35 night cruise

[tuolumne couple]

can anyone chime in on this for us?

on a 35 nighter:

how many gala / formal nights? 

do the blue silver gold gala menus repeat?

any other tidbits you wish to share to better inform us would be helpful, as we look ahead to this one in 2022

 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I’m assuming you are referring to the 35day Hawaii/Tahiti sailing on the Zuiderdam. If so - According to the travel agent booking system there will be 5 Gala nights, though that is always subject to change at the discretion of the Hotel Director. 
 

That’s all I got on this one! 😊 Hopefully others will be of more help.  

[tuolumne couple]

8 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

thanks!

 

[Hflors]

I am on this cruise and that is what I saw 5 gala nights.  Of course you can dress up any night you want.  Just because its not a gala night doesn't mean you can't dress to celebrate something special....  

[KirkNC]

We are on that cruise as well trying to burn up FCC 😎

[Hlitner]

I will toss in a monkey wrench.  While many of us are just assuming that things will eventually go back to "normal" that may not be the case.  Trying to apply previous standards to future cruises is pure speculation.  But if we were to do this to a 35 day cruise we would say that the number of gala (formal) nights will depend on the various segments.  Depending how the cruise is structured the gala nights can vary.  I would guestimate that it would be in the 5-7 range but that is not assured.  And for all we know HAL might eliminate all gala nights when they restart since this is the trend throughout the cruise world.

 

Hank

[tuolumne couple]

3 hours ago, Hflors said:

I am on this cruise and that is what I saw 5 gala nights.  Of course you can dress up any night you want.  Just because its not a gala night doesn't mean you can't dress to celebrate something special....  

okay, thanks, oh we dress , for sure, my question was sort of menu based. the longest cruise we have been on is an 18 night, and i was wondering how that would play out. thanks for the input. I was wondering if anyone who had been on such a so called legendary voyage had an inkling as to what i might expect. 

[tuolumne couple]

1 hour ago, KirkNC said:

We are on that cruise as well trying to burn up FCC 😎

awesome. see you there!

[tuolumne couple]

27 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I will toss in a monkey wrench.  While many of us are just assuming that things will eventually go back to "normal" that may not be the case.  Trying to apply previous standards to future cruises is pure speculation.  But if we were to do this to a 35 day cruise we would say that the number of gala (formal) nights will depend on the various segments.  Depending how the cruise is structured the gala nights can vary.  I would guestimate that it would be in the 5-7 range but that is not assured.  And for all we know HAL might eliminate all gala nights when they restart since this is the trend throughout the cruise world.

 

Hank

Thanks for the reply, and in regard to your comment, where did I say I was trying to apply standards to future cruises? Of course I was speculating. That is all we can do right  now. But I appreciate you taking the time to comment. 

This cruise is 15 months away. I was asking about menus mostly, as I am assuming they will still feed us. Perhaps my question was ambiguous. And, yes, we are assuming changes in dining will occur. as one might expect. Naturally we are ready for changes and open to them as well. Fortunately we are quite flexible and it is really hard to put a wrinkle in any cruise we go on. We would be sailing right now had the pandemic not occurred.

That being said, I am ready for the world, VC Aft booked, and hoping for the best.

I was hoping anyone who had been on such a 35 nighter might chime in with their experience, but I will take what I can get.

We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary on this cruise, so, i will be flying 5 feet off the ground regardless. I am getting so excited and rather expecting this cruise to sell out. We will see. 

Wishing every one of you a wonderful Thanksgiving! May your dreams of cruises come true!

[GeorgesGal]

This cruise looks great!  Love the Hawaiian Islands as well as French Polynesia!  And what makes it so much better is no long haul flights from the Deep South Pacific!  Sent it to my travel partner (my sister) to see if I can entice her!

 

Donna

[canadianbear]

We are booked on this cruise too and sure hope it happens.  Longest one we’ve been on was 21 days on Koningsdam which was a Collector cruise.  
 

Not sure about the 35 day menu challenge how it goes.  What I like (liked) was they always had on the MDR menu some regular meals you could always get-staples if you want to call them that which I appreciated. 
 

Not sure how the Lido will work when cruising starts again but for our 21day cruise we found we ate more often in the Lido for casual dining than the MDR.  Currently we are booked for late seating on the Tahiti cruise which we’ve never done before-usually do anytime.  But willing to try it.  
 

 

[Vict0riann]

We did this cruise in 2016, and I just went back to my photos to see if I had snapped any menus.  Sorry, nothing there.  But we did have 5 gala nights, and lots of delicious dinners.  The Lido was very festive, too. Hopefully, by 2022 things will be back to normal and you will enjoy the cruise as much as we did.  With quite a few  choices on every menu, even if they do repeat the same menu, you can always choose something other than what you had the first time!  I thought they did the duck very well, and usually chose that, if it was on the menu.

 

 

[RuthC]

9 hours ago, tuolumne couple said:

I was asking about menus mostly, as I am assuming they will still feed us. Perhaps my question was ambiguous.

I found your question extremely clear. You asked if the gala night menus repeated. Can't get any clearer than that. 

I have been on longer cruises in recent years, but they were Collector's Cruises, so the menus necessarily repeated---after all, they are really separate cruises. It's been too many years since I have been on a true 35-day cruise for me to remember if the gala night menus repeated or not. 
Wish I could help more. 

[tuolumne couple]

3 hours ago, RuthC said:

Wish I could help more. 

Oh you helped a lot and I do sincerely appreciate your feedback. I was suspecting something like that. Thank you for the validation. Wising you well and Happy Thanksgiving!

[tuolumne couple]

10 hours ago, GeorgesGal said:

This cruise looks great!  

i hope so. maybe see you there?

[tuolumne couple]

9 hours ago, canadianbear said:

 Currently we are booked for late seating on the Tahiti cruise which we’ve never done before-usually do anytime.  But willing to try it.  
 

 

we are always late dining. you will love it. look for us!

[tuolumne couple]

8 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

We did this cruise in 2016, and I just went back to my photos to see if I had snapped any menus.  Sorry, nothing there.  But we did have 5 gala nights, and lots of delicious dinners.  The Lido was very festive, too. Hopefully, by 2022 things will be back to normal and you will enjoy the cruise as much as we did.  With quite a few  choices on every menu, even if they do repeat the same menu, you can always choose something other than what you had the first time!  I thought they did the duck very well, and usually chose that, if it was on the menu.

 

 

This is awesome!!! How awesome that you completed this cruise 4 years ago. This has been on my bucket list! oh my god thanks so much! Granted things will likely a bit covid- different, and I expect that, but until then, I can dream cant I? I bet it was amazing. Thanks so much for chiming in!

[Shmoo here]

13 minutes ago, tuolumne couple said:

This is awesome!!! How awesome that you completed this cruise 4 years ago. This has been on my bucket list! oh my god thanks so much! Granted things will likely a bit covid- different, and I expect that, but until then, I can dream cant I? I bet it was amazing. Thanks so much for chiming in!

Well, we did a 28 night Hawaii/Tahiti in 2019.  The gala night menus were not repeats.  But the menus overall did seem repetitious.   I mean there's only so much you can do with chicken, fish, and steak.  

 

But the food was pretty good (a few misses, but mostly good).

 

 

[tuolumne couple]

2 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Well, we did a 28 night Hawaii/Tahiti in 2019. ..  I mean there's only so much you can do with chicken, fish, and steak.  

 

 

 

How fun!! I hope it was a memorable cruise! Honestly, I have this same dilemma at home LOL. HAL does an excellent job, I think. For me. it is the experience, the formality, the familiarity, the fellow cruisers, the smell of the sea, the motion of the ocean, the promenade, the crows nest. the sunsets and sunrises, meeting people at embarkation and seeing them throughout the cruise. I am not sure how the tablemate thing will pan out post-covid-19, but we have met innumerable people whom we have befriended and kept in touch with. You are all my family. But I digress... 

[Shmoo here]

1 minute ago, tuolumne couple said:

How fun!! I hope it was a memorable cruise! Honestly, I have this same dilemma at home LOL. HAL does an excellent job, I think. For me. it is the experience, the formality, the familiarity, the fellow cruisers, the smell of the sea, the motion of the ocean, the promenade, the crows nest. the sunsets and sunrises, meeting people at embarkation and seeing them throughout the cruise. I am not sure how the tablemate thing will pan out post-covid-19, but we have met innumerable people whom we have befriended and kept in touch with. You are all my family. But I digress... 

Yes, totally a memorable cruise.  I'd do it again, in a heartbeat.

 

It was our last ocean cruise prior to COVID.  I'd like to get cruising again, but I'm prepared to wait at least another year.

 

 

[SteveH2508]

17 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

We did this cruise in 2016, and I just went back to my photos to see if I had snapped any menus.  Sorry, nothing there.  But we did have 5 gala nights, and lots of delicious dinners.  The Lido was very festive, too. Hopefully, by 2022 things will be back to normal and you will enjoy the cruise as much as we did.  With quite a few  choices on every menu, even if they do repeat the same menu, you can always choose something other than what you had the first time!  I thought they did the duck very well, and usually chose that, if it was on the menu.

 

We booked this last week. DW, having seen those crab legs, is even more excited now. Let us hope such things survive the changes that the hoped for restart brings.

Edited November 22, 2020 by SteveH2508

[Hlitner]

Just some additional thoughts about a long cruise.  Like many HAL fans we have done a few very long cruises (measured in months...not days) and loved every day :).  But one drawback for us was the entertainment.  My best example is when we did a 28 day crossing from Seattle to Sydney and then an additional 14 days to Auckland.  During most of that 28 day South Pacific crossing there was no opportunity to change guest entertainers.  The main production group onboard (singers/dancers) only had a repertoire of 4 shows (this is normal) which meant 4 shows in 4 weeks (and then repeated on the 14 day segment).  Most Guest Entertainers did 2 shows (each) but there were a limited number of Guest Entertainers.  The singers/dancers actually got bored on the 28 day segment (we became very friendly with one of the singers) but contractual rules forbid them from doing much other entertainment.  There were quite a few "dark nights" with virtually no entertainment and many other nights found the ship showing a movie in the main theater in lieu of any kind of live entertainment.  

 

There were many HAL cruisers who simply had dinner and went to their cabins relatively early (by 9) where I assume they just read or watched TV.  DW and are night owls so we found ourselves spending evening hours socializing and often sitting in the Crows Nest with an adult beverage or at the piano bar (our normal hangout).  But prior to COVID, HAL had all but eliminated piano bars from most of their ships.  While we do enjoy the BB King groups (our crossing was before they had these groups) the BB King groups actually have a very limited repertoire.  When you hear these groups 5 or 6 nights a week you eventually get to know their music as much as the musicians :).  When we did the VOV cruise I asked the BB King leader if they could expand their repertoire and do some more blues and jazz but he explained that they were a "pick up" group put together by HAL and had only rehearsed X number of pieces (at a land location prior to the cruise).  They were an excellent small group (that VOV cruise was on a smaller ship where the BB King group had to perform in the Crows Nest) but hearing the same sets night after night became a bit of a bore.  

 

I would give great praise to the galley staff on the Oosterdam (the ship on which we took the 28+14 day cruise) and on our even longer Prinsendam cruises.  They managed to avoid ever repeating a menu at dinner although they did repeat many specific offerings (no avoiding this).  The menus became kind of a mix and match thing and we always found plenty of variety at dinner.  

 

Hank

[SteveH2508]

Repeating menus is often no bad thing. There are many times when there are two (or more) things that I would like to eat - repetition can solve this dilemma.

[tuolumne couple]

35 minutes ago, SteveH2508 said:

Repeating menus is often no bad thing. There are many times when there are two (or more) things that I would like to eat - repetition can solve this dilemma.

I agree! I found myself saying 'oh good, I didn't get to try this one.. or, Ahhh, I was craving this one again'. And If they repeat the desert menu, maybe I should have a few passes on those selections, ha ha ha

Thanks for chiming in. 

[Floridiana]

We did a circle the Pacific 82 day cruise on the Amsterdam in 2018. There was repetition of the menu but it didn't feel like it with so many choices. We were waiting for some of  dishes to return because we liked them so much. It wasn't the most sophisticated menu but solid well prepared food. 

 

As to clothing, we saw everything from sweatshirts to tuxedos on formal nights and mariners who wore theme appropriate outfits for every event.

 

If HAL gets back into the spirit, they do a great job with long cruises. Their excursion team was outstanding, their experts were great. They had a good variety of daytime enrichment activities on sea days. We don't care that much for the evening entertainment, go to bed early and are off the ship among the first in the morning.