My husband and I took our 3 sons (ages 23, 20 and 13) for their first trip to Europe. We specifically picked this cruise for the great ports of call. We are very familiar with HAL and know that it is not the line you go on for all the bells and whistles to keep people entertained every minute. On a European cruise where you are in a different port of call every day that is not what you want.

I knew the ship had recently been in dry dock and I thought the public areas looked good. We had 2 SS cabins on the Navigation deck. Our cabin-8053 had toilet problems for the first 3 days, but the ship was very good about following through and making sure it was fixed. We ended up getting a $300 cabin credit to apologize for the problems. The size of the SS cabin was great-especially for 3 large boys! They loved that they had 2 sinks and a tub and shower so that 2 showers could be going at the same time if necessary. I loved the size of the balcony. We were perfectly midship and I loved to go out with my kindle and a glass of wine.

We had the signature drink package as part of Explore4 promotion. I really enjoyed it-it was nice to be able to get a specialty coffee or glass of wine and not think about the price. It is annoying that you can't put it toward a higher level quality of wine or a bottle. Read more