I was a first time Holland America cruiser and these are my thoughts. I was quite impressed with the Holland America web site and was connecting regularly. My first doubts were when I was asked to 'down load' my baggage labels and print on A4 paper. These baggage labels proved to be useless and tore at the first opportunity, I had this image of a mountain of luggage, and another mountain of luggage labels that had torn off the bags. I was also required to staple these baggage labels to secure them to my baggage. Traveling from Australia with a stapler was a 'big ask'. I was very pleased with our cabin, the cabin steward; the comfort of the bed and how 'roomy' the cabin was, the colour scheme was not to my taste. We chose 'open' dining and were very pleased with that decision. I liked the flexibility of the 'open dining' and also by the end of the cruise I was a nodding acquaintance with a majority of the cruisers. The gym was spacious with plenty of equipment; unfortunately the staff was not there to help, only to supervise. I was quite disappointed with the lack of aerobics. As there were only two members of staff at the gym, and one of those members of staff was surly, brusque and unhelpful making the visit to the gym only for the brave. There was a serious outbreak of GI (gastro intestinal problem). The management did not wait to clean the ship 'top to bottom', and isolating those suffering for 24 hours. This outbreak coincided with a gale and 30' waves, myself I only had sea sickness, and with only the symptoms of sea sickness I was also isolated. I was not offended by this - happy to oblige. My problem was the laundry was closed to minimize the spread of the disease. But the casino remained open, the gym remained open and also the spa was open. I considered this a cynical move as the laundry was not a 'money making venture' and here was an opportunity to compel passengers to use the professional laundry service. When my husband was isolated I ate alone in the Lido. This was not a happy experience. There were no trays! This may seem an unreasonable 'gripe' however this is my experience. I lined up for cutlery, and then lined for my entrEe, not being able to carry much more I went to find a table. Found table, finished my entrEe, and then lining up again for main course. I was also required to line up again at another station for salt and pepper. I was able to handle dessert but was required to line up at another station for dessert. Returned to table to find table had been cleared of my cutlery and now occupied by other diners. On completion of my meal I was again required to line up for a cup of tea, returning to my table to find it again had been cleared and was now occupied by other cruisers. I hated the Lido, the cuisine could have been excellent I was too angry to notice, I found the experience in the Lido demeaning. The Antarctic was fantastic, and the lectures most informative. More time in the Falklands would have been appreciated. In cruises with other cruise lines the Captain has had a 'meet and greet' even with a GI outbreak the 'meet and greet' was held without 'hand shaking'. Also the captain on other vessels made a point of walking the decks nodding to passengers and making 'casual chit chat' this did not happen on this cruise. Due to heavy seas we did not dock in Uruguay. We docked at 7.00am on 9 January 2010 in Rio and the ship was cleared by 9.30am that day. On disembarked on the 10 Jan and were in our taxi by 8.40am

AUSTRALIANS NOTE: If you take a similar cruise be aware, if you travel to a number of countries in South America six days prior to return to Australia, you will be required to produce proof of a 'Yellow Fever' injection as you go through immigration procedures.