We never booked the cruise with the intention of having a ship full of children's activities. In fact we didn't use the HAL Club Program at all. We are typically a busy family and booked this boat (as opposed to RCL as an example) to have some quality family time together, 'down' time, have fun at the pools and enjoy the port stops and exploring.

I'll start with the 'likes'.... The kids loved to explore the ship and some of the areas were beautifully decorated. We particularly liked the Crow's Nest and the midship Lido pool area (with the retractable roof, comfy chairs and cabanas). It was a treat to use the pools on this ship because you were not packed in like sardines (as you can imagine on the Disney ship!). With the exception of a few adults who would dip in the pools from time to time, only the children (67 total on board) tended to use them, so it was a tremendous bonus for the kids. The rooms were also very nice although smaller than Disney. I actually thought there was too much space on the balcony and they probably could have made the rooms a little bigger if they had skimped a bit on the balcony. Storage space, as others have commented, was great. Unfortunately, we had a terrible sewage smell from our toilet at the beginning of the cruise. Our cabin steward acted immediately to rectify the situation but there was always a 'trace' of it throughout the rest of the voyage. We thoroughly enjoyed the food (dining room, lido buffet and the Tamarind). We never got a chance to try the Pinnacle Grill or Canelleto. We enjoyed all of the port stops with the exception of Grand Turk (personally I think HAL should remove this from the itinerary and choose a different place). The place is under construction/development and aside from the pool, small beach and the few shops - there is nothing to it.

Shows, spa, shopping on the boat and the photographers - no complaints. The bars and lounges looked very nice and cozy. We walked throughout them frequently but never actually spent time in them. Read more