This was my 6th cruise, my partner's 2nd. It's the first time I've sailed Holland America, my previous 5 cruises have all been on Royal Caribbean Voyager class ships. I am 37 years old. We sailed out of San Diego. A friend of mine drove us to the port, which is very near the airport, and very easy to locate.

We embarked around 2:30pm on Saturday and were surprised at how smooth and easy it was. We didn't have to wait in line at all. We were onboard in a matter of minutes.

We made our way to our stateroom, number 6016, which is near the bow of the ship. The stateroom was very nice, and about the same size as the cabins on the Royal Caribbean ships. The bed was far better though! It was bigger and extremely comfortable. I think they have pillowtop mattresses or something, because it was just amazingly comfortable. While the bathroom was a little bit dark and dingy, it was nice to have a small bathtub instead of just a shower stall. The verandah was very nice. It felt slightly bigger than on the Royal Caribbean ships, and had nice, wicker furniture. Read more