We chose this cruise because of the itinerary, but even though they showed being at Pitcairn Island all day, they claimed it was never meant to be a destination, only a sail by for 9 hours. It took only a short while to sail around it as it is a very small island. The real problem with the cruise was the disrepair of the ship. It had just left dry dock, but many of the repairs were being carried out for almost the first month of the cruise. They had an additional 200+ maintenance crew on the ship, as per the permanent crew. The problems were many. We had to evacuate the cabin numerous times with severe headaches because of paint and solvent fumes being draw into the ventilation intakes for the ship. Also we had to have maintenance completely change the lock after they tried to just spray it with lubricant after it continually would not let you easily evacuate the cabin if the bolt lock was fastened. The toilet had to undergo major work when it would not flush properly, the shower leaked and then continued to drip even tough they had signs around to please limit water consumption. They finally repaired it. The first 24 hours abroad our cabin and many surrounding cabins did not have hot water. The smell of raw sewage was very strong on deck 6 on the walking deck from mid ship to the bow on the starboard side for the first few weeks of the cruise, and it permeated inside to the atrium and some cabins. We saw what appeared to be raw sewage on the deck in that area and also on deck 12. Food service, cabin stewards were overall good to superior, but they almost always are with any cruise line. Prices for Holland America shore excursions were very inflated, more than normal and 3 to 5 times more expensive than ones you could obtain on shore. With all of the problems of not even being able to use the cabin at times, Holland America corporate refused to work with us for fair compensation even though some of the crew voiced disagreement with their decision. When we had a problem with a toilet on a Royal Caribbean ship for a few days on a 15 day cruise, they immediately offered 50% refund of fare which was more than fair. Thus we have cruised on Royal Caribbean since the incident. After Holland decided not to treat us fairly, our first cruise with them will most likely be our last. We heard from quite a few 4 and 5 star mariners with Holland America that they were cutting back on benefits, that the quality was going down from what they previously experienced, and that the line was no longer meeting their expectations as it previously had done.