Our 10 night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Maasdam was one of my favorites. The ship itself, though small, was beautiful and more than comfortable, even in our inside cabin. I can find very few things to complain about--the weather was a little rough our first few days, so we had to skip Half Moon Cay, but that was hardly the ship's fault. The food was absolutely delicious and more than exceeded the high expectations we have of the Holland America Line. The service was as good as I have seen in the cruising world-friendly and personal, by the end of the cruise even crew members in the bar knew us, conversed with us, and asked if we would like our usual favorites. Our waiter entertained us with magic tricks--mostly for the kids' benefit, but entertaining and touching nonetheless. I highly recommend longer cruises if you want good service, and longer cruises on smaller mid-size ships especially. The public areas were beautifully decorated, especially the piano bar, with cloth wall hangings that made it look like the inside of a Far East tent. We discovered it near the end of the cruise and enjoyed delicious complimentary appetizers, including duck spring rolls. The entire ship was spotless and in very good condition. The Lido restaurants onboard Holland America's ships are the best cruise ship buffets in my opinion--very clean, beautifully decorated, food nearly as good as in the main dining room, and good service. Some ships have individual stations for pasta, Asian, deli, etcetera where the crew member will personalize your food. The Maasdam did not have the individual stations and had a more traditional long buffet instead, which required you to wait in lines, but they were not too long and it was still remarkably well serviced for a buffet, and you could still get made-to-order pasta or stir-fry. The Lido pool area was very nice, with a graceful dolphin statue and raised terrace for eating. There were not very many children onboard the ship on our trip but the children in our family like it better that way--fewer kids means more personalized attention in the kids' program, better activities, and more chances to bond with the other kids. We still keep in touch with some of the friends we met onboard. The itinerary was incredible. Dominica had a botanical garden with a small mountain which we hiked on our own for beautiful view of the sea and the island. Unfortunately we had to skip Half Moon Cay but we have been there on two other occasions, and it has gorgeous white sand, crystal-clear blue water, fun features like trampolines and other anchored, oversized "toys" in the water, water slides for kids, and if there are two different ships docked they have ship-versus-ship volleyball games and other activities. We also went to Curacao, a beautiful port reminiscent of European towns, and had a great time just walking around. We could have probably replaced St. Thomas with another port as we have already been there many times, but this is forgivable. Altogether the Maasdam was a very nice ship, I give it five stars, and I highly recommend it for families, seniors, couples and just about anyone.