We are 5 star on HAL and love cruising the high seas. This itinerary was wonderful. We boarded in Hong Kong. Because of Cruise Critic we knew several couples that would be sailing. Several excursions were pre-planned before boarding.

One very frustrating incident was the fact we were told in China we would have to be back on board at least two hours before the HAL excursions. That meant we had to cut our day short. In fact, the ship was held up for several hours after we were told to return.

Usually, all star mariners are invited to the awards ceremonies. On this cruise, even the 4 stars were not invited to attend. We complained to the hotel manager and were told there were too many 4 stars on board! This was blamed on Seattle. Read more