The Good Old Days of HAL Cruises? I don't thing so!!

[gregdude]

Attached please find two YouTube videos from a HAL commercial circa 1960-1970. The first video is part 1 and the second, part 2. Unfortunately they are both recorded in Dutch, but I think you get a good idea of what a HAL cruise was like a few years back. From my point of view what is available on HAL today is a thousand times better than "the good old days"!!

 

 

I hope this works, have fun!!

[CtheW0rld]

fun videos, thanks.

 

i saw a lot of similarities to the present, too. people were dressed so nicely.

[Hope to Cruise]

Thanks for posting that link. Enjoyed it. Especially the bunk beds.

[mamaofami]

Well, for one thing, in the good old days, they had luggage tags.

I loved the elegant way the woman arrived on board with her high heels, suit, hat and white gloves. The evening attire was fabulous too. Is it surprising that there are so many people still who want to hold on to this elegant way of cruising? Please, don't turn this into a clothing thread. HAL looked pretty good to me back then and I too see many similarities to today. Thanks for those videos.

[wingit]

Thanks for posting those. Fun to watch.

[room010]

Wow - they even let you take your car!!! ;)

[Beebob1]

What style & grace it was back then.

[CowPrincess]

Wow - they even let you take your car!!! ;)

 

Because no self-respecting cabbie would pick up someone wearing that hideous plaid jacket :D

[Opinions]

From my point of view what is available on HAL today is a thousand times better than "the good old days"!!

 

 

I cruised on HAL during the 1960-1970 period...What is available on HAL today may be a thousand times different than the "good old days" but in my opinion it is certainly not a "thousand times better".

[buckirj1]

It made me rather sad to watch that. It's the same feeling I get when watching television of that era (and I'm of that era, though of a decidedly lower social class.) No diversity, nothing but the mindless pretensions of the middle and upper classes. Prissy-looking folks who look like they've never done a lick of work or had an original thought in their lives.

Thankfully, just about anybody can take a cruise these days, not just the leisured class. Much better now.

[durangoscots]

It made me rather sad to watch that. It's the same feeling I get when watching television of that era (and I'm of that era, though of a decidedly lower social class.) No diversity, nothing but the mindless pretensions of the middle and upper classes. Prissy-looking folks who look like they've never done a lick of work or had an original thought in their lives.

Thankfully, just about anybody can take a cruise these days, not just the leisured class. Much better now.

 

 

Now that is a bit unfair. I remember how hard we worked and then dressed up when "going to town"or when we boarded ship. It was our best fuss and feathers for those occasions.

 

Susan

[buckirj1]

Now that is a bit unfair. I remember how hard we worked and then dressed up when "going to town"or when we boarded ship. It was our best fuss and feathers for those occasions.

 

Susan

 

Point taken, and I apologize for making an unfair generalization.

[CRUZBUDS]

I enjoyed it very much - thanks for sharing.

We often wonder how impressed we'd be today with the old Song of Norway (our first cruise). It was much more modern than the Rotterdam in the video, but it lacked many of today's amenities that we take for granted.

I was surprised to not see Indonesian service staff. Were they only below deck back then? All the service staff appeared to be Dutch. Does anyone know when it changed or were they stressing their Dutch roots by only showing white staff? I thought they had a long tradition of hiring Indonesians and Filipinos. (I would have guessed P instead F, but I looked it up)

[StanandJim]

I was surprised to not see Indonesian service staff. Were they only below deck back then? All the service staff appeared to be Dutch. Does anyone know when it changed or were they stressing their Dutch roots by only showing white staff? I thought they had a long tradition of hiring Indonesians and Filipinos. (I would have guessed P instead F, but I looked it up)

Because of very strong European Maritime unions, virtually all of the Holland America ship board service staff was Dutch until 1971-1972; when, because of the virtual collapse of the transatlantic trade, the Holland America Line was reformed as Holland America Cruises.

 

Even then, the ships' registries had to be shifted from the city of Rotterdam in Holland to Willemstad in Curacao before the Indonesian service staff could be hired.

[sparky-elpaso]

Great videos. Sort of like the behind the scenes shows on the Travel Channel now. Boy, the cabins have certainly improved. No cruises back then but I can remember wearing dresses part of the time when on vacation in the 60's - especially visiting a big city like San Francisco.

[CRUZBUDS]

Thank you for the information on the crew make up. It makes sense!

[mudscraper]

Enjoyed the videos.

Club Hal was a busy place.:)

 

 

Rich

[Cruising Carol]

Fun seeing the children do the twist. I remember wearing a suit and heels and a corsage on a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco in the 60's. An airplane flight was a novelty and exciting then -- not the crowded ordeal it is today. I also remember adjusting the air vent to blow between me and the smoker in the next seat. Some things are better today! Glad to get some history of the change from Dutch to Indonesian service crew. A tablemate on our last cruise remembered sailing on the Statendam with an all Dutch crew.

[PatsyAnne]

My first time on board a ship was on the Nieuw Amsterdam from Rotterdam to New York City in 1970, definitely on a budget. I was 21 and shared a room with two other young women I didn't know prior to the cruise. I think it had a porthole, but we had to use a shared bathroom down the hall. The crew were mostly Dutch, and very nice. There was a first class section that one of the crew members snuck me into so I could see what it was like. More flowers. I had spent the summer in Germany with my sister and her husband, and had few clothes with me... nothing formal at all, but I don't remember if we had formal nights in second class. I do remember that I had a wonderful time, and many years later when I started cruising, HAL became my first choice in the over 100-passenger size ships.

[prescottbob]

...some old memories. My "first" cruise at the tender age of eight (1958) was aboard the old Statendam on a 14 dayer.

 

Indeed, the kid's birthday party (there was no Club HAL then but there we're scheduled kid's events), the ornate indoor pool, original art menus, "horse racing" & skeet shooting on the fantail, Dutch cabin stewards & the bunk beds, costume nights (with judging) and the real midnight buffets (at midnight nightly) took me back if only briefly.

 

Thanks so much.

 

BTW, for the dress code & smoker folks. Everyone dressed for dinner. Casual nights (pretty much allowed in ports only if I recall, e.g. Caribbean) were somewhat limited. Smoking was allowed everywhere including the main dining room .

 

And everyone got along and enjoyed one another's company. Yep, the "good old day's" were. as now, a mix of the good and not-so-good.

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob:)

 

P.S. Mixed drinks were 25 cents and you paid at the time of service.:D

[Randyk47]

My first "cruise" was on the SS United States in the early 50's when my mother and I were returning from England where we'd been with my father who was in the Air Force. I remember the "luggage tag" as I had one on the harness contraption I had to wear. I ate the tag. :eek::D I do remember the cabin and it was much like the ones in the Holland American clips. I was six and have a pretty good picture of it in my mind still. Also remember getting really seasick the first day but got over it and we had a great time. Back then it was transportation not a cruise but there were lots of kids and we had lots of things to do.

[jhannah]

I like the name of their daily newsletter of that era: "Ocean Post." I think that would be preferable now to the bland "Daily Program."

[pipedreams62]

How many of you drooled on your keyboard, when you saw the guy filling out the luggage tags:p

 

 

 

[hammybee]

Thank you for sharing this most delightful clip.

 

I could not find the in cabin TV, DVD or refrigerator. And those port holes were a sorry excuse for a veranda.

 

Anyone notice the dinner schedule?

7:00 P.M.- Main Seating

8:30 P.M. Supplimental Seating

 

Almost 50 year later, how is it that about half the passengers on almost any ship, believe they will experience some dire consequences, if they do not dine by 6:00? How did passengers manage without low carb, low fat, gluten free, peanut free, vegatarian choices?

 

Back then, passengers were charged for a deck chair.

The seats in the show lounge were made out of wood.

 

In 1960, transatlantic cruise fares on Cunard averaged about $460 p/p.That's the equivalent of $3000-11,000 today.

 

And OMG, did you see the children?

 

And what's up with those crazy paper hats?

[DrTee]

I was also dismayed to see the lack of diversity. The ship was a floating bubble of white people.

 

The fan that the steward was so proud of demonstrating told me that there was no a/c.

 

I don't believe in the "good old days." Those were good days only for affluent, white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied people.

 

If people want to trounce through airports and onto ships in high heels and pillbox hats and gloves, I don't see anyone stopping them.