Embarkation: The Noordam arrived late due to a storm at sea the day before. Therefore, we did not get to board as early as we would have liked. We were sent to Pier 88 and given a number and told to wait for our # to be called before we could go to Pier 92 to board. Here is my gripe - when we were finally called, after about an 1:20 of waiting, we found out that people that had been arriving hours after us were getting to board right away. They were not sent to Pier 88 like the rest of us. We did receive a $15/person cabin credit, but so did the people who didn't get stuck having to wait. This is my only complaint though...

Children's services and CLUB HAL: Our 10 year old loved club HAL and made lots of friends. She enjoyed the activities. Bare in mind, this was a holiday week, so there were lots of kids to make friends with. The staff at club HAL were young and energetic and got to know the kids well. The tweens did crafts, tie-dyed T-shirts, played games on deck, did scavenger hunts, played cards and Playstation. We also utilized in-cabin baby sitting on 7 nights for the baby. This cost $8.00 per hour and was WONDERFUL!! My husband and I got to a show, or the casino, or for a promenade each night for a couple of hours. The women from the front office who baby sat were fabulous. They missed their own children, so it felt good to give another mom some time with our precious children. I would sail HAL again with children in a heartbeat.

The Ship: Beautiful ship....absolutely spotless. Our last cruise was on carnival, which was not the cleanest. The Noordam was absolutely spotless at all times. The public restrooms were shining clean...so I stopped going back to the cabin when I needed "to go." Since we were traveling with a baby, I felt very good about how clean the ship was. Read more