Gala nights

[newbie53]

Any idea on when gala nights will be on a Boston to Bermuda 7 day cruise?

 

Thanks

[Crew News]

Any idea on when gala nights will be on a Boston to Bermuda 7 day cruise?

 

Thanks

 

Since Gala Nights are never on the first or last nights, not usually on port nights, and usually on sea days, my best guess would be the first sea day and next to last night on your cruise.

[billbunger]

Why does it matter when they are on your cruise?

[Crew News]

Why does it matter when they are on your cruise?

 

It is my experience that many HAL passengers want to either book a Specialty Restaurant dinner on Gala Nights to avoid the Gala Night activities OR want to make sure that they "don't" book a Specialty Restaurant so that they can enjoy the Gala Night activities.

[newbie53]

Thank you Crew News. So since our last night is a sea day, and the night before we leave port early afternoon, it should be the day we leave port, correct?

 

Billbunger:

 

Crew News has it right. It's for planning purposes on booking a specialty restaurant.

[Crew News]

Thank you Crew News. So since our last night is a sea day, and the night before we leave port early afternoon, it should be the day we leave port, correct?

 

Billbunger:

 

Crew News has it right. It's for planning purposes on booking a specialty restaurant.

 

That is correct. I did forget to state that Gala Nights will not be back-to-back in my earlier post.

[TAD2005]

We always make sure we are in the MDR for the last Gala night so we don't miss the lobster tails. Make friends with your waiter, and you may be able to get 2 lobster tails. We always reserve a 2-top or 4-top in late seating so we get to really know the waiter and assistant. Pays off in the long run. And we take care of them ($$$) on the last night.

[Florida_gal_50]

We always make sure we are in the MDR for the last Gala night so we don't miss the lobster tails. Make friends with your waiter, and you may be able to get 2 lobster tails. We always reserve a 2-top or 4-top in late seating so we get to really know the waiter and assistant. Pays off in the long run. And we take care of them ($$$) on the last night.

I'm not a big beef eater so I usually get no steak and two lobster tails. Most if the wait staff is pretty accommodating. I generally do open dining so different wait staff nightly. You don't have to make them your bestie :p.

[TAD2005]

I'm not a big beef eater so I usually get no steak and two lobster tails. Most if the wait staff is pretty accommodating. I generally do open dining so different wait staff nightly. You don't have to make them your bestie :p.

 

We usually take 21 to 30 day cruises, so we enjoy the friendship and familiarity with our waiter over the long cruise with many sea days. We love to come into the dining room and my 2 glasses of ice tea are waiting for me. Also, the exact type of dinner roll I like is in the basket. When I order an entree, my waiter knows exactly how i want it, and if I want 2 of them. He knows my patterns, likes and dislikes, and it makes dinner so much more enjoyable. The last thing we want at dinner is a table of strangers every night, with the usual questions of "how may cruises have you been on, where do you live, what do you do, how may grandkids do you have", etc, etc. Some people want to meet lots of people on the ship. That's not our thing, to each his own.

[navybankerteacher]

It is my experience that many HAL passengers want to either book a Specialty Restaurant dinner on Gala Nights to avoid the Gala Night activities OR want to make sure that they "don't" book a Specialty Restaurant so that they can enjoy the Gala Night activities.

 

What "Gala Night activities" are there to be sufficiently concerned about to indicate either avoiding or participating in them? In my experience a "Gala Night" is pretty hard to distinguish from any other - except for the likelihood that just some of the people will be just a little bit better dressed.

[RocketMan275]

We always make sure we are in the MDR for the last Gala night so we don't miss the lobster tails. Make friends with your waiter, and you may be able to get 2 lobster tails. We always reserve a 2-top or 4-top in late seating so we get to really know the waiter and assistant. Pays off in the long run. And we take care of them ($$$) on the last night.

 

We were on Oosterdam out of Tampa last March. We had a lady, breathlessly, tell us how important it was for us to go to the MDR because they had lobster tails for dinner. Funny thing. We'd just walked through the LIdo where they had trays of lobster tails out for dinner. BTW, we had lobster in the PG. Much better.

[Florida_gal_50]

We usually take 21 to 30 day cruises, so we enjoy the friendship and familiarity with our waiter over the long cruise with many sea days. We love to come into the dining room and my 2 glasses of ice tea are waiting for me. Also, the exact type of dinner roll I like is in the basket. When I order an entree, my waiter knows exactly how i want it, and if I want 2 of them. He knows my patterns, likes and dislikes, and it makes dinner so much more enjoyable. The last thing we want at dinner is a table of strangers every night, with the usual questions of "how may cruises have you been on, where do you live, what do you do, how may grandkids do you have", etc, etc. Some people want to meet lots of people on the ship. That's not our thing, to each his own.

I don't blame you. Why do something that doesn't appeal to you? I don't have too many special requests and I like to eat at different times. I also like to eat at specialty restaurants.

[Florida_gal_50]

We were on Oosterdam out of Tampa last March. We had a lady, breathlessly, tell us how important it was for us to go to the MDR because they had lobster tails for dinner. Funny thing. We'd just walked through the LIdo where they had trays of lobster tails out for dinner. BTW, we had lobster in the PG. Much better.

The lobster isn't my first choice but I do eat it about half the time. It does seem people do go crazy over it. On my cruises it's the most busy night in the MDR. I've noticed they have had it in the lido on my last couple of cruises but from what I've hear sometimes it's not available.

[RocketMan275]

The lobster isn't my first choice but I do eat it about half the time. It does seem people do go crazy over it. On my cruises it's the most busy night in the MDR. I've noticed they have had it in the lido on my last couple of cruises but from what I've hear sometimes it's not available.

 

This lady actually stopped us as we walked past to inform us that we needed to go to the MDR for the lobster. I don't understand the excitement. Lobster, at least as good, is usually available pretty much everywhere. Why do the small lobster tails get everyone so excited?

[newbie53]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I understand that Gala Nights are not the same as the old formal nights, but neither one of us likes to dress up. I don't even own a dress anymore. So our preference is to avoid the MDR on those nights. And lobster has no interest for me. ;)

[cruisetheworld67]

We usually take 21 to 30 day cruises, so we enjoy the friendship and familiarity with our waiter over the long cruise with many sea days. We love to come into the dining room and my 2 glasses of ice tea are waiting for me. Also, the exact type of dinner roll I like is in the basket. When I order an entree, my waiter knows exactly how i want it, and if I want 2 of them. He knows my patterns, likes and dislikes, and it makes dinner so much more enjoyable. The last thing we want at dinner is a table of strangers every night, with the usual questions of "how may cruises have you been on, where do you live, what do you do, how may grandkids do you have", etc, etc. Some people want to meet lots of people on the ship. That's not our thing, to each his own.

 

You can get the same thing....even better....at open seating...if you go after 8pm. We always get a table for two, so we don't have to talk to anyone else...plus service is much less hectic. Yes...yes....you will have to go to the 10pm show....if that is important to you. A table for 2 works so much better than a table for 8 especially if one or two of the tablemates are tablemates from hell.

[TAD2005]

You can get the same thing....even better....at open seating...if you go after 8pm. We always get a table for two, so we don't have to talk to anyone else...plus service is much less hectic. Yes...yes....you will have to go to the 10pm show....if that is important to you. A table for 2 works so much better than a table for 8 especially if one or two of the tablemates are tablemates from hell.

 

How can you guarantee the same waiter in open seating ? We always get fixed dining, late (8 pm) seating, and we can sit and chat over glasses of wine as long as we want. We never get a table for 8. Why would we ? We reserve a table for the number in our group, usually 4, long before we board the ship. Service is never hectic in the late seating. We have had tablemates from hell in the distant past, and that exactly why we always choose late seating, fixed table assignment. I can't imagine how open seating, with a different table (for 2 or 4) every night, and a different wait staff would be "even better". If you want privacy and consistency at dinner in the MDR, the only way to go is fixed dining, late seating. And we often do go to the 10 pm show, we love it, or the BB-King show, or the piano bar.

[Florida_gal_50]

How can you guarantee the same waiter in open seating ? We always get fixed dining, late (8 pm) seating, and we can sit and chat over glasses of wine as long as we want. We never get a table for 8. Why would we ? We reserve a table for the number in our group, usually 4, long before we board the ship. Service is never hectic in the late seating. We have had tablemates from hell in the distant past, and that exactly why we always choose late seating, fixed table assignment. I can't imagine how open seating, with a different table (for 2 or 4) every night, and a different wait staff would be "even better". If you want privacy and consistency at dinner in the MDR, the only way to go is fixed dining, late seating. And we often do go to the 10 pm show, we love it, or the BB-King show, or the piano bar.

Sometimes in open dining you can reserve a table in a section. You can sometimes do it for the cruise. The "even better" comment has me confused as well. It sounds like you have a situation that suits you well. On my recent cruise we were sent upstairs a couple times to the set dining when diners were not using their table. It was after 6 pm in both situations. One time the service was very rushed. He served main courses when some were still eating their salad. Another night we sat there for at least 45 minutes before he took our order and he was very passive aggressive with us. Both waiters seemed annoyed with the situation and I don't blame them to a point. After that I requested not to be seated upstairs again. The service in open was much better on that cruise and ranged from very good to excellent.

[Tennessee Titan]

Found the lobster much better than it has been in years (actually edible and tasty) on our 40 day on the big K last fall.

I don't really know what this has to do with Gala Nights, but I thought I would throw it in.........

[kevingastreich]

Since Gala Nights are never on the first or last nights, not usually on port nights, and usually on sea days, my best guess would be the first sea day and next to last night on your cruise.

On our 16 day Panama Canal cruise on NA in April, there were three Gala Nights scheduled but only two were actually held. No explanation as to why one was canceled. I do like to know when they are so that I don't schedule specialty dining on those nights.

[TAD2005]

Sometimes in open dining you can reserve a table in a section. You can sometimes do it for the cruise. The "even better" comment has me confused as well. It sounds like you have a situation that suits you well. On my recent cruise we were sent upstairs a couple times to the set dining when diners were not using their table. It was after 6 pm in both situations. One time the service was very rushed. He served main courses when some were still eating their salad. Another night we sat there for at least 45 minutes before he took our order and he was very passive aggressive with us. Both waiters seemed annoyed with the situation and I don't blame them to a point. After that I requested not to be seated upstairs again. The service in open was much better on that cruise and ranged from very good to excellent.

 

The key word used twice in your comment was "sometimes". We don't want to go to dinner and hope that there's an acceptable table that we don't have to wait. And your experience of poor service when you were moved upstairs to fixed dining has never happened to us, because we know our wait staff and they know us. We have been cruising since 1977 and we have experienced everything to a 2-top near the kitchen door on Costa's Flavia to the Captain's table (remember when they still did that ?) on Cunard's Vistafjord. We have finally settled into a dining style that works best for us. To each his own, and whatever floats your boat (pun intended).

Edited May 13, 2017 by TAD2005

[KroozNut]

You can get the same thing....even better....at open seating...if you go after 8pm.

 

This is the kicker for us, and I'm sure many others. We prefer early fixed seating because dinner after 8pm is just way too late (so not an option for us). Your criteria (going after 8pm) for avoiding some of the negative things pointed out about open seating may be is a 'showstopper' for many. :cool:

[iancal]

The only difference we see on gala/formal nights is attire. Some people dressed up, others not so much or not at all.

 

We do not see any difference n the food. The lobster tails are not a big draw for us. They tend to be a bit of a disappointment. Our experience is that they are more often than not overcooked and tough. Not just on HAL but on other lines as well.

[sail7seas]

It is my experience that many HAL passengers want to either book a Specialty Restaurant dinner on Gala Nights to avoid the Gala Night activities OR want to make sure that they "don't" book a Specialty Restaurant so that they can enjoy the Gala Night activities.

Veendam's Bemuda iinerary has the ship docked in Hamilton while in Bermuda. Some guests likely will want to have at least one dinner a shore. It's good to know which nigtt they may wish to make reservations in local restaurants.during their stay in Hamilton. Perhpas they enjoy gala nights and do not want to miss it.

Edited May 13, 2017 by sail7seas