We have traveled on many HA cruises and still believe that it offers value; but over the years there appears to be a greater focus on profit and less on quality of service. They have definitely lost out to the more luxury lines and it shows.

We selected this trip as the ports were exotic and the cost of cabin reasonable; and that proved to be true. What changed is the up-charge for everything from bottled water to premium steak in the dining room. We were actually told that on some HA ships that top-of-the menu and second portions are at an added charge; and that this is scheduled to implemented on all ships later this year.

The wait staff in both the dining room and the Lido deck were attentive and well trained; there was always someone at the buffet willing to help either carry a plate or find a table. The Lido menu was a bit boring and would imagine to be redundant to those passengers on for 28 days. At times the food on the serving line looked old and dried out but that is likely the effect of heat lamps on less popular dishes that are not replenished as often. Additionally thee should be better crowd control at the more popular food stations as wait times are long and crowd gets anxious. Read more