So, thank you to all who answered my questions prior to my cruise (not the ones who made fun of me for silly questions 😞 ). For reference, this was my 8th cruise (6 on RC, 1 on Celebrity Apex & this on HAL). I'm an empty nester & in my 50's & love kids but not a ton on a cruise. I prefer a quieter, relaxing time & love the beach & sun. I would be happy to answer any questions.
The GOOD:
STAFF - 10+ out 10. I did not encounter even 1 rude or unhappy worker. I saw one playing peek-a-boo with one of the very few toddlers on board (very sweet). My adult niece has Williams Syndrome (mild form of Downs) & she was treated like a queen. The staff was so wonderful with her & she had a fabulous time. In particular, TAO was funny & kind. He was always saying "Who needs their medicine?!" 🙂 Jose led some pool-side dancing that my niece loved.
CHECK-IN - we had an 11:40am time, but our hotel shuttle got us there around 10:30. We showed our boarding pass & passport & got our picture taken & went to the "waiting room" until they opened. I think it was 11am. AWESOME. It was announced the cabins were ready around ? maybe noon or 1. Great!
SHOWERS - the largest I have ever seen on a ship.
HALF MOON CAY - ranks up there in my top 3 prettiest beaches/water color.
FOOD - loved Dive-In burgers/dogs & the pizza near the pool. Main Dining room was mostly good with a few exceptions. Ribeye at Pinnacle was AMAZING & the waitress (Yunia) did a mini photo shoot with the flower on the table when I asked her to take our picture. Bread pudding at the buffet was great 🙂 Loved having a "Skinny" latte at the Dutch Cafe with Sugar free caramel syrup. Clairabelle & Lesley took care of me each morning.
POOLS - loved the steps in both pools as opposed to just a horrible ladder. Also LOVED the cushions at the Lido pool loungers & all of the comfy chairs with sea views (even beds lol).
CASINO - I like to gamble lol. Loved using our sea card and not tickets for slots (balance goes on your account). Slots were tight for me, but not surprised. We did some roulette & the lady was very nice. Not sure why there was a separate room for some machines? Maybe as some point it was smoking? There were only a few very small sections for smokers, so the smell was not too bad.
THEATER - loved the comedian. The other shows were decent, but boring for me. Seems like a waste of a beautiful theater.
The BAD (or could have been better):
TECHNOLOGY - the website before the cruise was horrible. So many "Service Errors". I was waitlisted for an excursion, so when I called before the cruise when it was available, they made me put it on my credit card instead of using my HIA credits & then I had to wait in line on the ship to have it reversed from my CC & use my HIA excursion credits. Very frustrating. The Navigator app was quirky. The chat feature worked, but messages from one person looked like they came from another one in our group. Good start HAL, but needs work. Also, with the HIA wi-fi ONLY ONE can be on at a time. How stupid. We had to keep kicking each other off.
EXCURSIONS - oh my this was horrible. We booked the Cayman highlights HELL & beach. To tender, we waited 1.5 HOURS in the theater 😞 They were letting non-excursion people on the tenders BEFORE us. So, we get on a bus and made 2 stops (1 souvenir shop & the HELL post office). We get to the beach & it is beautiful. The umbrellas were new but VERY CHEAP. They kept blowing down the beach & it was not even that windy. An accident waiting to happen IMHO. Waited 40 minutes on the deck to order food & waited another 40 minutes for the food (which was really good). The menu was in Cayman $. I thought we were paying $64, but in US, it was $80. The 2 guys were very nice & had great intentions but this was a wasted day for us & most wanted to go back to the ship early. I wanted to go to the Excursion desk to complain, but the hours were so limited, I did not even make it and I think they were not even open most of the time. I would have been ok with the day if the umbrellas would have stayed in the sand because I understand we are on island time.
MISC - hot water was out for about 3 hours one afternoon. The inside cabin was so small & not even a chair, but I knew this. The buffet did not have as much of a selection for dinner compared to other lines. I thought the buffet food was good, but some in our party were not impressed. Cigarette smoke drifts to the one side of the sea view pool, which is where the sun was. Waited in the airport shuttle line for 35 min, but was organized well.
So, overall, would I go on another HAL cruise? Probably not, unless I got some great deal. A year ago, we had a fabulous time on Celebrity Apex which just seemed to be a better overall cruise, so that is mainly what I have to compare to. I try not to sweat the small stuff, but this is just how I saw it. We had a great time, but with so many other options out there, HAL needs to improve on some things.
