A Wonderful Cruise
This was our first "real" cruise (we took a cheapo three-night cruise out of Los Angeles 15 years ago, but it wasn't anything to compare from). We are in our late 50's and normally do more adventurous self-guided travel. This time we were more in the mood for a trip where everything is planned and done for you, and this cruise did that.
Airline -- We booked online through Holland America. This was the only area where we felt truly let down. Apparently we had been booked onto an oversold flight. I had a hint that something was amiss because upon booking, we were given our seat assignment for the return flight, but not the going flight. I wrongly wrote this off as an airline protocol and never questioned it. When we got to the airport we were told we did not have seats. Several other passengers -- also bound for the Eurodam -- were in a similar situation. After some pressuring with the gate staff, the airline came through, sort of: my spouse was assigned one of the crew chairs, while the flight attendants sat on boxes in the galley! Lesson learned -- if you don't get your seat assignment promptly after booking, raise a fuss. Given how far in advance we had booked there was no excuse for putting us in this situation.
Clean, everything worked. Great bed. Plenty of closet space. Nice bathroom and very clean. Verandah was really nice, spent a lot of time out there.