Sailing out of my home port was attractive and I'm now four star with HAL. The service, per usual, was outstanding, but some changes are worth noting. No more librarian is bad news and whoever is now responsible at the home office needs to take a few collection lessons. Books were disorganized and using the location specialist as an occasional organizer just does not fly. The ship singers and dancers were outstanding and the newer shows were great, but 'Ever After' needs to be permanently shelved. The imported talent were a mixed bag. The Hawaiian ambassadors got great reviews and the magician was a fast talking, card sharking guy. I'm very sorry I missed the night when he used pomeranians ';cause I might have liked him a bit better with some warm fuzzies around. The comic was so-so at best -- too much 'insult' humor. Cruise Director Erin was lovely and seemed to keep things moving effectively and I truly enjoyed hearing the captain giving our bearings and talking about the 'wedder' every day, but I'd like to have seen him around and about more often. Another sad thing was that none of the outstanding lectures were recorded. We were quite able to see all the HAL sales items on TV, but the outstanding lectures are now a one time only offering. I'd much rather have seen them again than another shot at buying from the spa or the shops. BAD policy, HAL. I may have to head for ships that value lectures rather than bingo in the future. HAL undoubtedly knows what SELLS, but some of us need IQ offerings as well. Oddly, I felt that the food in the dining room had improved since my last cruise and that was great news. As a solo sailer, the Lido is usually purgatory requiring multiple trips to the buffet and begging for table space, but the FOOD was consistently GOOD in dining room and Lido. I did not do either of the specialty restaurants. The band has lost too many members, but the five who were (2 keyboards, 2 guitars, 1 drummer) did a yeoman's job satisfying the fox trotting dancers in the Ocean Bar and all the different imported talents. Bravo, them! The excursions, particularly the Dolphin Experience were in Puerto Vallarta were well researched and enjoyable, and disembarkation was a breeze.
The staff was outstanding!