Good size, good layout.   
No plugs around the bed was a negative for me.   At the desk there was 2 USB plugs and 1 US, 1 European outlet, which was nice, but if you are sharing a room it made this area very crowded.   
1878 I had a door slamming noise that woke me up and was constant from 630-730 am and around 8-9 pm.  I moved to 1882 which had crew noises around it, but nothing that woke me up.

From the Rotterdam port,  you can cross the Erasmus bridge and there is a stop of the local bus boat.  It cost maybe $5 to take this bus to Kinderdijk, and it was very easy- so maybe a 10 minute walk to the station, and there are plenty of signs and the boat guys are very helpful for getting there.   Once you arrive,  you cross a street and walk maybe 5 minutes to the entrance of Kinderdijk.  The windmills are very spread out, so if you decide to walk around,   it is a lot of walking.  I took the scenic boat ride, and I think this was best for pretty photos and a great view of them.  There is a hop on hop off option that you can do both.  Beautiful place to visit, and I'm glad I did it on my own- much more relaxed, quiet, and of course cheaper.

I had purchased my HoHo ticket in advance using the company that was Not affiliated with Holland America- I heard better reviews and with this company you could get discounts for using them in multiple cities.  I was very disappointed when I got on the bus, first thing in the morning, and was told that they could not check tickets, they would take everyone regardless of prior purchase to their main desk to start.  Well, after waiting 1 hour while they tried to fill the bus, we drove right by the stop that I had decided would start my day, and went into downtown for them to look at my pre-purchased ticket and then print out a receipt for me.  To reach my planned first stop, I would have had to go all the way around the city to get there and where they dropped us off was a convenient place for Tivoli Garden and other attractions that were not open for another 1.5 hours.  What a disappointment- I had planned my entire day around their route and had to end up skipping one of the palaces.  I did take the boat tour and thought it was worth the extra price and time to see a large area of town.  Otherwise the bus was not too useful for me- I used it for a few stops and each time I did the bus was packed.  I am disabled and no one got up to give me a seat- so I stood in the front desperately hanging on to the door because each bus seemed to be equally full.  I will say that while waiting for my bus, the other company came by and seemed equally full and people were very upset.  I enjoyed my stroll around Tivoli Gardens and the main pedestrian street of town, but otherwise the crowded tour made me disappointed in this city.

I had chosen Berlin on your own tour, but it was not booked sufficiently and they put me on Berlin with Hop on Hop Off bus for the same price, and I was very happy.
For me, the 3-4 hour bus ride was not so bad, we had a guide who I swear talked the entire trip!   Most of the trip down he was telling us where we could go, what to see, which was great, but it was confusing because he didn't have the HoHo Map for us to coordinate with- that is my only complaint.  
It was my first time in Berlin, and I loved it, and there is so much to see, and while the number of hours we actually had to go around on our own was short, I felt like I had a good overview.  I had planned to go to some museums,  but was afraid of time, so i instead got off at a few key photo stops- walking around Brandenburg Gate, the cathedral, etc.  I hadn't planned on doing the entire long route, but I am glad I did because seeing West Berlin was more picturesque than I imagined, except the traffic that day was so miserable, that I had minimal time around the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie.  The snacks provided by Holland America were more than adequate- I used the morning snack as my lunch and the evening one was just about enough for dinner.

This was a basic tour that took us to and from Peggy's Cove with 1 hour of free time.   The guide that took us there kept us entertained during the driving, pointing out things and telling stories.  1 hour was good for me to walk around the cove area and around the lighthouse, but I guess if you want to go further or have more shopping time, the longer tour is better.  Even with lots of buses, Peggy's Cove is so beautiful

This tour was a brief overview of the town- not a big place anyway, and then a drive up to Signal Hill where we had time to walk around and look at the view, and then we ended at the museum called "The Room" where we had independent time.  I was surprised to find that while we had several options on when to shuttle back to the ship, I didn't have time to adequately enjoy the museum, and the guide did not recommend walking back to the boat from there.  Great museum I wish I had more time

I had been to the Blue Lagoon before, but not with a ship tour.  My complaint is that with the ship tour you have limited time, so you can't do any extras like a spa treatment or massage.  However, it is next to impossible to go on your own on cruise days because the ship books all of the slots.

I took a Holland America tour to Vigur Island.  It was really a nice place with lots of birds including puffins, but it was too uneven for me to do the tour with the guide.  The boat ride was good, though a little chilly if you want to sit outside, the views were nice and I saw whales and puffins on the way.  Off the dock, the trail is made with very large rocks, which is where I fell and realized I could not make it by myself walking with a walking stick, so I hung around and watched the birds close by, still able to find a place to watch the puffins.  The others did a walk around the island on a mostly grassy path- I probably could have made it- but they went to one end of the island where arctic terns divebombed them and made it uncomfortable.  A really great tour to get back to nature, and it was nice talking to the duck down farmers.

Isafjord

I took a Holland America tour which went to see Shetland Ponies and Scalloway Castle.  the lady who owns the ponies was very nice and friendly, very informative as well as being a nice photo shoot.  
Scalloway Castle was decent looking, but most interesting was the attached museum about the area- including the interesting Shetland Bus story- read the book first!  And the museum has wifi!

Lerwick (Shetland Islands)

I did Bergen on my own and it was one of my favorite ports.  Walked to the funicular and went up first thing in the morning before the crowds came, it was awesome.  from there walked to the Seafood Market, and then went to the Bryggen Museum for the noon tour which was great.  Love this port- though it was not raining and it was such a gorgeous day- that helps!

I used the walking tour in the guide book "Rick Steves" and I loved this city.  Once walking into the center of town I walked to Den Gamle By (highly recommend), and then to the Art Museum (wow!) then to the pretty Mollestein street to take pictures of the pretty flowers.  Some people said it was not an attractive town, I think they didn't know where to go, my tour was perfect.

First day I took the city bus to the Museum area- taking the day to go to the Vasa, Nordic, Abba Museums and then Skansen.  (My favorites being Vasa and ABBA).  
Second day I took the city bus to the Town Hall and took a tour of the Nobel Prize Banquet rooms.  Then walked to Gamla Stan and toured there using the guide book "Rick Steves" walking tour, then took the bus back to the port.
The local bus is great but its 10-15 min walk from the ship and the machine at the bus was difficult to use because the screen was too light.  At the port you can buy a all day pass but they had run out when I went the second day

this HoHo bus was well organized and I really loved the commentary and the drivers were so nice. It also picked up right at the port. This is how all HoHo buses should run!  I highly recommend the Rock Church, Sibelius Monument, walking around the main part of downtown, and I loved the shore line between town and the cruise port- so pretty to walk around.

The guide was fantastic and the combination of Peterhof and Church on Spilled Blood made for a nice long tour. 
My only issue were that one of the passengers had to use the bathroom constantly and this interfered with touring- we had to wait around for them twice besides the usual planned bathroom stops.  This was not fair to the rest of us.  
also, inside the Palace you have to wear booties- and they wax the floors- so it was a horrible slippery mess.  I don't know how I stayed upright.  One little girl fell and couldn't get up.  teenagers were skating around on the floors- very dangerous!
but, the fountains at Peterhof Palace were amazing, so beautiful and worth the trip! 
the planned lunch at Peterhof was very nice.

A bucket collecting water in the front row of the main theater (maybe this was from a cabin toilet overflow or something), but when it rained water also collected inside the windows of places like the Crow's Nest, and dripped into the Lido deck.Evening meal in the main dining room was usually the highlight- the staff was fast and food was good.

Rotterdam Review

Great itinerary, great crew, so-so ship

Rating by category

Additional details

Cabin Review

Large Interior Stateroom

Port Reviews

Isafjord

Lerwick (Shetland Islands)

Find a cruise