I have been on HAL ships 4 or 5 times before including in family groups but have not sailed with HAL in3 or 4 years. Was surprised at the dramatic decline in quality control in all areas - late night snack buffet menu listing two items not actually available, 3 carvery items in dinner buffet repeated twice in a 1 week cruise, one random chair in dining room without arms when all neighbouring chairs are armchairs, most of the time no one offered juice and coffee at the table in breakfast buffet, inattentive service in dining room even at 5:30 open seating when the vast majority of tables were empty, typo in daily program referring to answering questions on Taormina when we were in Cartegena, 4 hour walking tour in Cartegena without admission into sites such as Roman Theatre, Forum and submarine when tours from Norwegian Epic can be seen entering sites, cleaning cloth left in bathtub and missed towels a couple of times in cabin, given the disembarkation form for another cabin in error, dining reservation system showing a second person in my room when I was travelling alone, spa giving my room access card to another passenger by mistake. Random errors and gaps in service were occurring on a daily basis. Nothing was a major problem but there simply was not a sense of focus on excellence or quality control. Also the smiles and greeting from every member of staff and crew that one comes to expect in the cruise industry was only sometimes offered.

Ship is nice, public areas are well appointed, ship is not crowded, cabins are a good size and cabin bathroom is relatively spacious.

Ports were interesting - particularly Motril for Granada to see the Alhambra Palace and gardens, Cartegena and Gibraltar to see the siege tunnels. Read more