I realize this review is a little late, but it is one of those things that I thought I had done but haven't. Anyway, we drove to Tampa the night before the departure day. Our past cruises have included 2 Carnival, 1 Royal Caribbean, and 1 Premier Cruise Lines. Why did we choose Holland America? Well, one big reason was the price. We bought an inside guarantee from the cruise line for $423.00 including all taxes/fees, etc. Another reason was that my research demonstrated that HAL was more in line with our travel tastes. We are not 'party-hardy' people and we thought Holland America would fit the bill and it did!

We had a party of six; me, my wife and child, my sister and my in-laws. For me, one of the best things about taking a cruise vacation is the anticipation of seeing the ship. I would never take a cruise on the same ship twice because I LOVE to see what all of these ships are like. They still put me in awe of how big and nice they all are. You can look at 1,000 pictures on the internet and they just don't do the ships justice.

Embarkation: A very BIG positive of the embarkation was being able to park right next to the ship. This was great. While other ships had their parking across the street, the Veendam had it's parking on the same side of the street as the ship. Make sure you complete and print the embarkation/immigration form online at the HAL website and bring it with you. This will save you some time. The whole embarkation process was smooth and without any negatives. Of course, you have to wait in line, but the\at+ is expected. Read more