I was not sure HAL would provide the active atmosphere that I was looking for. I thought it might be too quiet. But HAL was excellent. Lots of fun activities. Food was the best in my past 10 cruises. It had all the spices and flavor that you would find in a nice restaurant. The kitchen and wait staff were a team in perfect timing. The menu had lots of good choices. You would have to choose which one, even though they were all interesting. I tried the Pinnacle restaurant, but do not recommend it. The service is not as good as the main restaurant, and the atmosphere is not worth the extra money. No piano or music, no extra waiters, nothing special. HAL provided free bus service in 2 or 3 ports. They did not have to do that, but the service made our stay in those ports much more enjoyable. We recommend that you take advantage of this service. In Puerto Vallarta we recommend the boat cruise to the remote fishing village. The crew on the boat was very entertaining and the short hike to the waterfalls was nice. I do not recommend the 18 hour train ride through Copper Canyon. Too long of a day.
I really felt that HAL wanted us to have a good time. They tried. It showed.