My mother and I sailed on the Amsterdam as an early birthday present to her. We got a great last-minute deal, 9 days out, which was so good that we were able to get solo cabins for ourselves. This was our first time on Holland America (I prefer Royal Caribbean while she prefers Celebrity).

The ship is small, 1300 passengers, but it rarely felt crowded. There are enough public spaces so the passengers can spread out and do their own thing. The ship had just come out of drydock a few weeks before. Being a new HAL cruiser, I couldn't tell you what the differences were, but for the most part the ship was clean and shiny. There were some plumbing issues that we could see being repaired and there was always grease on the floor of the entrance to the MDR which I always seemed to almost slip on as I was leaving.

We found the buffet to be disappointing. Sometimes both sides were open, sometimes only certain stations on one side were open, and often one side was reserved for crew only. There was little variety as most of the food was the same on both sides. We ate all but one of our dinners in the MDR and the food there was much better, as was the service. Read more