As background for the opinions I will soon express, let me tell you a bit about me. I'm a solo cruiser who has mainly cruised on Celebrity in the past but I've been branching out--I spend lots of time searching for good fares on balcony cabins and if I'm on a cruise, you can guarantee that I got it at a bargain price. So yes, I'm cheap. I don't spend a lot of money on things onboard either, as you might expect.
It seemed that Holland America was having trouble filling cabins for this cruise, perhaps because it was a bit early in the season and certainly because of the problems with Russia earlier this year. I booked it just after final payment date as a guarantee balcony cabin, and received a $50 beverage card as a perk. I've booked guarantee rooms before with Celebrity and always had my cabin assignment within 10 days of booking, but I didn't get my cabin assignment for this cruise until the night before boarding. It was a perfectly fine cabin, though, and was worth the wait.
I'd never been to ANY of the ports on this cruise so the itinerary was what most attracted me. I was a little leery of HAL because of its reputation as serving an elderly demographic. (I'm in my early 50s.) Well, perhaps the average age was a bit older than on my previous cruises, but there were plenty of people my age and younger.
Cabin was fine. Close to front--I could see the bridge when I looked forward--but not right next to it. Everything was clean and in good repair. No noise. No excess motion, although the water seemed pretty smooth most of the trip in general. Unobstructed view from balcony.