My husband and I have cruised many many times. We have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival and Holland America. We always considered Holland America to be a notch above the rest in terms of elegance, service and food. Since the price seems to reflect this, we only sail on Holland America for special occasions or special itineraries. We always said that when we did the Panama Canal, we would get a veranda on Holland America. When we booked a full year in advance, we were able to book a SY suite guarantee at a very attractive price compared to the verandah, so we did it. 8 of our friends also went and we had 5 cabins (everyone else was on deck 1 with inside or OV cabins.) We ended up in a SS category suite, cabin 6082, assigned 12 days prior to sailing.

I'll start with the positives. The ship is beautiful. She was clean and well maintained. The New York (Nieuw Amsterdam) theme is great! Lots of vintage photos and "New Yorkie" decor. The public areas were all nice, and in good condition. The cabin is very nice. More on the cabin later. Chriz, the bartendress in the Ocean Bar was amazing! The entertainment was pretty good for the most part. Embarkation was a breeze for us, since we were in a suite. Slower for our friends, though, but not too awful bad. We waited for them, and it was about 15 minutes. Our cabins were ready when we got on board. Debarkation for us was a breeze, too (not many people disembarking that day). It was somewhat chaotic for our friends, which was probably due to some folks who held up immigration for at least an hour, making the rest of debarkation a frenzy, and also that is the day most passengers disembarked. (We stayed on the ship 4 more days than our friends.)

Food and dining experience: The service was terrible in the dining facilities and the bars. We were able to secure a reserved table for ten after embarkation, so we all were able to have dinner together each evening in the MDR at the same table with the same staff. In the past, this always meant that your servers will get to know you, and your preferences. That didn't really happen till the cruise was almost over. At every meal at least one person (and usually more than one) at our table had the wrong item served. Once, when the wrong dinner was served, and a bite was already taken, the server removed the plate and tried to give it to the right person! With a bite already out of it! This actually happened at a lunch at a different table with a different server, too! Must be common. I had fish at the Mariner's lunch, and it was served to the wrong person, who decided to keep it, but the waiter tried to take it away and give it to me. Then my replacement came, and it was cold and mushy. My lobster on formal night was mushy, too! Yuk. And the filet mignon was inedible. It was less than a half inch thick and did not have a real meat consistency. Read more