For clarification - our cruise departed Ft. Lauderdale on 3/18 as a 10-day Southern Caribbean cruise and was actually the first leg of the 24-day cruise. We disembarked after the 10 days and did not continue on to Rome.
We picked this cruise, in large part for the itinerary (Holland America/Carnival’s private island in the Bahamas, Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba).
were spectacular and were every bit as amazing and beautiful as we expected. Our poor customer service experience with Holland America began well before we ever got anywhere near the ship. We booked a full ocean-view veranda room. Roughly 2 weeks before our sail date, we received an email offering us an upgrade to a full ocean-view veranda room for a nominal sum (roughly $99 I think). I immediately called.
Cabin was clean and well-kept, small compared to other cruiselines (particularly small compared to Disney). Bed was uncomfortable. TV options were somewhat better than some other cruise lines (limited new movies and shows available on demand at no additional charge). Bathroom was actually really nice. Shower was larger than I am used to on cruise ships.
Went on the excursion to the waterfalls at Damajaguas. Really a neat trip - totally worth it.