Evening Suggestions

[Reds4life]

We are booked on the 5 Day Zuiderdam for Dec 29. We have seen the daily program in the app and have some questions for experienced members and possibly some suggestions based on your knowledge of what is available on the ship:

 

1. Do they ever add to the activities list? A couple of days look good and a few not so much.

 

2. On the first night, they have "Origin Story" which is somewhat self-explanatory, but we were wondering if this usually has anything entertaining along with it? Normally on other lines there is a welcome aboard show of some time where the cruise director introduces themselves and then there is a performance of some type. Same with the Captain Meet and Greet. Is that just literally the guy introducing himself or is there some type of entertainment? 

 

3. On the second night, there is not anything at all in the main theater. Looks like music in the bars and that's about all. Any suggestions on what we can do as a family for entertainment? What is available as options to do independently? 

 

4. On Day 2, they have a comedian and it says 18+. However, on the other days it does not have this designation for his shows. Does this mean it is family friendly?

 

5. The Jukebox Rouges are on the schedule back to back days. Are these the same shows or a different one for each day? 

 

Thanks for your help in advance

[SeeSun&Sea]

You are viewing place-holder activities. Real activities may appear on the evening of the 28th, but earlier is unlikely. All you can do is wait [im]patiently.

[Reds4life]

What do you mean by place-holder activities?

Edited December 7, 2022 by Reds4life

[CruiserBruce]

28 minutes ago, Reds4life said:

What do you mean by place-holder activities?

Just items "penciled" in, that may, or may not reflect what is actually going to happen.

[REOVA]

1 hour ago, Reds4life said:

We are booked on the 5 Day Zuiderdam for Dec 29. We have seen the daily program in the app and have some questions for experienced members and possibly some suggestions based on your knowledge of what is available on the ship:

 

1. Do they ever add to the activities list? A couple of days look good and a few not so much.     

 

2. On the first night, they have "Origin Story" which is somewhat self-explanatory, but we were wondering if this usually has anything entertaining along with it? Normally on other lines there is a welcome aboard show of some time where the cruise director introduces themselves and then there is a performance of some type. Same with the Captain Meet and Greet. Is that just literally the guy introducing himself or is there some type of entertainment? 

 

3. On the second night, there is not anything at all in the main theater. Looks like music in the bars and that's about all. Any suggestions on what we can do as a family for entertainment? What is available as options to do independently? 

 

4. On Day 2, they have a comedian and it says 18+. However, on the other days it does not have this designation for his shows. Does this mean it is family friendly?

 

5. The Jukebox Rouges are on the schedule back to back days. Are these the same shows or a different one for each day? 

 

Thanks for your help in advance

They may add, delete or change activities depending on staff, sickness or technical issues but you may not see a packed daily program for 5 days.  Day 2 is a sea day so maybe dressy night (if any) with adult flavored comedian. Days 3 and 4 is your "overnight" at Amber Cove so Day 3 will probably be light if people are off ship but they should have something for New Years Eve. 

 

What does your family like to do together? There are games onboard and should be trivia.

 

Jukebox Rouges do have 2 shows (3 on longer cruises) so hopefully they won't repeat during the 5 days. 

[Reds4life]

We usually like to go to a main stage show of some type in the evenings. We do not drink alcohol and normally would not sit and listen to music as a family in a lounge. We will be in the sun during the day and enjoying the pool. Do they have game shows or do you mean board games? Trivia is ok. Kids usually like Harry Potter or Marvel trivia. 

[Reds4life]

18 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Just items "penciled" in, that may, or may not reflect what is actually going to happen.

I hope more is added. I am on a FB group and there will be a lot of kids on this cruise. 

[REOVA]

19 hours ago, Reds4life said:

We usually like to go to a main stage show of some type in the evenings. We do not drink alcohol and normally would not sit and listen to music as a family in a lounge. We will be in the sun during the day and enjoying the pool. Do they have game shows or do you mean board games? Trivia is ok. Kids usually like Harry Potter or Marvel trivia. 

The main stage shows are lacking in general, especially if you've seen them before. BBC Earth movie may be of interest if you havent seen one before. 8There are board games and puzzles but also there may be a game show type event. With many kids they should gear one towards them. When you get on board, find the entertainment director/staff and ask if the trivia can include Harry Potter or Marvel. There is also ping pong, basketball/volleyball. Club HAL for kids is good for kids who want a break from parents and meet other kids but broken up by age (9-12, 13-17)  so not sure your ages if they will be together. Depending on what you do in the 2 Ports, you may just want to relax after dinner while the kids go to the Loft. 

[VACruiser123]

20 hours ago, Reds4life said:

We usually like to go to a main stage show of some type in the evenings...

We like HAL just fine BUT...we also think the entertainment is the weakest at sea. This last week on the NA, we witnessed what were easily the worst main stage shows ever at sea. Just dancers dancing to canned music mostly and with no story line. The food is pretty good on HAL and the ships are beautiful. Their private island is very good and the passengers are pretty laid back...but it is not the line for entertainment by a long shot. NCL is tops for entertaining although they are not nearly as good in other areas.

[Reds4life]

59 minutes ago, REOVA said:

The main stage shows are lacking in general, especially if you've seen them before. BBC Earth movie may be of interest if you havent seen one before. 8There are board games and puzzles but also there may be a game show type event. With many kids they should gear one towards them. When you get on board, find the entertainment director/staff and ask if the trivia can include Harry Potter or Marvel. There is also ping pong, basketball/volleyball. Club HAL for kids is good for kids who want a break from parents and meet other kids but broken up by age (9-12, 13-17)  so not sure your ages if they will be together. Depending on what you do in the 2 Ports, you may just want to relax after dinner while the kids go to the Loft. 

We would very much like to see the BBC Earth movie. That is a great suggestion. Do they still do the cooking shows? That would be another thing we would be interested in. Our kids don't like the kids clubs generally. I think you are right about the port days being busy. We will be out in the sun all day in port and on the ship. We usually sleep in and then enjoy the sun for the afternoons and the evenings are our time together as a family for dinner and activities. I am sure we will be fine but really just amazed at the lack of evening things to do. We are concerned as adults as well. My wife and I like to have fun also lol. 

[Reds4life]

34 minutes ago, VACruiser123 said:

We like HAL just fine BUT...we also think the entertainment is the weakest at sea. This last week on the NA, we witnessed what were easily the worst main stage shows ever at sea. Just dancers dancing to canned music mostly and with no story line. The food is pretty good on HAL and the ships are beautiful. Their private island is very good and the passengers are pretty laid back...but it is not the line for entertainment by a long shot. NCL is tops for entertaining although they are not nearly as good in other areas.

Thanks for the heads up. As I mentioned in the above post, I am sure we will manage and have a good time, but we are a little concerned as adults as to what we will fill our time with. We really don't expect much entertainment in the daytime since we will be in the Caribbean and enjoying the weather and in port on two days. But, we don't really think it would be much to organize a fun game show in the main theater like REOVA suggested or just play a movie just out of theaters. We are cruising on NCL next summer for the first time and pretty excited. We have been multiple times on RCCL and MSC and really enjoyed those. 

[REOVA]

1 minute ago, Reds4life said:

We would very much like to see the BBC Earth movie. That is a great suggestion. Do they still do the cooking shows? That would be another thing we would be interested in. Our kids don't like the kids clubs generally. I think you are right about the port days being busy. We will be out in the sun all day in port and on the ship. We usually sleep in and then enjoy the sun for the afternoons and the evenings are our time together as a family for dinner and activities. I am sure we will be fine but really just amazed at the lack of evening things to do. We are concerned as adults as well. My wife and I like to have fun also lol. 

No more cooking shows. ☹️

Don't sleep in at HMC. Go early and get chairs (or book a clamshell now before they sell out which has 2 chairs and pull up 2 more for the kids or a cabana). Depending on the ships in (usually 2) it can be crowded after 10 am and shaded clamshells or villas sell out weeks before cruise. We usually got down beach closer to where the buffet lunch is, head to lunch early (by 11:00) and out before lunch is too crowded, back to beach. You will enjoy and 5 days will go by. When we traveled with kids, (who didn't like Club HAL), they still found new friends on board and hung out after dinner walking the ship (or whatever sparked their interest). Back them we had walkie-talkies but now HAL app allows chatting to check up. 

[0106]

49 minutes ago, REOVA said:

No more cooking shows.

I attended 4 wonderful cooking shows on the Oosterdam transatlantic in November 2023.  

[0106]

31 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I attended 4 wonderful cooking shows on the Oosterdam transatlantic in November 2023.  

2022- sorry to late to edit.

 

I feel longer cruises have more daytime entertainment.  We had an excellent speaker every sea day too.

[REOVA]

3 minutes ago, 0106 said:

2022- sorry to late to edit.

 

I feel longer cruises have more daytime entertainment.  We had an excellent speaker every sea day too.

Yes for repositioning and Grand cruises they have more going on and also more sea days. You get spoiled on those and then the shorter (<10) they seem to cut back. We enjoyed the old test kitchen and cooking shows and you were able to sample. They split from ATK and had crew/chef do cooking but not on all ships/itinerary. 

[iflyrc5]

2 hours ago, VACruiser123 said:

We like HAL just fine BUT...we also think the entertainment is the weakest at sea. This last week on the NA, we witnessed what were easily the worst main stage shows ever at sea. Just dancers dancing to canned music mostly and with no story line. The food is pretty good on HAL and the ships are beautiful. Their private island is very good and the passengers are pretty laid back...but it is not the line for entertainment by a long shot. NCL is tops for entertaining although they are not nearly as good in other areas.

We were on the NA from Nov 4 - Dec 4.  I saw each of the 4 Dance One shows several times and enjoyed each one.  The show Humanity I enjoyed the most. I will agree that there is not a real story line but then that is not this type of performance.

[AFNavigator]

5 hours ago, Reds4life said:

Thanks for the heads up. As I mentioned in the above post, I am sure we will manage and have a good time, but we are a little concerned as adults as to what we will fill our time with. We really don't expect much entertainment in the daytime since we will be in the Caribbean and enjoying the weather and in port on two days. But, we don't really think it would be much to organize a fun game show in the main theater like REOVA suggested or just play a movie just out of theaters. We are cruising on NCL next summer for the first time and pretty excited. We have been multiple times on RCCL and MSC and really enjoyed those. 

HAL's primary evening entertainment focus (beyond the very under-used main stage) is live music on the Music Walk.  The Pinnacle class ships have the most music venues.  The Pinnacle class ships also have the big screen at the Lido Pool where they show movies in the evening with snacks available nearby at the NY Pizza and Deli.

[Reds4life]

5 hours ago, AFNavigator said:

HAL's primary evening entertainment focus (beyond the very under-used main stage) is live music on the Music Walk.  The Pinnacle class ships have the most music venues.  The Pinnacle class ships also have the big screen at the Lido Pool where they show movies in the evening with snacks available nearby at the NY Pizza and Deli.

Is the Music Walk small bars or lounges? Do families go there for shows? On other lines they have live music in the bars but we aren't much of a bar crowd. 

[REOVA]

3 hours ago, Reds4life said:

Is the Music Walk small bars or lounges? Do families go there for shows? On other lines they have live music in the bars but we aren't much of a bar crowd. 

On Pinnacle Class the 3 areas of Music Walk are Rolling Stone Rock Room (which is a bar), across the "walk way" is Billboard (which is a piano lounge) and down the walkway is BB King which is a 2 level lounge with stage. Only BB King would have a comedian (show). But you won't be on a Pinnacle ship. Zuiderdam has a BB King Lounge and Billboard but both are right next to Casino. They may have Trivia or Game Show during the day in these venues but at night probably music or maybe a comedian in BB King if not on World Stage. No pool movies onboard the older ships. 

[Reds4life]

We will definitely be up for HMC and take full advantage of the whole day there. It looks amazing. 

 

We are on Zuiderdam by the way. I don't think I mentioned that. We might take in the music, but just wanted to make sure how the seating is arranged. We really like singing performances but are used to them in the theater, which is sounds like is empty for a lot of times. Speaking of seating, do they allow smoking in the casino and, if so, does it drift into the music areas? We absolutely are not interested in the stereotypical "smoke filled bar" setting. 

 

I read somewhere that HAL has free on-demand movies. Is that true? We may just set up a movie night in our room if so. 

[Fred321]

Your 5 day cruise is right before the 128 day world cruise and only two weeks after the ship comes out of dry dock. My guess is that the staff may be more focused on the upcoming world cruise than the short holiday one. You'll also probably have a crazy mix of older passengers staying on for the world cruise and kids on the 5 day. We'll be two of the older folks and probably spend most of our time on our balcony trying to avoid catching anything that would send us into quarantine once the long trip starts.

[AFNavigator]

Oops, meant to post in roll call.

Edited December 12, 2022 by AFNavigator
Wrong forum

[esimon]

if you are looking for things to do - regularly - planned activies etc.   You might not like HAL - they are not in the Let us entertain you - business LOL   

[REOVA]

On 12/9/2022 at 10:27 AM, Reds4life said:

We will definitely be up for HMC and take full advantage of the whole day there. It looks amazing. 

 

We are on Zuiderdam by the way. I don't think I mentioned that. We might take in the music, but just wanted to make sure how the seating is arranged. We really like singing performances but are used to them in the theater, which is sounds like is empty for a lot of times. Speaking of seating, do they allow smoking in the casino and, if so, does it drift into the music areas? We absolutely are not interested in the stereotypical "smoke filled bar" setting. 

 

I read somewhere that HAL has free on-demand movies. Is that true? We may just set up a movie night in our room if so. 

Yes HAL has a new on-demand system for movies that you can watch in your room. The regular TV channels are few (besides FoxNews, MSNBC and BBC) and what they have are repeats and repeated commercials (we saw the same shows and commercials in July and November). But you should be able to find a movie you like. 

 

There were smokers on the last cruise we did on Rotterdam but dont remeber as much on Zaandam in July. The Casino is directly across from piano lounge so if they do allow smoking on Zuiderdam, that would be the lingering area but I wouldnt call it smoke filled. I am sensitive to smoking so although it wasn't smoke filled like typical, I could tell the smokers were there.  The BB King lounge is more down the "hall" and separated but the casino is behind so possibly some lingering. There is open dance floor and the tables and chairs are towards the rear and around the floor. Not theater like but still ok. Just make sure to get there at least 1/2 before show to get a good seat (whether you want rear, side or front). It's a popular venue and gets crowded. 

[REOVA]

@Reds4life this probably won't help you other than 1 perspective a year ago. 

 

https://profcruise.com/ms-zuiderdam/