This was our 33rd cruise and first Holland America Line adventure. After constant disappointment with some of the other major lines, I decided to give HAL a try.
Living in SW Florida I drove over to Ft. Lauderdale and chose Park-N-Fly with their van service from their lot to the ship and back. The service was courteous and flawless.
Embarkation was the smoothest and quickest we have ever encountered. The only thing I could do to make this process faster would be to run instead of walk. Homework completed with online boarding pass, only left a very short health questionnaire to complete and we were aboard. Arriving at 2pm allowed us direct access to our inside cabin, forward on the Rotterdam deck. I had some reservations about the location of our cabin but it was virtually motionless; even noting in the Captains Cruise Log that we had "Rather Rough Seas" on 12/16@ Noon.