We had booked this cruise because of the itinerary. We had never done the Eastern Caribbean having done mostly western and Bahamas. While researching this cruise HAL had a sale that allowed the 3rd and 4th passengers to go for free. So we took advantage of this and brought my son (25) and his wife with us. We have been on about 16 cruises, spread over CCL, NCL, and RCL but had never cruised HAL before. In a word we are now "spoiled" and will find it hard to go back to the other lines. The level of service, the attention to detail and the other cruisers made this a much more enjoyable trip.

Cabin: we had a veranda cabin with 4 adults. Now you would think that would be crowded. But it really was not that bad. I will warn you that the upper bed comes down over the head of the main bed and can be a little close for some. We solved this by not using the upper bed. My son and his wife both slept on the sofa bed. Which is supposed to only be a single, but seemed a little bigger than a single. A side note: we did the unlimited laundry for $49 (great value) and that kept us from having piles of dirty cloths around.

Cabana: If you are on a ship that has cabanas (lido/ retreat) and you have not yet reserved one, run to your phone and reserve one. You will not regret it. We had a Lido cabana and could not believe how much we enjoyed it for the price. We never had a problem with having 4 people in a Lido cabana. As a matter of fact, our stewards (who were great) brought us a third chair without being asked. The amount of time that all 4 of us were there was very small, as someone was always coming or going. Sitting in the cabana ordering lunch and enjoying the afternoon treats; well it just makes you feel like a king. They (the cabana stewards) went out of their way to find things they could do for us. I gave them a small tip at the beginning of the cruise and a nice tip at the end, it was well worth it. Read more