My wife and I just returned from a 36 day cruises on the HAL Zandamm. This is the first time we travelled with HAL, however, we have done other trips with Celebrity, Voyages of Discovery, etc.

As a general comment I would say we got value for our money. The ship is kept in top notch condition and staff are polite, attentive and the meals good.

The one major exception is the way they enforce their wine/alcohol policy. Most cruise lines have a similar embargo against bringing spirits aboard. However, my experience is that few attempt to enforce this realizing most people would like to have a drink in the privacy of their rooms. Read more