We booked this cruise about 2 months before the departure date with a balcony cabin guarantee. Not only did we get a great price, but we were upgraded to the highest balcony category on the port side! (Port side is where you want to be with this itinerary.) It was a little nerve wracking waiting for a cabin but we finally received notice 10 days before the trip and were very happy with the assignment.

We arrived in Seattle and a good friend picked us up at the airport to drive us to the port. We could not believe how much traffic there was on a Sunday afternoon, but we still arrived before 2 p.m. Embarkation was a breeze and we were on the ship and in our cabin with incredible ease. Too bad we missed the Mariner lunch, but the food in the Lido was great and we had no trouble finding a table. In fact, we NEVER had a problem finding a table in the buffet all 7 days of this fully booked cruise! After lunch we returned to the cabin only to find our bags already on the bed and ready to be unpacked. I cannot remember luggage ever arriving so quickly on 15 other cruises! HAL has got their act together here. The cabin was so nice... it had a large balcony and plenty of storage space. It was almost as large as the mini suite we had on NCL, but with no extra cost. The tub is sort of a joke, it should only be used for bathing an infant, but somehow I fit in it! The one thing that we noticed immediately was how clean and well kept the whole ship is. Maybe we are more easy going, but we did not see all the wear and tear mentioned in other reviews.

The food on this ship was a great experience all around; from buffet to dining room, from room service to the Pinnacle. Read more