This was our fourth HAL cruise, all which have been in the Mediterranean, and this itinerary was almost identical to a cruise we did in 2010, with a few different ports. Our first sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam, we found the ship familiar as we have sailed the Noordam, Eurodam and Westerdam on prior sailings.

We were a party of four, with mom and sister sailing for the first time with us. My sister's luggage was delayed/lost and the Customer service folks on the NA were fabulous in taking over the attempts to track down the luggage (both the airlines, and our trip insurance people had not been extremely helpful in the 2 days prior to the cruise)

Embarkation was the longest we have ever endured, and compared to our prior sailing from Venice, we were a bit surprised with the crowds and the wait. We were allowed access to our room immediately, however, and got settled in. Unfortunately we were on board too late to partake in the HAL Meet and Greet in the Digital Workshop, but we managed to swing by our Roll Call meeting during sailaway. Read more