My wife and I are both 26 and chose to spend our honeymoon and first Christmas together on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We booked with Holland America to avoid hoards of kids that would be inevitable over the holidays, seeking a more relaxing journey. We got married on the 18th and flew down to Florida the next morning on Southwest Airlines. We got to Ft. Lauderdale exhausted and ready for some post-wedding R&R! We departed on Dec. 19.

Overall - We had a very relaxing and enjoyable time on this very classy ship. We expected a cruise full of those 50+ and were pleasantly surprised by the number of young people (20s and 30s) on board. Also, it's worth noting for younger people considering HA, that even though the average age is higher, many HA cruisers are experienced travelers and we really enjoyed talking with them (including some in their 90s!) With scarce nightlife and less than active activities, you have do make your own fun. But with good happy hours and events like the pub crawl, fun can be found! Be sure to try trivia and bingo, kind of family activities, but they can get competitive.

Since it was Christmas there were more families and the children were occasionally unruly, but generally they were not a bother and seemed to be occupied by the Club HAL staff. The lack of nightlife and more exciting activities was good for us on our honeymoon - it forced us to relax and take it easy. Next time, we will probably go with Princess or Royal Caribbean, but if you're looking for a very laid back, classy ship and crew, the Nieuw Amsterdam is a great fit. It was what we expected and a very enjoyable experience. Read more