This was a last minute decision to book (6 days prior to sailing!) but we have cruised 10 previous times on 5 other lines so we kind of knew what to expect. We got a fantastic deal on the cruise ( inside stateroom, but that's just fine) and a direct flight, so we booked it.

As far as the complaints I have read, we didn't experience any of them. We already knew that some cruise lines permit smoking on their balcony, so we were not disappointed to have an inside stateroom. We are rarely in there, and when we were, it was comfortable and well thought out for storage with lots of hangars! Our stateroom attendant Sam, was awesome. He left us his card in case there was ever anything we needed, but seriously, every time we were down there, he was working! He always asked if there was anything else we needed or wanted. A nice touch by HAL- they leave you 2 large thick beach towels to take off the ship. You leave them in your bathroom later, and fresh ones appear for the next port. Also a nice touch- comfy robes to wear. My only complaint about the robes was that people wore them to eat in the Lido area, to the SHOWS (really?) and all over the ship. People- if you wouldn't wear a robe out in public to a restaurant or movie theater, leave them in your stateroom!!!

The showers have pump containers of shower gel, shampoo and conditioner. I didn't care for the smell of the shower gel, but the provided lotion and other stuff was what they use in the spa and was nice. Read more