No kids visiting us in Florida for Christmas so we treated ourselves to a Christmas cruise. We have over 200 days on HAL and have definitely seen a decline in service,especially in the MDR,in the last few years.

To negate this decline somewhat we chose a Neptune Suite and found the service to be excellent. Embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze, especially with a Global Entry Traveller card (bypassed all the lines for customs on exiting the ship). Our cabin stewards were diligent and very pleasant. The Neptune Lounge provided a respite from the crowded Lido deck when the ship was at sea and the concierge booked all our specialty restaurant reservations and the one excursion that we took in Grand Turk.

After one dinner in the MDR we decided that we would avoid it if at all possible! We had open seating and it was a zoo!! After waiting in one of the lounges for about 20 minutes with a beeper, we were called to the MDR and then stood with in the doorway with about 30 other people for another 20 minutes, getting in the way of the waiters carrying food etc. Read more