MeandtheSea

I do think it’s worth upgrading.  I enjoyed the small dining room and very personalized service.   I believe you get priority embarkation and disembarkation as well.  Also access to a concierge line, special lines at guest relations and EXC, complimentary mimosas at breakfast and free specialty coffee.  The food is better than the MDR in my experience.    

Tamarind is the better specialty dining option in my experience.  I also recommend the new Club Orange dining for Neptune/Pinnacle Suite class.  Service is very personalized and restaurant is not crowded.  You can opt in to Club Orange even if you don’t have a booking in this cabin category.  Do it before the trip via your TA if interested.  On the NS and Koningsdam Club Orange is where the America’s Test Kitchen was.  

There is a young Irish captain on the Nieuw Statendam  as of late March which is not that common with HAL.  They tend to have mostly Dutch officers.  He was very nice.

I pray HAL does not ever enter the mega ship world.  I find mega ships very ugly and bulky.  One of the things I love about HAL are the beautiful ships with blue hulls and no gross tacky paintings on the ships’ exteriors, no unsightly water slides, etc.  I think the Pinnacle Class ships should be the cap.  I don’t feel like sailing on a ship with 4-5 thousand people.  I won’t sail on a mega ship.  However,  I love and adore the Queen Mary 2 liner, as she is a gorgeous ship with only about 2,500 passengers. She’s huge but not a mega ship.

I don’t recommend guaranteed cabins, as you have zero control on where you will be placed on the ship.   Upgrades are not always as great as they sound if you end up above or below noisy places like kitchen, pool deck, lounge, theater, music venue, anchor port,  etc.   

Yes, for Gala nights many/most passengers dress up more for dinner.  However, none of the restaurants will turn you away.   Unusually eat at the Lido when I don’t feel like dressing up.  It’s also easier when traveling with children.  The Lido serves the exact same food that the main dining room serves.  I splurged on the last cruise and got an aft Neptune Suite, and I really enjoyed the new Club Orange dining.