This was our fourth cruise. We are in our late 50's,retired and have booked 2 cruises with Carnival and one prior with Holland America. All were to Mexico. This was our first Alaskan cruise. As I previously mentioned in my review of the Ryndam the most obvious difference between Carnival and Holland America is the age of the passengers. Carnival caters to a younger party crowd while Holland America specializes in a serene ambience for the elderly.
The arrival at Vancouver airport was well organized and cruise passengers were immediately directed to specified waiting areas. We had pre-arranged transit to the ship which was booked as part of our cruise. The process included both waiting in line and sitting in designated areas. After appox. 35 minutes we were on our shuttle bus to the dock. The bus ride was through city streets and various ethnic and at times run down neighborhoods. The driver was knowledgeable and informative about the sections of the city we traveled through. Once on the dock the process included a document check and receiving a photo I.D. which served as our room key. We were delighted to know we had been upgraded to a higher deck. Why remains a mystery. This took appox. 20 minutes. In a short time we were on board eating lunch on the lido deck. Our cabins were ready at appox. 1:30p.m.
Our cabin was an ocean view on the main deck. It was just roomy enough for two persons. However there was a tremendous amount of closet space.We put our suitcases and clothes away and discovered we had left one closet empty. In addition the lamp stand cabinet has storage space. There is an L.C.D. television however to activate the remote control you have to stand up and point it at shoulder level for it to work. You cannot change channels if you sit in the sofa which is at a lower level. The bath was just large enough. The medicine cabinet is corner located and had all the room we needed for our toiletries. Our meals consisted of breakfast and lunch in the lido restaurant and the early seating in the Rotterdam dining room. The lido is cafeteria style with only two lines for the main dishes. This results in log lines. I had to wait for soup in the longest line then proceed to the self serve salad station. Soup and salad should be in the same station. The breakfasts and lunches were fine and the Indonesian/Filipino staff were very attentive to the elderly individuals seeking tables. The Rotterdam Dining was a great experience. The menu was extensive and the food was very good especially the desserts. We dined on: king crab, salmon, fillet mignon, sole, lamb chops and other premium fair. We had lunch once at the Pinnacle Grill and it was disappointing. The food was mediocre and the portions were skimpy. It addition there was no greeter for a period of time leaving many inquiring guests unattended, most just left.