My husband and I sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale on the beautiful ship Nieuw Amsterdam on Feb. 2 to Eastern Caribbean. The staff and crew were all extremely friendly and all did a superb job from the dining room servers to cabin attendents. Our cabin was cleaned twice a day and spotless. We ate in the dining room for most meals, and the food was excellent with many choices on the menu at each meal. We ate lunch in the Tamarind dining room once which was also excellent. (There's no additional charge for lunch). The views were great while we sailed into San Juan Puerto Rico. Embarkation and Disembarkation were both very smooth and fast.

All ports: Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, and Half Moon Cay were beautiful. The white sandy beaches and beautiful crystal clear water were amazing. Our favorite island was Half Moon Cay--the finest white powder sand we've ever seen. We wish we could have stayed there forever, but sailing on a HAL ship is the only way one can get there since it's their private island. We would highly recommend this ship and this cruise to those who just want to sit back and totally relax in a warm climate. A word of caution: HAL attracts mostly senior citizens, so if you are of the younger generation or have children, you might not be happy on this cruise. I saw only a handful of chldren the entire week.