After a less than memorable experience on Holland America on an Alaska cruise I swore I would never do Holland American again. However, when this cruise was reasonable and an itinerary I wanted I decided to try it. I was pleasantly surprised. There was several things that they didn't have that some may consider minuses but didn't bother me. I think the cruise staff may have been one, the director. They didn't have singers and dancers on deck every day or two, they didn't have the pool hairy leg contest and a cruise staff running around playing with the passengers but to be honest didn't miss any of that as I never participated anyone. They had one dining room and the service was good and the food good. The buffet is not self serve you are served which I personally didn't care for but still the food was good. They did have a salad bar where they tossed salads by your direction which I enjoyed. I think it is bizarre to have to order from the pool snack bar and get a pager and then wait for your food, but that is a Holland America trait. The food did come within 10 minutes everytime though. This was a Christmas cruise and they did a ship board show to the theme of Santa crash landing in the ocean and they did a video showing life boats going out and retrieving him and bringing him back to the ship. They tried to do it like a live news feed. It was unique and entertaining. They had a thermal spa which was not quite as big as others I have been to but was more than OK. The main pools were not crowded so didn't really use the spa that much. The price of the spa was almost half of what I've paid before. Internet service was only $12.95 a day. They charge by data amount NOT by the minute which was a refreshing change and I thought amazingly reasonable. The shore excursion people were excellent and gave great lectures on what to expect in ports and their descriptions were spot on, which resulted in no unmet expectations. The future cruise consultants were also great. I think I have now learned not to pay a premium for a particular ship of cruise line anymore. I felt like I got a good deal on this cruise and my expectations were met.