranean Empires cruise on HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam, 18-30 July, 2012. It was GREAT! We absolutely LOVED it! The ship was great, smiling staff, and I felt completely spoiled! This was our first cruise, and we really didn't know what to expect. However, the staff really made us feel at ease and we were able to spend a lot of time visiting with new friends from around the world. We didn't take any of HAL's excursions, but went on several privately arranged ones. My husband and I are grateful for the excellent people we met through Cruise Critic's forums for their tour arrangements. We had small group tours, usually 7-9 people, and really enjoyed ourselves.

Re the food: It was fine. I had read that some people were upset with the lines in the Lido restaurant. We never encountered more than four people ahead of us, except on one night at the Flavors of the World station. Even then, the line moved quickly. No pushing, shoving, or any other discourteous behavior. We went to the Tamarind restaurant and when we told the manager that we are vegetarians, he said that we could have a reservation on any night. Even if they were booked quite full. It had more to do with menu selection, and on the night we went there, the chef created a special soup for us. It was delicious! We also dined in the Manhattan, and that was fine. Everyone talks about the bread pudding and it was wonderful. I wasn't impressed with the ice cream, but I noticed that made no difference to the children on the cruise! The Canaletto restaurant was great and we enjoyed our dinner there with friends on the last night of the cruise.

Our cabin: A very small interior cabin. The only issue I had with this is that it was hard to not make noise and wake up my husband, when I woke up early. I did have issues with the bed. The bed was soft enough, but for some reason I had a lot of back pain during the cruise. Throughout the cruise. However, I got a couple of massages and worked out twice a day and that helped. I had trouble finding a quiet place to read in the early morning (4:00-5:00 am, before the gym was open). The deck had jazz playing, the Lido had classical music (least intrusive for reading to me), etc. I just wanted good old silence. I really couldn't find a place with no music playing. Guess HAL feels that it's better to have music on all the time. Read more