Dublin912
February 20th, 2011, 10:19 PM
My wife and I cruised last year about this time on Carnival and enjoyed it, We chose HAL for price and route and to try HAL. It was our 2nd Carib. trip we had taken a Rhine cruise a couple years ago but those are simply a different experience. We are in our late 50's.
We flew into FLL and stayed overnight at the Red Carpet hotel. New England winter has been bad and we like the extra time to acclimate ourselves.
The hotel was a good as you can get, clean and priced right. the shuttle to the dock was a bit of a wait but who cared it was 75f and sunny.
Got to the port about 1130 and were on the ship about 12. All went as smooth as everyone says HAL operates. We dined on LIDO and got our bearings a bit and were in our cabin fast enough. I had turned off the cell phone so I didn't have the time. We had the smallest cheapest cabin we could book. We were never offered any upgrades and we are fine with a small inside cabin. It has everything we needed. My wife took a nap and I went up on deck , I needed my drink of the day !
We chose the 8 pm seating at a table of 6 and were surprised to find we were alone at the, service was great and the food was also great.
We were off.
Sailing was fine and shipboard life was easy to get used to. Last time my wife and I were off the ship for every excursion we could get. This cruise we were there to rest. And we did.
I deliberately did not bring a tie or jacket as I wear one daily at work.
At the formal dinner the manager came along and quietly slipped on on my chair. I told him to have it ready for the next formal night also. We did not try the upscale restaurants but heard raves fr all who did. We were more than satisfied with our food.
Ports:
Grand Turk was first and it was great. We started our rest by walking to the beach taking a swim getting some sun then back to the ship pools which were empty as everyone was on the beach.
San Juan was next and I wandered about but didn't do much and was back on board soon.
St.Thomas. Our big excursion was to the Magen's Bay Beach. It is well worth the $4.00 fee and whatever the ride costs. just lovely.
Then back for a dip on board.
We had discovered the team trivia contest on the 2nd day and our team won one day so I got some HAL pins woo woo.
The HAL Island was great also but shuttling in is a minor annoyance but we were back on board soon enough.
We did not see the shows, too late for us, but before dinner we loved relaxing listening to the string quartet and sipping Spanish coffee. I highly recommend it.
All too soon we were back in FLL and we used the luggage direct and that was great and I am going to use it whenever I can in the future.
All sounds perfect and by and large it was. Couple of hiccups though. Housekeeping service was spotty and this is picky but we didn't get chocolates several days and could not find a person easily.
The main complaint was from my wife. She has trouble sleeping and so we bought a small thermos. She rises sometimes at 4-430AM. So she planned to go to the Lido and get her stash of coffee then go to the Excursion(?) deck. Number 11 in the bow. There were great chairs and she could read and watch the sunrise while I slept!
One morning she startled some poor guy on Lido then he snapped into gear and got her coffee and was great. The next AM no one was there and she proceeded to get her own coffee, when the manager/supervisor of the Lido began to order her away and ask what she was doing there saying she should not be there. He was simply rude and nasty I'm saving his name for the satisfaction survey.
We saw him several times and he always seemed to be in a foul mood.
To a man (few women crew that we saw) the other staff were excellent.
Would I cruise HAL and Eurodam again? Absolutely.
I have to contact HAL to get the satisfaction survey we did not get on on board.
All in all a fine time was had and we were back in New England too soon.
We flew into FLL and stayed overnight at the Red Carpet hotel. New England winter has been bad and we like the extra time to acclimate ourselves.
The hotel was a good as you can get, clean and priced right. the shuttle to the dock was a bit of a wait but who cared it was 75f and sunny.
Got to the port about 1130 and were on the ship about 12. All went as smooth as everyone says HAL operates. We dined on LIDO and got our bearings a bit and were in our cabin fast enough. I had turned off the cell phone so I didn't have the time. We had the smallest cheapest cabin we could book. We were never offered any upgrades and we are fine with a small inside cabin. It has everything we needed. My wife took a nap and I went up on deck , I needed my drink of the day !
We chose the 8 pm seating at a table of 6 and were surprised to find we were alone at the, service was great and the food was also great.
We were off.
Sailing was fine and shipboard life was easy to get used to. Last time my wife and I were off the ship for every excursion we could get. This cruise we were there to rest. And we did.
I deliberately did not bring a tie or jacket as I wear one daily at work.
At the formal dinner the manager came along and quietly slipped on on my chair. I told him to have it ready for the next formal night also. We did not try the upscale restaurants but heard raves fr all who did. We were more than satisfied with our food.
Ports:
Grand Turk was first and it was great. We started our rest by walking to the beach taking a swim getting some sun then back to the ship pools which were empty as everyone was on the beach.
San Juan was next and I wandered about but didn't do much and was back on board soon.
St.Thomas. Our big excursion was to the Magen's Bay Beach. It is well worth the $4.00 fee and whatever the ride costs. just lovely.
Then back for a dip on board.
We had discovered the team trivia contest on the 2nd day and our team won one day so I got some HAL pins woo woo.
The HAL Island was great also but shuttling in is a minor annoyance but we were back on board soon enough.
We did not see the shows, too late for us, but before dinner we loved relaxing listening to the string quartet and sipping Spanish coffee. I highly recommend it.
All too soon we were back in FLL and we used the luggage direct and that was great and I am going to use it whenever I can in the future.
All sounds perfect and by and large it was. Couple of hiccups though. Housekeeping service was spotty and this is picky but we didn't get chocolates several days and could not find a person easily.
The main complaint was from my wife. She has trouble sleeping and so we bought a small thermos. She rises sometimes at 4-430AM. So she planned to go to the Lido and get her stash of coffee then go to the Excursion(?) deck. Number 11 in the bow. There were great chairs and she could read and watch the sunrise while I slept!
One morning she startled some poor guy on Lido then he snapped into gear and got her coffee and was great. The next AM no one was there and she proceeded to get her own coffee, when the manager/supervisor of the Lido began to order her away and ask what she was doing there saying she should not be there. He was simply rude and nasty I'm saving his name for the satisfaction survey.
We saw him several times and he always seemed to be in a foul mood.
To a man (few women crew that we saw) the other staff were excellent.
Would I cruise HAL and Eurodam again? Absolutely.
I have to contact HAL to get the satisfaction survey we did not get on on board.
All in all a fine time was had and we were back in New England too soon.