Duplicate Bridge?

[PLW0520]

Does Holland America still have duplicate bridge?

[skurvish]

Not as such as far as I have seen. They generally put aside time each day somewhere for bridge players to get together. On the Zaandam  2 years ago (just before Covid) they did have about 10 duplicate card caddies. What you will find these days is anyone's guess. if they had a director on board it would likely only be on the world cruise.

 

What I have seen in the past though is you may get lucky and find a bridge group on board. They hold their own lessons and games. (In the past I have introduced myself to the person in charge and offered to fill in if they needed someone to make a full table. This has worked well and I would be I got to play about 50% of their games, often with their director. On one cruise there were 3 of us standing by so we rotated as space was available. It never hurts to ask and you may be helping them quite a bit. I was not charged for any of these games.

[WisRiver]

Our experience is with repositioning cruises.  We were on the Rotterdam in October, 2021.  There was an ACBL director on board who offered lessons in the morning and duplicate in the afternoon on sea days.  On pte-Covid cruises without a lot of sea days, there was “party” bridge in one of the small meeting rooms.  HAL would provide cards, cookies and coffee.  There were similar arrangements for American style mah jongg players.  There were several mah jongg sets on board.

[NextOne]

I recently received an email from the gentleman that conducted bridge classes & duplicate bridge sessions on the San Diego to FLL cruise last October. He reported that he will be on board for this year's Voyage of the Vikings (July 9-Aug 13) and the Grand Africa Voyage (Oct 10-Dec 10).  So there's hope!

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by NextOne

[WriterOnDeck]

HAL usually has a qualified bridge instructor on its grand cruises. Along with Tai Chi master, watercolor, arts and crafts, etc. etc.