This was our 2nd HAL cruise, last year on the NA, and we were not disappointed! We thoroughly enjoyed our 2 weeks. We booked a guarantee verandah and were upgraded to a Spa Verandah cabin on deck 10, room 10020. I would not pay extra for this room as it seems to be the same size as a regular verandah room. The balcony is very small with only 2 chairs and no table. That was the only thing we were disappointed in as we love to eat breakfast out on our balcony. There were 3 cupboards for clothes and lots of hangers. The 2 night tables had 2 drawers and a shelf and the desk had 2 shelves you could put things on. For this spa cabin, that you pay extra for, we got a yoga mat, a wooden platform thingy you were supposed to stand on after getting out of the shower, a couple of bottles of flavoured water and "thick fluffy bathrobes. The bathrobes were just the thin, waffle weave bathrobes that everyone gets. I WOULD NOT PAY EXTRA for these cabins. The only thing great about it was the location....1 floor up was the Crow's Nest and 1 floor down was the Lido deck.

We ate breakfast mostly in the MDR and service was good and so was the food. We had Anytime dining and never had a problem getting a table as we said we would eat with others. Met some wonderful table mates over the 2 weeks. They served you at the LIdo buffet for most everything. I don't know why but maybe it was a good thing as you didn't have people touching the serving utensils. Sometimes it was hard to get around people at the buffet because of people standing in line to get served and people standing behind them looking to see what was being served. We did that to so are just as guilty. Food was great on the Lido and the salad bar was to die for....everything you could possibly put in a salad was there for the asking. Burgers and fries were amazingly good, cooked to order and took about 20 minutes to be served to you. You ordered and they gave you a beeper that flashed when your order was ready. This was also for the pizza. The only thing with the pizza was you could not order 1 or 2 slices....you had to order a whole pizza. I would imagine there might have been some waste if you were the only one eating it as they were regular size pizzas. They were delicious though as you ordered what you wanted on top.

We loved the pasta station where you could choose from 3 different pastas and then choose your toppings and they were cooked right there. There were always servers coming around in the buffet area asking if you wanted something to drink, including wine and liquour. Very impressed with the service in the Lido area! Read more