We booked this cruise via the internet, and booked independent flights, our cruise left the Port Everglades on the 6th of December and we flew out from Heathrow on the 5th and stayed in a little hotel overnight near the port. Once we arrived at the port which was complete chaos, as there were several ships leaving it was very busy, our taxi driver took our bags out of the back of his vehicle and we were decended on by people wanting to take our cases for us, all very nice but then they almost demand money just for moving them from a-b, do it yourself if you can. We then had to go through passport control and then to the Holland and America terminal where we had to wait around whilst our photographs were taken and various details like our credit cards were in place for the ship, once this was done we were fairly quickly called by number to the ship, our cabin was not ready but we were able to have lunch and by the time we had done this the cabins were ready. Our first impressions, this is a very old and tired ship, but still very nice. Our baggage arrived quite quickly, so no problems there, we then thought we had better go and sort out our table for dinner as we had come with some friends and we did not want any problems with dining, we had booked for late dining in the Rotterdam and found that once we got there that our friends and us had been put on to different tables, but due to Martin, who appears to be the only one who knows what is going on in that dining room all was resolved very quickly and we were put back together again and remained together for the next 14 days, we did not have to wave at each other across the dining room. The size of this ship is just about right, when we came to disembark at ports it was made very easy and the staff were very efficient and friendly, this is run via a card system so you are scanned on and off the ship. There were 11 Ports of call on this cruise, so we were kept very busy, anyone wanting to know about any of the following just email me I will be happy to help, HALF MOON CAY (BAHAMAS), St THOMAS, US VIRGIN ISLANDS, ANTIQUA,ST LUCIA, SOUFRIERE. BARBADOS, PORT OF SPAIN, ISLA DE MARGARITA, CURACAO, ARUBA, GRAND TURK, FT LAUDERDALE. The dining room was run very well due to Martin, but they do cater for the Americans and not the English as we found out when we decided to go posh one evening and try the Pinnacle Grill, this started with a demonstration of the meats on offer and believe me when I say the size they show you is the size you get this is not explained, we found the emphasis on the meals here to be on the presentation and not finished product and also it is unwise to offer flambe meals when they can't flambe at the table due to fire regulations, the price of the wine here is also very very expensive so in our view and we are a family made up of 2 chefs stick with the main dining room, I ordered a rib eye steak and I have never in my life seen such a large rib eye steak and neither had the 2 chefs sitting with us, as I am an english lady and only ate a quarter of that steak the rest was wasted, such a waste, I was told by the indonesian waiter this would feed my whole family, which my friend and I found quite upsetting, no more visits to the pinnacle grill, We will give them 5 for presentation and 3 for their food. We did not take any shore excursions, found it much easier to find our own way around as there was 4 of us it was always easy to either hire a car or negotiate with a taxi driver to drive us around the chosen destination, always barter never accept the first price that they say they want. The cost of excursions on the ship is considerably more than you can do it yourself, we hired a mini moke in barbados outside of the terminal for $68 US for the day and drove all around the island and visited the Mount Gay factory on our own steam, the Mount Gay factory is not far from the Ships terminal in Bridgetown. We had a Balcony stateroom which was very nice, but the room attendant was very slap dash, on other cruises my nightdress would be folded on the bed at night, but not on this one it was just put on the bed side cabinet so don't expect any fancy bits it won't happen. The shampoo, conditioner, & various bits that holland & america supply were all removed the day before we left the ship, so I asked for them to be returned, we obviously were not going to wash on the last day, so advise here is to hide them. When disembarking the ship, again it is complete chaos our friends had a different time to us so we had to wait for them, we kept being told by all the ground staff you can't wait there, you can't wait there, we were moved at least 6 times until I finally lost my rag, we were all getting a taxi together back to Miami so we could not leave without them. We managed to get a taxi back to Miami for the same cost as the bus, so if you have 4 people it is cheaper to use a taxi. We had a flight leaving Miami at 7.55pm so we had all day to kill as we had to be off the ship at 9.30am, there is a baggage keep at Miami, we left our baggage there at a cost and then went to have a look around south beach, well worth a look and all the restaurant want your business so they are all offering half price lunch as in buy one get one free, drinks were the same deal, the beach in Miami is wonderful as good as any caribbean beach and a lot less crowded.