In a word--fabulous.

This was a family cruise, with 16 of us (parents, siblings, spouses, and children) gathered to enjoy the Noordam's hospitality and to escape the winter cold in Canada. My indomitable and very organized step-mother (with the help of her favorite travel agent) coordinated the entire thing, from airline tickets to hotel rooms, cruise-port transfers to soda cards, right down to matching red t-shirts so that we would not lose track of one another on embarkation!

We sailed from Fort Lauderdale on 03 February, under heavy cloud but in warm airs. The boys in the group stood at the balcony railing in our parents' suite, very interested in the Coast Guard boat (with what appeared to be a submachine gun mounted on the bow) that zoomed up and down beside the Noordam as she lay waiting her turn to leave the harbour. Those of us less interested in the Coast Guard used the binoculars provided in the suite to watch herons, egrets, and pelicans at the water's edge. Read more