This was our 3rd time on the big O in a year. Two times to Mexico, one trip to repositioning in Canada. We went on this cruise, KNOWING, we would have excellent service as we did in the past. Living in So. Cal. and going out of San Diego is a no brainer. Drive down, hop on, easy check in and relax. Unfortunately, something has happened with HAL. The staff seems so overworked. The 'details' that made it so nice were missing. Some others were downright irritating. Here's my list and you decide for yourselves.

1) Coffee machines were only working half the time in Lido. Had to track down the full ones. This may not be a biggy for some of you, but for coffee addicts or morning people, we expect full coffee pots most of the time, not some of the time. 2) Internet Lounge. Went into the internet lounge because we had an internet snafu in one of the ports. We travel all the time, use internet for work. The internet guy was giggling into his computer, chatting away. When I told him the problem, he handed me a piece of paper with instructions and continued chatting and smirking. He's a contract guy, not a HAL employee. Downright rude & smug. Note to Hal: Lose the contract workers. They don't appreciate the great job they have...and they don't deserve it. 3) Spa - another contract worker. We bought the week spa package. Don't bother. No ice water, tea, fresh fruit which is typical in the spa experience. On previous cruises, we just bought a daily pass when we needed it. We got those perks, but not for the week. Spa pool, changing rooms need a real cleaning. Half the bathrooms worked half the time. One of of my spa days, someone grabbed my robe & key by accident while i was in the shower. The robe was hanging right outside the shower. When I went to the front desk, the gal was incredulous. "You need to keep an eye on your belongings." Well, I was in the shower and the robe was right next to me. Then a guy came up, looking really apologetic saying he grabbed the wrong robe. He & I laughed about it. I turned to the spa gal and asked how often it happens. "NEVER!" Oh, sorry. Maybe she should go back to Australia and get an attitude adjustments. The Aussies I know are some of the nicest and fun people on the planet. She must have missed the boat on that one. 4) Dining room. Sat there for an entire meal with 2 other couples and NEVER once did we get water. Nor did a wine steward come around. But one waiter plopped ice tea on our table and said "who's is it?" We all looked and said that none of us had ordered it. He took the tea, said he'd be back for drink orders but never came. I finally flagged down one guy and got a soda with my dessert. 5) Lido Restaurant. We went to grab a quick bite the last night. Both sides of the restaurant were still open. But it was freezing in there. All the temps on the ship that last day were so so cold. Anyway, grabbed a plate and sat in a far corner. Seemed warmer. It was so quiet and things had settled down. Had some great prime rib and so I went back for seconds. But by that time, our side had shut down for food and so I went over to the other side. They had a system I had never seen on that ship. And I was just on it in April. They took your "order" in the buffet line and asked your table number. Heck I didn't know. It's the Lido. Then the Manager asked where I was sitting. So I pointed to the other side. He proceeded to chew me out because I was sitting in the dining room that was closed for Officers. Well, I explained it wasn't closed when we sat down. (They have signs all over the place that clearly mark the officers areas.) He continued to tell me that we can't eat or sit over there, that it's for the officers, yadda yadda yadda. So I just cancelled my order and went back to the seat in the far corner. I could see the officers enjoying their dinners in the area roped very specifically with signs. So I got up, went to the Lido Manager and asked him to follow me over to the table I was sitting at and showed him that we were not eating with officers. His remark to me? "You don't have table cloths. THis area's closed." I guess he doesn't understand that changing tables in the middle of dinner is not on my list of priorities. 6) Disembarkation. While packing this morning, we had our drape open to enjoy the great view of the SD harbor. All of a sudden a man opens the verandah gate and proceeds to hose down our deck. So I closed the drape. A few minutes later, as I'm getting dressed, a cabin steward opened the door after one quick knock. It was about 8:15. Our disembarkation was 9am. I told him that we'll let him know when we leave...

Note: We had dinner with another couple one night that had cruised on the same ship 3 times within about a 2 year period. We all agreed that something significant has happened. The gentleman at dinner attributed it to the fact hat they had cut the staff in half but had the same hours. That made sense because the morale on the ship was dismal. And rightfully so. The ones with the best attitude were by far the ones that didn't have the cushy jobs. Yet, they managed a smile. Read more