Amsterdam Review
Our first experience with HAL was wonderful!
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For our honeymoon, my husband and I were on Celebrity (Galaxy). We had a great time, and because we instantly became Captain's Club members (based on my previous sailings), we planned to sail only Celebrity in the future. However, when it came time for our 5-year anniversary and we wanted to do a Panama Canal sailing very late in the season, there were no Celebrity ships available. Therefore, we decided to choose Holland America, as we had heard the line was very comparable to Celebrity. We chose a 14-day sailing leaving from Ft. Lauderdale on April 27, 2008 and arriving in Los Angeles on May 11, 2008. The highlight of this trip was the full Panama Canal transit on May 1st, and our ports included Cartagena, Columbia; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Puerta Chiapas, Mexico, Huatulco, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
EMBARKATION We arrived at the port by car (had flown in the day before and stayed with relatives) right around 11 a.m. The ship was not yet boarding at that time. Of note is the fact that Amsterdam had recently finished a 100+ day world cruise in New York just prior to coming to Ft. Lauderdale, so some of the passengers getting off the ship were leftover from the world tour. We just had a seat on a bench and waited; after about 20-30 minutes, someone told us where we could leave our luggage, and we were allowed to enter the terminal building. There we went through the mental detectors and then entered a waiting room; we waited only 5-10 minutes before being checked in and receiving our ID cards. We then waited another 20-30 minutes or so to board; I would say that we were on the ship by around 12:30 p.m. We had lunch in the Lido (we checked the dining room first, but it wasn't open), and when we checked our room at 1:30, it was ready.
THE SHIP Amsterdam is an absolutely beautiful ship! The artwork is amazing; even after being on the ship for two weeks, I don't think we saw all of it (a self-guided iPod tour is available though). There are plenty of special touches, such as fresh flowers everywhere; personally, I loved that the mats in the elevators changed daily to show what day it was. My husband and I also loved the classic look of this ship, from the teak decks to the solid blue exterior color scheme (we're not big fans of the more colorful Carnival or RCL lines).
Cabin Review
Large Ocean-View Stateroom
Our outside cabin on the Dolphin deck was at a very good location midway between the forward and midship elevators; it was both quiet and convenient. We found that the cabin had tons of closet and storage space for two people, and we were very pleased. The only thing it lacked was a clock!