This was the 2nd cruise for me, my wife and 14 year old son. You will read reviews about the ship being "ugly". This is a matter of taste but we found the ship to be very tastefully decorated. We had a veranda cabin (6044). The sofa and balcony furniture could use updating as they were showing wear. Otherwise the cabin itself was very roomy (especially the bathroom). We would avoid this room in the future as it was too close to the elevator and it's "binging" noise was a little annoying at night. The crew were the best. Always smiling and doing whatever to accommodate your wishes. The food was excellent with more choices than on our Royal Caribbean cruise. Our dining time was screwed up initially and it took several hours of "negotiations" w/ the head dining stewart to get it straight but once we did it was very pleasant.

We chose the Ziederdam mainly for the different ports they were using on this cruise (Grand Turk, Tortola & Half Moon Cay). 2 days before sailing we were informed that we would not be docking in Tortola because of space issue w/ other ships. Their reasoning was that Holland America guest would not enjoy the island if so many other guest from other ships were there. I understand that but this really comes down to poor planning on someones part. They substituted San Juan for Tortola which in my opinion was a waste of time. I had purposely avoided cruises which were scheduled to go here.

We cruised during many schools spring break and there were many more guest on board than normal. They usually run w/ about 1800 guest. On this cruise the number was close to 2100 because of the extra children in the rooms. The ships pool and other public areas are under a lot of stress w/ this number and we had trouble finding chairs much less pool space w/ this number of folks. On the flip side,we were a little concerned that my son would not have much to entertain himself with but that was not the case. Overall we had a great time w/ the exception of San Juan for Tortola and would recommend the Ziederdam to all. Especially if they are looking for a less "carnival" like atmosphere.