This was our 9th cruise with HAL and it never ceases to amaze me the criticisms I read. Not sure what everyone's expectations are, but for us a vacation is for relaxation, learning, experiencing and meeting new people: recharging the batteries. And cruises are great value in terms of putting together food, travel, hotel, entertainment etc.
These last five or six cruises we have booked a Neptune suite and perhaps that makes the difference, I can't say. But we always feel like we are in our second home when we come aboard. Considering over 2k people, the embarkation is amazingly rapid and friendly. Getting into the room early is a plus.
We loved being in Canada and seeing the change in seasons, coming from California where we have hot and less hot and maybe rainy, seeing all four is wonderful. The ports were generally good (Pt Canaveral is one to be skipped as is Baie Como where there is no "there" there. A $10 school bus ride will prove that! Other ports were just beautiful. Loved Bar Harbor, Boston and Newport. We did a mix of HAL excursions and others we found on our own for less cost. But in general we loved the ports.