Last week when finishing the 16 day Rotterdam TA I took the HAL transfer to AMS. First note, there is a transfer to the Cruise Terminal OR the airport. I booked the Cruise Terminal by mistake, so had to correct that one, but my error. Loading the bus was easy enough and the drive to AMS was without complaint. The only reason I took this transfer was that my hotel was just off the airport grounds so I could take the hotel shuttle to the hotel to spend the night. Getting the bags off the bus was an issue but mainly because people were just crowding around the bus and not helping others.
When it came to AMS, I got there early enough at 6am (from the hotel) and had no issues with getting my bags checked, security, etc. Good thing as the lounge BA is using became full and had a line to enter when I left. But overall the experience was good. Now would that be the case for an afternoon flight I would not know.