"Nothing to do after 9pm" fact or fiction?

[LMaxwell]

I am really being tempted by some of the low 7 day fares to try HAL out but everything I read, people I know and speak to, reviews, all basically say there's nothing going on after dinner.

 

For a ship like Eurodam or NA for 7 nighters what is the nightlife really like? Does anyone have any cruise dailies from years past on either ship?

[summersigh]

We normally have late seating, fixed dining. If there's a show afterwards we most probably do that.

 

Each evening we like having cocktails/nightcaps at the Ocean Bar or the Piano Bar. If we're lucky enough to be on a ship with a BB King show we definitely go there a couple of nights for a rousing good time. We don't normally go (DH doesn't dance often any more) but if I'm not mistaken, the Crow's Nest turns into a dance venue at night.

 

We rarely return to the cabin until midnight or so. :)

[Crew News]

I am really being tempted by some of the low 7 day fares to try HAL out but everything I read, people I know and speak to, reviews, all basically say there's nothing going on after dinner.

 

For a ship like Eurodam or NA for 7 nighters what is the nightlife really like? Does anyone have any cruise dailies from years past on either ship?

 

As you requested, here are the dailies (On Location) for Alaska July 2014:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/?page_id=1643

 

Here are the dailies (On Location) for the Caribbean 2013:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/?page_id=1396

 

As indicated there are still things happening even after 11:00 PM.

[BearInStPete]

On the Vista and Signature class Ships the Northern Lights disco is open late - as the dailies put it until close. How late the ship parties depends upon your fellow passengers. I have seen 2 and 3 am evenings with a younger Caribbean crowd. My recent cruise to Alaska on the Oosterdam was an older crowd and excursion intensive ports had the ship quiet at midnight. So be cautious about commentary that all HAL passengers are old and the ship is quiet by 10, longer sailings on the smaller ships maybe. Caribbean on the larger ships can be very active.

[POA1]

The quietest cruise we were ever on was a 10 Day S. Caribbean on the Noordam in March 2014. Even then, there was nightlife until 11:30 PM or a little later. On all our previous cruises, you could usually count on at least one venue having a crowd until around 1 AM - sometimes as late as 3 AM.

[dvcmember]

Just came off the Eurodam and there were more options than there was on the Ryndam. There were shows in the Queen's Lounge at 10:30 or later. We had late dining, so we always found something to do after dinner. I would then head over to Northern Lights. There were usually people out and about till midnight or later.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[RuthC]

It's fiction. It's pure, unadulterated fiction to say that there's nothing to do after 9:00 PM. Why, some of us are just getting our entrée then!

 

Now, it's true that the night life doesn't go as late as it used to. :mad: I remember the days when the last bar closed at 2:00 AM (I was there :D), and the Ocean Bar was jumping until 1:00 AM. Those days are gone, partly because the passengers are retiring earlier, and partly because HAL is starting & ending the evening entertainment earlier.

 

But there is generally a movie showing at 10:00 PM, the late floor show, music in the Ocean Bar, the Piano Bar opens at 9:00 (so hardly "nothing" after 9:00!). If you're on a ship with a Queens Lounge, or Northern Lights, they are open until 11:30 for the first, and as late as there's a crowd for the second.

[LMaxwell]

Thanks. We are not hard partiers but good to know there are some activities happening to keep us busy until 11 or midnight.

 

The dailies posted say open seating in mdr until 9pm but also says mdr doors closed 15 mins after late seating. What's the latest one can arrive for open seating? 8pm or 9pm?

[igraf]

Consider those people that you spoke with as very poor sources of information. My wife and I typically have late-seating HAL dinners and there is still plenty to do afterwards.

 

Having said that, keep in mind that entertainment scales with the size of the ship. Don't expect a 1500 passenger ship to offer everything that is offered on a 5000 passenger ship.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am really being tempted by some of the low 7 day fares to try HAL out but everything I read, people I know and speak to, reviews, all basically say there's nothing going on after dinner.

 

For a ship like Eurodam or NA for 7 nighters what is the nightlife really like? Does anyone have any cruise dailies from years past on either ship?

Edited November 15, 2014 by igraf

[RuthC]

The dailies posted say open seating in mdr until 9pm but also says mdr doors closed 15 mins after late seating. What's the latest one can arrive for open seating? 8pm or 9pm?

Open seating closes at 9:00 PM. You can arrive as late as that.

The "doors close" notice is in reference to the fixed seating portion of the dining room(s). People who dine there need to follow a little more of a schedule.

[bert425]

I am really being tempted by some of the low 7 day fares to try HAL out but everything I read, people I know and speak to, reviews, all basically say there's nothing going on after dinner.

 

For a ship like Eurodam or NA for 7 nighters what is the nightlife really like? Does anyone have any cruise dailies from years past on either ship?

 

we just returned from a 10 day cruise on Noordam, with late seating (8pm).

 

and there typically WAS a 10 pm evening show (some evenings the late show was 9:30).

 

but true enough that there is not much to do after that show lets out at ~10:40.

 

and if you didn't want to go to the show? Options were only:

 

-- Piano Bar (player was good, but not great)

-- BBKing's Blues Club (band was FANTASTIC, doing 40 minute sets from 8:30, 9:30 & 10:30)

-- Casino

-- Disco (which was billed as "until closed". .but seemed to shut down every night around the same time casino cleared out (between 11:30-12am)

 

so not completely true there is "nothing" to do, but true enough.

 

 

heck, the "late night snack" on Lido? served only from 10:30-11:30.

[iancal]

I think it depends on what your tastes are, the ship that you select, and luck of the draw.

 

We have been on some cruises where the entertainment has been first rate-both in the shows and in the lounges. We have also been on cruises where the entertainment-shows and lounges- was extremely poor to the extent that people just left early and went to their staterooms. Simply having entertainment is not enough. The entertainment has to be reasonably good and it has to resonate with the demographic. Too often we see shows where the costumes are so much better than the dancers/singers or where the music in the lounges came straight out of the pre war era....and I mean WW2. Some cruise lines like HAL and RCI permit smoking in the casino so if this bothers you, as it does us, the casino is not longer a destination for us.

 

One sometimes wonder how the act made it to the talent agent let alone the cruise line. We have seen some wonderful exceptions on various lines unfortunately they are fewer and fewer.

 

Select you ship and your cruise line carefully to match your tastes. And even then, it can be very much of a crap shoot since there can be significant differences between sailings.

Edited November 15, 2014 by iancal

[LMaxwell]

I think it depends on what your tastes are, the ship that you select, and luck of the draw.

 

We have been on some cruises where the entertainment has been first rate-both in the shows and in the lounges. We have also been on cruises where the entertainment-shows and lounges- was extremely poor to the extent that people just left early and went to their staterooms. Simply having entertainment is not enough. The entertainment has to be reasonably good and it has to resonate with the demographic. Too often we see shows where the costumes are so much better than the dancers/singers or where the music in the lounges came straight out of the pre war era....and I mean WW2. Some cruise lines like HAL and RCI permit smoking in the casino so if this bothers you, as it does us, the casino is not longer a destination for us.

 

One sometimes wonder how the act made it to the talent agent let alone the cruise line. We have seen some wonderful exceptions on various lines unfortunately they are fewer and fewer.

 

Select you ship and your cruise line carefully to match your tastes. And even then, it can be very much of a crap shoot since there can be significant differences between sailings.

 

 

That's pretty good sounding advice. We cruise a bunch on RCI but are getting bored so shopping deals to try other lines. Have been on Carnival and Celebrity in the past. Carnival just doesn't do it for me any longer - felt like I had a week long hanging out at a lively sports bar. Not really my thing. Celebrity had a somewhat sterile cookie cutter upper middle class vibe. I see deals on Princess but some of the RCI cruises we have been on were Sinatra and Patsy Cline type music/entertainment...I think Princess would be even more, and HAL near constant. Nothing wrong with that, but we're in our 30's.

 

Not party animals but do like entertainment going on until 11 or midnight. Casino is a non-starter, with smoke especially. The decor and niceties of HAL appeal to me, the entertainment of NCL appeals, but I'm not sure of their smaller ships.

 

I guess the only way to really know is to cough up the bucks to find out. The old $64K question.

[Folk Singer]

Always something to do on the ship. So Party on and have a great time.

[Host Sharon]

Am on Zaandam in January and enjoyed checking out the On Location programmes. I was surprised that there don't seem to be any quizzes at all?? (Syndicate, tram, individual etc)

[kazu]

Am on Zaandam in January and enjoyed checking out the On Location programmes. I was surprised that there don't seem to be any quizzes at all?? (Syndicate, tram, individual etc)

 

There is Trivia on board and the library usually has a quiz going on if memory serves. I don't think the quiz was mentioned in the On Location. Instead mentioned by the CD and if you go into the library you saw the info. (That was on the P'dam)

[YubaSutter]

It's been our experience that HAL ships are a ghost town after 10pm.

[zookiebird]

It's been our experience that HAL ships are a ghost town after 10pm.

 

 

No true. The 2nd show in the theatre starts around 10. Plus there's the piano bar, casino, Northern Lights, Ocean bar etc.

[RJ2002]

We are 3 star on HAL, Platinum on Princess, and also sail other lines (Celebrity, NCL). I would say that compared to other cruise lines, HAL tends to be quieter in the evenings. We dine in open seating, and are usually finished around 9-9:30pm. After dinner, we always walk around the ship, and more often than not, we find ship venues can be pretty empty.

 

Our average HAL cruise is 14 days, so I can't compare to, say, a 7 day Caribbean cruise. I would agree with others that a shorter cruise might be more lively in the evenings.

[sail7seas]

A lot of how active an evening on HAL ship depends upon the crowd. We've done b-to-b's on the same ship any number of times and there often is a great difference from one segment to the other. Sometimes Ocean Bar or Pinnacle Bar etc might have lots of folks laughing and having fun and other segment we want there alone or maybe one other couple. Luck of the drawer some times.

 

 

We always did late traditional dining so either situation was fine with us. We rarely went to the shows but enjoyed if there was a fun group in one of the lounges.. I remember when Crows Nest used to be packed most nights but that isn't usually the case anymore. I think the change in design has something to do with that but I'm no expert :D..... What do I know? :shrug:

Edited November 15, 2014 by sail7seas

[iancal]

We cruise on many of the mainline cruise lines-we do not limit ourselves to with one cruise line.

 

IF we were selecting a ship/cruise line on the basis of after dinner entertainment and activities, HAL would be well down the list.

 

This is based on our experiences and our tastes. Might not be the same for anyone else. Fortunately, on board entertainment is not in our top five decision criteria. This is not to say that all other cruise lines have marvelous after dinner entertainment options-just how we would rank HAL relative to some others that we have been on.

Edited November 15, 2014 by iancal

[1160451]

Ryndam, a year last Jan. After 10 ship deserted. Might be things going on, but sat in a lounge with four of us isn't my idea of entertainment. Went up to the Crows Nest late, one night really good, the rest most in around 10.

Ryndam great ship, but never again on HAL due to this.

[Lizzie68]

A lot depends on the passengers themselves. We tend to take late-season Alaska cruises each year, along with a lot of Aussies and Brits - and the ship tends to be rocking all night on those cruises.:D On others, it can be quieter. HAL used to always have a DJ in the Crows Nest at night, but I haven't seen that in a long time. There is always Northern Lights, but again, it depends on the crowd.

[kazu]

The Crow's Nest was full and rocking on the Prinsendam . On our 2013 cruise we closed it down many a night and sure wasn't at 9:00 pm. Our most recent one, we didn't care that much for the Piano man so didn't stay as long but we certainly went to check it out and it was in full swing:D (and this was a VERY port intensive cruise)

 

The rolling up of the sidewalks on HAL is just another piece of fiction IMO. Yes, maybe some choose to rest but there are those that choose to stay up and enjoy and there are certainly places open to do it:)

 

I agree with Lizzie, it can depend upon the passenger make up, but all in all, we've found things pretty busy after dinner :) (we are main dining)

[bert425]

Am on Zaandam in January and enjoyed checking out the On Location programmes. I was surprised that there don't seem to be any quizzes at all?? (Syndicate, tram, individual etc)

 

that's odd.

 

we had two trivia a day: Team trivia around 1pm each day (hosted by Cruise Director), and then Pub trivia (also team) in Crow's nest each day at 7:30 pm (hosted by Show Hosts).

 

we had the occasional 1-off addition on sea days as well.