Going on a beautiful cruise ship is like holidaying at first with 2000 strangers, but from the moment you board what is in effect a giant floating luxury hotel, you start introducing yourself: “Hello I am Jim and this is my wife Mary and we are from Sydney Australia.”  This is a typical ritual that you will repeat time after time, even though you will most likely will not run into these people again.  And you know it is really nice, I have lived next door to a neighbor of mine for 5 years now and I don’t even know he’s name!  It is the friendliness that I have come to love on cruises, it does not matter that I may not see them again on the cruise it is the fact that people will look at you directly in the eye and actual smile when they meet you.

The end of last year was a great year of cruising for the Jordan family.  In April we cruised the Rhine with Scenic Tours which was fantastic.  In May we sailed around the Med on Star Clipper. Totally amazing.  In October we called cabin 8132 home on board MS Nieuw Amsterdam, Holland America Line’s newest baby.  Our stay on board was equal to any 5 star hotel and we were totally spoilt rotten from the time we stepped aboard to the cabin stewards Dandang and Badang attending to our every whim.

The 12 night journey took us from Venice to Croatia, then onto Greece before returning to Italy and finishing in Barcelona.  Most days had us arrive in port early in the morning and leaving around 12 hours later to sail off to the next destination.  We also had 2 days sea which allowed us to sit back and take in the warm sunshine and inhale the ocean air.

The Nieuw Amsterdam has room for just over 2000 passengers and 900 staff.  In cruise ship terms, that makes it a mid sized vessel.  Saying that though, walking around the promenade deck I clocked up a total of 1.6km on my morning walk.  Try also going up and down 12 flights of stairs from A deck to the crow’s nest and you will have worked off at least one lunch at the Lido.

The food is out of this world and after speaking to the woman in the gym she was telling me that the average cruise guests gains a pound (450g) per day.  That to me was scary as I was on a 12 day cruise and already feeling the buttons on my shirt ready to pop any second imagine going on a 30 day cruise which equates into 2.5 stone or 13.6kg.  I like to think my partner was right in saying that the laundry staff were shrinking our clothes.

The Nieuw Amsterdam has seven dining options which were all tried and tested and we found all good.  At the top end range there is The Pinnacle and Tamarind restaurants, both fine dining eateries at which you pay for the extra service which we were happy to do.  The Lido is the smorgasbord option.  All you can eat, this was opened 12 hours a day so that is a lot of eating and greeting involved there.

Of course I can tell you that Holland America is a good cruise line and you may or may not believe me but truthfully speaking it is the number of return guests that speak the truth and are the best advertisement.  The number of people we met on the cruise had already been 2-3 cruises and more with this cruise liner speaks for itself.

The people that had done the cruises before knew all the tricks of as soon as you put your foot on board ensure that you book all of your cruise activities.  They were also able to tell you the best spa spots on board go fast.  It is a case of he who hesitates is lost, which is worth remembering.