We did this same itinerary about 9 months ago on the same ship but decided on this one because we were going with some friends and the price was right. We had not done a 21 day cruise and wanted to see how we handled it as we are looking at a 28 day cruise to the south pacific. Overall, the ship is in pretty good shape considering its over 20 years old. The crew and staff were excellent, as always and we have never had a complaint against a Holland America crew member. The food was pretty good although we detected a slight downgrade from the previous cruise. Mostly, the meat was a bit tougher which might be the result of cost cutting? We were fortunate and received a lot of on board ship credit when we booked so we were able to splurge on wine every night! We typically do not do excursions as we find them very costly and frankly, "touristy". We prefer to go out and negotiate a fare with a local cab driver and spend a few hours seeing the area. Sometimes, this can reveal delightful experiences and sometimes a dull, routine drive. Since we had seen all the ports of call at least one time before, we elected not to drive the areas but simply wander around whatever the ship pulled into. Mostly, these are shopping "cruise villages". The first two weeks of the cruise, we noticed a large contingent of seniors on board with very few corresponding activities. We were told by one cruise staffer that Holland doesn't do anything because the seniors only want to sleep and read. The MainStage entertainment was spotty with some excellent acts and some lame ones. Again, the result of cost cutting? Wandering around the ship yielded few things which interested us and since it is a small ship (1300 passengers), other than a pool, some hot tubs and a basketball court, there wasn't anything else to attract our attention. Our cabin was 3399 on the lower promenade deck. We picked it because we struggle with mobility issues and needed a roll in shower. It is a slightly larger cabin with a wider door for our scooter. The only real complaint was it is located under the main kitchen so we could hear someone rolling carts above us from time to time. It was also located next to a door leading to the promenade deck outside and that was slamming as people went through. It is only one deck up to the main dining and 6 decks to the Lido dining and pool so the location is pretty good. The third week of the cruise was an "add-on" as we returned to port and then headed back out. Because it was only a week and right before Christmas, we noted the passengers were much younger with small children in strollers, in some cases. This group was more "rookie" as it appeared many had never cruised before. We were told Holland offered a pretty special pricing which may have drawn so many first timers. We heard many complaining about the lack of things to do on the ship, especially for young children. Maybe they should look at Disney? Our final week took us to the western Caribbean which was Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Maya, Mexico. Mostly, we found the Guatemalan stop largely a waste unless you want to buy some things at great prices. The people are poor and desperate for US dollars so you can drive the prices down pretty low if you want. Otherwise, it was a large shopping shed with no real "town" or anything which would have drawn us out for a local cab tour. Some went out and said it was worth it and others said it was a waste. Roatan, Honduras is a "Disneyland-esqe" stop with nothing but a cruise village...a very pretty, clean sterile shopping cruise village which reminded us of something we would see in Disneyland. We tried to negotiate a cab fare for touring but found all the cabs basically run by shopping village and prices were pretty steep so we elected to stay in the immediate area and spent most of the day on the ship. Costa Maya was a much larger and more vibrant cruise village with many people and much more shopping. We took a shuttle to town and found bargaining far more enjoyable and we ate on the beach. It was our favorite stop of the three. Returning to port, the debarkation, like the embarkation was easy and smooth. We don't travel with children and try to avoid family cruises so by and large, this one worked for us.