text: Another great HAL cruise - Noordam Cruise Review
  A wonderfull cruise, our best ever.
  The Noordam holds 1918 passengers and it was full on this trip. Everything was as usual on a HAL cruise. It was our first time to try open dining. I'm not sure I would recommend it though. It took a really long time to get through the process. I think the open dining area was understaffed. It always took over 2 hours. It helps to make a reservation for a certain time and the earlier you eat the faster it goes. The room was great, clean and well attended by TGepi our steward. The Lido Buffet was not as good as I would have hoped. I pretty much ended up with the pasta and pizza almost every meal. The desserts were unimaginative and blah, but the ice cream was the better choice. Our shore excursions were great as expected. All in all, it was a great time and even with a few bumps in the road (oh, by the way, the photo department had NO idea what they were doing), we still would recommend it.
  They had a really funny female comedienne, Julie Barr. and Journey South duo that have finished 3rd on The X Factor.