We have been on many cruises and this is the only one where the cruise line had food, activities and entertainment geared to the locations we were travelling to such as a bellydancing demo and lessons and cooking demos when we were in Oman, Indian Food buffets and a Bollywood show when we were in India and Indonesian Tea as we travelled there. Another thing new to us on Holland America was the on-location information talks that were very informative about the ports we would be visiting and were not geared to selling you anything, these information talks were separate from the shore excursion talks.

Cabin 2516 was alright although you can hear and feel the bow thrusters as the ship is arriving in port in the morning. You would also be able to hear the achor chains if/when the ship was anchoring, which it was not during our sailing. Above our cabin was a section of the 3rd floor walking track and we could hear people walking. Our room was not too near the stairs or elevators or any storage areas so it was quiet in that way.  We were pleasantly surprised by the bathtub in the washroom in our cabin, whereas on most cruiselines the shower has barely enough room to turn around in.

The food and entertainment were excellent,.There were several easy listening music venues throughout the ship for before or after dinner dancing or just listening while having a drink, although they all started to sound a bit too familiar after 25 days onboard. The HALcats group that accompanied all of the guest entertainers were very good and occasionally played during the daytime at various locations on the ship. Note: They were much more popular and appreciated at the brief outdoor deck sailaway parties than playing for two or three people at the inside venue on a beautiful sunny day. The ship's own group of singers and dancers were better than we have experienced on many other ships. We enjoyed meeting different people at the anytime dining and usually chose a table for 6.. Rotterdam ship is very nice.