Here's my overdue review of our 24 day collectors voyage cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam in July. We are two adults and a daughter who turned 11 on the trip. We are all very experienced cruisers and have been on many different lines, as well as several different HAL ships.

We sailed from Barcelona all the way through the Med to Istanbul and finally back to Venice, where we disembarked. We have had mixed experiences on HAL ships but were keen to try this ship because it is one of the newest and most modern in the fleet.

I personally have never sailed on HAL for their interior decor. Our initial impressions were that the ship looked old and dated, which really surprised us given it is all of two years old. I do not think it is going to age well and looks similar to many of the older HAL ships. Low ceilings, long, narrow corridors, dim lighting, smoky mirrors and a garish red dining room were what stood out to me. Many people we met commented on the dated decor and especially the muted carpets, which looked flat and faded. My feeling is they really need to go back to the drawing board and start over on ship design. There is nothing innovative about the ship. Read more