Although I am a 4 Star Mariner, I had not sailed on a HAL ship since January 2014. I chose this cruise because I wanted to try the new ship and the itinerary included places to which I had not been.

The Good: The service everywhere was superb. HAL has never been known for good wine stewards, but I had several of the best in all my cruising. My cabin stewards were excellent. The production singers and dancers did some of the best shows I have ever seen on or off a ship. They were very talented, had beautiful costumes, good arrangements and excellent choreography. In addition they did music that is not typical for cruises. The other music venues, Billboard Onboard, BB King, Lincoln Center Stage, had good musicians and interesting programs as well.

The food in the Main Dining Room was exceptional; it was good quality, especially the beef, and prepared properly. They need to clone the kitchen on K'dam and send them to all the other ships. If they can do it serving 2800 people every night, they could surely do it on the smaller ships. Read more