Are HAL Ships Decorated in December with Christmas Decorations

[mcrcruiser]

 What is your experience  in seeing Christmas Decorations i n December on HAL ships ?

 

 TIA

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have seen them on the various ships we have been on.  As a rule HAL starts to decorate as soon as a ship returns to its embarkation port after Thanksgiving.  The Poinsettias are usually brought onto the ship about a week before Christmas.

[TrolleyGirl]

We just disembarked the Rotterdam this morning. December 1st garland started going up all over the ship, the next day the Christmas trees and presents started popping up. 

[Travrat]

They totally decorate the ship. We were on Koningsdam last year for Christmas and the decorations were beautiful. Christmas village with gingerbread houses set up by Grand Dutch Cafe, tree, garland all over the ship. Dining room has Christmas decor  on Cristmas Day, etc

[scubacruiserx2]

A couple of photos from the Zaandam

 

The Crow's Nest

 

 

The Dining Room

 

[POA1]

We did a back to back that was the two weeks after Thanksgiving. They started decorating a few days after Thanksgiving. It took them three or four days to finish. It was to watch the ship transform. 

[GeorgeCharlie]

We were on the Volendam for Christmas 2015 and they did a fantastic job in decorating the ship and providing festive related functions. Plus many passengers had decorations attached to their cabin doors. HAL did a much better total presentation then I've seen on another cruise line.

 

 

[cayman09]

Nieuw Amsterdam was beautifully decorated all over the ship. The atrium had a huge gingerbread village with a train running around it.

[madera1]

Hoping to check out Christmas decorations for our Cuba cruise Dec 11-18 next year. We have never sailed in December but have been on the ship for Thanksgiving one year.

[TAD2005]

We were on the Oosterdam in Nov/Dec 2016.   The ship was fully decorated right after the US Thanksgiving Holiday.  There was also non-religious (Rudolf, Frosty, etc)  Christmas music playing in the public areas.   However, this was a collector's cruise and for the last 7 days a large political group boarded.   They took over the MDR for late seating, and all of a sudden, the Christmas music stopped, and we were back to generic rock-n-roll in the public areas.   I don't think this was a coincidence. 

[KroozNut]

On 12/2/2018 at 2:08 AM, mcrcruiser said:

 What is your experience  in seeing Christmas Decorations i n December on HAL ships ?

 

 TIA

 

Hope we see some on Eurodam next week!

[EMc&DrS]

Do they keep them up through the New Year's cruise?

[the2ofus]

One time we sailed on the old Noordam late November into early December.  The dates of the cruise coincided with Hanukkah and there was a quite large contingent of Jewish people whose tour group included their Rabbi.  There was a menorah on display during that cruise but no Christmas decorations.  We were a bit disappointed but it was their significant holiday and ours was yet to come.  The morning of our disembarkation we noticed Christmas decorations on the outside upper decks ready to be moved inside so I'm guessing the incoming guests were going to enjoy a fully decorated ship within 24 hours.

[GeorgeCharlie]

19 hours ago, EMc&DrS said:

Do they keep them up through the New Year's cruise?

 

We were on a 24-day HAL cruise which included both Christmas and NYE, and yes, most of the Christmas decorations remained up through NYE. In some areas, such as the Lido pool where the NYE party was held, they replaced the Christmas decorations with NYE decorations.

[OlsSalt]

Veendam - Cuba - 2017 -Christmas and New Years cruise:

 

 

Crew members taking photo of sign to send back home saying Happy New Year - Love .......

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by OlsSalt

[Tom_Cruise]

We did a 15 day RT San Diego to Hawaii for the holidays a few years ago.  The ship was completely decorated.  My wife was quite impressed.

[SailorMarg]

We boarded the Eurodam yesterday, December 9, in San Diego and there is not a single Christmas decoration to be seen anywhere.  When speaking to Guest Services on another matter we asked about this and we were told that they will be decorating for Christmas on (for?) next week's cruise which starts December 16.  That seems a little late to me.  Also, we have heard no Christmas music being played through the sound systems onboard.  No complaints here, the ship is absolutely lovely as is, I’m was just surprised that the decorating schedule isn’t fleet wide.

Edited December 10, 2018 by SailorMarg

[catl331]

15 minutes ago, SailorMarg said:

 That seems a little late to me.

Seems late to me too. We've been on several early-Dec cruises where there lots of decorations up before the 16th.  I wonder if there will be less quantity if they're only going up for about 2 weeks.

[SailorMarg]

Update on Eurodam's Decorations.

 

We are onboard since a Sunday 12/09 and I posted above that there was not a single Christmas decoration to be seen and that we were told they would be decorating for the 12/16 cruise.

 

Well, last night the elves must have been very busy because we woke up to a beautifully decorated ship!  We asked in the main Dining Room this morning how long it took and we were told that with 200 people working it took all of 30 minutes!  It’s beautiful.

[KroozNut]

On 12/11/2018 at 4:40 PM, SailorMarg said:

Update on Eurodam's Decorations.

 

We are onboard since a Sunday 12/09 and I posted above that there was not a single Christmas decoration to be seen and that we were told they would be decorating for the 12/16 cruise.

 

Well, last night the elves must have been very busy because we woke up to a beautifully decorated ship!  We asked in the main Dining Room this morning how long it took and we were told that with 200 people working it took all of 30 minutes!  It’s beautiful.

Ditto on SailorMarg's recent experience on Eurodam. We were on the same sailing, and were surprised (and disappointed) that there were no Christmas decorations upon boarding. But magically, a few days into the cruise, we woke up to a beautifully decorated, festive ship!