What a Christmas!!!! What a Cruise!!!! We sailed away on December 16 from chilly Florida and prepared for a Caribbean Christmas....warm temperatures (80-85) and poinsettias growing wild.

Embarkation was super.......15 minutes from check-in to the Lido Deck for a delicious lunch topped off with my favorite HAL treat...carrot cake. We were greeted by the crew all wearing red Christmas hats and the HAL smile. The carry-on luggage check point was a nice thought. We could eat and not have to drag the carry-on with us.

Our cabin (a mini-suite) was ready when we were finished eating and so our luggage was there as well. Our cabin steward, Ridwan, greeted us and introduced himself welcoming us to "his" domain. The cabin was spacious and typical of HAL, there was PLENTY of storage (drawers and removable hangers). There were nine drawers in the vanity alone and we didn't even use the hangers we had brought from home. Read more