ennjay
October 28th, 2007, 01:29 PM
Hi all, I'm hoping I can get some input and thoughts on booking a possible 24-night cruise on the Zuiderdam in the Med this summer.
We've been on cruises before but mostly only in the Caribbean on NCL. This would be our first Med cruise, first HAL cruise, and first cruise longer than 10 days. But as my partner and I both work in education, and are no longer in grad school as of this year, we both have some significant time off this summer and would love to take a fantastic summer vacation (I'm also turning 30 so even more reason to celebrate!). But since this will be a significant expense for us, I'm hemming and hawing over whether this cruise might be a good choice for us. Here are my basic questions:
1. Having only been on NCL before, what can I expect on HAL in terms of differences? We don't love dressing up... how formal must one get on formal nights, and how many do you expect there would be on a 24-night cruise?
2. Because it's a long cruise (24 nights), will shows/entertainment be repeated each week? They can't possibly have enough different shows to do a different one each night... how often do you think they would be repeated? I believe this 24-nighter is actually two 12-nighters back to back, if that helps.
3. Same question for dining. Will the menus be repeated each week, or every 12 days? Or can we expect different menus each night? I'm a little nervous about the food on board, because NCL has so many different options for dining... I'm afraid I might be bored eating in the same dining room each night for over 3 weeks. Any thoughts on this?
4. Because it's so long, we can really only afford an inside cabin. We've been in an inside before, but only for 6 nights. Other than that, we've had balconies. Are we likely to go crazy in an inside cabin for 24 nights? How are the sizes and comfort of the inside cabins on the Zuiderdam? Are the beds comfortable?
5. Because it's a longer cruise, and on HAL, I'm wondering what the average age of passengers might be like. I'm only turning 30 in the summer, and my partner is a few years older, and while we are definitely an "easy-going, laid-back" younger couple (we much prefer sitting out on deck reading to any partying or silly pool games or anything), I wonder if we'll feel out of place on HAL. Any thoughts on that? Also, is it possible/easy to get a table for 2 in the dining room?
We are mostly drawn to this cruise for the ports (which are great!), and it's a port-intensive itinerary so I paid more attention to where the ship was going rather than the ship itself. But obviously, we'll be spending a lot of time there, especially eating dinner, evening events, and sleeping. So if anyone has any insight or advice for us, I'd love to hear it!
Thanks in advance!
Jenn
We've been on cruises before but mostly only in the Caribbean on NCL. This would be our first Med cruise, first HAL cruise, and first cruise longer than 10 days. But as my partner and I both work in education, and are no longer in grad school as of this year, we both have some significant time off this summer and would love to take a fantastic summer vacation (I'm also turning 30 so even more reason to celebrate!). But since this will be a significant expense for us, I'm hemming and hawing over whether this cruise might be a good choice for us. Here are my basic questions:
1. Having only been on NCL before, what can I expect on HAL in terms of differences? We don't love dressing up... how formal must one get on formal nights, and how many do you expect there would be on a 24-night cruise?
2. Because it's a long cruise (24 nights), will shows/entertainment be repeated each week? They can't possibly have enough different shows to do a different one each night... how often do you think they would be repeated? I believe this 24-nighter is actually two 12-nighters back to back, if that helps.
3. Same question for dining. Will the menus be repeated each week, or every 12 days? Or can we expect different menus each night? I'm a little nervous about the food on board, because NCL has so many different options for dining... I'm afraid I might be bored eating in the same dining room each night for over 3 weeks. Any thoughts on this?
4. Because it's so long, we can really only afford an inside cabin. We've been in an inside before, but only for 6 nights. Other than that, we've had balconies. Are we likely to go crazy in an inside cabin for 24 nights? How are the sizes and comfort of the inside cabins on the Zuiderdam? Are the beds comfortable?
5. Because it's a longer cruise, and on HAL, I'm wondering what the average age of passengers might be like. I'm only turning 30 in the summer, and my partner is a few years older, and while we are definitely an "easy-going, laid-back" younger couple (we much prefer sitting out on deck reading to any partying or silly pool games or anything), I wonder if we'll feel out of place on HAL. Any thoughts on that? Also, is it possible/easy to get a table for 2 in the dining room?
We are mostly drawn to this cruise for the ports (which are great!), and it's a port-intensive itinerary so I paid more attention to where the ship was going rather than the ship itself. But obviously, we'll be spending a lot of time there, especially eating dinner, evening events, and sleeping. So if anyone has any insight or advice for us, I'd love to hear it!
Thanks in advance!
Jenn