As a long time Holland America fan, I read many the comments, both positive and negative about the ship prior to my repositioning sailing.
I booked a single "OO" cabin, but was upgraded to a Spa Outside (CQ) cabin. It may have been the largest outside cabin I have ever occupied.
I love the new Lincoln Center Stage. The Adagio Strings are fine, but often the musicians are from Balkin countries, with limited, but cooly indigenous music. The Lincoln Center stage presents a proper five person ensemble who perform short works and on occasion one longer work that is seldom heard. The concerts were always standing room only. This completes the music package. Those who like BB King's Club will find a large two level space for them, and the duo pianos at the BillBoard lounge are great too. Another bar features a piano player who is "usually" classical. Great. Those who "lose out" musically are the more "serious" ballroom dancers. Except for a few afternoon "tea dances" ballroom dancing is in short supply. I suspect there is not a huge demand for it.
See above
I love the easy transfer from the airport to the Cruise Ship Terminal.
This was my "least favorite" of the ports. There are some good shore excursions, but not too much to do on ones' own in the city. You can say that you have visited both The Azores and Portugal with this port. I went to a catholic church for Palm Sunday Services and enjoyed the experience in Portugese!
I love this place. If you are healthy, you can walk to the fortification at the top of the hill and be rewarded with excellent views. The admission charge is a whopping .60 euros, or about 75 cents! Seniors get free admission at must museums in Spain!
Transfers to the airport, which is what I did, are always a bit troublesome. I arranged a van in advance, which cost each of our eight travelers 35 euros. Not cheap, but still about half of what HAL charges.....and we traveled fast at the time we wanted.