This was our first cruise, we chose it because the dates met our schedule and the itinerary went to some of the less popular western Caribbean ports. We had heard that Holland America was known for catering to an older clientele but as we're in our early 50's we figured we fit. We were surprised, though, that the average age was still 20-25 years our senior. Had it not been spring break we may have been the youngest couple on board! Some notes:

Dining - the food was ok but the dining room portions seemed a bit small to me. We used the in-room dining service for breakfast quite often and it was fantastic. Delivery was never more than 5 minutes after the beginning of the time slot we requested. My biggest complaint about the dining were the 2 formal gala nights. I expected, as this was supposed to be a formal affair, that the entire evening would be several notches above the normal dining room experience but the only difference was the expected attire. They should either drop the attire requirements or significantly change the experience, there was nothing formal about it and definitely no gala. We enjoyed the Lido deck buffets for lunch and really enjoyed their cheese plates. Lastly, I expected late night dining and deserts and found none.

Ports and excursions - we enjoyed all 4 ports visited and went on an excursion every day, 3 booked with Holland in advance, one booked individually on the day of the visit. We did not enjoy the constant requests for tips from the guides and I found that the description of the excursions in the Holland guides to be a bit vague or misleading compared to the excursion we actually received, especially the Dune Buggy/Snorkel tour in Cozumel and the Jaguar Bus in Costa Maya. The zip lines in Roatan were a hoot, but be aware that there are two tour operators involved, a bus service and the zip line service. The zip line service itself was fantastic and the guides truly love their jobs, they have as much fun as the customers. The transport provider, is just that, a tiny bus that takes you to and from the tour, requests tips, and leaves to get other groups while you're on the tour. It would be much nicer if the zip line service provided transport. Read more