Novice Cruiser giving HAL A Chance...

[snipboy]

My wife and I got a cruise as a wedding gift last year and I have to say I loved it. My wife, however, wasn't so happy. Her biggest complaints were the food and the 2-4 announcements made over the intercom system to all cabins each day. It was a RCL cruiseship. At first I found the announcements in the morning (9am) useful for waking me up, but I soon got annoyed. And my wife was furious from the getgo. We asked if we could have them turned off for our room, but they said no. So, i wonder, what can I expect from HAL? And if it is the same, has anyone tried to circumvent them? I've promised my wife she'd enjoy this cruise more than our last one because it will be lower key and have more ports of call. She'd be much more positive if she didn't wake up to "wiki wiki wahhh" every morning.

BTW, this forum rocks. I've learned so much and I made my choice to go to HAL based on it. So thanks!!

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[x lindsay x]

I got back from a trip on the Zuiderdam a few weeks ago and there were NO in room announcements. Except for the day we visited St. Thomas and everyone had to get up to clear customs, they started calling the lower floors down as early as 7am and they were done by 9:30ish at the latest. Have a great trip!

[x lindsay x]

Oh and there was also an in cabin announcement the first day telling us when to go to the muster drill.

[dakrewser]

While there is a speaker in your cabin, you can turn it off so that only emergency announcements are heard.

[dot73]

One of the reasons I like HAL is the peace and quiet of the ships. Except for the "it's time for Bingo announcements", there are very few announcements by the pool also. The HAL ships are definitely not "party central" and the people that cruise these ships like it this way.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Unless you turn on the radio to channel 5, you will not have any annoucements in your cabin (emergencies only - had a couple of those - don't want to hear them any more).

HAL only announces BINGO - but not in the cabins. The other announcements you will hear will be the captain at 1 PM on sea days - but even then you have to tune into channel 5 in your cabin.

[bepsf]

Where is the control for the speaker located?

[JDee]

On some ships, in the vicinity of the dressing table. There is also a channel selector on the headboard. Should be specific info somewhere in the cabin information lit.

Happy cruising.....

[elmorejj]

Its usually right above the bed Brian, it also has 4 different genres of music....jean :cool:

[sail7seas]

The control is on the headboard of the bed in the "S" suites. I assume it is located in the same general area in all cabins??


We adjust the volume and select the channel and can turn the speaker on or off while in bed.

[sail7seas]

Sorry....seems three of us posted at the same time.

[tomc]

Depending on your cabin, you can have a HALette come in each night and turn the speaker on to mood music, tuck you in and read you a good-night story. Just let her know when your wife will be in the shower and for how long.

[snipboy]

Thanks for all the responses!! This helps a lot!

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