Jump to content

HAL nightlife???


lwing69
 Share

Recommended Posts

Celebrity fans considering HAL but our one cruise with them resulted in the sidewalks rolling up about 10:30pm. Any chance we can do a 15+ nite cruise with them and see other passengers after 11pm???

Thanx for your help.

:evilsmile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure, lots of thoughts

 

1) Late dinner seating at a table for 8 and a slow waiter..

2) Fast waiter and go to the show.

3) BB King starts late and last awhile. Can you dance ? Like loud music ?

4) 10 o'clock show probably lasts till 11.

5) Check the stern pool. Usually some serious drinkers there.

 

15+ days will be a "mature" crowd. Think of it like fine wine.

Sleep when it is dark, get up with the sun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you know the answer to your own question. Not much happening after the late show crowd and BB Kings attendees disperse. A few people in the casino and a very few spread around the bars. I have grown used to the casino bar closing by midnight and I can't blame them given the size of the crowd (perhaps two or three).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You probably won't see many people after the last BB Kings show except as others said-maybe casino. My husband and I tried finding a music venue after the last BB King show and the ship was dead. We usually are in our cabin by 11:30 at the latest but that night we wanted to enjoy more music & have a drink.

 

We found more things at night to do on our Princess cruise but still love the HAL life most of the time.

 

The "old days" we loved the Crow's Nest for music and dancing late into the night-now there is nothing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree on a 15+ night cruise there probably won't be much nightlife after the 2nd show is over. There might be some people at the piano bar if the pianist is still playing - we've seen that a few times. Also, seen a few at the Crow's Nest as others have said.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Long gone are the days when the last bar closed at 2:00 AM, with others closing at 1:00. Now you are fortunate to find something going on at midnight, and some entertainment venues close as early as 10:00. :eek: How's a girl to find any fun???

 

But there should be something going on until midnight, although it might not be something you like. On the ships that still have a form of Piano Bar, that is usually open until midnight. The BB King groups (if you can take the volume) play until close to midnight. Some ships still have some entertainment in the Ocean Bar, and that will go on until at least 11:00. Explorers Lounge is long-since shut down for the night by the time you are looking at.

The late movie starts at 10:00, usually, so if you make that you will be up a little later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends upon the passengers on board and the itinerary too. On our Transatlantic on the Rotterdam our piano man (Stryker) played until 1 am because of the turnout. BBKings last show ended around 11 pm IIRC and there was a happy hour during it so many stayed after.

 

On a previous TA on the Prinsendam, the Crow's Nest was busy every night. (Piano performed there).

 

Once those cruises got more port intensive and people had to be up early for some excursions, the piano bar finished around midnight.

 

Now, as Stryker said to me, if he doesn't have a good turnout, he doesn't play as late, but his turnouts were good, so he kept going :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bars will stay open as long as there are customers! Either bring a late-night group on board with you, or meet new friends and entice them to stay up and party with you! How nightlife is on ANY cruise line really depends on the passenger mix!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Celebrity fans considering HAL but our one cruise with them resulted in the sidewalks rolling up about 10:30pm. Any chance we can do a 15+ nite cruise with them and see other passengers after 11pm???

Thanx for your help.

:evilsmile:

 

HAL usually rolls up the sidewalks around 10 PM!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HAL usually rolls up the sidewalks around 10 PM!

Guess we have been lucky as we haven't noticed sidewalks rolled up before about 11:15. Then all was pretty quite for sure!

We generally are out till 11:30 each night at least on our last 15 HAL cruises most 20 days plus but we don't eat until 8:00-8:30 each night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We’ve been cruising HAL since 35 years old (now 48) and my wife always said she could run around the ship naked at 10pm and no one would know. We still enjoy HAL even though we’ve found almost no night life. BB King was always good but Northern Lights is rarely busy, sometimes more crew than passengers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This might seem counterintuitive, but we found that it's easier to find the late night crowd on the smaller ships. (I'm going to use the generous definition of "after 11:30 pm" for late night.) There are fewer late night venues on the S and R class ships, so anyone who wants to be out late tends to wind up in the Crow's Nest. On the Vista class and larger ships, there is no center of gravity for the night owls.

 

It's been a couple of years since we did a long cruise on a smaller ship, but the Crow's Nest was usually "going" until at least midnight. If you had a sea day the next day, 1:00 am wasn't unusual.

 

On the other hand, if you are looking for Carnival, Norwegian, or Royal Caribbean levels of late night, it's probably not going to happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After my first HAL cruise on Rotterdam, I found the two following Celebrity Cruises, while better, weren't really matching my biological clock either. Next cruise will be another HAL cruise. I'm afraid I'll just need to live with the fact that I'll be sleeping earlier than during a normal working week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for your considerate replies. Although Holland American seem to offer a lot of cruise for the money, based on your replies, I think I will look for another cruise that better reflects our desires and interests. God bless.

Steve :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HAL usually rolls up the sidewalks around 10 PM!

 

Actually, there are NO sidewalks on HAL ships. Yes, things generally slow down by 11:00 to 11:30, which is about when we start packing it in --- and which is what people who have actually sailed on HAL ships (rather than relying upon cliches heard from others) generally do. But I have seen people out and about at midnight every time we make a late night of it (about half the time).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HAL is a good cruise line.

 

But, if nightlife if one of your priorities I would suggest you keep shopping for another cruise line.

 

Nightlife can hardly be called an attribute of HAL. Much like their entertainment. Perhaps the two are related.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iwing69 If you are looking for late night fun look for specitaly cruises (Music cruises disco dance cruises, any party oriented cruise. I go on Alantis gay cruises. they have a dance party that is held on the open pool deck with special lighting and concert sound. party starts at 11.00 P.M. and ends at sunrise. is that late enough for you?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually prefer HAL on a port intensive cruise.

 

Those are some up at dawn, tour tour tour , see what you can long days.

 

There's less chance I'll be shaking my groove thing at 1am in the disco. Less chance I'll be borrowing a wheel chair from the hotel desk to get inebriated cabin mates back to the room, yelling "Freebird" to one of HALs onboard statues.. or spending the day slumped in a chair Oceanside in Olympia nursing the mother of all hangovers!

 

Oh wait. THAT did happen!

 

Moral of the story- you want fun you can make it happen!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually prefer HAL on a port intensive cruise.

 

Those are some up at dawn, tour tour tour , see what you can long days.

 

There's less chance I'll be shaking my groove thing at 1am in the disco. Less chance I'll be borrowing a wheel chair from the hotel desk to get inebriated cabin mates back to the room, yelling "Freebird" to one of HALs onboard statues.. or spending the day slumped in a chair Oceanside in Olympia nursing the mother of all hangovers! Less chance the CAPTAIN and Hotel Manger stop by your breakfast table to applaud and appreciate your lifestyle. ( side note: this is where a good "I don't know whatcha talking about , Willis" comes in handy!!!!)

 

Oh wait. THAT did happen!

 

Moral of the story- you want fun you can make it happen!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...