Evening Suggestions

[sandiego1]

smoking is not allowed in the casino on Zuiderdam.

 

[Reds4life]

Are the on-demand movies free?

[Reds4life]

13 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

smoking is not allowed in the casino on Zuiderdam.

 

That is awesome. I do like to try my luck on slots but often do not if I have to deal with smoke. 

[highscar]

Movies are free.  Quite a list. 

[sun~]

There is minimal entertainment on HAL. There is music at night in the BB King Club, and maybe a bit where there is dualing pianos. The National geographic thing in the main stage was so awful on one ship I was on, I walked out. I have no interest in seeing animals killing other animals to a live quartet. 

 

There is little to do for kids. The kids clubs will have activities, but they have no real dedicated entertainment. 

 

The comedian was dreadful, so much so he made jokes about not getting any laughs. 

 

The movies on demand are extactly what is on Netflix right now. I just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam on the December 4th.  So I was hard pressed to find a movie I haven't already seen. 

 

If you wonder why your cruise fare is so cheap, this is one of the answers. There is a reason why you pay a lot more on RCI or NCL. They have real entertainment for all ages.

[highscar]

Not everyone can pay for Netflix. We have basic cable.  Enjoy the HAL MOVIES. 

[REOVA]

15 minutes ago, highscar said:

Not everyone can pay for Netflix. We have basic cable.  Enjoy the HAL MOVIES. 

Yes we don't "binge" while at home as we like to enjoy other things in life,  so we aren't any fun for people who want to talk about episodes, tv, movies, pop culture, etc. Finding a movie we haven't seen onboard is easy for us. Whether a rare movie night or if we want to wind down. We do have relatives who can tell you every character and episode on various streaming devices. To each their own. 

[Chickadee910]

On the Zuiderdam in February 22 and there was no one smoking in the casino and I was there often. 

[Reds4life]

6 hours ago, sun~ said:

There is minimal entertainment on HAL. There is music at night in the BB King Club, and maybe a bit where there is dualing pianos. The National geographic thing in the main stage was so awful on one ship I was on, I walked out. I have no interest in seeing animals killing other animals to a live quartet. 

 

There is little to do for kids. The kids clubs will have activities, but they have no real dedicated entertainment. 

 

The comedian was dreadful, so much so he made jokes about not getting any laughs. 

 

The movies on demand are extactly what is on Netflix right now. I just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam on the December 4th.  So I was hard pressed to find a movie I haven't already seen. 

 

If you wonder why your cruise fare is so cheap, this is one of the answers. There is a reason why you pay a lot more on RCI or NCL. They have real entertainment for all ages.

I'm down for some movies, even if I have already seen them if they are good. We don't subscribe to Netflix but like going to the theater as a family to watch movies. Also, we are game for any comedian and the BBC show is good as well. 

 

Now, I do wish they had some things planned for kids since this is a holiday cruise with a ton of kids according to the FB groups. 

[vicd1969]

1 hour ago, Reds4life said:

I'm down for some movies, even if I have already seen them if they are good. We don't subscribe to Netflix but like going to the theater as a family to watch movies. Also, we are game for any comedian and the BBC show is good as well. 

 

Now, I do wish they had some things planned for kids since this is a holiday cruise with a ton of kids according to the FB groups. 

I would imagine the ship would have new year's eve activities for kids. Or in Amber Cove judging by the itinerary - you'll be there for like 14 hours through new year's eve. It's basically a resort island so helps offset the lack of "resort-like" amenities and activities onboard the Zuiderdam. BB King also does attract a lot of dancing for their shows if the group is a good one. However, the dance floor can get crowded due to its compact size. The entertainment activities used to include scavenger hunts on the ships, but I haven't seen it held in my two cruises this past year. 

[AFNavigator]

8 hours ago, highscar said:

Movies are free.  Quite a list. 

Yes, free.  There are a handful of relatively new releases then lots of older movies.  They played Top Gun Maverick in the World Stage first night this week on NS (show was packed) but is available no charge on TV also.

[Reds4life]

9 hours ago, vicd1969 said:

I would imagine the ship would have new year's eve activities for kids. Or in Amber Cove judging by the itinerary - you'll be there for like 14 hours through new year's eve. It's basically a resort island so helps offset the lack of "resort-like" amenities and activities onboard the Zuiderdam. BB King also does attract a lot of dancing for their shows if the group is a good one. However, the dance floor can get crowded due to its compact size. The entertainment activities used to include scavenger hunts on the ships, but I haven't seen it held in my two cruises this past year. 

We are definitely excited about Amber Cove and will be outside during the sea days. We love the sunshine! But, optimistically hoping for the evenings. We are not dancers lol and don't drink, so we don't usually fit in at the bar scene, thus the many questions about the music walk venues. One of the things my kids mention as a favorite is attending the evening show. MSC always has one and RCCL does on most nights. We basically relax all day and like to be entertained in the evenings. Thanks for the suggestions

Edited December 14, 2022 by Reds4life

[Reds4life]

9 hours ago, AFNavigator said:

Yes, free.  There are a handful of relatively new releases then lots of older movies.  They played Top Gun Maverick in the World Stage first night this week on NS (show was packed) but is available no charge on TV also.

Top Gun Maverick is amazing. That is a good example of a movie I would watch again. Thanks for the info

[AFNavigator]

40 minutes ago, Reds4life said:

We are definitely excited about Amber Cove and will be outside during the sea days. We love the sunshine! But, optimistically hoping for the evenings. We are not dancers lol and don't drink, so we don't usually fit in at the bar scene, thus the many questions about the music walk venues. One of the things my kids mention as a favorite is attending the evening show. MSC always has one and RCCL does on most nights. We basically relax all day and like to be entertained in the evenings. Thanks for the suggestions

Other than the live bands on the music walk, kids may be disappointed with HALs "evening show".  They have Step One dance troop a couple nights, a comedian a couple nights, and the Lincoln Center quartet playing live with a BBC Planet Earth film a couple nights..  All are very nice (comedian on NS last night was great) but no big production stage show otherwise. Also, good you like to relax during the day because the daytime entertainment agenda is very thin.

Edited December 14, 2022 by AFNavigator
Added content

[Reds4life]

22 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

Other than the live bands on the music walk, kids may be disappointed with HALs "evening show".  They have Step One dance troop a couple nights, a comedian a couple nights, and the Lincoln Center quartet playing live with a BBC Planet Earth film a couple nights..  All are very nice (comedian on NS last night was great) but no big production stage show otherwise. Also, good you like to relax during the day because the daytime entertainment agenda is very thin.

They would like all of those! My youngest is in theater and both are/were in band. I just have not yet seen those on our daily planner in the app. Hoping they update it to include these. My mom loves the comedians as well. 

[coachmouchet]

So, what if HAL doesn't have much to do???  I like Holland America because I like to sit back, relax, and enjoy my vacation.  If you want to go, go, go, then choose a different cruise line.  That is why we have different cruise lines so we can enjoy cruising in different ways!  

[Reds4life]

2 hours ago, coachmouchet said:

So, what if HAL doesn't have much to do???  I like Holland America because I like to sit back, relax, and enjoy my vacation.  If you want to go, go, go, then choose a different cruise line.  That is why we have different cruise lines so we can enjoy cruising in different ways!  

I understand what you're saying about relaxing. Basically that's what we do all day while on board. Part of our relaxation is enjoying something interesting together as a family in the evenings. I don't think anyone is asking to "go,go,go" and we don't expect to need to "choose a different cruise line" because we would expect some sort of entertainment during the evenings. We would never go on Carnival because we do not want a party-type atmosphere and honestly the type of people that go along with it. We like nature documentaries, cooking shows, theater, variety shows and more traditional entertainment like comedians, movies, game shows, etc. My original question was mainly centered around why HAL does not have these items on the daily program that is posted on the app despite advertising them when we booked and what a usual evening is like. 

Edited December 14, 2022 by Reds4life