Younger Cruiseers....... Those in Their Twenties and Thirties

[sail7seas]

Please.... Can you help me?

 

I am on the list of those who really dislike how loud the HAL Cats and whichever singer is screaming out the songs lately on HAL ships and wonder, is it just more mature folks who dislike it?

 

I'm not even on Medicare yet so we're not all THAT old but I hear that loud noise and I have no choice but to leave the venue. It truly hurts when it is blaring so loud.

 

Does the Entertainment Department on HAL really think most HAL guests want music that loud? Perhaps they do and they do...... :) of course, meaning maybe the Entertainment Execs really do think we want it that way and maybe the majority are in agreement with that.

 

Please, younger cruisers? Do you enjoy the HAL Cats at their usual volume and the singers who are singing right along with them?

 

Thanks. I'm not being facetious. I really want to know.

[c-cruise]

Don't recall that I have ever been turned away by any music on HAL that I thought was overly loud. I guess it would depend on the venue and the time of day. If your talking about a deck party or Northern Lights then yeah, I would expect the music to be loud. In general I don't have a problem with live music being on the loud side.

 

All you really have to do is look around to see if it really is too loud. If others are having fun and enjoying themselves then the music level is probably appropriate. If people are getting up and leaving then maybe it is too loud or more likely (on a cruise ship) the performer isn't very good.

[Punchy]

I'm 32 and I enjoy the HAL Cats volume. It leads to a good atomsphere around the pool area.

 

It helps HAL shake off the floating nursing home feeling.

[RAYSAN11]

:):):):):)

I'm 32 and I enjoy the HAL Cats volume. It leads to a good atomsphere around the pool area.

 

It helps HAL shake off the floating nursing home feeling.

I am an older person and this made me laugh

[happy cruzer]

Earplugs.

 

I love to dance but nowadays I need earplugs to enjoy the live music. Hearing gets more sensitive in many as they age. In some cases it is not the sound level that is changing but the individuals hearing. I am sure that is my case, I will be in pain when others around me are fine... so just use earplugs, I often use a bit of a papernapkin to make one when I don't have the real thing.

 

Enjoy.

[sail7seas]

Earplugs.

 

I love to dance but nowadays I need earplugs to enjoy the live music. Hearing gets more sensitive in many as they age. In some cases it is not the sound level that is changing but the individuals hearing. I am sure that is my case, I will be in pain when others around me are fine... so just use earplugs, I often use a bit of a papernapkin to make one when I don't have the real thing.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

Hmmm, you well could have a point.

I shall try ear plugs....... :confused: but how do you have a conversation with the people you are with if you've plugged up your ears? No talking????

[happy cruzer]

When using earplugs, I find that I can still hear most conversations. You just have lower levels of all sound but most is still audible. Good luck and find what works so you can enjoy!

 

PS Earplugs are a good idea for protecting your hearing. Many places blast sound at such a level as to damage hearing.

[ariawoman]

I somehow never saw Lauren and the HALCats on my cruise (though heard Lauren was not good lol) but I can speak to live music being in a band myself.

 

My boyfriend is 17 years my elder and he tends to wear earplugs to see any live band (mine including and no i dont get offended in the least) as he has ringing in his ears. He's still able to talk to others, earplugs just basically dampen what you're hearing but dont completely remove it.

 

In general, live bands will be on the loud side, for a few reasons. One is usually the bass player (sorry to all those bassists out there lol). In most bands it seems to become a competition one person will raise so the rest will raise until it's out of control. I'd presume the HALCats are using a sound tech so more than likely you're not hitting that issue on the seas, it prob just is a matter of it being louder to the more mature generation. Another reason could be when out in the open space the sound kinda just carries away so they might overcompensate by making it louder.

 

Earplugs are good to bring along on the cruise either way, in case you get a noisy neighbor.

 

If you don't want to use earplugs, wadding up paper napkins or even toilet paper can provide enough where it wont feel as loud to you.

[marciaP]

Have to comment on Punchy's response, ( regarding the floating nursing home).Never found the music too loud by the pool. And it is a nice change from the rest of the ship!

I think I have lost some hearing over the years anyway,probably from listening to too much loud music..............

Anyway we are in our very late 40's and are looking forward to the Niuew Amsterdam with no kids next month.

[Vic The Parrot]

Hmmm, you well could have a point.

I shall try ear plugs....... :confused: but how do you have a conversation with the people you are with if you've plugged up your ears? No talking????

 

 

 

But, the real question is ...

 

How do you have a conversation without the earplugs, thanks to the band trying to blow out everyones eardrums?

No difference if you ask me. :rolleyes:

[Vic The Parrot]

If your talking about a deck party or Northern Lights then yeah, I would expect the music to be loud. In general I don't have a problem with live music being on the loud side.

 

 

 

 

There's loud, and then there's deafening.

 

 

The HAL Cats (and the other bands) have thier amps set on "deafening". :eek:

[sail7seas]

But, the real question is ...

 

How do you have a conversation without the earplugs, thanks to the band trying to blow out everyones eardrums?

No difference if you ask me. :rolleyes:

 

 

:D That's the point, isn't it? :)

 

We LEAVE.

[Vic The Parrot]

:D That's the point, isn't it? :)

 

We LEAVE.

 

 

 

Yep.

 

 

I'd rather leave than lose my hearing.

 

 

(Or, we can push the amplifiers into the pool, and electrocute the HAL Cats ... :D )

[Laurie S.]

On our Noordam Thanksgiving cruise, we listened to the Hal Cats at every opportunity. We never found the music too loud and it was quite easy to talk at the same time. Oh yeah, I'm 58 and my friends are in their 40s. ;)

[RuthC]

Sail, you and I are of a similar age. I think you'll find that those in our age range notice, and object to, the volume more than those a few years younger. The reason is because they don't know it's too loud!

It's not our age group who are losing their hearing nearly as much as those younger. They've been going to too loud concerts, listening to their Walkmans/boom boxes/IPods over many years now---moreso than our age group did. The damage has already been done.

[mrsltg]

I find if the music is indoors, it's too loud for me. If it's outside and I can sit back from it, I'm fine. (I am 35, BTW)

[CowPrincess]

Even when I was a "younger" cruiser, I detested loud music. My tolerance for it has not improved :)

[bepsf]

I don't think it's necessarily a HAL issue - It may be a cruiseship issue:

While on MSC, the bands in the public rooms were also deafening, which I think is compounded by small shipboard spaces with hard surfaces that reflect sound, and band members who may be unaware of how loud it is - after all, the speakers are positioned pointing AWAY from them.

While aboard the past few cruises it's been a running theme: the HAL Cats would set up, and we'd leave...

...in fact, one afternoon aboard Zaandam last winter, there were a couple occassions where folks were all over the Lido enjoying a relaxing, quiet afternoon poolside - yet as soon as the HAL Cats started playing people departed in droves, clearing out the entire area in a few short minutes.

[sail7seas]

I don't think it's necessarily a HAL issue - It may be a cruiseship issue:

 

While on MSC, the bands in the public rooms were also deafening, which I think is compounded by small shipboard spaces with hard surfaces that reflect sound, and band members who may be unaware of how loud it is - after all, the speakers are positioned pointing AWAY from them.

 

While aboard the past few cruises it's been a running theme: the HAL Cats would set up, and we'd leave...

...in fact, one afternoon aboard Zaandam last winter, there were a couple occassions where folks were all over the Lido enjoying a relaxing, quiet afternoon poolside - yet as soon as the HAL Cats started playing people departed in droves, clearing out the entire area in a few short minutes.

 

 

How can this be acceptable?

If people are leaving the venues when the HAL Cats arrive, why are there not changes made? :confused:

 

Aren't they aboard for the purpose of entertaining us? Providing enjoyment?

 

If significant numbers of guests from ship to ship to ship all have the same complaint, why is the Entertainment Department not hearing us? Oh wait........ must be hearing loss from listening to too many HAL Cat bands. :eek:

 

Sometimes DH and I enjoy sitting at Lido Pool Bar to relax and chat but if we see HAL Cats set up there, we 'cruise on by' and forget about getting a drink. I think that is called 'loss of revenue'.

 

[jhannah]

It's not our age group who are losing their hearing nearly as much as those younger. They've been going to too loud concerts, listening to their Walkmans/boom boxes/IPods over many years now---moreso than our age group did. The damage has already been done.

Ms. Ruth, you are spot on! I was thinking the same thing while reading the posts above yours. I wish I could post an audio file here. I recorded one on Monday when I was behind a car with a humongous subwolfer in it. I could hear metal-to-metal vibration coming from the car, with my windows up, and I could feel the vibration in my car. There is no way this amplitude does not damage hearing.

 

This was a topic on a news magazine I recently watched. Those ear buds are huge culprits, because they channel the sound directly to the eardrum ... no dispersal elsewhere.

 

At any rate, such noise pollution is rude and does not belong in a civilized society.

[BoiseIdahoSpud]

We are cruisers of 33 and 38 years of age. With the exception of the show lounge and the disco/nightclub, I prefer the music never impede a conversation to the point one must yell to converse. It should always enhance the experience, not overtake.

[khall]

I'm not sure it was the decibel level that bothered us as much as the VOICE :eek::eek: of the lead singer of the HAL Cats on our Eurodam cruise in 2009!!! We would have both been 28 at the time and don't mind loud music but we actually started checking to see where they would be playing and avoid that area at all costs!! (yes, she was really that bad) :rolleyes:

 

I read the thread about them being at Half Moon Cay now (:() and we will be sure to rent our cabana from #12 up!

[RuthC]

At any rate, such noise pollution is rude and does not belong in a civilized society.

Whenever the car next to me is drowning out what's coming out of my radio (with my windows closed :eek:), I always want to drown them out with a Kate Smith recording. :D Too bad I can't.

 

(for those of you too young to know, Kate Smith was a singer in the long ago.)

[gummi]

The HAL Cats are what they are--recreational musicians fronted by the lead soprano in the high school chorus. The volume is too high, yes, but they're just not very good.

 

My girlfriend and I are both in our 30s, a dozen cruises between us. I'm 31. We skip any and all HAL Cat performances. They kill the mood, disturb peace and quiet, ruin our card games and kill any feelings of relaxation.

 

I dislike the HAL Cats, obviously, but some blame goes to HAL--Hawaii cruise last year, authentic Hawaiian music piped over the speakers the entire time in the islands. Nice vibe going. The second we pull away from Kauai, the HAL Cats fire up by the Lido Pool, going into Funkytown or something ridiculous. We immediately depart the area and head inside.

 

Why, HAL, why?!?

[Lizzie1213]

I am in my 40's and I don't find the HAL Cats too loud. This might be a personal issue though. My daughter is 13, and she finds them too loud; she has always been sensetive to loud music.

 

On a side note.....although I enjoy the HAL Cats on deck, I would prefer not to listen to them on HMC!