This is my third HAL cruise but my first in Europe, and the experience was similar enough to previous HAL cruises that it definitely felt like a HAL cruise, but it was certainly adjusted for a European audience.

As Americans, my family were definitely in the minority on the ship--I heard there were only 150 Americans. Most of the passengers were Dutch. Although at the beginning of the cruise it was announced that English was the official language on the ship, it seemed more like the Dutch were insistent NOT to have to speak any English at all, which (I'm assuming) made communicating with the crew/staff rather difficult.

We received the same high-quality service that we have come to expect from HAL. I would say the only area in which service didn't live up to our previous experiences was the room stewards. I roomed with my sister (we are both adults) and our parents were next door, and it seemed like our parents received better service than we did. Our room didn't have a fruit basket until the third day, and our television never worked (which wasn't too big a deal because we didn't come on the cruise to watch TV all day anyways). Read more