BACKGROUND INFO This was the first cruise taken by myself (american female, 30) and my fiance (dutch male, 36). We were looking for something low-key and relaxing, plus scenic with opportunities to get out and explore a bit.

SHIP INFO It's a smallish ship with about 1200 passengers. There are 10 decks to which passengers have access, 6 of which have cabins and 4 of which have other amenities. There are 2 pools, one under a retractable roof, and one at the rear of the ship outside. There's a 2 story main dining room, a large informal buffet dining room, and poolside tables by the covered pool. The van gogh theater is 2 stories, and very nice ... I really liked the abstracted "Starry Night" tilework on the walls. There's a large open lounge for reading, with a "library" along one wall and DVD rentals nearby. Computers are available for online use for a hefty fee - I didn't use them. Several smaller lounges are scattered throughout the ship, some with live music or DJs at specific times. Smoking was permitted in at least one lounge on the most active deck, and was very unpleasant to walk past (and unavoidable). There's a casino with quite a few card tables and tons of slot machines. There's also a basketball court and exercise room that we didn't use, and a spa.

ACTIVITIES Some days we could find 2 or 3 that sounded fun (we didn't want to do more than that), but on other days, especially port days, there was nothing interesting. We managed to stay entertained with DVDs and reading, but a fun activity or 2 would have been nice. There were AA meetings every day, and 1 or 2 al anon for the entire trip, none of which we attended. The cooking shows/tours/classes/games were a lot of fun, and we enjoyed wine tasting too, although the second wine tasting was canceled due to glacier-gawking no-shows reducing attendance too much. A great activity that happens on every Holland America cruise was the boat building contest. Only 4 entered it and 2 dropped out, but it kept us entertained on the days that little entertainment was provided. Do it, it's fun :-) Read more