Lights Out at Midnight

[Sea42]

10 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I get the feeling some would like HAL to become a kind of monastery where all noise is forbidden, meals are spartan, and everyone has to rise at 5:00 am and be in bed by 9:00 pm

People saying that midnight is late enough for them is not the same as people wanting the ship to be a monastery.

 

14 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Honestly, the side-eye (judgement) on this board at times is a bit much.

I think that judgement goes both ways perhaps?

[Colorado Klutch]

12 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

Honestly, the side-eye (judgement) on this board at times is a bit much. I am far from a "party-hardy" person and I don't "muck up" daytime with late-night drinking. I am just a person whose clock is wired to be at my most awake from late afternoon until around 1:00 am, if on a normal schedule. I assure you I am traveling to enjoy the ports visited, not on some kind of a bender. I am up and out most days within an hour of the ship getting cleared (if not sooner).

 

I get the feeling some would like HAL to become a kind of monastery where all noise is forbidden, meals are spartan, and everyone has to rise at 5:00 am and be in bed by 9:00 pm!  Some would even like us to believe that HAL was always like that. Far from it!  Reading the reminiscences on another thread, particularly those from long-time cruiser @RuthC reminds me of similar cruise stories from my own parents who traveled HAL extensively in the 1970s-1990s and were known to enjoy dancing, music and a pleasant drink/conversation or two in the evenings...

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to convey tone on a message board, but I don't think anyone is intentionally giving the stink eye here. Rather, I think they are simply saying they are not people who stay up late drinking and don't understand why some people would be upset when the bars close at midnight. 

 

To repeat, I think it's very likely HAL would like to keep the bars open later, but they simply don't have the staff onboard to do so. 

[Hllb]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

 

To repeat, I think it's very likely HAL would like to keep the bars open later, but they simply don't have the staff onboard to do so. 

 

I think this is likely the issue as well. I don't see anything indicating this is their desire, but probably by necessity at this point.

[Colorado Klutch]

10 minutes ago, Hllb said:

 

I think this is likely the issue as well. I don't see anything indicating this is their desire, but probably by necessity at this point.

 

I suspect the reasons are complex. Overall, I've noticed a big change with entertainment venues over the decades. 

I grew up down the street from Disneyland. When my family would visit in the 1970s, it seemed like everything in the park was open until closing. This included restaurants, food windows, shops and vendor carts. If you visit Disneyland today, you will find these venues mostly closed. If they are open, it's not for long. 

I have also visited Las Vegas since the 1970s. Big changes there! It used to be the casinos wanted people to gamble. So, they would offer clean rooms at a very low rates with decent food at low prices and lots of free entertainment. There were live bands and singers in the lounges. If you wanted to see a headliner, here again, tickets were downright cheap. The service was amazing. They treated everyone like a VIP. The employees were well paid and did their jobs very well. There were always table games with low minimum bets available and,if you were gambling, they would bring you as many free drinks as you could handle. And if you were hungry, you could always get some good chow at the 24-hour coffee shop right there in the casino. 
 

Visit Las Vegas today and you wouldn't recognize it. It can be hard to find an open table game during the day and the minimum bets are high. And good luck trying to get a free drink while you're gambling. The Strip looks like a theme park with expensive rooms, expensive restaurants and expensive shopping. The service can be good, but it can also be pretty lousy. If you want a 24 hour coffee shop, you have go to The Peppermill which is one of few, old school places still around. Phooey. 

Yeah, yeah. Cue Archie and Edith Bunker: "Boy the way Glenn Miller played..."  😀

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Colorado Klutch

[iceman93]

15 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

 

It's hard to convey tone on a message board, but I don't think anyone is intentionally giving the stink eye here. Rather, I think they are simply saying they are not people who stay up late drinking and don't understand why some people would be upset when the bars close at midnight. 

Then there are those who take it a step further with their "if you want a drink after midnight then I suggest you look at other cruise lines."  I can't help but read posts like that in a Thurston Howell voice, because they do come across quite snooty.

[BetsyS.]

To sea42, Colorado Klutch, and Hllb  - I agree with all of you. 

       Some of us are night owls and some of us are morning people.

Hopefully, HAL will be able to hire more crew to keep bars open after midnight 

for those who want it.

[eroller]

If HAL doesn't have enough staff to keep a single bar open past midnight, then they should not be operating all their ships.  It's a disservice to their paying passengers. 

 

It's not unreasonable to want a bar open past midnight, on any cruise line yes even HAL.  I know HAL is god's waiting room and all, and aka a floating nursing home, but there are passengers that prefer a little nightlife.  HAL is a large mass-market line and there are those that regularly sail a more lively line that will give it a try.  These are not party till dawn people but just people that actually stay up past 10pm.  Chances are it will be a one and done and HAL will never brush off its senior citizen reputation hard as they may try (and sometimes not too hard). 

Edited March 8, 2023 by eroller

[Hllb]

1 minute ago, iceman93 said:

Then there are those who take it a step further with their "if you want a drink after midnight then I suggest you look at other cruise lines."  I can't help but read posts like that in a Thurston Howell voice, because they do come across quite snooty.

I don't see it that way, at least not usually. If you post on these boards 'help me select a cruise line', the main suggestion is to figure out what's important to you and select a cruise line that meets that need. Different cruise lines attract people that want different things. Some want family entertainment, some want music, some want a big library. Some view the ship as the attraction, others view it as transportation to the ports. Some want Michelin quality dining, others don't prioritize that. Some decide based on price, others on amenities. Would you take it the same way on a thread asking for cruise line suggestions if someone steered a late night person away from HAL since the crowd, if places are open, would likely be small and subdued?

[Colorado Klutch]

4 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

Then there are those who take it a step further with their "if you want a drink after midnight then I suggest you look at other cruise lines."  I can't help but read posts like that in a Thurston Howell voice, because they do come across quite snooty.

 

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sure, it's tempting to channel Mr. Howl, but consider someone not familiar with HAL asking you about it. If this person said, "I want to go on a cruise and party like it's 1999!". Likely you would say, "Well, HAL probably isn't the cruise line for you" without any intended malice. 

[whogo]

21 hours ago, iceman93 said:

What I recall from the daily programs on my last couple of cruises, several of the bars listed their hours as "9am - close" or "4pm - close".  I took "close" to mean when the last guest left, not whenever the bartender decided to wrap things up.

If you start looking for an open bar on a HAL ship at 2:00 AM, you're not going to find one, can post the experience here, get lots of comments about HAL cruisers and HAL staffing issues. If you're drinking in an open HAL bar and want to drink until 3:00 AM, the bar will stay open, no news there, no Cruise Critic thread.

[Hllb]

1 minute ago, eroller said:

If HAL doesn't have enough staff to keep a single bar open past midnight, then they should not be operating all their ships.  It's a disservice to their paying passengers. 

Most business determines their hours based on demand. HAL may have OK staff levels (probably not at this point, but for argument's sake, let's say they do), but they get happier customers by adding extra staff during prime hours to the bars, rather than saving them for late night shifts where they see only a few patrons.

 

I'm not making the argument for closing the bars early - I have no problem with them staying open late, and could possibly even been seen in one past 10 PM at some point. But if they aren't fully staffed and have to make choices, they may be choosing higher staffing levels during prime time rather than lower staffing levels during prime so that they can staff a time that isn't well attended. A crowd of people complaining about slow drink service at 8 PM would carry more weight than 2 people complaining about not getting a drink at 1 am. 

 

Or I could be completely wrong and they're trying to weed late nighters out of their passenger list. Who knows LOL.

[AncientWanderer]

This is all opinion, but I'll state it anyway.

While I do suspect that the recent early closing is because of staffing problems, my preference is that at least one venue be kept open for late night socializing.  We almost never stay up late, but...people take cruises to celebrate all kinds of things and part of the fun of it is not having to drive home after a late night.  It's not that hard for a bar to close down and tell the folks drinking, "You guys can keep the party going over at the Ocean Bar," or wherever.  Keep one open.

[RICHARD@SEA]

One point that I have not seen is that (excluding the small percentage of passengers that eat in the specialty restaurants onboard) if there are 2 dining times - Late & Early  - mostly split 50/50...those in the late seating usually aren't finished their dinners in time to make a show or have much of a nite life.

 

I've been on cruises since the 1970's & the days of late late nights of dancing, midnite buffets & more fun  are long gone.  I have over 100 days on HAL but haven't cruised on HAL for a few years as the quality has gone down to a point where it doesn't make sense enjoyment or cost wise.

If I want a quality  & Itin focused experience I'll pick a Viking cruise next time - If I just want a warm weather getaway I've found MSC a good fit.  a mid ship balcony keeps me happy.

 

The cutbacks on HAL are so evident - even the postings of longtime cruisers on the World cruise now(they belong to Presidents club & have many many days on HAL ships) have notes of cold food, extremely slow service, mediocre entertainment options & other cutbacks.  The world cruise sounds like a far cry from the extroadinary experience it should be(and the $$$ spent on passage).

[eroller]

7 minutes ago, Hllb said:

Most business determines their hours based on demand. HAL may have OK staff levels (probably not at this point, but for argument's sake, let's say they do), but they get happier customers by adding extra staff during prime hours to the bars, rather than saving them for late night shifts where they see only a few patrons.

 

 

 

 

This may be true but a floating resort is not most businesses.  People have certain expectations when they take a cruise, on any line.  I'm thinking most would not anticipate difficulty obtaining a drink at a bar past midnight on a 2000+ pax mass-market ship, especially one that contains a casino.   

Edited March 8, 2023 by eroller

[RICHARD@SEA]

4 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

This is all opinion, but I'll state it anyway.

While I do suspect that the recent early closing is because of staffing problems, my preference is that at least one venue be kept open for late night socializing.  We almost never stay up late, but...people take cruises to celebrate all kinds of things and part of the fun of it is not having to drive home after a late night.  It's not that hard for a bar to close down and tell the folks drinking, "You guys can keep the party going over at the Ocean Bar," or wherever.  Keep one open.

Very good point - also I don't like having to go back to my cabin just to have  a drink.

One other point is that why should I have to drink in a lounge w the staff cleaning up all around me - its not like the shut down at midnite & thats it - it takes a while to cleanup & restock a bar.

[Hllb]

6 minutes ago, eroller said:

especially one that contains a casino.   

This was the most surprising piece to me - that even the casino wasn't serving.

[OlsSalt]

3 hours ago, iceman93 said:

Then there are those who take it a step further with their "if you want a drink after midnight then I suggest you look at other cruise lines."  I can't help but read posts like that in a Thurston Howell voice, because they do come across quite snooty.

 

Those who want drinks after midnight should investigate other cruise lines ....to find the right match for their cruise preferences, when there is a wide variety of activities and service levels across the industry.

[OlsSalt]

On 3/7/2023 at 9:26 AM, Chinook Wind said:

Last Fall we had a late flight/arrival into Quebec City for our New England cruise and embarked on the Nieuw Statendam at around 11:00 pm.  (The ship was overnight in port.) There was one person staffing Guest Services who checked us and 6 other pax in.  There was no one else around -- literally no one else.  After dropping off our luggage we went to find an open bar to hopefully have a cocktail and relax after a long trip from the West Coast.  Failing that, a place to grab a quick bite to eat but everything was closed.  Seriously -- everything was closed with not a soul in sight.  It was creepy.  Lido was empty and all set up for breakfast.  This was before midnight. We ended up just filling our water bottles and going back to the room where we ordered room service -- thankfully it was operating as we were hungry, thirsty and very cranky by this point.  Not impressed.

 

Turnaround day is very hard on the staff - they are deployed to so many other activities and do need to shut down venues for housekeeping and inventory duties as well.

 

All those prior crew who staffed the serving venues are now getting luggage loaded and off loaded, getting cabins ready by onboard time, and any other of the double duties that take place on turn around day.

 

Yes, it does feel empty when one first arrives, expecting a full serve operation. But delving deeper in to the daily demands of cruise ship operations, which run on a 24/7 basis with a fixed number crew, changes one's expectations.

 

If you get the chance, take a "behind the scenes" tour of all levels of ships operations. It is eye-opening that they pull things off as well as they do in this closed system environment..

[kirtihk]

It's the same even at least on some luxury cruise lines: I was on Ponant and Regent last July and this January respectively, and both closed bars at midnight.

Edited March 8, 2023 by kirtihk

[kirtihk]

On 3/6/2023 at 10:53 PM, Hlitner said:

The mini-bars are not included in the drink packages and also do not serve the purpose for folks who might want a late night cocktail.  And most night owls (I have been known to fall into that category) enjoy socializing with other folks.  As to late night noise, most ships (including HAL vessels) are designed with at least 1 or 2 venues that are located so that they do not cause a noise problem with cabins.  That was always a nice feature of the Crows Nest and the various HAL Piano Bars.  The casino is also usually isolated from passenger cabins, so there is no reason to close its bar at an early hour. We have cruised on 16 cruise lines (an upcoming Explora Journeys cruise will be line 17) and we have never, ever, been on another cruise line that did not have at least 1 late night venue opened until well after midnight.  I recall one Seabourn cruise (part of the HAL Group) where I asked a bar tender "when do you close" and got the proper response, "when the last passenger is gone."

 

Hank

Imagine the last passenger was gone at 11:45 pm, so, they closed right after, and then you appear at 12:01 am.  On a serious note, we shall see a reality - we go to the Seabourn Venture in a week (12-day Costal Brazil and Amazon River cruise on March 17).

 

Also read my post # 99

[spleenstomper]

I am worried about my husband on his first HAL cruise. He likes to get a nightcap and roam around the ship and people watch. I want him to like HAL, so I have prepped him with “we needed a smaller ship to do this itinerary and so it’s not like carnival”.

 

He hasn’t been on a cruise in about 5 years.

[Florida_gal_50]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

Honestly, the side-eye (judgement) on this board at times is a bit much. I am far from a "party-hardy" person and I don't "muck up" daytime with late-night drinking. I am just a person whose clock is wired to be at my most awake from late afternoon until around 1:00 am, if on a normal schedule. I assure you I am traveling to enjoy the ports visited, not on some kind of a bender. I am up and out most days within an hour of the ship getting cleared (if not sooner).

 

I get the feeling some would like HAL to become a kind of monastery where all noise is forbidden, meals are spartan, and everyone has to rise at 5:00 am and be in bed by 9:00 pm!  Some would even like us to believe that HAL was always like that. Far from it!  Reading the reminiscences on another thread, particularly those from long-time cruiser @RuthC reminds me of similar cruise stories from my own parents who traveled HAL extensively in the 1970s-1990s and were known to enjoy dancing, music and a pleasant drink/conversation or two in the evenings...

 

 

 

 

Exactly, the comments about if you don't like it go elsewhere.  Its a shame that some don't understand that if everyone goes elsewhere, Hal could fail to exist. I don't stay up late but I'm fully aware that it's not just about me.  

[Chinook Wind]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Turnaround day is very hard on the staff - they are deployed to so many other activities and do need to shut down venues for housekeeping and inventory duties as well.

 

All those prior crew who staffed the serving venues are now getting luggage loaded and off loaded, getting cabins ready by onboard time, and any other of the double duties that take place on turn around day.

 

Yes, it does feel empty when one first arrives, expecting a full serve operation. But delving deeper in to the daily demands of cruise ship operations, which run on a 24/7 basis with a fixed number crew, changes one's expectations.

 

Re-read my post that you quoted 3 times, lol.  The ship had arrived that morning and was spending that night and the following full day docked in Quebec City.  We were docked.  No one was loading luggage.  It was dead quiet.

I don't think that our expectations were too high nor should we "change our expectations".  This was our third HAL cruise of the year and we never experienced anything remotely like this on the other ships (Zuiderdam and Statendam).

We encountered two crew members:  the one who checked us in at Guest Services and the one who delivered our order from Room Service.  The fact that the bars were closed is not critical to me as I don't drink but the fact that our stateroom was lacking some of the basic items (towels, bath robes and the "Daily" itinerary) was disappointing and just had to wait until the morning to be addressed as there was no one around anywhere. (It was almost as if the stewards weren't expecting anyone to be booked into this room.)

All in all it was definitely a weird and crappy start to our cruise.  And yes, I mentioned all of this in our survey.

[albingirl]

Within my circle of friends, the term party hardy is a badge of honor. It's always the tone missing on social media postings. It's a very happy term of gaiety while enjoying a fun filled evening.

 

 

[ChinaShrek]

On 3/7/2023 at 8:49 AM, Cruiz'nBaers said:

What about those of us that stay up a bit later?  

I would suggest HAL is not for you. Carnival has lots of parting after midnight.