The main dining room is on two levels with a central atrium rather than horseshoe-shaped balcony. This decreases the conversation noise, but previous reports of engine noise and vibration in the stern portion of the lower level are too true. The daytime views from this area are fantastic, and hopefully when the ship returns from dry dock in early December 2003, this problem will have been solved.
The main dining room is an elegant dark red, with unusual-looking but surprisingly comfortable chairs, upgraded china, and a relative abundance of well-situated tables for two. The linens are now white (rather than gold), making it a more formal experience. The dining room staff is Indonesian and is as skillful as ever. Music is provided by the always-enjoyable Rosario trio, who thankfully seem to be present in some incarnation on every HAL cruise.
The food throughout the ship is uniformly top notch, which is quite an accomplishment considering the wide variety of dining venues and cuisine styles. The BUFFET line has been divided into multiple areas, each with a specific theme or purpose. This is diagramed on maps provided with the deck plans at the beginning of the cruise. This increases the variety of food stations and decreases the length of lines, although some cruisers who are used to the standard single cafeteria line approach seemed to have difficulty adapting to the flexible layout. Dining is available at almost any hour -- we especially enjoyed the fantastic pastries in the mid-afternoon and had pizza with cocktails on our balcony in the evening. (As an alternative, complimentary hors d’oeuvres are now served with evening drinks in the lounges). The poolside grill and Mexican buffet were also enjoyable diversions.
Alternative dining (at a surcharge of $20 per person) is provided by the Odyssey Restaurant (AKA Pinnacle Grill) adjacent to the central atrium. We ate there once and found the steak and rack of lamb better prepared than any we had eaten before (and we come from a state that produces both). When I asked the chef later in the cruise how he made the wonderful and intensely flavored sun-dried tomato and beef stock reduction that came with my steak, I learned that the process required two days of slow cooking with multiple herbs. It was a reminder (as is the entertaining galley tour) of how much work goes into the food preparation. The Odyssey never seemed to be full, and obtaining reservations was no problem. I think that the main dining room is so good that the Odyssey has stiff competition.
The wines (and drinks in general throughout the ship) are expensive (by our standards). If you are a heavy drinker of sodas, consider buying a soda card at the beginning of the cruise – it will probably save you money and is good any time throughout the ship.
The crew throughout the ship was topnotch, as on previous HAL cruises. The officers are Dutch. We have always been impressed by their attention to details, especially safety, having watched them life raft-drill the crew on a previous cruise. The boat drill at the beginning of the cruise is taken very seriously. Too bad some cruisers always seem to chatter during this most important ten minutes of the cruise.
The remainder of the crew is largely Indonesian and Filipino. It is this crew which makes HAL stand out among the cruise lines we have experienced. We have found no gentler, kinder, more thoughtful stewards than these. On this cruise it seemed that the proportion of Indonesians has decreased relative to Filipinos, perhaps because of recent American xenophobia towards Muslim nations. I feel so sorry that these Indonesians may be the victims of ethnic profiling, making U.S. visas and work permits more difficult for some nationalities to obtain. They have always welcomed us on our travels to Bali and Java, and I hope that we can do the same for them.
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