NOTE: the above form for this review shows "0" for the number of ports visited because there was no space to answer accurately. After leaving the home port of Boston, we visited TWENTY ports; two of these were overnight stays, giving us two days in those cities.

We prefer smaller ships, so Maasdam's size suits us very well. She is comfortable and pleasant with a topnotch crew. Maasdam is scheduled for a turn in drydock in spring of 2011, at which time she will undergo some of the changes already made to Veendam. Maasdam will benefit from refurbishing as she's looking a little tired in places, but still she is basically a lovely ship.

We have high praise for our dining experiences, most of which were in the Lido. We like seeing the foods we are choosing and being able to ask for the size portion we would like, so a buffet works well for us. In addition, we enjoy the window tables in that venue. We dined at Caneletto once, the Pinnacle Grill once, and the Rotterdam dining room once; the rest of the time, up to the Lido. Special kudos to the chef for bringing just-caught fish on board at many of these northern ports. It was worthwhile to watch menus for the catch of the day. Read more