This was my 60th birthday celebration so we decided to go higher end. We have sailed with Disney with our kids and lately on the newer HAL pinnacle ships. We were overall thrilled with the cruise and are now spoiled. We booked a verandah cabin and were fortunate to be upgraded to a Seabreeze Penthouse with butler. I think the word penthouse was a little over exaggerated although very nice it was basically a larger verandah cabin with nice seating area and larger bathroom not a whole lot bigger than our verandah cabin on HAL Konningsdam earlier this year. The butler was awesome and was unobtrusive however there if you needed him keeping our cabin stocked up on wine, beer, soft drinks, water and snacks. every afternoon around 4pm he brought a selection of cheese, fruit , shrimp cocktail etc.

Service on the ship was outstanding and the staff seem genuinely friendly and warm. Not having to sign for drinks, specialty coffees and specialty dining was great. As soon as you sat down in bar or Restaurant they were all over you with a welcome smile. I oversee a high end country club so I feel I am more picky than the average guest and I could find no faults.

The food was super impressive even the basic dining room Waterside was outstanding. On HAL only the specialty restaurants were excellent the basic dining room was not that good. Read more