We went on the Ryndam December 13 - 23, 2007 out of San Diego, to the Mexican Riviera. The ship is a little dated, only holds 1250 passengers so it is smaller than we are used to. Even when you come in to the main floor where they usually have a grand huge main area, the area was small and dim. It even looked small when we pulled up to get on the ship. Getting on the ship was quick, easy and painless. We were on at 11:30 am able to get in the stateroom by 1:00 pm. When we were checking in the told us we were being upgraded to a window room, which was rare due to having 3 passengers, that upgrades don't usually happen. We were excited, waiting on the Lido Deck to see our room. When we did see our new room we said lets hurry and go look at our old room. Our old room was sooo much bigger without a window and we did not really want a window, we preferred the bigger room. So I found the people who got our old room and they said they wanted a window room, we traded at the info desk and all was happy. And if you can believe it, they were from our own town! Loved our room, we were right by the elevator and could not hear a sound outside the hall, but it was great getting off the elevator and going straight to your room. From the first day I noticed little black flecks in our toilet and did not tell anyone, after all it's just a toilet. They reminded me of the size of flecks when my husband shaves and leaves his hair in the sink (not often thankfully!) The second night I was awake at 2 am and went to the bathroom and all of a sudden when I turned on the faucet pure black water started coming out and those same black flecks too. Which told me that the toilet water and faucet water that I had been drinking out of, was possibly the same?! The next morning the black water was gone but still the flecks that were in the toilet was coming out in the faucet. I reported it and they supposedly came and fixed it while we were out that day. I asked them if it was the same water coming out of our toilet and faucet and they said "Of course not" but I told them I was not convinced due to it was the same flecks. Needless to say we did not drink out of our faucet for the next eight days, it was a pain, but we ordered pitchers of water from room service daily. Our room guy was pretty good, he kept leering at my teenage daughter and even tried to hug her once. He probably did not mean anything by it but I told her to stay clear of him anyways. The food was average. Not bad, not excellent. I'm not too picky so I'll eat anything. I did enjoy eating in the dining room and being waited on with the fine china and the excellent service. We loved the cheeseburgers on the Lido Deck, heavenly! Taco bar was great too. I had heard that Holland America was known for having a older crowd, but that since Carnival had bought them that they were trying hard to get the younger crowd too. We took a chance. I'm sorry to report that I will never go on a Holland America cruise again because there were probably 90% senior citizens and us being almost 50, were almost the youngest ones on there. Please don't take offense if you are a senior reading this, as I mean none. We just wanted a little more diversity in people's ages. There were 1250 passengers with only 17 children and 4 of the 17 were infants. My daughter is 12 and could hardly find any kids. There definitely was not enough activities on board either. One night it was 9 pm and there was no one around and nothing to do! Only dancing in the Crow's Nest and only a few people in there. And then what's the other thing you love to do on a cruise? EAT! Well at 9 pm they had a tray of hard cookies sitting out. That was the only thing to eat until the midnight buffet at 11 pm which really was just leftovers. So we are walking around at 9 pm with nothing to do, nothing to eat, so we went and had fun in our cabin and was asleep by 10:00. Probably where everyone else was too. I must say that the dancers were excellent and the most fun had by my daughter. They also gave us a private tour backstage as they had taken a liking to our daughter. She was thrilled. They were very talented. The ports, well what can I say? We tried to save money and do our own thing and that was not good. We would get off at a couple of the ports and did not know where to go and a taxi driver would end up taking us to one of his "friends" place and it would be just okay. The best was Playa los Gatos in Ziwatneo (bad spelling), take a water taxi over and have fun. The water taxi guy tried to take advantage of us and double charge us. We had to tell him no way. We love PV and know our way around the best there. The zip line was 82 bucks, pretty pricey, but daughter loved it! Our overall opinion about the stops in Mexico is that we have been many many times and are disappointed that everywhere we went they were always trying to take advantage of us, money wise. It got really sickening. Do not take the water taxi over to Lovers Beach in Cabo unless you are really in good shape. They throw you off the boat and getting back on when the tide is pushing you in the water is super hard, I was crying, I could not get on and they kept rushing me and then they plummeted me up on the deck like a fish, I am only alittle overweight and was embarrassed and horrified. When I snorkeled there two years ago it was great, it was bad this time, clear but only a few fish. Back to the ship, every single time you passed a employee they spoke to you "Good Morning or Good Evening", very nice touch. Very eager to please in the dining room. We had "as you wish" seating and LOVED it, never had to wait, went when we wanted, loved it. We have been on Carnival Spirit and Carnival Pride and had waaaay more fun on sea days. Holland America is classy but only go on it if you want slow paced and mostly seniors and not a lot to do. Trust me on this one, I would have changed my plans and changed ships before we left had someone told me this. Getting off the ship was super fast and easy too. Email me at tcrab67010@yahoo.com if you have any further questions. Sorry if I sound like I'm complaining, I'm not usually a complainer but I must be honest and maybe someone will be thankful for my honesty.