This was our first cruise with HAL and we thought it was quite nice, the food was very good (average desserts notwithstanding) and the staff was friendly. We did not find too many of the activities that were offered piqued our interest enough to make the effort to go. The Mainstage shows were mostly good (loved Latin Dancing and BBC Earth w/ live music, but the magician, the comedian and the other dancing/singing show was just okay). I walked into B.B.King's but the singer's volume about broke my eardrums so I walked right back out. (On that line, take earplugs to the Mainstage shows when there is singing because it is ridiculously loud.)

If you're a cold person, always keep a sweater or light jacket with you because many passageways throughout the ship have the A/C too cold. I couldn't find a good indoor spot to sit and read my book because it was so cold everywhere. But on the last day we discovered the library/reading room on the observation deck (10th or 11th floor), which was fantastic as there are floor to ceiling windows all the way around and lounge chairs on which to read.

If they ask you to sit for a B&W photo shoot, don't do it unless you're willing to spend a shocking amount of $. The pictures are super good, but it costs $150 for an 8x10 print or $300 for a digital copy (per picture) (I'm not kidding). Read more