BACKGROUND INFO: I, (wife) have always wanted to cruise, but my husband would never entertain idea. We have travelled quite a bit, with over 20 all inclusive resorts, and month long trips in our RV to Florida, California, and Texas. I said first opportunity for cruise, and I would be gone! Last year the opportunity came to travel with my sister and her family on the Disney Magic. I went and enjoyed it so much, that hubby had no choice but to try this cruise out.I wanted to pick the right ship, as I wanted his first cruise to be a good experience, and hopefully turn into several more cruises in the future. While this site was very helpful, and detailed, there are as always many conflicting reviews. So after much research, I picked Holland Westerdam. My main reasons were a Friday departure (which worked with other travel plans we had) a four port stop on a seven day trip which is a bit out of the ordinary. My husband was worried about sea sickness, so thought the more days on land the better! Also wanted good food, and relaxation, not too much of a party boat. Another plus for Holland, is he is a big wine drinker, and we were allowed to bring wine on board. We are 50 and 57, and while the ages on this ship is much older, we enjoyed the company of our travelling companions.
TRAVEL TO PORT OF EMBARKATION: We flew in two days prior to sail date, as we were arriving from the great white north, and you never can count on the weather. These two days were spent in Fort Lauderdale enjoying the sights, dining, and most of all the great weather. It was nice to wind down for two days before cruise. We taxied from our hotel to port, and arrived at 1:00. Our boarding of ship was really quick, less than 15 minutes, only disappointment was entry to ship was not that exciting. No WOW factor for hubby, they should enter ship elsewhere. After lunch at the Lido, we went to check on room availability and were shocked that it was ready, and luggage arrived moments later, this was a nice touch!! On Disney we had to wait till almost 5:00 for room and luggage.
STATEROOM: Very nice, lots of storage space, bed was just toooo comfi, pillows too. Veranda was spacious, with comfortable chairs, steel front not plexi glass, did not realize this as we are not seasoned cruisers, but was not a big deal (so much to learn about cruising) I had an inside cabin on Disney as we had 4 kids with us, but would definitely always go the veranda route!
Great balcony, storage space good, comfortable beds and pillows. Dividers on balcony noisy when wind was strong.