My family party of 11 spent thanksgiving on the Nieuw Amsterdam on a 7 night cruise. The food was substandard in all dining areas. There were insufficient staffing in the main dining rooms and the food was extremely slow in arriving at the table. I have cruised on three other lines and must say HAL is the poorest quality of all.

I don't particularly care for short cruises myself. I prefer a 7 day minimum myself. We did this cruise with my niece her husband and 10 yr old son.

For the age of the ship, it is kept up pretty good. Overall it's impressive and the water park is fantastic. We had a great time, although the stop in Key West was much too short, and we barely got a chance to see anything. Cozumel was fun and we had a good time snorkeling at Money Bar.

If I had to do a short cruise again, I wouldn't hesitate to take this ship again.

Having been on Legend and Radiance of the Seas I was expecting more. The service was generally outstanding. The decor was, shall we say subdued. The cabins were small compared to other lines.

It apparently had a refurbishment last year but the cabins mustn't have seen that refurb.

The cabin steward was rarely seen and didn't make himself known until day 3.

The dining room staff were outstanding but the food was variable from quite good to not very good.

Radiance the previous year was excellent by comparison. The portions varied hugely - e.g. starters were sometimes as large as main/entrees and vice versa. Some menu items were not able to be delivered towards the end of the cruise because, according to staff, some food items had run out. The Windjammer buffet food was very mediocre.

The cruise Director - Luke - was excellent and the entertainers were very good also.

The cabin TV programming was appalling. A few incorrect public announcements made custom clearance and disembarkation slow and frustrating. Overall it was far from the best cruise ever taken.