We chose this cruise for the 15 days with a full itinerary. "Circle the Caribbean." We had been to most of the ports before but added St Lucia and Antiqua to our list. The ports were great other than Cap Cana, Dominican Republic. We were tendered to shore to a new and very attractive shopping area. Strange place, due to the fact that there were very few shops open and no people. Nothing to do there. I had researched the port before the cruise and could find very little information about the area. The rest of the stops were great, plenty to do and see. Great beaches and activities for everyone's taste.

Upon embarkation the ship was late in boarding. We arrived at noon and had to set on the terminal floor for three hours waiting to board the ship. Not enough seating. That should have been a red flag. Ship left late, around 6:30 pm. Debakation went fine without a hitch.

ms Rotterdam had just came out of dry dock so we expected everything to be in great shape. To our dismay, there were a lot of problems with the ship. Electrical, AC, water leaks, ceilings falling. Buckets setting all over the ship to catch leaks. We had no hot water the first 11 days, but it was tepid enough to shower after being on a hot Island. Some rooms had no water at all and had folks had to shower in the spa or another room Some people had to change rooms several times due to problems. There were still a lot of repairs being made during the cruise. I had read the reviews before the cruise about it being an older ship and in need of upgrading. The ship should have never been put in service until the upgrades had been completed. It was unfair of HAL to offer a cruise to un- suspecting cruisers. The ship looks very prety on the surface, just don't scratch. Read more