Over 30 years my husband and I have been on 13 cruises, this is the 4th with our kids. We have been on 6 cruise lines, and have tried to stay with ships that were newer at the time of each cruise, and have enjoyed mid-sized to large ships. Over the years we have had 2 interior rooms and the rest have been exterior most with balconies. This was our first Suite. This trip was a family trip and we had to plan around many jobs and schedules. We are in our 50's and the kids are between 22-27. We booked this ship because of schedule, and the ports on the itinerary. I would say we greatly enjoyed ourselves and had a nice family vacation!

Again, over the past 30 years I had been advised by travel agents to avoid Holland America because the age of the guests was much older than we were, and we had heeded that advise. Although I have read Holland America is trying to change this perception, I would say our experience at the time we traveled, while the younger kids are still in school, we found the guests to mostly be older. I would say there were very few guests between the ages of 20-50. We found that by 10:30 - 11:00 many of the outlets were mostly empty, which of course lessened the party atmosphere. Our daughter and her boyfriend are not partiers, so, for the most part they were fine. Our 22 year old son, missed joining in with young people his age and mostly found a place with the staff in the Disco Club and hung with us during the day.

I had read reviews that the Westerdam was old, dated and worn looking! The age of the ship dictates some of the look of things, however, I felt from my experience these claims were highly exaggerated! I thought the ship was very attractive, updated and many areas looked new and fresh. We didn't see any of the negatives others had commented on. This is what I would consider a mid-sized ship. If you're looking for "Grandiose" then I would say book on one of the super ships such as Royal Caribbean. Read more