I have cruised on Holland American ships in the past so I had high expectations for the Panama Canal cruise. I was very disappointed. The ship is old and had plumbing problems with many passengers w/o a toilet for up to 6 days. The carpeting on the stairways was dirty and worn. The cruise director was very young and inexperienced and did not speak with correct English and definitely lacked class. Some days he didn't even know where we were and would say on stage, "how was your day in _____ and have the wrong port for that day. The entertainment was almost up to a scale of 6, out of a possible 10. Very low talent level of the "performers". On two shows, the audio went out, never to be properly repaired during a show where something was amiss.

Communication on the first day was terrible. The inexperienced cruise director kept announcing to go to the promenade deck, but declined to announce to go to the life boat station numbered on our ID cards so that people were wandering around, not knowing where to go. Very confusing to those who were first time cruisers and it impeded the process.

I upgraded to concierge class and looked forward to morning lattes out of the very fancy coffee machine. (Actually, that was one reason i upgraded! ) The machine was broken 5 of the 11 days of the cruise. A soda card used to get one a whole can of soda. Now, it got barely a small glass full of soda. When dining in the top deck, cafeteria style, there were no trays so one had to keep making trips to get beverages or another plate, salad bowl ect. I am sure that was to discourage people from taking more items; Holland American being cheap!