Nightlife...is there dancing?

[emlu82]

Dancing and nightlife on the Neiuw Amsterdam? We have a large group of 25-30 y.o. people going...what is the night life like. I have heard that the crown aboard these ships is a little older, but I wonder what the nightlife is like?

[JamesEM]

I was on the Noordam for a 10 day cruise past Jan. and the night life was very sparce after 11 p.m., just a few passengers in the casino and sports bar with only the ship's crew in the disco bar.

[jackinav]

I've taken two HAL cruises and would say that nightlife is sparse. On the Zuiderdam, the disco was often used for evening trivia, and then the room quickly cleared. I've just cruised on the Nieuw Amsterdam and didn't use the Northern Lights Disco but it never appeared to be very populated. On the other hand, there's a DJ, and if you're a group that wants to dance- he or she will be happy to bring the tunes!
The Casino was always busy- and my favourite place to be (on the N.A.) was the piano bar (thanks to a fantastic entertainer called Charlie, who is only on board a cruise ship for a few weeks every year).
From what I could gather, the "late-night" entertainment ended earlier than on other ships. I think the pools and hot tubs closed early in the evening but I'm not a full-time HAL cruiser so perhaps someone with more experience can correct, or add to this. I was traveling with my Mother so we usually headed for the cabin a little earlier than I would have liked!

[Micmac]

I have always found that night life just needs someone to kick start it. Since you have a group of people, the dj will be thrilled to have company.. the more people walk by and see that there are people in there, the bigger the group gets. (I know because I am not one to start the party but more than happy to join one!!!)

Enjoy!

[JUGGER]

Hi---we usually sail--Carnival--But-- REP from Holland American called and gave us a good deal to try their line. Well--we sailed--- The Westendam--beautiful ship--food excellent--clean---crew--friendly--BUT----the rest of the clients just seen to be waiting at the "gate"--if you know what I mean. Now--we are seniors--but enjoy--life---there is none on this line---in the dining rm---waiters just serve and that is it---not like Carnival--where the waiters entertain during dinner. Of course, if you are traveling with a YOUNG GROUP you might just liven up the ship. Also===the cabins are smaller then Carnival----But which ever you choose--enjoy-- Oh--Yes---In the Piano Bar---we were the only ones there----everyone---went to bed---I believe you can do that when your life is over-- JUGGER---or Irene and John

[Travel_Lover28]

I have always found that night life just needs someone to kick start it.

We just returned from a Panama Canal cruise on the Westerdam. I think there were less than 50 that was under the age of 50. We are in our early 40's. So most nights, everyone was in bed by 11 PM.
Since you have a big group, you can kick start your own party. Just a suggestion, if you like a certain type of music, make sure you make a request with the DJ because he does not know what people like so he plays whatever he thinks is good.
The casino is fun if you like to make deposits/donations :D. I played a little, won a little, and lost a lot.
I suggest join the Mixology class. I think that is where most of the fun is.

Fun is wherever/whatever you make of it. Enjoy it, you are on a cruise.

[Susie51]

I have always found that night life just needs someone to kick start it. Since you have a group of people, the dj will be thrilled to have company.. the more people walk by and see that there are people in there, the bigger the group gets. (I know because I am not one to start the party but more than happy to join one!!!)

Enjoy!

Good idea! Be sure to get there right away. It has happened in the past that the cruise staff doesn't wait a long time for people to arrive for the activities.

[Leeroy-Jenkins]

dancing and nightlife on the neiuw amsterdam? We have a large group of 25-30 y.o. People going...what is the night life like. I have heard that the crown aboard these ships is a little older, but i wonder what the nightlife is like?

d-e-a-d

[emlu82]

Thanks everyone...sounds like the 13 of us are going to be the life of the party and I cant wait! Wherever we go, a dance party is surely not too far behind! Cant wait!

[luxurysailer]

Just a suggestion, if you like a certain type of music, make sure you make a request with the DJ because he does not know what people like so he plays whatever he thinks is good.


The above comment is definitely accurate. In my experience regardless of the age of the people in his audience HAL/Princess DJ's tend to play music for people the age in your group. We've asked for music we like and he may or may not play it, but if he does it is usually only one song. Then right back to what he likes. Consequently all seats are generally empty within just a few minutes after the DJ starts, because the vast majority of HAL pax on most cruises are sixty or above. He'll be ecstatic to have a group your age wanting to dance to the music he really wants to play. Hope you have a great time.

[Harris Jeffer]

Yup pretty dead....but just think, you and your group will have the entire disco to yourselves! You can then dictate the songs and the tone of the evening! You will be the party!:D

[cpayne]

We just returned from a Panama Canal cruise on the Westerdam. I think there were less than 50 that was under the age of 50. We are in our early 40's. So most nights, everyone was in bed by 11 PM.
Since you have a big group, you can kick start your own party. Just a suggestion, if you like a certain type of music, make sure you make a request with the DJ because he does not know what people like so he plays whatever he thinks is good.
The casino is fun if you like to make deposits/donations :D. I played a little, won a little, and lost a lot.
I suggest join the Mixology class. I think that is where most of the fun is.

Fun is wherever/whatever you make of it. Enjoy it, you are on a cruise.

We just retd from the Eurodam last Sat. The Northern Lights Disco was empty almost every night. 2 nts the DJ showed up 45 min late based on what the daily program stated. The first nt when he finally arrived and I asked if he took requests he said no b/c he was setting up for his next event. The 2nd nt he was again 45 min late. When he arrived I again asked if he would take requests (there was no scheduled activity coming up). He said only "club" music. I made 2 requests and he had neither. I then said would you play some modern country songs? There was NO ONE in the room and he refused. If there had been others in the room then I would have understood his refusal. However, since we were the only patrons I felt he should have played at least a few songs for us if nothing else to get some people on the dance floor. Like others have said, if people walk by and see no one dancing or in the room they won't stop in. If they see a party getting started they are more likely to stop in. Particularly on this ship b/c the evening entertainment options were limited! Was very disappointed!

[andrek]

What about a cruise over the Holidays? Does the nightlife improve? We are on the Nieuw Amsterdam over Christmas.
Andrea

[DHADEN]

What about a live band???

Everyone is talking about the "DJ" - is the Disco the only venue for dancing? My wife & I love the night life on a cruise - we love to ballroom or country dance - 2-step, waltz, etc. to a live band with a large dance floor.

We have cruised RCI and Celebrity a lot and have always enjoyed that.
Is that not what happens on HAL??

[Mary Ellen]

You'll find the band in the Ocean Bar. Sometimes in the Crow's Nest there is another one.

[cpayne]

What about a live band???

Everyone is talking about the "DJ" - is the Disco the only venue for dancing? My wife & I love the night life on a cruise - we love to ballroom or country dance - 2-step, waltz, etc. to a live band with a large dance floor.

We have cruised RCI and Celebrity a lot and have always enjoyed that.
Is that not what happens on HAL??

We also love to country dance. However, there was no venue for this on our Eurodam cruise last wk. When we went to the nightclub (see earlier post) and requested country with no one else in the disco he would not accomodate our request. We were able to utilize some of country dance steps to some of the music in Oceans Bar, but was definitely not country.

There was a 1 man band in the Crows Nest. Was not a dancing venue.

There were the Halcats in the Oceans Bar. However, they typically only played for a few hrs. They did not play at all the last night.

There was a more "classical/traditional" type music playing in another lounge, but a VERY small dance floor. Music meant for ballroom dance floor, but again small dance floor and the bar itself was often crowded.

All in all we did not do as much dancing on this cruise as previous cruises. :(

Question was also asked about if it might be different on a holiday cruise. I don't think it will be much different. Our ship last wk sailed at capacity. Our Oosterdam cruise in Feb sailed at capacity. Your holiday cruise I suspect will sail at capacity given the holiday week. I think it's that HAL overall has a slightly different audience and thus impacts the nightlife.

[Darlipoo]

We just retd from the Eurodam last Sat. The Northern Lights Disco was empty almost every night. 2 nts the DJ showed up 45 min late based on what the daily program stated. The first nt when he finally arrived and I asked if he took requests he said no b/c he was setting up for his next event. The 2nd nt he was again 45 min late. When he arrived I again asked if he would take requests (there was no scheduled activity coming up). He said only "club" music. I made 2 requests and he had neither. I then said would you play some modern country songs? There was NO ONE in the room and he refused. If there had been others in the room then I would have understood his refusal. However, since we were the only patrons I felt he should have played at least a few songs for us if nothing else to get some people on the dance floor. Like others have said, if people walk by and see no one dancing or in the room they won't stop in. If they see a party getting started they are more likely to stop in. Particularly on this ship b/c the evening entertainment options were limited! Was very disappointed!

Sounds like the DJ needs to be replaced. He not only is not doing his job, it appears he is not doing it on purpose so he can be elsewhere. I hope you mentioned this to someone onboard that is in charge of entertainment. I found that on the last couple of Carnival cruises I took, there was almost no country-line dancing. When a song was played that would work as a line dance, a "swarm" of people ran to the dance floor and completely filled it up . When the group went back to their previous sets, 2 couples were on the floor. You'd think someone would take notice. I was really hoping HAL would be different.

[cpayne]

The 2nd nt when the DJ was not there on time I just happened to run in to the CRUISE DIRECTOR himself. You bet I brought this to his attention! Not that it made any difference, but at least the dj hopefully got a lecture out of the deal!

[jjtimes2]

This is actually one of the reasons we prefer HAL. DH and I are young(er) - in our late 30's/early 40's - but we actually like how the ship gets quiet around 11:00 pm. It's like having the ship all to ourselves!

We usually go to the disco one night but it is dead. Like a PP said, I am not one to start a party but I'll join in, but there is usually no one on the dance floor and DH just does not dance.

I think if your group will get the party started there will be others who join you!

[luxurysailer]

It makes absolutely no sense that HAL (and Princess, too) allow their DJ's to play music that is not liked by their passengers. It seems that they allow/?encourage the DJ's to play music for the younger passengers they fantasize about having aboard rather than the older ones who are actually on board and keeping the cruise line in business.

It would be so easy for HAL to provide their DJ's with playlists that include a wide variety of music. They could intermix disco music, jitterbug/east coast swing, rumba, foxtrot, waltz, cha cha, salsa, country two step, etc and placate everyone. This could be done with nothing but an iPod. And with an iPod they can make all sorts of custom playlists so that they can cater to whatever group happens to be present and wanting to dance. Heck, I'd even be glad to get them started by giving them the playlists I have on my iPod; although I admit I have no disco music on it.

[JFO23]

What is the date of your cruise? We are on the Mar. 25 sailing of the NA and would love to see someone liven up the nightlife!

[Typhoon1]

Northern lights would be the place to find it, if any exists.

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

I would say that my cruise on the Veendam, a ship far smaller than the Nieuw Amsterdam had nightlife all the way up to 1AM with a healthy compliment of passengers partaking.

It really is about how long the cruise is, and when- the Veendam cruise was a 7 night Bermuda voyage in July, so there was a younger crowd. The ship wouldn't 'go to sleep' by 10:00pm, I'd stay up till 1AM most nights and things would be going strong. However, on longer cruises I am more than certain this will not be the case.

[kyriecat]

luxurysailer,

I'm curious about your definition of "younger passengers." When I was on Zuiderdam last April the DJ had almost no music released after 1980. He said that he didn't have any of the songs that I requested, although maybe he just didn't want to play them. I can understand not wanting to play "Time Warp" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," but he said he didn't have Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" or AC/DC's "Back in Black." While I like some of the music from the 60s & 70s, I'm just a couple months shy of 40 and prefer music released after 1980. Northern Lights seemed to be catering to the not-present 50+ group. Once I determined that they wouldn't play any music that I liked, I didn't stay very long. It seemed that most people felt that way.

[airlink diva]

Like a few others stated, it can depend on who's on the ship and the DJ.
On my Westerdam cruise, there was quite a few of us that closed Northern Lights out almost every night on that cruise. One of the asst CD nickname us the "Dancing Queens". When others saw how much fun we were having, others join us.
On my Maasdam cruise last year, they were teaching line dancing and that got people on the floor. The DJ played "theme" nights (prom,motown, malt shop,etc). He did some requests. But there wasn't really alot of current music for my generation (but I'm an oldies gal alot of the time).
A good DJ should honor request if nothing is going on and to get people on the floor.

[Arwen]

Thanks everyone...sounds like the 13 of us are going to be the life of the party and I cant wait! Wherever we go, a dance party is surely not too far behind! Cant wait!

Generally the dance scene is a bit sedate or even dead on some HAL cruises. However, we were up at the Crow's Nest on the Rotterdam recently and there were people there, but only two couples dancing. It was "Latin Night", and while I love Latin, I did not recognize, but one tune.

Well, one family was there, and two adorable little girls all dressed up requested songs from the DJ. Soon after,more people were on the floor getting their groove on!

I then went up ( I am 60 going on 30 :rolleyes:) and requested Shakira and after that, the DJ played tunes to everyone's liking. Couples and singles of all ages were up dancing. You cannot peg every HAL crowd as only liking certain genres of music (from the 30's and 40's many times, or always the Beatles). Like everyone has said....if you are with a large group, make your own party!

[luxurysailer]

Kyriecat,

The younger age group I'm referring to is about your age or younger. The vast majority of pax on the cruises we go on are old enough to be your parents and, I think, generally prefer music popular prior to the 80's, especially that of the 50's and 60's.

On an eastern Mediterranean cruise on the Zuiderdam three years ago Northern Lights played the music you prefer. Almost exclusively. They deigned to play some 50's and 60's music one night, and on that night it was packed by people of the age group I indicated. On the other nights you could have shot a cannon loaded with grapeshot into it and been in no real danger of hitting anyone but the DJ.

We've also had the same experience in the Skywalker Lounge on several Princess ships. On a Diamond Princess cruise to NZ/Australia at the end of the theater performance every night the CD would complain that no one was joining the DJ in Skywalker's. If he was serious, he was also absolutely clueless. I made it a point to look for younger pax on that cruise, and there was only one couple that I saw anywhere near your age group. It just makes no sense to me. Why won't they play what the passengers who are actually present want to hear and dance to?

I certainly don't expect the DJ's to play my generation's music exclusively, but it is inexcusable for them to ignore us. And likewise it is also inexcusable for them to ignore passengers in your age group. A slam dunk easy solution would be to load up some type of mp3 player with lengthy playlists with varied selections so that they could play music to satisfy the tastes of their passengers with different tastes in music.