Thanks you for posting all of this.
We were on the Westerdam from Feb 2 - March 13 out of Singapore to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. It was an experience with how all of those countries have dealt with new immigration protocols. It sure made our problems last summer and ArriveCan seem trivial.
Japan was the most bureaucratic and time consuming including having to fill out their App with little notice and instruction while we were onboard. We were told before boarding that it wouldn't be necessary. There were long lines at guest services with those who needed assistance.
I totally agree with you about the lack of entertainment. We were in our cabin most nights by 930 pm. I found the sound in the Rolling Stone Lounge too hard on my head. The ceiling is low and the music bounces around.
For over twenty years we have always enjoyed a cocktail in the Ocean Bar before dinner while listening to the band or piano. It's criminal that there is no music there at all. When I asked the entertainment director why I was told that because these are a series of BTBs there was no need. Doesn't make any sense to me.
The Lincoln Centre group is very good but the venue is tiny. We found you had to get there at least twenty minutes early to get a seat.
Because of the BTBs the entertainment was repetitive. We saw the same Cantare and World Step Dance shows three times each. The set lists for Billboard were the same too. With that number of songs they could have been mixed up more. I won't even go into the repetitive trivia questions. I gave up on that a few cruises ago.
I won't give up on HAL....we cruise more for the itinerary than the onboard amenities but there is a huge difference from what we used to have.