• Background Information: This was our 7th cruise and our first with HAL. My wife and I are reaching our mid-sixties and according to what I read it was time for us to join the older crowd. This has its advantages and disadvantages, the cruise is less hectic, more relaxing and with less emphasis on shows, drinks, and other strenuous or superficial activities. Of course that watching struggling senior citizens all over the ship (including ourselves) can be somewhat monotonous and for the younger folks maybe even worse (the estimated mean age on this low-season cruise was 70-75 yrs). • Ship Info: The ship is nice, well maintained and clean. For us it has the right size (approx. 55 KTons, 12 decks, 2 swimming pools, one optional restaurant (Pinnacle Grill $30/person) in addition to the Main one and the cafeteria style Lido). • Service: Quite good but not outstanding. The tipping policy (paying up-front through HAL) does not increase the crew's motivation to go the extra mile. Nevertheless, in general terms they are nice and willing to help. • Shore Excursions: Reasonably varied and well organized. I found the former Dutch Indies islands of Curacao and Aruba quite interesting because of the eclectic mix of cultures and the high level of tolerance. Nature-wise, Saint Thomas, USVI and Dominica are probably the most exciting. • Port of Embarkation: Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale is close to hotels and airport. It is very convenient. Embarkation was well organized and we were on board at 11:30 AM and had lunch at 12 noon. Our cabin was ready at that time. Luggage arrived around 2 PM. • Stateroom: Very nice. Larger that the usual ocean-view on the usual suspect cruise lines such as Carnival or Royal Caribbean. The bathroom is also quite comfortable and has a bath tub. One problem was the AC that was set to a rather cold temperature and the dial was either broken or useless, resulting in a permanently cold stateroom. Occasionally the cabin and the hallways had an unpleasant sewage smell that fortunately did not last for too long. • Dining; Very good to excellent in the main dining room. Very good in the Lido. We did not try the Pinnacle Grill, most posts did not rave about it. • Health Issues: Being a medical professional, I was quite concerned after observing several passengers licking their fingers while serving themselves at the Lido dessert bar. The mandatory use of Purell disinfectant was not very strictly enforced at the Lido, a little better at the Rembrandt main restaurant. Also, I saw a gentleman licking his ice-cream cone a couple of times and immediately returning for another scoop that was served by the accommodating ice-cream man on top of the licked ice-cream, touching the previously contaminated ice cream surface with his serving scooper. I told him so, but he did not understand the implications and just washed it in a bowl of water and continued using it! These are common problems on all cruise ships with self-service eateries. It is really a pity that many passengers have such a low level of public health concern and education. HAL distributed several leaflets warning about this and other public health issues, and that is very commendable. • Entertainment; I did not participate in many of these, but it seemed ok. We enjoyed the Gloria string quartet several times after dinner. They are a group of talented Ukrainian musicians, they played classical string music as well as semi-classical and operetta tunes, tangos and other folk or typical songs transcribed for strings. • One salient feature is the Explorations Café, a fusion of coffee house, library, and internet café. It is very nicely done, with excellent library and internet managers. The internet is slow as in all ships, but quite well organized with the manager always ready to help. • Disembarkation: Fast and efficient.

In summary: This is an excellent cruise line that is trying to keep up their traditional high standards offering average prices. The result is mixed, but the effort is noteworthy. We found that the price we paid, approximately $84.00 per day and per person, is practically unbeatable in any other vacation circumstance of similar quality and in addition you get to see interesting parts of the world.