This was our 7th Alaskan cruise and 2nd on HAL. We are a family of 4 and both our children (11 &15)enjoy cruising. I chose the Amsterdam because i wanted to try a smaller ship. i rate the overall cruise as very good. It was low key and pretty quiet. The cruise itself went very smooth and we had no real problems or issues. This size ship has both it's advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side getting on and off the ship was so easy. Embarkation and disembarkation both an A+. They serve you in the Lido which i really liked. This kept the buffet area clean and us healthy. The orange juice was delicious on the first day but turned to orange water after that. Overall probably the best buffet experience we've had on a cruise. The main dinning room food and service was just fine except the 2nd Gala night when they had surf and turf which was really good. We did both specialty restaurants and neither of them wowed me. The Pinnacle on this ship is tucked away with no ocean views. The taco bar wasn't as good as i remember and the 'Dive-in' hamburger/hot-dog joint was mediocre, the buns got hard towards the end of the cruise. The fresh squeezed juice we had on our previous Hal cruise was gone. They didn't have a sail away bbq either but did do a salmon bake for lunch leaving Ketchikan which was excellent(and i'm not huge on salmon).

Diid room service once and its was prompt.

Overall we found the ship to be in good shape and easy to navigate. Most areas never felt crowded. This ship could use a couple more hot-tubs however. The hot tubs along with the 2 ping-pong tables were always busy. The ship has a couple small sports courts located in the middle on both sides of deck 9. My son and i enjoyed them. This ship doesn't have an arcade which we both missed. The promenade deck is great for walking around on sea days. The theater was great, the entertainment was ok. Read more