Special Occasion question

[Seavoyage]

Hello Everyone -

Does HAL do anything special for Birthdays?

Thank you in advance for kind replies...

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

If the onboard staff know about the special occasion, in the MDR they will have a little cake and the waiters will sing. We ate in the Pinnacle Grill on our recent anniversary and had told them that when making the reservation on board and they presented us with a small chocolate mousse cake. (After we had eaten dessert - so took the cake to our cabin and kept it in the refigerator until the next day when it was still delicious)

[kazu]

Just let them know ahead of time and their will indeed be cake and singing.

If you want, there is a nice birthday package on the gifts section of the HAL website - balloons, flowers - not too pricey:) I ordered it for my dh's birthday:D

[Seavoyage]

Very nice thank you both - will look forward to that for my DH.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The main dining room staff are allowed to sing Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary.

But should you decide to eat in one of the speciality restaurants -- tell the manager there and they will see that you get your cake -- unfortunately they are not allowed to sing.

[Seavoyage]

Hi KK

Thank you!! That is good to know - I was actually thinking about the Pinnacle for that night - but I would love to hear the crew sing to him....

Thank you!

[bcd2010]

The main dining room staff are allowed to sing Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary.

But should you decide to eat in one of the speciality restaurants -- tell the manager there and they will see that you get your cake -- unfortunately they are not allowed to sing.

Do you know why they are allowd to sing only in the MDR? (perhaps ambience?)

BTW, both times I sailed on my birthday, the staff sang an Indonesian song, not Happy Birthday.

[sail7seas]

The stewards/staff in the dining room rarely sing Happy Birthday or Anniversary. They sing a wonderful Indonesian song with lots of clapping and smiles. (If the 'party' is close to us, we always join in the singing. :) )

[Seavoyage]

Love to hear the crew sing in Indonesian - we always join in as well ...still think we will be doing Pinnacle that evening. Maybe I can get the Piano Man to sing HB to DH :-)

[cinnamon123]

hi everyone,
i too booked the pg for my friends birthday. should i call ships services
& order a cake? i did see the birthday pkg. & it is nice. thought i would
wait till i got onboard to order so i would get better flowers. am i correct
in assuming this? am i going to be the only one singing? how embarassing!
lol
thanks for all your help,
cinnamon123:)

[gte937k]

HAL always asks if you're celebrating a 'special occasion' on the cruise. Does it have to be something verifiable: B-day, anniversary, etc? Can you celebrate a raise, promotion, etc?

[sail7seas]

:) I imagine just about the whole ship could say there is something they are celebrating.
Retirement, getting a job, getting a promotion, graduating, engaged, newly married, lost weight, medical recovery, first cruise, 21st cruise, etc etc

Why don't they just bring a cake to all our tables? :D

[VermeulT]

Love to hear the crew sing in Indonesian - we always join in as well ...still think we will be doing Pinnacle that evening. Maybe I can get the Piano Man to sing HB to DH :-)

I'm not sure if what they sing is Indonesian.... below are the words of a typical Dutch birthday song - which sounded quite a bit from what I remember (from the other side of the dining room).

Lang zal ze leven.
Lang zal ze leven.
Lang zal ze leven in de gloria.
In de glo-ri-a.
In de gloria.
Hieperdepiep Hoera
Hieperdepiep Hoera
Hieperdepiep Hoera


Cinnamon - you do not need to order a cake.

[Barkevko]

Hi KK

Thank you!! That is good to know - I was actually thinking about the Pinnacle for that night - but I would love to hear the crew sing to him....

Thank you!


You could Pinnacle for lunch instead and still have the singing in the MDR that night!:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

On the ships that we have been -- most of the singing of the song was in broken English.