This cruise was to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday. We had originally looked at a 7 day cruise to the southern caribbean, but as I jokingly pointed out, "While we're in the neighborhood, we ought to see the Panama canal." And so it went....  PRECRUISE: We lucked out on travel from Central IL to Ft Lauderdale. We were to connect through Atlanta on Monday Jan 10th when the big ice storm hit. The folks at Air Tran re-routed us through Indianapolis on a direct flight to Ft Lauderdale. Although it meant an extra 170 mile drive to Indy, it was well worth it to be arriving in 75 degree weather with a day to spare before we sailed ! We checked in to the Holiday Inn Express on 17th street. Nice and new with a great location but no pool. We had dinner at a terrific Mexican place Carlos and Pepe's. The next day we explored Ft. Lauderdale via the water taxi. It was great! The cost is $20pp for an all day pass. We got on at the foot of the bridge on 17th street. Stop 9 is on Las Olas with lots of nice shopping and many places to dine (we liked Mango's) EMBARKATION: We took the shuttle from the hotel to the pier. We bought return tickets from the driver for the post-cruise trip to the airport. Our embarkation went smoothly and we went aboard about 11:30. We went to the main dining room for the Mariners Lunch. Nice and relaxing, no hustle bustle. We went to guest services so I could enroll in one of the hands on cooking classes as they fill up quickly. My husband had seen something in the newsletter about a behind the scene tour of the ship so we asked about that. Am I glad we did! It is limited to 12 people so we signed up right away. The cost is $150pp and is well worth it. ACCOMODATIONS: We had booked a Superior Suite. It was spacious with plenty of storage and closet space. The bathroom was larger than the one we had in a deluxe veranda suite aboard the Zaandam (although this did not have a separate dressing room) Our veranda was good sized with a table and 2 chairs as well as 2 larger chairs w/ ottomans. All in all, we couldn't have more pleased with our stateroom. SERVICE: This is where Holland America really shines! Our cabin stewards were wonderful! They were only too happy to provide the little extras (different size robe, corkscrew, ect.) On our honeymoon a few years ago on a different cruise line we treated ourselves to a suite that had butler service. This was every bit as good. DINING: We chose assigned seating (main seating) We were at a table for 8 but never were there more than 6 of us there at once. We enjoyed having the same tablemates as after the first night you get passed the "Where are you froms" and enjoy a lively conversation. The food in the main dining room was very good and the menu was varied. We dined twice in the Pinnacle Grill. It was very good and on a 10 day cruise it was nice to have a change of pace, but I thought the main dining room was every bit as good. We tried Canaletto on the 8th night of the cruise and my only regret is that we didn't try it sooner. It was delicious! the veal was on par with that served at The Rosebud in Chicago (my personal gold standard for Italian food) ENTERTAINMENT:My husband's idea of entertainment is a Texas Hold'em game, so he hit the casino while I enjoyed the Adagio Strings in the Explorer's Lounge. I ventured into the Queen's Lounge to listen to Jini and the Halcats one evening on Motown night and it was fair at best. One of the guys at the poker table told my husband that on Country night it would have had to get better to be awful. The stage productions were very well done. The steel drum band Island Magic was fabulous! EXCURSIONS: We took only one shore excursion being the off-road adventure in Costa Rica. It gets a big thumbs up. Eric the guide (and owner) did a wonderful job keeping us entertained with information about the country, the wildlife and plant life. The weather in Half Moon Cay was pretty chilly for the beach,so not much to report. Aruba was beautiful. We took a cab to the Hyatt after exploring the shops in town. There are lots of water excursions that leave from that area, so if you want to snorkel, para sail ect. it is worth going. We wandered on our own in Curacao and it was enjoyable to explore. Our tablemates took the beach bus excursion and enjoyed it. In Colon, Panama we ventured no further than the shops in port. When my husband didn't want to go into the little casino I knew something wasn't right.. He noticed (but I didn't) the guard at the door scanning people with a metal detector before they could enter! EXTRAS: We purchased a pass for the hydro-pool/thermal suites. It was very enjoyable. Several mornings we had the hydro pool to ourselves, but late in the afternoons it gets alot of use. The Greenhouse Spa was wonderful as always as was the salon. Hint: On the day you cruise through the canal the spa runs port day specials, so if you're not getting off for an excursion the 2 hours you spend in the lake makes for a great spa break! Another nice "add on" is the suite amenities package purchased pre-cruise. Flowers and champagne were waiting for us in our stateroom, we then selected 2 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of liquor which were delivered the next day (and ended up hauling home!) Laundry service, in-room tea or canapes delivered daily and priority disembarkation were much enjoyed as were the 2 $50 dollar beverage cards.