This was my retirement cruise, 14 day Panama Canal full transit Fort Lauderdale to San Diego, my 4th cruise on Holland America and 9th overall.

The crew were fantastic, constant cleaning going on, wait staff very friendly and attentive. Ship was in good shape, having retired from a engineering position, where I was involved with some equipment reviews I noticed a couple of items that needed attention mostly cosmetic. Dirt in the light diffusers on the Lido deck, section of vents near the retractable pool roof bent out of position, dirt in the bottom of the pool from day one. Pool was not friendly to the age group on board( average age 65+), the ladders to the pool are vertical making it difficult for some of the guests navigate. There were steps to the hot tubs making them easy to get into, to get to the pool level you needed to navigate a 18 step from the hot tub level to the pool level.

There was no Moscato wine from day 1 of the cruise and no Captain Morgan on Tuesday (2nd full day) the moscato was one of the wines listed on the dinner wine lists. Food has gone down from my last Holland America cruise. In 2019, you could always count on a few items on the menu every day Caesar Salad, French Onion Soup, Shrimp Cocktail, Salmon, and New York Strip Steaks with Peppercorn Sauce. Now Shrimp Cocktail is still available for a $8.50 charge, and “Homestyle Lasagna “ has replaced the New York Strip. The best food on the Lido deck were the sticky buns, the fresh made omelets and the salad bar. Read more