This was our 9th cruise, first as a solo couple and first on Holland America. We were hesitant to try HAL hearing they catered mostly to "bluehairs." That wasn't the case at all. Good balance of all ages except for children. We arrived the day before(learned this lesson from previous cruises) staying at the Hampton Inn. Old facility but great service particularly the van service which not only picks you up at the airport, transfers you to the cruise port, but takes you to any restaurant within a 3 mile radius. Embarkation was quite smooth with many attendants to help you except one gal near the end of the line pulled several of us out because we didn't have of our registration sheet. I explained we submitted online but she said we had to have a copy. Why submit online? WE had to fill out another, which wasn't necessary. After we hurdled her, the process flowed rapidly. The was the Westerdam's first Caribbean cruise of the fall season having just returned from Europe. As a result, the cabins were not ready until 1:30 but everyone was ushered to the Lido Buffet for lunch. This worked out fine. Good time to have our first rum punch. The ship is conservatively elegant. Beautiful interiors, not overdone, although the atrium seemed a bit undersized. All activities are on decks 2,3,9 & 10. Once you get used to the curved corridors on 2 & 3, the ship is easy to navigate. Our room with a balcony was very adequate. Good storage space and a large bathroom with a tub. We were on the very back of the ship which we enjoyed. The staff was solely from the Philippines or Indonesia. Nothing against these countries, but I would appreciate a greater variety of counties on the support staff. Our cabin stewart was Bo. He did an exceptional job and was very entertaining. Everything we asked for, he was quick to respond. From there on, we felt the service was marginal and in many areas noticeably understaffed. We were the late seating(which we prefer) and were seated at a table for 10. Meeting these folks was a great experience. The 5 couples were from England, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri & Washington. None of us missed an evening meal because we had formed a firm friendship. The dining room service was the poorest we've ever experienced. We rarely saw our assistant waiter. They seemed so stretched for time that we never got to know them. On all our previous cruises, we enjoyed establishing an acquaintance with out waiter and assistant. The entrees definitely lacked for variety. Why prime rib twice during the week? The first time, it was just a cut above the Golden Corral. The menu would contain 5 entree listings, one of which was a glorified salad and the other something strange like chickpeas or tofu. Deserts were OK but nothing outstanding. One definite exception to marginal service were the two outstanding bartenders at Ocean Lounge, Ron and Bernard. Every evening, we spent an hour before dinner with them. This was the gathering place for our table to critique the day. The ports of call improved as the cruise elapsed. Grand Turk needs at least 3-5 years for further development. The cruise port shops are OK. Once you've seen one Margaritaville, you've seen them all. The island is very flat and undeveloped. Tortola is a beautiful mountainous island. We took an island tour seeing some outstanding vistas and spent time at Pusser's Landing for a painkiller. Unfortunately, the shops in Roadtown were closed by the time we returned. This was our 4th visit to St Maarten, a personal favorite. This is the place to shop although we spent part of the afternoon at Dawn's Beach. Half Moon Cay is worth seeing. Beautiful beach stretching 2-3 miles, great water activity and good accommodations even though they ran out of rum early in the afternoon. Disembarkation was the smoothest we've ever experienced. We didn't have to rush since we were spending an extra day in Ft Lauderdale. All things considered, we probably would cruise with HAL again