Our Journeys Begin

We are avid cruisers, having visited Alaska three times, the Hawaiian Islands twice, the Caribbean destinations several times, and the Panama Canal repositioning (from Miami to Seattle) three times. Our longest journey to date has been 3 weeks, and about 10 Lbs each! Most of our trips have been on Norwegian as we very much enjoy their free-style ships and wonderful service. Holland America is not new to us as one of our Alaska cruises was aboard the ms Rotterdam - and we thoroughly enjoyed it, although it was only a 7-day trip. While we're extremely excited about visiting so many new places and meeting people from around the world, we're somewhat skeptical about assigned meal seating's and the scheduled 18 formal (themed) dinners. How do you pack for something like that? With Norwegian Cruise Line, you can eat when you want and choose to sit privately as a couple if you prefer on occasion. Formal nights are optional, so packing for 18 mandatory "dressy" dinners aboard Holland will definitely be a challenge! I don't own a tux - though you'll later read I ended up buying two of them midway through the first world cruise.  I must say, however, that Holland has been absolutely phenomenal throughout the pre-cruise period in terms of communication, organization, and customer service. They've left no stone unturned, and at this point, we're both very impressed and extremely satisfied.