Entertainment on board

[Carol28]

I'd like to know if the stage shows are still only the dancers? Do they still have the Planet Earth video with music?  I'd also like to know if Dueling Pianos are there? Is there a Piano Bar? I'm pretty sure there is a dance band. Please let me know about any other entertainment. We sailed HAL many times, but we didn't enjoy the entertainment like we used to.  Has it changed? We love the itineraries and many other features.

[Btimmer]

The answer is "it depends."  We were on a 3 week Nieuw Statendam cruise to Iceland/Greenland in August and for the first week and a half, we had a variety of entertainment.  For the second half, we had lots of Step One Dance Company.  For a week long Alaska cruise on the Noordam, we had lots of Step One.  For a two month cruise to Australia on the Westerdam, we had a great variety of entertainment with Step One in the mix. The Dueling Pianos (Billboard Onboard) were on every cruise.  A pianist played in the Ocean Bar.

[REOVA]

Depends on what ship you are on. You will have Step One dancers, Cantare singers (as opposed to the old HAL dancers and singers), BBC movie on mostly all ships. You may have 1 or 2 piano players (differs on ships) and possibly various dance floors (also depends on ship and itinerary). 

[RuthC]

Each class of ship will have slight variations in what the entertainment is, except for the R-class ships, which will be quite different from the other classes. 

There are no Piano Bars on HAL anymore. The R-class ships will have a piano player in the old piano lounges, which I believe have been changed to Mix on the R-ships. The other classes will have Billboard Onboard, which is dual pianos (not dueling pianos). 
All the other ships will have Rolling Stone Rock Room and/or BB King Blues Club (some ships are switching out one for the other). 
The larger ships will have Lincoln Center (for now; word is they are being phased out); the old R-ships have Explorers Lounge. The lounge entertainment at night can best be described as 'in flux'. 

Good luck finding much entertainment in the Ocean Bar. I haven't even found the customary combo playing in there for pre-dinner cocktails, let alone after dinner for dancing. 

Stage performances are so different than they were just a few years ago! The first night tends to be a slide show on the history of HAL. It's a good show, worth seeing, but hardly what I think of as evening entertainment. It would make a very good afternoon lecture, not to mention, you don't need to see it every cruise. 
Step One dancers have several shows, Cantare makes the rounds, once in a while there is a comedian. I don't find the evening entertainment anything worth staying up for---and I'm a night owl! 
Seems to me that HAL is doing everything possible to make people go to bed early so the crew can close up. I've often wondered if there is something in their contracts about how much time off they are required to get. 

[Carol28]

Ruth C. That’s why we gave up on HAL. We feel the entertainment is a priority, second to the itinerary (unless it’s a Caribbean cruise. Then entertainment is first.)

[Navybikermom]

The Zaandam has a nice band in the Ocean Bar in the evenings. I’ve seen several couples dancing to them.
 

The world stage has had comedians, magicians, guitar duos (fantastic!), along with the BBC earth shows, and a few Step One dancing shows. I’m on a 16-day Panama Canal itinerary and the entertainment has been pretty good. 

[RMLincoln]

Wow!  We were on Eurodam 11 nights in Dec. Not much on Main Stage- Step One did 3 shows. No Cantare. A very good movie one night- Maverick!  The HAL history presentation embarkation night….  maybe also the last night too. BBC nature films were shown 3 nights while the classical musicians played but were drowned out by the soundtrack, hardly could hear them. 

On the music walk there was a comedian aboard who did a few evening shows in BB King lounge. when they weren’t playing; The dual pianos; Lincoln Center Stage 6 of 11 nights - 2 nights off, 3 playing with BBC.   
 

We’ll be on Rotterdam late February. Hoping for better, not expecting it. m—

[REOVA]

2 hours ago, RMLincoln said:

Wow!  We were on Eurodam 11 nights in Dec. Not much on Main Stage- Step One did 3 shows. No Cantare. A very good movie one night- Maverick!  The HAL history presentation embarkation night….  maybe also the last night too. BBC nature films were shown 3 nights while the classical musicians played but were drowned out by the soundtrack, hardly could hear them. 

On the music walk there was a comedian aboard who did a few evening shows in BB King lounge. when they weren’t playing; The dual pianos; Lincoln Center Stage 6 of 11 nights - 2 nights off, 3 playing with BBC.   
 

We’ll be on Rotterdam late February. Hoping for better, not expecting it. m—

Rotterdam won't be much different, except movie in the Lido pool area, LCS in BB King stage and addition of Rolling Stone Lounge next to Bilboard piano lounge and the 3 (BB King band, Rock Band and Pianos) will alternate 45 minute sets most nights. 

[oakridger]

On the Nieuw Amsterdam Panama Canal cruise in October 2022 in addition to what others have mentioned there was a quite good band in the Ocean Bar playing 3 sets most nights from late afternoon (exact times varied) to I believe about 10pm-ish. There were always some people dancing.

 

I hope they keep this kind of music offering on all ships.

 

~Nancy

[REOVA]

43 minutes ago, oakridger said:

On the Nieuw Amsterdam Panama Canal cruise in October 2022 in addition to what others have mentioned there was a quite good band in the Ocean Bar playing 3 sets most nights from late afternoon (exact times varied) to I believe about 10pm-ish. There were always some people dancing.

 

I hope they keep this kind of music offering on all ships.

 

~Nancy

Maybe on the older ships (we had them on Zaandam which was nice) but not likely on Pinnacle Class ships. 

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, REOVA said:

Rotterdam won't be much different, except movie in the Lido pool area, LCS in BB King stage and addition of Rolling Stone Lounge next to Bilboard piano lounge and the 3 (BB King band, Rock Band and Pianos) will alternate 45 minute sets most nights. 

If you are lucky they will be 45 minute sets. I have had a number of cruises over the past year and a half where the sets were extremely short (12 minutes being the low end of the extreme). BB Kings in particular has been the most inconsistent in my experience. 

[StLouisCruisers]

14 hours ago, oakridger said:

On the Nieuw Amsterdam Panama Canal cruise in October 2022 in addition to what others have mentioned there was a quite good band in the Ocean Bar playing 3 sets most nights from late afternoon (exact times varied) to I believe about 10pm-ish. There were always some people dancing.

 

I hope they keep this kind of music offering on all ships.

 

~Nancy

 

We had the same type of band in the Ocean Bar during November and December on Volendam.  Many people would dance to them and everyone enjoyed watching and listening to the band as well.  Hope it continues, too.

[albingirl]

It can be disappointing.  I don't consider a movie above the pool in the afternoon to be entertainment.  I can stay home for that.  And the BBC shows on wildlife I can do without.  Last time I saw one it was all about snakes and lizards,    awful.  Gave me nightmares.  I did like the BB King show in the beginning, but it gets tiresome after awhile.  As a long time HAL cruiser, I find it has changed dramatically.  Good thing I don't cruise for the entertainment value.

[cruisin'teach]

Oosterdam SA-Antarctica recently. Esp. enjoyed Motown Encounter and pianist from Japan. Not big fan of One Step dancers but they added a routine new to us that we enjoyed.