This was our 34th cruise and first on HAL. We embarked at civitavecchia in late September for (2) 10 night cruises. We arrived 4 days earlier in Amsterdam and flew to Rome from Amsterdam on a morning Easyjet flight. We took the subway to Rome trastevere station and then the hourly train to civitavecchia and stayed in a B&B.

We arrived at the cruise terminal at 11:50 and was in our room at 12:00. Yes, the rooms were ready. We went off to explore the ship. Our first day was at sea and then we visited Croatia, Montenegro, 4 Greek cities, and finally Naples with 2 sea days. Our 2nd 10 day cruise visited 4 Spanish ports, Marseille France, Monte Carlo and Florence. We kept the same room and the changeover day was handled like another port day for guests staying for the next cruise.

We really loved the ship, we had an inside cabin on deck 11, we like inside cabins for many cruises because we stay up late and sleep late. Our cabin was great, nice big shower by cruise ship standards with a glass door and tile floor. The cabin was pretty standard with comfy bed, sitting area, desk and had a nice 50" tv. They had dozens of on demand movies and shows to watch on your TV. Plenty of storage, a small fridge and a safe. I read a complaint where someone was upset that they could not hear the announcements in their cabin without opening the door, that is not true. Just put your TV on the forward camera and you can hear all of the announcements. I guess this person has never been on a cruise where the announcements are blasted into your cabin daily and is very annoying. Read more