I really appreciate reading reviews of other people and figured it was my turn to give back. I hope this helps someone else as they are deciding to have reasonable expectations and thus a good experience. We had semi-high hopes when we read that Holland America is considered "luxury cruising", so this review is an attempt to see if they lived up to that billing. We sailed from San Diego to the traditional Mexican Riviera on Jan 9, '10. Embarkation was fairly quick and an easy process. I don't think the ship was full. We were pleased with the lunch buffet when we first arrived on board. We purchased a "guaranteed veranda" and the HA agent promised we would be "upgraded". I'd hate to see what we would have gotten if we did not have that promise! The room was pretty small but it was not as small as other ships we have been on of the same category. The bathroom was a good size with a very nice shower set up. There was plenty of creative storage for 7 days. All around it would have been good except for one issue...our room was terribly dirty, grimy with smudges and diry finger prints everywhere. The bathroom floor was even dirty! Knowing how busy the first day can be, I took a wash cloth with some hand sanitizer and spent 20 minutes wiping everything down, including the bathroom floor. I could not believe the amount of dirt that I was able to clean up with just some wiping. Everything cleaned up fairly easily so it was not just that the cabin was "old", which it is! It was just plain dirty. Later, I heard another person say they actually called to have their room cleaned before they settled in. We went down later that day to tell the first desk how we found the room and she mentioned that others had complained about our area too. But it didn't seem to make any difference throughout the cruise! The cleaning of the room, the timelyness, the mirrors and floor was the worst job I have every seen, except for some old cheap motels I used to stay in while in college! :( Then to top it off, we did not get our room made up the first a.m. until I finally called to request it at about 1:00pm. The 2nd day I had to call again, this time at 11am. Throughout the week we had streaks on the mirrors and the windows never did get cleaned on the inside! We never did actually mneet our cabin staff & it was the first time I wanted to withhold a tip but my husband is too nice to do that! Instead I wrote a detailed report to turn in on the questionnaire, which I had to go ask for twice because it was never delivered, as it was supposed to be the last day. Now to the rest of the cruise...The entertainment was OK. The singer-dancers were satisfactory but there were several other programs that were very good such as magic and comedy acts. The schedule was full with lots of things to do, such as short classes. The food was decent for 7 days but I would have tired of it for anything more than a week. There was a lot of variety on the buffet and the dining service was OK. (Our waiter spilled a dish on one of the guests the first night and the 2nd night mixed up our dishes!) The staff was a mixed level of friendliness. Some were great, pleasant, smiling, chatty. Some did not make eye contact and turned away at times they could have been helpful & engaging. One thing I really appreciated... they did not push drinks, shore excursions, shopping, etc. There was an area "expert" and those talks were helpful to us! There were two walking paths and lots of walkers. The pools were too cool to swim and the thermal pool was way too expensive for most people. I saw only two people using that pool ever! The steam sauna was broken with no promise as to when it would be repaired. The gym was modern and well equipped. They had a nice movie theater with very comfortable chairs but it was small and filled quickly. The afternoon tea was nice, although not well advertised. This is an old ship that needs refurbishing. There are a few small areas that have been redone and they are lovely, such as the computer classroom area. I took one class and it was very good. But in general the ship, especially the cabins need to be rehabbed. If you want a quick (7 day) relaxing trip, this is probably a good options but go with expectations of "luxury cruising" at a very low level and you will probably be satisfied!