Having sailed Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean, wanted to try Holland America and the one night cruise fit into our schedule. We had booked an interior, but after prices dropped they allowed us to upgrade to a verandah suite for only $20 more, which I appreciated.

Embarkation was quick as the ship was half empty. The stateroom was large and comfortable with a great bathroom with tub and nice balcony. We did find clothing from the prior occupants (nice pants, but too large for me), bags from Hilo Hattie and ABC Stores (brought back memories from our honeymoon in Hawaii) and letterhead for the prior occupants. However, the sanitary cleaning appeared to have been done.

Food in the lido buffet was excellent with a good variety, prepare to order stations, and varieties of ice cream, with very friendly staff. I found the dining room average, however, and it seemed that things had been dialed down given for the one day cruise, even though there were a number of travel agents on board. The overall decor in the public areas was a bit dark for my taste. I was intrigued by the pipe organ in the atrium, but unfortunately there was only one brief unannounced show that I caught the end of. Did attend the production show, which was ok, but given the one night cruise did not partake in some of the facilities. We needed an early departure in the morning and shore desk was not particularly helpful. Read more