World Stage Offerings

[mcrcruiser]

We tend to see that the World Stage is used more often  with lectures , some single type acts on the longer cruises ,what has been your experiences ?

[albingirl]

We don't sail HAL for the entertainment.  This topic has been discussed intensively.

[WVU_Neal]

46 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We tend to see that the World Stage is used more often  with lectures , some single type acts on the longer cruises ,what has been your experiences ?

We were on the Rotterdam in early February. The World Stage is an excellent venue. On our 9 day cruise there were two excellent dance performances, a comedian, magician, and steel drum band. Decent entertainment as well as in the our music venues.

[AKJonesy]

It's hit and miss; mostly miss.  On our most recent cruise, it was a few lectures, port excursion information and a few performances.  That was a 31 day.  We don't sail on HAL for world stage entertainment or the music walk; which many people do like.

[zonk42]

I find the seating uncomfortable in the World Stage, and miss the tables to put your drink on. (It must cut into drink sales, no?) But I really like the way they incorporate the curved walls/screens into the shows and presentations.

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

It's hit and miss; mostly miss.  On our most recent cruise, it was a few lectures, port excursion information and a few performances.  That was a 31 day.  We don't sail on HAL for world stage entertainment or the music walk; which many people do like.

They do seem to have really enhanced the port talks utilizing their own staff’s expertise.  And these lectures are not primarily focused on selling shore excursions but informative.  If they would bring back the maps it would be great.  More and more of the special lecturers are performers and not experts and I rarely go to those talks anymore.  

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, albingirl said:

We don't sail HAL for the entertainment.  This topic has been discussed intensively.

That says a lot.  Others will say they do not book HAL for food, do not book HAL for activities, etc.  This 5* Mariner can no longer think of many reasons to book HAL.

[Nickelpenny]

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

That says a lot.  Others will say they do not book HAL for food, do not book HAL for activities, etc.  This 5* Mariner can no longer think of many reasons to book HAL.

I book HAL because I like  what it offers and doesn’t offer. Everyone has to make up their own mind what they want and expect. After 10 cruises with HAL, the pluses are much more than the minuses for ME. Why would I experiment with other lines?  Because I am satisfied with the product/experience HAL offers and don’t want to waste my hard earned money with a “what if”. That opinion is not for everyone but it works for me. 

Edited February 17 by Nickelpenny
Oops

[Ladybentley]

We book mostly for the itinerary which is why we like HAL but we do want a good overall cruise experience. That means a comfortable cabin, good food, and some decent entertainment. In the evening we do enjoy a cocktail, a nice dinner with good service and an entertaining show. Surely not too much to ask from a 4 star cruise line and what we’ve had in the past. We have two HAL cruises booked for later this year but have concerns when we read of the loss of the Lincoln centre and classical music, fewer cabin and serving staff, no more hors d’oeuvres served before dinner, and other general cutbacks. We will see what we get. But if these cruises prove disappointing, we may not book with HAL again.

[Haljo1935]

55 minutes ago, Ladybentley said:

We book mostly for the itinerary which is why we like HAL but we do want a good overall cruise experience. That means a comfortable cabin, good food, and some decent entertainment. In the evening we do enjoy a cocktail, a nice dinner with good service and an entertaining show. Surely not too much to ask from a 4 star cruise line and what we’ve had in the past. We have two HAL cruises booked for later this year but have concerns when we read of the loss of the Lincoln centre and classical music, fewer cabin and serving staff, no more hors d’oeuvres served before dinner, and other general cutbacks. We will see what we get. But if these cruises prove disappointing, we may not book with HAL again.

I hope the cruises meet your expectations and that, regardless of the experiences, you'll come back and update us on how things went. I really appreciate reading the feedback, both positions negative, as I consider my future bookings.

[Ladybentley]

30 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

I hope the cruises meet your expectations and that, regardless of the experiences, you'll come back and update us on how things went. I really appreciate reading the feedback, both positions negative, as I consider my future bookings.

Thank you. I'll be posting reviews after the cruises. We're looking forward to the cruises and are hoping that HAL will bring back things we've loved in the past. 

[albingirl]

After my recent experience on a huge NCL ship, I am totally back with HAL.  Plan to book a long cruise on Monday.  It's quite far away, but the planning is half the fun sometimes.

[BobbiSox]

This 5* Mariner finds some ships have a better variety of entertainment than others. I see a lot of repeat performances because I travel HAL with some regularity. Sometimes I may choose to leave a show early, so I always sit in an aisle seat near an easy exit, so I can depart without disturbing anyone. I need to be there early to accomplish this, so I bring something to read until the show begins. (After all, how many times can I enjoy snakes chasing a lizard?)

[cruisemom42]

12 hours ago, Mary229 said:

They do seem to have really enhanced the port talks utilizing their own staff’s expertise.  And these lectures are not primarily focused on selling shore excursions but informative.  If they would bring back the maps it would be great.  More and more of the special lecturers are performers and not experts and I rarely go to those talks anymore.  

 

I always look for posts on lecturers since for me they are a big component of on-ship entertainment.

 

Cruise lines really can't win these days. If they have a snazzy presentation, people say they don't want "performers". If they have a real expert, people complain that the lecture isn't entertaining enough. I'm as guilty as everyone else!

 

I thought the mix on last fall's TA on Nieuw Statendam was pretty good. There were two lectures on most sea days. The first was one of the canned presentations (EXP?) given by the cruise director on various topics. Our topics were about various Mediterranean things (e.g., one about Ferrari), and then as we got closer to the US, about the Caribbean. These made good use of the screens in the World theatre and the content was obviously professionally created. It helped that the CD was an excellent deliverer. They remind me of TED talks.

 

The second set of lectures were given by a professor and were more content-heavy. These were mostly about Old-World/New World connections (discovery and conquest of the NW, slave trade, etc.)

 

Unfortunately the slides were often unreadable, the professor at times seemed bored, and she repeatedly stumbled over many names that -- assuming this was her area of expertise -- she should have known. 

 

While the content of the latter presentations were definitely more in my wheelhouse, the former ones were very entertaining and I enjoyed them.

 

I don't know how they did it, but Voyages to Antiquity used to obtain excellent lecturers. They knew how to engage their audience, even when presenting material that wouldn't have necessarily been familiar. They reminded me of the "good" uni lecturers, the ones whose classes were always full because everyone heard how interesting their lectures were.

 

 

[Grace1956]

transatlantic cruise from rome

[Haljo1935]

12 hours ago, Grace1956 said:

transatlantic cruise from rome

I believe so - Rome->FLL; I was there and kept wondering when the exams were going to be passed out.

[horseymike]

On 2/16/2024 at 9:30 PM, Nickelpenny said:

I book HAL because I like  what it offers and doesn’t offer. Everyone has to make up their own mind what they want and expect. After 10 cruises with HAL, the pluses are much more than the minuses for ME. Why would I experiment with other lines?  Because I am satisfied with the product/experience HAL offers and don’t want to waste my hard earned money with a “what if”. That opinion is not for everyone but it works for me. 

I have no desire for the pandemonium on the new floating amusement parks that are disguised as cruise ships. HAL suits me just fine.

[Hlitner]

31 minutes ago, horseymike said:

I have no desire for the pandemonium on the new floating amusement parks that are disguised as cruise ships. HAL suits me just fine.

With this we generally agree :).  While we are no longer booking HAL, we prefer to book ships that are substantially smaller then anything HAL has in its fleet and also look for cruise lines that do not play nickel and dime games.  No problem finding those lines, but they do cost substantially more than HAL's lower cost cabins.  That being said, in many cases they are less costly than many HAL suites.  We currently have 3 cruises booked for 2024 which include a 1200 passenger, 600, and 390.  No amusement parks on those ships.

 

Hank

[horseymike]

On 2/17/2024 at 10:04 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

I always look for posts on lecturers since for me they are a big component of on-ship entertainment.

 

Cruise lines really can't win these days. If they have a snazzy presentation, people say they don't want "performers". If they have a real expert, people complain that the lecture isn't entertaining enough. I'm as guilty as everyone else!

 

I thought the mix on last fall's TA on Nieuw Statendam was pretty good. There were two lectures on most sea days. The first was one of the canned presentations (EXP?) given by the cruise director on various topics. Our topics were about various Mediterranean things (e.g., one about Ferrari), and then as we got closer to the US, about the Caribbean. These made good use of the screens in the World theatre and the content was obviously professionally created. It helped that the CD was an excellent deliverer. They remind me of TED talks.

 

The second set of lectures were given by a professor and were more content-heavy. These were mostly about Old-World/New World connections (discovery and conquest of the NW, slave trade, etc.)

 

Unfortunately the slides were often unreadable, the professor at times seemed bored, and she repeatedly stumbled over many names that -- assuming this was her area of expertise -- she should have known. 

 

While the content of the latter presentations were definitely more in my wheelhouse, the former ones were very entertaining and I enjoyed them.

 

I don't know how they did it, but Voyages to Antiquity used to obtain excellent lecturers. They knew how to engage their audience, even when presenting material that wouldn't have necessarily been familiar. They reminded me of the "good" uni lecturers, the ones whose classes were always full because everyone heard how interesting their lectures were.

 

 

Abraham Lincoln said you can please some of the people some of the time.

[mcrcruiser]

We once cruised Celebrity & we loved their cruises . The hotel service ,the food quality & variety & entertainment were every thing we could ask for from a cruise line .After my wife could no longer fly we went to Holland America from our home port of San Diego  .   Does Holland America  equal Celebrity yes in all areas  except the entertainment . We do miss the main theatre shows . 

We were able to sail on 2 B2B Celebrity Cruises on Soltice from the World Cruise Center in San Pedro ,Ca where we could drive  to ;however, for handicap people the parking lot is a night mare  .Thus ,we stay with HAL  from San Diego nut do miss the nightly  main  theatre shows . BTW ,Celebrity has some really good guest lectures  

 

 So when comparing HAL & Celebrity ,we definitely know the strengths & weakness of each cruise line 

[mcrcruiser]

Discontinuing Lincoln Center is another entertainment venue  that we miss a lot