Enjoyed the cruse, nothing spectacular but definitely relaxing. My wife and I booked this cruise when Holland America was advertising great rates in the summer. We came down to San Diego three days early and stayed at the Holliday Inn on the Bay. Great choice, they pick you up at the airport and have their own shuttle route for guests that takes you to all the local attractions on a timely schedule. This meant that I didn't need to rent a car which saved some money for my wife to use while shopping. The cruise terminal is right across the road for a very easy embarkation. Boarding the ship was by far the easiest I have ever experienced. We waited till two to walk over to the terminal and then proceeded to almost just walk on to the ship. We were in our cabin in less than ten minutes. We booked an open category hoping for an upgrade, we didn't receive one but the cabin we ended up with was very roomy. We were placed on deck one near the bow, this is the lowest and closest to the front of the ship of any of the cabins we have had before. I was worried that we might feel the movement of the ship more but it wasn't a problem. I only found the walk to the dining room or the long elevator rides a little bothersome. We had cruised on the ms Zuiderdam last winter so we knew where everything would be on her sister ship. The service from the staff was exemplarily as usual, I only found the constant requests to purchase drinks around the pool to be irksome. There were a lot more families on board this cruise than I am generally use to but it wasn't like being on a Carnival cruise as everyone was having a good time without disturbing fellow passengers. The ports were ok but nothing special, we had chosen this cruise because we were sick of doing the Caribbean, I was hoping the ports would be less Diamonds International and more authentic Mexican. It wasn't. Mazatlan was the most authentic Mexican of the ports we visited and Porto Vallarta the most "Americanized". Cabo San Lucas was a nice place to walk around; the tendering off the ship could have been done better though. The loading and unloading of the tenders was done in such a way that it took about three times longer than it should have. The waters were fairly calm but they kept stopping the loading at the ship because they only tied the bow and used the engines to keep it close to the loading platform. This meant the tender would drift too far from the platform to safely load it. For a cruise line that has a distinctly older clientele this would make the loading take over a half an hour per tender. It could have been done in ten minutes if they had attached a line to the stern. The same thing happened in port at the marina in dead calm waters while unloading. This meant that we didn't get ashore till noon when we had started to try to disembark at nine in the morning. I found that the day was basically wasted as we had to be back on board by 4:30 and the wait to re-board was slow also. The food in the main Vista dining room was good as always, I don't know where the previous reviewer was eating but crème brule was on the menu. And it was good. The only real complaint I have is the disembarkment process. On all the previous cruises (including HAL cruises) a time ticket was issued and you were either told to stay in your cabin till your colour was called or you were told to come down to the theatre at a specific time to wait for you time to be called. We had the expedited ticket as we prefer to take our own luggage off when we leave. The time was for 8:15 so at about 8:10 we emerged from our cabin to walk into a line halfway down the ship. No times were called and everyone just decided to try to leave all at once. Some people who were in line behind us were starting to panic at about nine when we had moved about ten feet and they had a plane to catch at 10:30. The lady left her party and made her way to the desk to have someone from the ships personnel help them get off. I hope they made their flight but I doubt it. The organization needs some help. All and all the cruise was good, the food was well prepared and the amenities were satisfactory. Would I recommend this cruise, definitely. If you are looking for a nice relaxing time with a familiar cruising experience then this is for you. It was a better than average vacation that could use a little massaging to make it a great time.