My 19 yr old daughter and I were late additions to a large group of family and friends on a cruise from Amsterdam to the Norwegian fjords. This was our first cruise on HAL and our first in this part of the world. We very much enjoyed our spontaneous vacation.
Embarkation was simple, our cabins were ready as soon as we boarded. There are no flashy waterslides or shopping atriums etc - two nice pool areas, one with a retractable roof (very useful in Norway) and a giant movie screen on the upper decks. Clientele was on the older side. Our group was half 40-50ish and half 17-23ish in age and we felt younger than many. Most of us were in balcony cabins or suites on deck 10, which were lovely spaces and provided us gathering room. My daughter and I were in a standard interior cabin on deck 4. It was extremely comfortable - beds were fluffy, TV was large, storage was plentiful, bathroom spacious and nicer than I imagined it would be.
We mostly ate in the main dining room for dinner and the Lido cafe for breakfast and lunch. Food was great for all. We did one night at Rudy's Sel de Mer, which was special but probably not worth the upcharge. We enjoyed high tea in the main dining room on a few days :-)
Cabin set up with 2 twin beds, there was plenty of room to move around. Beds extremely fluffy and comfortable. Large TV with channels showing view of outside ship make it feel less interior! Bathroom very spacious for this size cabin. Plenty of storage.
NOISE is the only problem. BB King's is 2 decks below and you can hear it all.
This is my first cruise with an interior cabin, and I would definitely do it again.
Our first visit to Amsterdam, we came a few days early to see it before leaving on the cruise. Loved the city, very accessible. Did the major museums, Heineken, ARTIS, explored. Mildly traumatized to not arrive back at the port we left from, that piece of paper got stuck among the jewelry ads
Kayaked independently with seakayaknorway.com also took the tram ride to the actual town
Buy the OsloPass! Access to most museums and public transportation to get you there. It's a full day in Oslo.