HAL continuing to downgrade its product

[cruisemom42]

23 minutes ago, ldtr said:

quite common in nursing homes. not sure about cruise ships.

 

Pondering whether the irony is intentional or unintentional....

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

HALs average age has actually been getting younger over the past 5 years or so. Princess actually runs older these days.

source? 

[Mary229]

10 hours ago, RD64 said:

I am confused - adult colouring? Has this truly become an activity?

Yes, it is.  I think it might be a drinking game.  We have a studio in our town for painting while drinking.  I  remarked that the art teacher wasn’t too good as none of her pupils ever progressed judging by the window display. A friend enlightened me 

[rodndonna]

14 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Yes, it is.  I think it might be a drinking game.  We have a studio in our town for painting while drinking.  I  remarked that the art teacher wasn’t too good as none of her pupils ever progressed judging by the window display. A friend enlightened me 

 

It's not a drinking game, It is very much a real thing and has been popular for at quite a few years now. 

 

https://coloringmasterpiece.com/faqs-you-should-know-about-adult-coloring/#:~:text=What Exactly Is Adult Coloring%3F Adult coloring is,coloring books or published online for at-home printing.

 

I've not done it (was always too early in the daily schedule) but would have liked to have gone (and I'm not even 60 yet). 

 

Like doing jigsaw puzzles, not for everyone The hours spent of mindless phone scrolling in the Crow's Nest is much more of a mind  boggling activity to me.

 

[Mary229]

11 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

It's not a drinking game, It is very much a real thing and has been popular for at quite a few years now. 

 

https://coloringmasterpiece.com/faqs-you-should-know-about-adult-coloring/#:~:text=What Exactly Is Adult Coloring%3F Adult coloring is,coloring books or published online for at-home printing.

 

I've not done it (was always too early in the daily schedule) but would have liked to have gone (and I'm not even 60 yet). 

 

Like doing jigsaw puzzles, not for everyone The hours spent of mindless phone scrolling in the Crow's Nest is much more of a mind  boggling activity to me.

 

I was being slightly facetious.  I bet you can have a drink when coloring.   Jigsaw puzzles are just there; not a scheduled activity.  I don’t think coloring should be a scheduled activity .  Just put the sheets out as they do with crosswords 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Mary229

[rodndonna]

19 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I was being slightly facetious.  I bet you can have a drink when coloring.   Jigsaw puzzles are just there; not a scheduled activity.  I don’t think coloring should be a scheduled activity .  Just put the sheets out as they do with crosswords 

 

I see your point about putting then out, but not sure how well it would work as the pencils can be quite expensive and I the paper is the standard crossword paper print quality.  The supplies can be pretty pricey so it doesn't work well if I drop by and colour for 5 minutes and leave, unlike a puzzle where I can add a piece and then leave for someone else to add a piece. 

 

I do think it's a valid activity if they have good supplies and nice for folks who want to try it. 

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, rodndonna said:

 

It's not a drinking game, It is very much a real thing and has been popular for at quite a few years now. 

 

https://coloringmasterpiece.com/faqs-you-should-know-about-adult-coloring/#:~:text=What Exactly Is Adult Coloring%3F Adult coloring is,coloring books or published online for at-home printing.

 

I've not done it (was always too early in the daily schedule) but would have liked to have gone (and I'm not even 60 yet). 

 

Like doing jigsaw puzzles, not for everyone The hours spent of mindless phone scrolling in the Crow's Nest is much more of a mind  boggling activity to me.

 

Hours of phone scrolling? Oh I guess you are talking about the time for one screen to load on Hal’s internet 😛.  I’m detest puzzles and I definitely don’t want to be touching things that tons of other people touch.

 

About the adult colouring,  I think this was been around for at least 5 years.  It’s not a phenomenon that hal invented.

[*Miss G*]

10 hours ago, ldtr said:

HALs average age has actually been getting younger over the past 5 years or so. Princess actually runs older these days.

 

We did our first Princess cruise in March and I was surprised by the number of elderly passengers there were.  Far more than I’ve ever seen on a HAL cruise.  Talk on the board had led me to believe they skewed much younger on Princess.  And I had never seen so many balding men with pony tails in one place!  It was weird.  Maybe it was a convention.

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by *Miss G*
Grammar

[rodndonna]

20 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

We did our first Princess cruise in March and I was surprised by the number of elderly passengers there were.  Far more than I’ve ever seen on a HAL cruise.  Talk on the board had led me to believe they skewed much younger on Princess.  And I had never seen so many balding men with pony tails in one place!  It was weird.  Maybe it was a convention.

 

 

In our "limited" experience with HAL, I think it may also be itinerary and ship (size) dependent. We have just done our 4th HAL cruise - 3 on the larger Pinnacle ships - Alaska , Norway and the Caribbean  and one on Eurodam (partial Panama/Caribbean)

 

The partial Panama out of FLL (a drive-to embarkation port for many elderly passengers) on  the Eurodam (smaller ship) was pretty darn old average age. I had heard about all the scooters to expect, and yet I was still amazed by the amount of them .. they were everywhere.

 

We expected a repeat last week out of FLL on the NS (larger ship) for the same week (early December) but this time was a much younger average age and very few scooters. There were a small number of families and children but well behaved it seemed. Was a pleasant surprise to have a such a mix of passengers.

 

We then expected the same 

[Destiny0315]

My biggest question is, as adults now are we still going to be encouraged to color within the lines?

[Florida_gal_50]

14 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

In our "limited" experience with HAL, I think it may also be itinerary and ship (size) dependent. We have just done our 4th HAL cruise - 3 on the larger Pinnacle ships - Alaska , Norway and the Caribbean  and one on Eurodam (partial Panama/Caribbean)

 

The partial Panama out of FLL (a drive-to embarkation port for many elderly passengers) on  the Eurodam (smaller ship) was pretty darn old average age. I had heard about all the scooters to expect, and yet I was still amazed by the amount of them .. they were everywhere.

 

We expected a repeat last week out of FLL on the NS (larger ship) for the same week (early December) but this time was a much younger average age and very few scooters. There were a small number of families and children but well behaved it seemed. Was a pleasant surprise to have a such a mix of passengers.

 

We then expected the same 

I find the same and I’ve cruised a lot with hal.  I would hazard to guess that most younger people can’t take off for months at a time if they are working for a living instead of giggles.  It limits to shorter cruises. 

[Mary229]

Demographics of passengers:

 

age increases with length of cruise and other metrics .  Overall industry

https://cruising.org/-/media/research-updates/research/clia-one-resource-passenger-reports/clia-global-passenger-report--2020.ashx

overall the industry slants to an older demographic 

https://porteconomicsmanagement.org/pemp/contents/part1/ports-and-cruise-shipping/average-cruise-passenger-age-group/

 

Average age 57

https://www.frommers.com/macrosite/cruises/holland-america-line

Edited December 11, 2022 by Mary229

[Mary229]

Here is an interesting read.  2018 CLIA. 
 

https://cruising.org/-/media/research-updates/research/consumer-research/2018-clia-travel-report.pdf

[Destiny0315]

24 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

I had heard about all the scooters to expect, and yet I was still amazed by the amount of them .. they were everywhere.

If they are looking to increase activities on sea days how about a friendly game of bumper scooters or on the smaller ships some scooter drag racing on the lower promenade deck?😊

[ontheweb]

16 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

If they are looking to increase activities on sea days how about a friendly game of bumper scooters or on the smaller ships some scooter drag racing on the lower promenade deck?😊

🤣, or scooter drinking games.

[BermudaBound2014]

I suspect Covid is causing age demographics to skew younger across all cruise lines.

[cruisemom42]

Hoo boy, I bet the HAL staffer who proposed having adult coloring as an "activity" had all the execs rubbing their hands gleefully. That guy (or gal) probably got a nice bonus. Reports notwithstanding, a pretty low investment bar to offering this novel activity onboard. 

 

If it is well accepted, I can only imagine new activities will follow in the next year or so:

 

• New casino-sponsored activity:  Watching paint dry.  Come on out to the Promenade deck this afternoon between 4-6pm where the crew will have just finished repainting a length of the deck railing. Use our new app feature to place bets on how long it will take the paint to actually dry....

 

Or maybe these would be popular offerings:

 

• Cooking classes:  We heard you -- HAL is once again providing hands-on opportunities for those who enjoy cooking. Class 1:  Come visit the scullery and learn how to wash produce to "at sea" specifications. Then, you'll have the opportunities to dice carrots, onions and celery into mirepoix, the basis for many soups, stews and sauces. Enjoy the fruits of your labors at dinner in the evening when you can proudly point out your efforts to friends and family. Class 2:  Learn how to make a traditional "Rustic Lasagna".  Each participant will complete all of the steps to create an industrial-sized pan of this tasty dish and will have the proud thrill of seeing their dish on the evening menu (or not).

 

[KroozNut]

59 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

🤣, or scooter drinking games.

 

Now that is a dangerous combination. Have you witnessed how bad some of those scooter drivers are? Add alcohol to the equation and you're asking for a disaster at sea!

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

 

Now that is a dangerous combination. Have you witnessed how bad some of those scooter drivers are? Add alcohol to the equation and you're asking for a disaster at sea!

Or maybe the opposite will occur. Does anyone remember the episode of the comedy WKRP in Cincinnati in which they tested Dr. Johnny Fever's reflexes as he drank more and more, and they improved the more he drank? 😊 

[Guest ldtr]

20 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Demographics of passengers:

 

age increases with length of cruise and other metrics .  Overall industry

https://cruising.org/-/media/research-updates/research/clia-one-resource-passenger-reports/clia-global-passenger-report--2020.ashx

overall the industry slants to an older demographic 

https://porteconomicsmanagement.org/pemp/contents/part1/ports-and-cruise-shipping/average-cruise-passenger-age-group/

 

Average age 57

https://www.frommers.com/macrosite/cruises/holland-america-line

From the data I have seen 10 years ago hal was close to 65, Princess and celebrity was in the 60 to 62 range.

 

now hal is 60 to 62

princess 62 to 65

celebrity in the 55 to 57 range.

 

 

 

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

I see your point about putting then out, but not sure how well it would work as the pencils can be quite expensive and I the paper is the standard crossword paper print quality.  The supplies can be pretty pricey so it doesn't work well if I drop by and colour for 5 minutes and leave, unlike a puzzle where I can add a piece and then leave for someone else to add a piece. 

 

I do think it's a valid activity if they have good supplies and nice for folks who want to try it. 

 

 

Not a problem.  They can just charge $100 (plus 20% gratutity) to rent the pencils.  But you would be limited to no more than 15 pencils in a 24 hour period.

 

Hank

[Wakepatrol]

I used to see couples with a highlighter pen with their program running to towel animal display courses, ice carving demonstrations. I’m so toast once I get on the ship I’m just thrilled to

 

Read a book and fall asleep

Sit by pool and fall asleep

Lay on tile loungers and fall asleep

 

 

[AKJonesy]

6 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I was being slightly facetious.  I bet you can have a drink when coloring.   Jigsaw puzzles are just there; not a scheduled activity.  I don’t think coloring should be a scheduled activity .  Just put the sheets out as they do with crosswords 

If we are ever on a cruise together, I'll bring my colored pencils if you'll bring yours and we can meet up in the Crow's Nest, order a drink and color away!  🙂

[Florida_gal_50]

34 minutes ago, Wakepatrol said:

I used to see couples with a highlighter pen with their program running to towel animal display courses, ice carving demonstrations. I’m so toast once I get on the ship I’m just thrilled to

 

Read a book and fall asleep

Sit by pool and fall asleep

Lay on tile loungers and fall asleep

 

 

You forgot sleeping in the crows nest and in the chairs on the promenade where they have them.  I’m tired as heck but I’ve yet to fall asleep in any of those places.

[albingirl]

4 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

We did our first Princess cruise in March and I was surprised by the number of elderly passengers there were.  Far more than I’ve ever seen on a HAL cruise.  Talk on the board had led me to believe they skewed much younger on Princess.  And I had never seen so many balding men with pony tails in one place!  It was weird.  Maybe it was a convention.

 

Balding men with ponytails could have been there for the coloring competition convention!