1st Time HAL - Are we too young?

[SmokinActuary]

I heard that HAL is going to hire some death metal bands to spice things up.

[Amuse Bouche]

Thanks Greg. We are thinking October 29th to the Eastern Caribbean. The islands are definitely the right itineray for us (we would spend as much time off the ship as possible).

 

Not cruising to meet people but it wouldn't hurt to make some friends of close age for drinking partners at night.

 

I'm hoping and assuming that a 7 day Caribbean will attract a younger crowd than say a 15 day Alaskan.

 

 

We are in our late 40s. We took our first HAL in 2009. There was a very wide variety of ages on board.

 

As far as the drinking buddies go, well, older people now aren't the same older people who sat in front of Lawrence Welk every Sunday. (that was our grandparents) :p We had good progressive music and I'm sure you've been influenced by your parents head banging to Aerosmith. :D One of our favorite things on HAL are the daily shots. Special price, special drink every day. In just about every bar, you can find fun people. We sat and partied with many age groups and had a blast.

And it's particularly nice, because we can party and not make fools of ourselves and end up puking over the railing. But, there's no guarantee on that either ;)

It's nice being able to have a good time and not feeling like you've just crashed a frat party.

So, you can do the frat party cruises with the jumbo tron and rock climbing wall, or the family orientated cruises with a million children, or you can cruise HAL where adults have a good time and can get up in time for breakfast.

[gunnerstahl24]

We are in our late 40s. We took our first HAL in 2009. There was a very wide variety of ages on board.

 

As far as the drinking buddies go, well, older people now aren't the same older people who sat in front of Lawrence Welk every Sunday. (that was our grandparents) :p We had good progressive music and I'm sure you've been influenced by your parents head banging to Aerosmith. :D One of our favorite things on HAL are the daily shots. Special price, special drink every day. In just about every bar, you can find fun people. We sat and partied with many age groups and had a blast.

And it's particularly nice, because we can party and not make fools of ourselves and end up puking over the railing. But, there's no guarantee on that either ;)

It's nice being able to have a good time and not feeling like you've just crashed a frat party.

So, you can do the frat party cruises with the jumbo tron and rock climbing wall, or the family orientated cruises with a million children, or you can cruise HAL where adults have a good time and can get up in time for breakfast.

 

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback. @ Alaskan, I think you summed up my feeings going into this process pretty well. My goal is to have a good time, not stare at jumbotrons/rockwalls/slides, relax at times and share a drink/laugh with good people at other times.

 

I understand the comparisons with Celebrity and the Solstice class ships however the price point for our timeframe and room selection is not equivalent if we chose a Solstice ship.

 

Celebrity Summit is the only good comparison on a price basis (and our alternate choice) but the drawback is the boat is much older (not sure if its smaller).

 

Again, it all comes down to "value" that drove us to HAL Eurodam...

 

Thanks again everyone.

[Al_Frescoe]

We like HAL. But for us HAL's (in general) entertainment is a bust -after the first or second night anyway . We are not in our 20's, we are in our mid/late 50's. Strictly elevator music and tunes from the 50's. Nothing wrong with that if this is your target audience. And the bars/lounges and everywhere else are dead quiet after 10PM.

 

This does NOT mean that we are party amimals, that we want to drink all night, and that we should perhaps try another line.

 

What is does mean is that our preference is for some contemporary music, an environment where 'blackout bingo' or something similar is not the highlight of the day for the entertainment/activities department.

 

There is a happy medium between music from the 50's and rock&roll etc. HAL's entertainment dept. is still trying to comprehend this. Even something from the last 15 years would be nice.

 

If you are looking for good food, good service, and a relaxing cruise at that time of year HAL is fine.

 

But I would agree with world-citizen...if all things are equal my preference at your age would be a Celebrity Solstice class ship.

 

Interesting topic for sure. My wife and I are about to go on our first cruise with HAL. I am 58 she is 49. I can tell you this, our musical taste runs the gamut, from Sinatra to Sting and beyond. I am a bit sad to hear that HAL only does music from the 40's and 50's and elevator music. We are not party animals anymore, and she keeps me so busy during the day that I am out by 11:00 anyway :). Seriously, 40's and 50's and elevator music only? Yikes! Hope the bar stays open.

 

Looking forward to our first cruise with HAL no matter what. Time will tell.

 

Cheers from Stockholm,

 

Al

[SwissMyst]

.....

Looking forward to our first cruise with HAL no matter what. Time will tell.

 

Cheers from Stockholm,

 

Al

 

Euro-hip would not exactly describe HAL ships. More fusty British country home on a long weekend with the relatives, dotty and otherwise. But we love them because they are comfy and easy to come home to, over and over again.

 

We let our travels be the stimulating component, and HAL ships be the comfort-zone old shoe to take down the buzz of the new destinations and let us slip easily into peaceful rest to get up and on to the next new port.

 

We cruise to snooze ........:cool:

[Amuse Bouche]

I appreciate everyone's feedback. @ Alaskan, I think you summed up my feeings going into this process pretty well. My goal is to have a good time, not stare at jumbotrons/rockwalls/slides, relax at times and share a drink/laugh with good people at other times.

 

I understand the comparisons with Celebrity and the Solstice class ships however the price point for our timeframe and room selection is not equivalent if we chose a Solstice ship.

 

Celebrity Summit is the only good comparison on a price basis (and our alternate choice) but the drawback is the boat is much older (not sure if its smaller).

 

Again, it all comes down to "value" that drove us to HAL Eurodam...

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

Have an excellent vacation!

 

Forgot to mention, another beautiful thing about HAL is the ship size. You should look at the ships floor plans when planning too. You will notice on the other lines, they cram inside cabins in everywhichaway. And their cabins are smaller. Hal Vista class have so many balcony cabins, and not even one tenth of the inside cabins. That means, big ship, less passengers. No cattle lines on a Vista class. And you can stroll around the ship and always find a table at your favorite bar. I'm sure the other ships on HAL are just as comfortable, but I've only been on a Vista class.

[Al_Frescoe]

Euro-hip would not exactly describe HAL ships. More fusty British country home on a long weekend with the relatives, dotty and otherwise. But we love them because they are comfy and easy to come home to, over and over again.

 

We let our travels be the stimulating component, and HAL ships be the comfort-zone old shoe to take down the buzz of the new destinations and let us slip easily into peaceful rest to get up and on to the next new port.

 

We cruise to snooze ........:cool:

 

But elevator music? :o

 

Enjoy the snooze. Euro-hip ... :eek: I'll have to google that.

 

Still looking forward to my first HAL experience.

 

Al

[Amuse Bouche]

But elevator music? :o

 

Enjoy the snooze. Euro-hip ... :eek: I'll have to google that.

 

Still looking forward to my first HAL experience.

 

Al

 

If there's elevator music, it's very effective, because I was happy as a clam and never noticed ;)

 

I don't recall the 40's and 50's music either. Did the 40's have music? :D And I would have noticed the 50's music, because I can't stand it.

 

I think I passed by some really pleasant chamber music from a quartet one afternoon.

 

I brought my loaded MP3 playing and speaker dock, left it in the cabin on low and enjoyed sitting on the balcony. Maybe I still have a song in my head when I'm walking about, so I don't notice what the ship is playing.

[dz_girl]

Thanks Greg. We are thinking October 29th to the Eastern Caribbean. The islands are definitely the right itineray for us (we would spend as much time off the ship as possible).

 

Not cruising to meet people but it wouldn't hurt to make some friends of close age for drinking partners at night.

 

I'm hoping and assuming that a 7 day Caribbean will attract a younger crowd than say a 15 day Alaskan.

 

My husband and I had the same concerns that you do. We are in our early 30's and don't have kids, and our travel agent almost passed out when we told her to book us on a HAL. :D She went ahead and checked some other cruise line prices for us. However, we aren't interested in being entertained or hard partying on a cruise ship. We want to be pampered and have quality service. Our TA then agreed that HAL was the way to go.

 

We just booked a veranda room on the 10/29 Eastern Caribbean cruise and got a great deal. This is my first cruise, and my husband's second, although he was just a kid when he went on his first cruise. If you book this cruise, maybe we'll meet up.

[arewethereyet]

We like HAL. But for us HAL's (in general) entertainment is a bust -after the first or second night anyway . We are not in our 20's, we are in our mid/late 50's. Strictly elevator music and tunes from the 50's. Nothing wrong with that if this is your target audience. And the bars/lounges and everywhere else are dead quiet after 10PM.

 

This does NOT mean that we are party amimals, that we want to drink all night, and that we should perhaps try another line.

 

What is does mean is that our preference is for some contemporary music, an environment where 'blackout bingo' or something similar is not the highlight of the day for the entertainment/activities department.

 

There is a happy medium between music from the 50's and rock&roll etc. HAL's entertainment dept. is still trying to comprehend this. Even something from the last 15 years would be nice.

 

If you are looking for good food, good service, and a relaxing cruise at that time of year HAL is fine.

 

But I would agree with world-citizen...if all things are equal my preference at your age would be a Celebrity Solstice class ship.

I noticed that on the Eurodam last Oct. Everytime DW and I noticed it (often) we looked at each other and laughed. It was like being caught in an American Bandstand groundhog day.

[SwissMyst]

I noticed that on the Eurodam last Oct. Everytime DW and I noticed it (often) we looked at each other and laughed. It was like being caught in an American Bandstand groundhog day.

 

I bet you didn't think you were caught in a BabeWatch re-run either. :p

[UnitedJon]

HAL is my favorite cruiseline and I am in my mid-20s. Last summer I sailed the Nieuw Amsterdam out of Venice for two weeks and while I was well below the average age, HAL had a variety of activites and amenties that are quite appealing to both younger and older cruisers. The way I always recommend cruises to friends is based upon what kind of hotel you would stay... if you are a Hilton Hawaiian Village person than HAL isn't for you but if you are a Grand Hyatt person than you are probably in luck...

[maraena]

My husband and I have had similar conversations. We're both in our mid-30s and have cruised with Carnival and NCL. We enjoyed the casual feel of NCL and the open dining but we weren't interested in the techno dance clubs or the rather pervasive drunkenness (encouraged by staff) on both lines. I guess we're well beyond our frat years and prefer a more 'in moderation' lifestyle. :p (For me, hangovers stopped being fun in my mid 20s.)

 

Once we started looking into HAL, I asked my husband what he thought about cruising with a more seasoned demographic and he laughed at me and shook his head. I was told that I'm the oldest 36 year old he knows. (Since he's a very intelligent man, I know that's not a jab at my looks. ;)) Our interests have, evidently, matured significantly over the years and, while we're both active, we don't feel the need to be constantly entertained.

 

For us, an older demographic it isn't an issue - assuming that HAL's demographic is older. Most of the people who we liked onboard previous cruises were old enough to be our parents and/or grandparents. (One older gentleman with whom I had a rousing discussion could have easily been my great grandparent but he had quite an interesting take on a topic close to my heart. He also climbed to the top of one of the Mayan pyramids in 96 degree heat and taunted me, standing there at ground level, about being a chicken. :eek:) Perhaps it's because I'm an only child raised by a baby boomer and a WWII/Korea vet but I'm used to being surrounded by people who are far older than I and who have life experiences and strong opinions on pertinent topics beyond the latest on Paris Hilton or one of the Kardashian women.

 

As for music, I'd love to hear music from the 40's. My husband and I love getting satellite radio in rental cars where we'll listen to the '40s station, Sinatra, Crosby, or jazz. (We both also enjoy rock, heavy metal, and country.) But, above all, we'll be looking forward to a relaxing cruise where we can quietly lounge and read to our heart's content and where, hopefully, our fellow passengers will be informed, courteous, intellectually curious, and still young at heart. If all else fails, we'll be aboard a beautiful ship with good to excellent service in an relaxing, elegant environment that isn't overly stuffy. What more can you ask for?

[SwissMyst]

...... But, above all, we'll be looking forward to a relaxing cruise where we can quietly lounge and read to our heart's content and where, hopefully, our fellow passengers will be informed, courteous, intellectually curious, and still young at heart. If all else fails, we'll be aboard a beautiful ship with good to excellent service in an relaxing, elegant environment that isn't overly stuffy. What more can you ask for?

 

HAL ship libraries are outstanding. Great selections, easy access and wonderful dedicated quiet reading spaces associated with the Explorations Cafe specialty coffee bars. Best ones are on the midlevel decks but many of them lately have been moved up to share the Crows Nest on the top deck - not as appealing but still better than most other ships where they are often only a badly located afterthought. These are fairly serious libraries at sea on HAL ships. One of her better features which keeps bringing us back.

[bohunk72]

One thing to remeber about us old folks is that much of our formative years took place in the 1960's and 70's. The time of love ins, the beatles, Woodstock, Led Zepplin, Ozzie Osborn, You get the picture. We may be a little slower, a little more wrinkled, and a lot smarter than many of us were in those years. If we didn't kill too many brain cells, we can still be good company.

 

Most importantly though is to be with the one your with, and make the cruise for the two of you.

[SwissMyst]

One thing to remeber about us old folks is that much of our formative years took place in the 1960's and 70's. The time of love ins, the beatles, Woodstock, Led Zepplin, Ozzie Osborn, You get the picture. We may be a little slower, a little more wrinkled, and a lot smarter than many of us were in those years. If we didn't kill too many brain cells, we can still be good company.

 

Most importantly though is to be with the one your with, and make the cruise for the two of you.

 

Best thing to remember about this new crop of aging babyboomer old people is their 1960's rallying cry was "Never Trust Anyone Over 35". Now I think it is "Never trust anyone under 35." Ahhh, the sands of time ........

 

A Psalm of Life

What the heart of the young man said to the psalmist

 

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream! --

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

 

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

 

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

 

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

 

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

 

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, -- act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

 

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

 

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

 

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

 

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[babyher]

One thing to remeber about us old folks is that much of our formative years took place in the 1960's and 70's. The time of love ins, the beatles, Woodstock, Led Zepplin, Ozzie Osborn, You get the picture. We may be a little slower, a little more wrinkled, and a lot smarter than many of us were in those years. If we didn't kill too many brain cells, we can still be good company.

 

Most importantly though is to be with the one your with, and make the cruise for the two of you.

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

As the generations get older there are going to be less old fogies out there . Old people are going to be cooler *LOL*

 

My mother is from The Ed Sullivan , Lawrence Welk , Liz Taylor was a tramp for stealing Eddie away from Debbie generation.

 

You mention you are from the Woodstock , love in 1960s

 

I am 48, I am from the MTV , Bon Jovi, Sleeping with someone was a great way to get their phone number 1980s

 

My kids will be a product of their generation and so on

 

and with each passing generation we gain a little , we lose a little . Some for the better , some for the worse.

 

But guess what/ For the most part we all move on.

[mconthehighseas]

gunnerstahl, you mentioned that you selected the HAL cruise for the itinerary. That is what moved us from Royal Caribbean to HAL. And when we got there, we found not only better service ( and RC wasn't bad), but the cabins are MUCH roomier - and so are the cabin restrooms. I know that you were comparing HAL to Celebrity, and you will find smaller cabins on Celebrity.

 

We are older than you but younger than the average age on HAL, and we have had a great time on their ships - that's why we are going back in August. Our cruises have been 12-14 days, but we have noticed more young couples - and young families - each time.

 

You also mentioned that it would nice to have people to meet up with at the end of the day. Instead of going to the shows or the dance floor, we head to the casino - and that's where a lot of younger couples go too. I haven't been impressed with their evening shows, but I love the shows that the crew puts on! There is a mix of modern songs and traditional songs and dances from their home countries that just charm me.

 

Another thing that HAL has that Celebrity does not is that they allow bottles of liquor in the cabin. You can order your favorite beverage to be delivered to your cabin by the bottle, and not by the drink. This is great if you like a night cap or a before dinner drink and don't want to wait for room service each time. This may not matter to you, but it does to some.

[Al_Frescoe]

One thing to remeber about us old folks is that much of our formative years took place in the 1960's and 70's. The time of love ins, the beatles, Woodstock, Led Zepplin, Ozzie Osborn, You get the picture. We may be a little slower, a little more wrinkled, and a lot smarter than many of us were in those years. If we didn't kill too many brain cells, we can still be good company.

 

Most importantly though is to be with the one your with, and make the cruise for the two of you.

 

Exactly!! Believe it or not, I know a lot of people my age that can't stand the earlier stuff, jazz, big band etc ... we love it all, well, except elevator music. :)

 

Al

[sevenseasnomad]

While there will be people of all ages, you will find a slightly younger crowd on the Caribbean cruise than Alaska. To find more of the younger group, look around the pool.

 

Have a great, elegant, romantic, relaxing cruise.:)

 

The aft pool bar to be exact on many ships. And of course, the disco late at night. Our 24-year-old son went with us on Dec. Zuiderdam cruise and thought the same thing many people think that he'd be sailing with nothing but the-over-50 crowd.

 

Was he ever delightfully surprised. He joined a large group of 20-30 somethings and had such a blast that he can't wait to go on Veendam later this month. He is still corresponding with many of those nice people he met, and they're planning a HAL reunion cruise in a couple of years.

 

However, I echo what many have said. If you don't find a lot of your age group "to hang with" there's nothing wrong with making your own fun. You've already listed a number of good reasons for taking a HAL cruise. Go & have fun! Afterwards, report your adventure to us. We'd love to hear good & bad points in your opinion. (Well, some of us would anyway.)

[cruiseapril]

Hi- We've been on most of the major cruise lines and enjoy fun and music. Our most enjoyable music experience was on the Westerdam which had a wonderful karaoke on our cruise. Recently, I completely enjoyed the guitar music on the Noordam. Didn't hear much elevator music on HAL!

 

One thing that attracts us to HAL is that the noise level is lower. We hear the music and not the noise. Some cruises are just plain LOUD.

 

So, I think it's a life-style decision rather than an age decision in choosing HAL.

[lovetocruise2020]

Thanks Greg. We are thinking October 29th to the Eastern Caribbean. The islands are definitely the right itineray for us (we would spend as much time off the ship as possible).

 

Not cruising to meet people but it wouldn't hurt to make some friends of close age for drinking partners at night.

 

I'm hoping and assuming that a 7 day Caribbean will attract a younger crowd than say a 15 day Alaskan.

 

 

This is our second Eurodam cruise, Oct 29 as well.

We are 30 and 32.

The Eurodam is relaxed, upscale, romantic and has some of the best food at sea. I have cruised alot for my age, now to me RCCL and Carnival feel chaotic.

 

I love metal on my Ipod, but not loud music everywhere!! That is not relaxing.

 

On HAL you get a bathtub in a Verandah and OV cabins. That is unheard of on NCL, Carnival, RCCL and the Princess ships that I know about... The price is a no brainer.

 

Tamarind is amazing, if you like PC Changs, somewhat simillar-

 

You can bring all of the wine and chanpagne you want to your room for free,

You can order bottles of liquor in your cabin before the cruise and save alot

 

dining on your balcony, with white linens and a server sounds great.

 

Canaletto is FANTASTIC

 

Tamarind lunch is free!

 

Do it, you will not regret it. Its a diff class of cruising.

[fcorey]

I'm so happy to have found CC (1st time poster) and have been reading threads religously for the past month during my process of researching cruises. I appreciate anyone's responses here.

 

To keep it simple...I'm 25, my GF and I are looking for an affordable, yet relaxing and pampering cruise to the Caribbean. Everyone tells me I should be taking a cruise on Carnival or RCI (I have cruised on RCI/NCL & celebrity at a young age - don't remember much / my GF is 1st time cruiser).

 

Generally speaking, RCI is too expensive for the time frame we are looking (late October/Early November) and Carnival just doesn't seem to be what we are interested in.

 

When I look at HAL (specifically the Eurodam) I find that I can get a nice Verandah room for a good price. The itinerary is perfect, the ship looks great, et. al. I pretty much can't find a reason not to choose the Eurodam other than people telling us we will be the only 20 year olds on the boat (doesn't necesarilly bother me anyway but I'm aware of the age bias towards HAL out there).

 

I figured this would be the right venue for advice, are we too young for HAL Eurodam? Our other option is Celebrity Summit...similar itinerary but older boat and similar price.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

We started sailing HAL because my wife didnt like our first cruise on CCL. We started sailing on HAL when we were around 35. It is a more subdued atmosphere than CCL for example. Dont expect lots of late late night entertainment, after 1130 Casino and Dance club are really only to consistent options. But on HAL you will get great service, good food, a clean very well kept ship, good itineraries, and very nice size staterooms compared to other lines. I went on Eurodam last December and had a great time, its a beautiful ship, with a great crew. For the money I think HAL is one of the best deals out there

[imgagesmom]

I sailed with them last Dec for the first time and LOVED it. Not a bunch of Drunk "kids" on our cruise. I'm 32 now and just booked my 2nd cruise with HAL.

[lovetocruise2020]

This is our second Eurodam cruise, Oct 29 as well.

We are 30 and 32.

The Eurodam is relaxed, upscale, romantic and has some of the best food at sea. I have cruised alot for my age, now to me RCCL and Carnival feel chaotic.

 

I love metal on my Ipod, but not loud music everywhere!! That is not relaxing.

 

On HAL you get a bathtub in a Verandah and OV cabins. That is unheard of on NCL, Carnival, RCCL and the Princess ships that I know about... The price is a no brainer.

 

Tamarind is amazing, if you like PC Changs, somewhat simillar-

 

You can bring all of the wine and chanpagne you want to your room for free,

You can order bottles of liquor in your cabin before the cruise and save alot

 

dining on your balcony, with white linens and a server sounds great.

 

Canaletto is FANTASTIC

 

Tamarind lunch is free!

 

Do it, you will not regret it. Its a diff class of cruising.

 

Thats supposed to say "PF Changs" LOL! Too many typos on a phone. :)