We are resubmitting this review because the previous submission on January 2005, after our trip, did not get posted. We are regular travelers and are in our sixties. We usually take a couple of trips a year either on land tours and/or cruises (20 cruises to date from the Princess to the Crystal cruise line). This is our first time with HAL and this is probably our last time with HAL based on the experiences we had on this 13-days Panama Canal cruise on the Oosterdam.

THE SHIP AND THE CRUISE: The layout of the ship is difficult to comprehend. Maybe this is such a large ship and HAL's idea to give the ship a cozy and intimate feel, is to chop up the public rooms, ie the bars and the lounges were divided into myriads of different compartments and tucked into corners and corridors. The atrium and the lobby were so small and uninviting. It is not a place one would like to linger to share a drink and enjoy visiting unless you had business with the front/excursion desks. The hallways were dark and narrow, like going through dark tunnels to no where. If you wanted to go from the front of the ship to the back of the ship or vice versa, you had to navigate your way through the casino, and/ or the gift shops with merchandise arranged half hazardly blocking your way. The dinning room is like a large cafeteria with tables back-to-back barely having enough room for the waiters to walk behind the table to serve the food. The music pit is in the middle of the dinning room and was so dark that the musicians were like playing music under a darkened mushroom canopy. FOOD: the quality of the food in the Lido is typical cafeteria food. There were a lot of choices, but the quality and taste needed much improvement. The best was the Pasta Station and the worst was the Asian food station. The rice was not cooked properly and the so called Asian menu of Chinese, Indonesian, Filipino food were comparable to the worst of any Asian cafeteria in San Francisco. The food in the Vista dinning room is uneven. You have both good and bad meals. Steaks and beef dishes were good, chicken were so-so and the seafood dishes were not fresh. The lobster was slimy and had a rotten taste. The shrimp and the shrimp cocktails were not that much better. The salads were occasionally brown and wilted. The Pinnacle Grill is definitely not worth a visit. We had a free dinner compliments from our travel agent, but still I have to say that the Pinnacle Grills is over-rated. The steaks were dry and burnt. The scampi was dry, tough, and without any sauce and taste.

ENTERTAINMENT: The dance music on this ship is not for dancing. The dance music was to put the passengers to sleep early. The music from all the bands and groups had no rhythm, beat, and energy. This was a Panama Canal, Mexico cruise, you would think the music would be lively and reflect the rhythm of the ports, ie, some mariachi, salsa, folkloric, Latin music. Read more