We have just returned from spending a week on the Westerdam to Alaska. It will be the LAST Holland America cruise I ever take. Holland was my favorite cruise line before Carnival took over and now it is a sad & hollow reminder of what it used to be. We left on June 1 out of Seattle headed to Alaska. The ship looked tired and worn - paint is peeling, the decks need a good oiling, etc. The cushions on the chairs on our balcony were worn and had holes in them. They didn't even match. They had one cushion that was thick with a big tear in the back of it and one that was thin. This is supposed to be Holland America now??? The old Holland was run with the greatest attention to detail. The food was terrible and very redundant on the Lido deck. We ate in the dining room to try and escape the crowds and the bland choices, but this wasn't much better. I ordered the lobster and got food poisoning. I got food poisoning on a Holland America Panama cruise as well. Throwing up and spending the evening in the bathroom is really my idea of a vacation! Thanks Holland America!The worst part about this cruise was that we had so little time in each port. It was rushed every place we went. I spent over $5000 on this trip and felt like I barely got to see Alaska. It was ridiculous to have only 4 or 5 hours in each place. I DID NOT PAY THIS MUCH MONEY TO SPEND MY ENTIRE TIME ON THE SHIP. In Sitka we only had a few hours. Same in Juneau. On most of the cruises I have been on before you are normally given the whole day in port. With your itinerary, time is so tight you can ONLY do the Holland excursions for fear of being left behind and there is no time to see the city and do any shopping or browsing. To top it off, the ship was late getting into Victoria. I paid $105 each for us to go to on the Grand Tour and have High Tea at the Empress Hotel. We had less than an hour for the tea and the bus driver kept complaining that the ship had come in late and now it was going to be too dark to take us to most of the places he had on the tour. We had to race through High Tea to get back on the bus. It was horrible. It was more like fast food than High Tea and when we finished it was dark outside. I didn't even have time to hit the gift shop. This was AWFUL and was a total ripoff. This was by far one of the worst cruises I have ever taken. Holland America has gone to the dogs and all they care about is taking your money!!!!