This was our first cruise; it was a gift to my husband for his 50th birthday. We have both traveled often for business and pleasure, but rarely together and never on a ship. We were a little apprehensive, but were sure we would enjoy the scenery.

I am a travel-research nerd. We live in a small town and have not found a local travel agent having direct experience in the areas we wish to travel. We used our Disney timeshare points for the basic cruise; this meant that Disney was our travel agent. They do not give much input, but will contact the cruise line with any questions you have. I include this so that I can say ALL the information I used to make decisions about the cruise I chose came from CruiseCritic and books recommended here.

I want to say this now for the people who cannot read this lengthy missive; the strength of Holland America is its staff. There is no question about this. Every staff member we encountered was spectacular and every HAL cruiser I've met agrees. Read more