Not a great experience, and I'm usually very easy to please. We made the best of a long and expensive cruise to Scotland, Norway, and Denmark; our first cruise on Holland America. Note to first time cruisers with HA - don't expect much! I've tried to list and point out lapses so that future cruisers may avoid some of our pitfalls. First point - be sure to distinguish between verandah and lanai... there is a HUGE difference, although easy to miss the distinction when booking on line. We booked the "verandah" with a private balcony in a spa suite. Cabin was extremely tired and worn, small, and shabby. The balcony was tiny, especially in comparison to balcony on Princess, Celebrity, or Carnival. Only room enough for one lounge chair and one regular chair.

Spa suite description by HA on-line promised to have an updated color scheme (nope - same beige color scheme as all the rest of the rooms), yoga mats (yes 2 thin yoga mats, but couldn't use - there's no room for 2 yoga mats on the balcony), water feature (yes, this really dumb lump of rock that plugs into one of the electrical outlets on the vanity...I can't imagine anyone would use//it was very much in the way), jacuzzi bathtub (yes but eeewwww, tiny little jacuzzi tub ooked very yuckky, stained, had been re- and re-finished, couldn't bring ourselves to use it), and upgraded amenities (this one we did appreciate - Elemis shower gel, shampoo and conditioner dispenser in the shower), fresh flowers (yes - but the same limp, pathetic little daisies in mini-vase that were used for the entire 2 weeks on the room service trays). Point is - HA did live up to their discriptions in all but one case, but you just can't expect too much. This is not a luxury experience AT ALL!

* The cabin steward (who was great) did clean our balcony windows every day, though! He made cute animals and was very attentive. Read more