Mary Borello

Age: 51
Occupation: technical expert SSA
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Holland America
Ship: Statendam
Sailing Date: June 12th, 2005
Itinerary: Alaska

When my daughter graduated from high school she was given the opportunity to choose the yearly vacation. She decided on the Inside passage. She also asked if we would bring our two sons and their wives, since this trip was the lifelong dream of one of her brothers. We budgeted for a year and it was worth every penny. We were glad that we paid the extra for verandas with balconies. They came in very handy when we looked down to see Orca’s gliding past us, and when we were near Hubbard glacier looking directly into the eyes of seals floating by us on large chunks of ice.

They say the staff on Holland America is the friendliest in the world. This must be true.
We became genuinely attached to our servers and cabin steward. These people are sincere and caring. The food was extremely outstanding. They had a great variety of selections. Everything was beautiful and delicious. We booked early and sat by the large picture window where our meals were often interrupted with pauses to watch whales jumping.

I was concerned bringing young people on Holland America because it was presented in most information as a cruise for older people. We always had activities available which we were interested in. There was so much to do, that we were unable to do everything that we wanted to do. The gym was very good, having a large selection of equipment. And since there were many older individuals on board, it was available when we wanted to use it. We loved the ship traveling at night and arriving in port early. We are usually independent travelers; this schedule gave us all the time we needed to go out on our own. We fully visited the sites I had researched ahead of time. The shows were okay, although some in our party thought they were very good. Internet access for your own lap top does not work at a high speed or with cloudy skies (satellite access)…so don’t spend the money for that. The ‘chocolate extravaganza’ night is a ‘died and gone to heaven’ event for chocolate lovers.

I had given up on cruises and switched to independent travel after a negative experience. After this trip, I will return to cruising and I will stay with Holland America.