I went on the Noordam as a family legacy trip, with my extended family (group of 15) taking up 6 cabins. The majority of this group including myself had sailed on at least one other HAL cruise (canada and alaska). I will be covering embarkation, staterooms, dining, service, shore excursions, activities, children's clubs, entertainment, and disembarkation.

EMBARKATION: My family is from South Jersey and we took a HAL chartered bus to NYC. It took a little longer than a straight car ride, but it couldn't have been easier, with free parking included. Once my family and my aunt's family (8 people) got to the terminal, my grandmother had already been there and since they give out numbers per group, we got to go with them and only waited about 5 minutes. Surprisingly, the regular line was faster than the internet immigration form line. It took us about 20 min to sort out credit card info for people since our group was so big, but then we finally headed to the gangway. The view at night of the NYC skyline and statue of liberty was inspiring. This area is almost impossible to get a perfect score in, and I think HAL was sincerely trying their best in this area.

STATEROOMS: My cabin was a quad on the main deck, and therefore really cramped with 4 teenage boys, but from what I've heard HAL cabins are pretty big compared to competitors. On my other cruises my parents had deluxe verandah room which was enormous. The small room wasn't a big problem. Also i know that the bigger your room is you also get more perks, such as free movie rentals and a butler. Read more