This was a New Year's Eve cruise for us. We take a winter vacation each year. We took this trip because we had never been to Grand Turk and wanted to snorkel there. The snorkeling was great as we had hoped. The New Year's Eve dinner was nice. We had hoped there would be a nice, formal New Year's Eve party but the deck party was all right. Holland America does not disappoint in the way of dining. The food is outstanding. There was steak and some form of lobster dish each evening. The service is outstanding on Holland America. We enjoyed these ports of calls: Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Key West. I love cats so The Hemmingway House on Key West will always be memorable to me.

The only complaint we had was the terrible cabin Holland America assigned to us. We have never booked a TBA cabin but were encouraged by our vacation planner to do so. We paid a premium for this " possible upgrade ". We were assigned a noisy, forward balcony, with a steel barrier on the balcony that blocked our view. Plus, the room was over the theater. We heard theater noise and dishes clanging in the late hours.

We love HAL but we were very disappointed with assignment of Cabin 4035 especially since we were return customers.