Wonderful re-positioning cruise from Vancouver to San Diego, stopping at San Fran and Catalina Island. First cruise for me, although my traveling companion had made several cruises on HAL with her late mother.

Best thing overall was that we were extremely lucky with the weather. Sail out day from Vancouver was glorious, had a bit of rain overnight but the rest of the trip was incredible. Thanks to the cruise gods! Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge without a cloud in the sky was quite an experience. Even the crew members who weren't on duty, were on deck enjoying the experience.

Embarkation was interesting - there were 3 HAL ships docked all leaving the same afternoon. The logistics to dock 3 ships, discharge passengers and luggage, restock everything and load up the new travelers in one day is mind boggling. It did take a while to get onboard, perhaps almost 90 minutes but HAL had hired a lot of older, presumably retired people who were along at every step of the way. They were all helpful and pleasant; HAL had organized chairs along the way to allow people to sit rather than stand (very helpful given the general age of the travelers.) We boarded relatively early; it's certainly possible that with 6000 people boarding onto 3 ships, wait times might have been longer for those who came later. Read more