This was my 8th cruise, first with Holland America. I booked with Holland America because I had always heard their service was excellent and I was feeling like the cruises I had taken over the last several years had gotten worse and worse in the service department. I was tired of feeling like cattle being sent to the cash register and was excited to embark with a "cut above" line. Let me tell you, there was nothing special about this cruise.
I gotta say the crew all seem way too overworked and busy to give anyone the care that I recall from the cruise industry 15 years ago. I am 50 years old and Seemed to be in the youngest 5% on this ship. This is not at all a ship to go and have a lively time. The shows were embarrassingly bad and the food was lackluster. The extra money we paid for the specialty restaurants proved to be a let down.
And if you are gluten free (I am 20 years gluten free) pack a stash of food. And don't trust what the staff says about which items are gluten free. I know that I seem to be a Debbie downer but the food for gluten free people is downright bad. They don't make their own bread like on Royal Carribean or Norwegian but what they serve seems to be some prepackaged stuff that has a bad taste. Texture of sand and I couldn't eat it. I asked my waiter if he'd ever tasted it and he said no. I told him he should. Next night I had to remind him I was gluten free and he brought me the same awful bread and I asked if he'd tried it and he again said no. No wonder they serve it. They don't know how bad it tastes.