Let me start by saying that HAL has been our favorite cruise line for years. This is going to sound like I'm a big complainer but really - I'm not! This cruise left a bad taste in my mouth because this was the worst service we have received in over 15 years of cruising.

The ship is very nice, cabin (verandah) was lovely, cabin steward was very good - maybe not great but close. The problem was the dining room service and a few other weird things....

We always make an attempt to meet our steward on the first day and also enjoy getting to know our wait staff. We feel that the different personalities make cruising fun. On the first night aboard, after meeting our waiter and assistant waiter (who we rarely saw after that) I ordered the sirloin steak from the alternate menu - the waiter said "no, you don't want that ... it's not good tonight, its tough. It will be better tomorrow." This puzzled me because we were at sea and they couldn't run to the grocery store. He must have noticed the puzzled look because he said it was frozen and they had cooked it too quickly and everyone on the early seating complained. Ok, so I ordered something else and it was ok - nothing spectacular. The crab legs are now served in fish broth - in years past they have been sliced and on a plate, with lots of refills. This year I got one bowl of sliced crab legs swimming in fish juice with slivered carrots and celery on top. The juice ruined the taste of the legs, usually I like them in salty water but not once they are sliced open. No seconds were offered but that was fine - I didn't want more of the same. The lobster tails were tiny and tough with no seconds offered although I did see seconds at other tables. Food was served cold (not mine but one of the other guests) and this was reported to the staff. Coffee had to be asked for every night and usually came after dessert even though we asked for it during dinner. On the night that we had filet mignon, I asked for mine medium well - I was told that I could have well or medium rare - nothing in between. So I got well. I was thinking, wow this must be a really thick filet - wrong, it was thin and didn't look like any filet (not just mine but the others at the table) it looked a lot like the sirloin. One night I ordered a steak and asked for medium, he made note of this and then I asked for the redskin potatoes and he said how do you want that cooked? I asked, "the potatoes?" and he snapped "no the steak." I must admit I was a little snappish in my reply and said I already told you I want that medium. So, that is how dinner went. Not always bad but not good either. As DH says, "nothing to write home about." Read more