This was our second long cruise on HAL. A year ago, we were on the Westerdam for a 30 day cruise to Hawaii and the South Pacific. It was fabulous!! We enjoyed it so much that, while on board, booked the 49 day cruise to Rio and the Amazon, on the Maasdam.

My husband and I can't quite figure out what the problem was, but this 49 day cruise was anything but memorable! Was it that we booked an inside stateroom, the constant reminder by the Captain about the "vomiting and diarrhea" illness that was plagueing the ship, the ports of call, the plugged toilets, the long lines at the Lido, the cruise was to long? No one thing was that bad, but the overall ambience of The Maasdam seemed dull. In fact, my husband and I commented "this just doesn't seem like a happy ship."

The crew were wonderful and worked so hard to continually disinfect the ship. The wait staff in the main dining room, Adep and Redy were great. The wine steward in the main dining room, Eric, couldn't have been nicer or more knowledgeable. Read more