Had a great time on this HAL cruise. One of the best dining experiences ever -as far as the food. One of the worst dining experiences ever - as far as mass confusion on the seating. But the food is the important thing, right? Our dinner seating didn't get corrected until the 3rd evening - mix-ups with assignments. But the quality of the food was more important, and that was great. The staff on HAL was, as usual, extremely accommodating, friendly, and helpful.
Only one negative on our cabin on this cruise, and it sounds so
picky.... There was no medicine cabinet or even shelves in the
bathroom. So, we kept our dop kits on the floor out of the way.
Otherwise our cabin was comfortable and had plenty of storage. We
especially liked it because it was on the deck with the walk-around and
just a few steps from the outside door. We could be outside on a deck
chair in a moment!
The ports were especially interesting, being 2 ports in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. We were originally scheduled to stop in Key West but were diverted from there to Cozumel because of heavy traffic in the port. We enjoyed all 4 stops. We got to snorkel the crystal clear water of Belize and thoroughly loved that. Unfortunately, the water was too rough for snorkeling/diving in the 2 Mexican stops, but we enjoyed the shopping and getting the feel of their culture. We did not take any shore excursion through the ship but found our own onshore. The trip on Guatemala was through the river gorge, and we really felt that we were back in time, observing the native people fishing from handmade bark canoes. Their arts and crafts were available at a very reasonable price, making this a very fun stop and one I'd like to visit again
