This was our first Holland America cruise and I am never going to go on another cruise line (well maybe Disney or Cunard). My husband and I travelled with our two sons (ages 14 and 18). We had two inner cabins on the 7 day Western Caribbean cruise. There are a couple of standout things about Holland America. First, the service was unbeliveable. Everyone we encountered was friendly, happy, helpful, and remembered our names. The ambiance was tasteful, traditional and made you feel like you were on an old-time cruise ship. We played shuffleboard on wooden decks next to long wooden lounges with chaise cushions on them. The halls to our bedroom were covered with photographs of old Holland America ships and folks from the 1930s and 1950s in their cabins and the public areas. Great fun just to walk around. All of the public areas were tastefully decorated (well maybe not the chandelier in the main area). It never felt crowded. Even lunch the first day on the Lido deck (when everyone was eating) didn't feel crowded. We loved the Culinary Arts Center where we spent time watching Melody and Barbara cook and crack jokes. Got some great recipes as well as entertainment! The food was amazing. We tried to go to the dining room for breakfast most mornings because there were so few people and it felt so relaxed. My children couldn't get over the number of breakfast choices (and if you ate in the Lido you had even more, but it was a cafeteria). We had tea every day. Dinners were delicious in the main dining room (especially the lobster) and we loved the Tamarind Restaurant so much that we went back 3 times, twice paying the extra cost for dinner and once to the free dim sum lunch. Every dish we had was perfectly cooked and the second night my husband ordered the same thing he had the first night because it had been that good. We also paid extra for the Le Cirque dinner for my husband and I which was decadent and delicious. Amazing service and wonderful amuse bouche and petit fours as well as a little surprise back in our room that night! That night we sent the kids to the Canaletto restaurant and they enjoyed it a great deal too. We did one Holland America excursion in Jamaica to swim with the dolphins, which we all loved. What an experience. I priced it separately in Jamaica and Grand Cayman and Holland America had the best deal. In Grand Cayman I did a lot of research and we went by ourselves to Tiki beach and paid more than we would have had we used the Holland America excursion to another beach. The food was quite good though. In Key West we went by ourselves to the Kayak Kings to kayak through the mangroves. Can't recommend them enough, loved the trip, but price wise cost us as much as the holland America excursion to kayak once you factored in the cost of the taxis. So my sense is that unlike some other cruise lines I've been on, the excursions here are fairly priced. The private island, Half Moon Cay, was everyone's favorite stop. Beach gorgeous. The excursions here all felt a little overpriced, so we didn't do any. THey charged $20/person for snorkel equipment, which is double what we paid in Grand Cayman and there is really not much to see. We also got a clamshell, which is well worth the $15, the 18 year old slept under it for most of the day! The buffet was fair, only food we had that was not really outstanding.

We played every kind of card game imaginable all over the ship and both the Silk Den and the Crow's Nest were perfect to spread out in. I had two services in the spa, a massage and a manicure. The massage was one of their deals (I pieced it together from a combine two services deal) but on the last day they did have a discounted massage I could have gotten. When you get a service you can pay $20 to use the thermal pool and room, which were great. Probably would not have spent the money though for full access, but maybe if I was on without kids. The entertainment was good but not great. We went to the BB King show which was excellent, two steel band shows, which I liked but the rest of the family thought were a bit monotonous, one of the Eurodam singers show which was cute and the show put on by the Philipine staff, which was sweet (the guest services member Joanie has a phenomenal voice). The boys watched movies on TV but did not use the Club Hal (older one too old, younger one too shy). Pools were nice, but we only went in once. All in all we were treated like royalty and so relaxed. I would go back in a second!

All in all I cannot wait to go back onto an Holland America boat!