Onboard Experience
The Amsterdam is HAL's co-flagship, along with Rotterdam VI, and has so far drawn the highest passenger-satisfaction ratings in the fleet.  From the white-gloved greeting upon embarkation to the personal attention in the intimate, alternative fine-dining restaurant, the Pinnacle Grill, to the efficient but not intrusive cabin steward service, Amsterdam's staff manages to take service to a higher level than is found on many of the older HAL vessels. The ship has a warm and cozy atmosphere throughout, and its layout makes it easy to navigate

Note that Amsterdam was fully fitted out for HAL's new "Signature of Excellence" program in Fall 2005. New features include table-side waiter service at dinner in the Lido, a new Culinary Arts Program with show kitchen for demonstrations and classes, expansion of spa and fitness facilities, upgraded Club HAL Kids Centers and the addition of new shore excursions. The Explorations Cafe in cooperation with The New York Times is a combination library, Internet center, music listening area and sidewalk cafe. Staterooms are receiving euro top mattresses, upgraded soft goods, flat screen TV's and DVD players. A number of other enhancements are early boarding, four dining seatings, two early and two late and additional in-cabin TV channels - ESPN, Discovery Channel programming and coverage of onboard events. (For all the details on Signature of Excellence see our article Trying Out HAL's "Excellence" Upgrades.)

Decor
With rich, elegant mahogany dominating the indoor public areas, Amsterdam has the aura of a classic European hotel. Paintings in 17th century Dutch style, done by contemporary artists especially for Holland America, dominate the artwork. The paintings in the alternative Pinnacle Grill restaurant take a bit of a twist, though:  They are surrealistic. Check out the Swiss army knife with female legs and male-tuxedoed arms strutting along the edge of a fountain in an otherwise classic-style painting. And you can't miss the Astrolabe, a huge clock in the three-deck atrium featuring a clock, world clock, astrological clock and an astrolabe. The Four Seasons, a series of four female sculptures commissioned for the Nieuw Amsterdam in 1938 and recently purchased from a private collector, adorn the Crow's Nest Lounge.

Public Rooms
The Queen's Lounge may not be the greatest theater at sea   it's more like a show lounge   but if you choose your seat carefully, it is a fine place to watch the evening shows. The red-and-gold banquette seats are comfy and provide good sight lines; the individual seats on the orchestra level actually sit lower than the banquettes and create obstructed views. The balcony is fine. There was an excellent trio for dancing in the Ocean Bar on my recent trip, and the Explorer's Lounge provides a cozy spot for chat backed by a string ensemble. The piano bar, with its red-lacquered baby grand, could be a nice spot, but it catches too much noise spilling from the Explorer's Lounge and the nearby casino. The casino is understated but roomy, and saw a lot of action on my cruise. The small Java Bar offers complimentary coffees, and is adjacent to the internet cafe, where you can jump online for 75 cents a minute. The best place to watch the world go by? The Crow's Nest Lounge, high atop the ship. A little-used disco by night, the room is an observation lunge by day, with floor-to-ceiling windows providing excellent views of the ocean. The Wajang Theater shows movies several times daily (with free fresh popcorn), and you can play cards in the large game room or read a book in the attractive, wood-paneled library. The library was somewhat under stocked on my April 2001 cruise.

Cuisine
I wouldn't exactly call the meals on Amsterdam "cuisine." I'd simply call them food--and not particularly good food, either. While breakfast in the Lido Restaurant was decent (try the cooked-to-order omelets), lunch was barely average. Meals in the main dining room weren't much better; I tended toward beef: filet mignon, prime rib and beef Wellington, none of which was cooked the way I ordered it, and none of which had much flavor. A three-pate appetizer was dry and lacked flavor, too, and my wife's giant prawns looked more like cocktail shrimp. This is one ship where I didn't hesitate to have a meal on shore despite not having to pay extra on the ship.

For the best dinners, go to the Pinnacle Grill, the reservations-only alternative restaurant. When Amsterdam entered service, the fare was Italian, and I had a wonderful filet there, in addition to some tasty pasta and a perfect Caesar salad. Now it is called The Pinnacle Grill at the Odyssey and features Pacific Northwest cuisine and wines.

Reservations are required and there is a charge of $20 per person.  Service is efficient and personal, and it's a great place for an intimate, romantic meal. For lunch, check out the stir-fry bar or deli bar in the Lido, or get a surprisingly good taco, burger or hot dog out by the pool. For a snack, you can get a decent slice of pizza by the pool in late afternoon.

Service
As long as you don't board in the middle of an itinerary, as I did, you can count on warm and efficient service. The Indonesian and Filipino staff is gracious, laid back and not in-your-face. They aren't as polished as I have found on some lines, such as Celebrity, Princess and the ultra-luxury lines such as Crystal and Seabourn, but they do their jobs well.

Restaurants
The two-level La Fontaine Dining Room is attractive and roomy, with large windows allowing good views by day. You can get tables for two, four or more and there are four dinner seatings at 5:45 p.m., 6:15 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The Lido Restaurant, serving buffet-style breakfast and lunch and casual sit-down dinners, is brighter and also has lots of windows, but is laid out in a standard cafeteria style that makes for long lines and some congestion around the drink stations. There are separate stations for stir-fry, deli, and ice cream at lunch, omelets and fruit and pastries for breakfast.

The Pinnacle Grill at the Odyssey is a darker, more elegant room that features surrealist art, lots of mahogany, and requires men to wear jackets even on casual nights.

Entertainment
On my cruise, a 10-day Panama Canal itinerary from Costa Rica to Fort Lauderdale, there was three Vegas-style revues, a standup singer, and lots of variety acts, including a standup comic and a guy who played the ukulele and tried to be funny. The revues are not as big and splashy as you'll find on Carnival, Royal Caribbean or Princess; the Queen's Show Lounge simply isn't equipped for the high-tech effects you'll find on those lines. Still, the singing and dancing were good, and the 10-piece band played well. The variety acts were unremarkable.

A small band that played on deck and in the disco was talented, as were the dance trio in the Ocean Bar and the string group in the Explorer's Lounge. But the young woman in the piano bar lacked the repertoire to entertain a group made up mostly of passengers age 60-plus.

Cabins
Closets! Drawers! Amsterdam has them. Unlike so many ships that eschew storage space in favor of more cabins, Amsterdam has plenty of space for your clothing--a good thing on a ship destined for around-the-world itineraries. I had a standard outside (201 square feet), and it was the most comfortable cabin in that category that I have found. All cabins except inside standards (192 square feet) have bathtubs; insides have showers only. All have hair dryers; two single or one queen-size bed (kings in suites); in-room safe; remote-controlled color TVs with world CNN, the Turner network, closed circuit movies and in-house informational channels; a couch and armchair; and a desk. Mini-suites (229 sq. ft.) add a 59-square-foot veranda and whirlpool tubs, plus mini-bars and VCRs. Suites (393 sq. ft.) add 189-square-foot verandas, dressing rooms, a sofa bed; and penthouse suites (937 sq. ft.) also have 189-square-foot balconies along with oversized whirlpool baths, living room, dining room, pantry and a guest toilet. Some cabins have connecting doors. There are 21 handicapped-accessible rooms with showers (no tubs); two are suites, two are mini-suites.

Suites and penthouses come with a special perk: the Neptune Lounge, a concierge-level lounge that serves continental breakfast and hors d'oeuvres in a large, comfy sitting room. There's a selection of reading materials and full concierge services, so you can book shore excursions, take care of your onboard bills, make dinner reservations   anything you can do at a shore side concierge desk.

Fitness/Spa
A large, well-equipped Ocean Spa offers a great place to work out.  There are plenty of exercise bikes and treadmills, weight stations and free weights, plus an aerobics area. Spa services include sauna and steam rooms, massages, facials, and a hair salon. There are two pools on Lido deck, one with a retractable roof; four whirlpool tubs; and a couple of tennis courts that double as volleyball courts. The Lower Promenade Deck offers a walking track (no jogging, please) that circumnavigates the ship (3.5 laps to the mile).

Attire
Daytime is casual, but you don't see a lot of T-shirts and shorts on this ship; rather, you see more polo shirts on men and resort-casual wear on women. There are lots of tuxedos (but suits are OK) on formal night; informal on Amsterdam means jackets for men (tie optional).

Tipping
While tipping is still optional on HAL ships, "nominal" gratuities of $10.00 per person per day (including children) are automatically added to the shipboard account for dining and stateroom service. The amount can be increased, decreased or removed by visiting the front desk. A service charge of 15 percent is automatically added to bar bills.

Copyright (c) 2008, Anne Campbell. All rights reserved.