I love the nightlife, I got to boogie...

[scamper]

(Just kidding...I haven't "boogied" in decades.)

 

So, one of the things often discussed about HAL is it's lack (or shortage) of a nightlife. They roll up the decks for the most part after the late show, some even come up during or before.

 

I was thinking, might many passengers be more inclined to stay up later (and shell out some discretionary cash) if the ship docked in port later (10:00 am, say), but also stayed in port a bit later (say, 8:00 pm). Most people would be back aboard by 6:00 or so anyway for dinner.

 

I think one reason that people retire early, relatively speaking for some, is because they want/have to be in port (beach, shop, excursion) as early as possible. I know, duh! Right?

 

Now, I admit I haven't thought this through completely. I am on my third glass of Pinot Grigio after all, but what say you on this idea?

[PathfinderEss]

You may be correct but my thinking is that there really isn't that good of entertainment later in the evening to give anyone a reason to stay awake.

[Hlitner]

I think you sell fellow HAL cruisers short. While some might jump off the ship at 8am for a tour, a lot more of us know that there is little to do in most ports until after 9. I should also mention that other cruise lines do have some late night shows (often adult comedy) which are well attended, and they also do similar port schedules.

 

About 3 or 4 years ago we had a long chat with a HAL cruise director (who we have known for a few years) on this subject. My question to him was did he think most HAL cruisers went to their cabin early because they had little reason to stay out...or would these folks go to their cabins early even if there were some late night entertainment. He thought I raised a good issue for which he had no answer.

 

We have gone to late night (usually 11:30) adult comedy shows on several other lines where you had to come a half hour early to simply get a seat. But sometimes I wonder if the comedians who work on HAL can even stay up after 10:30 much less do a late night show :).

 

Hank

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we take excursions, we like to do them early -- before the heat of the day gets to us.

An example, on cruises where we arrive in San Juan at 1 PM -- we stay on the ship. Taking a tour at 2 PM when it is in the upper 80's and very humid, not healthy for us.

All our lives we had to be up by 4 or 4:30 to get ready to leave for work. We are early birds not night owls.

[Randyk47]

Some people probably think there is more than enough and some probably nowhere near enough nightly, especially late night, entertainment. I will say, taking a 20 year view of HAL, that there is less late night entertainment than when we first started with the line. I guess it's the old "chicken and the egg" in terms of has or did HAL cut back in entertainment because people weren't staying up or did people start going to their cabins earlier because there wasn't enough to keep them up and out?

[AmazedByCruising]

Even during normal work weeks I very rarely sleep before 2 AM. One night, my co-traveller (who had a different cabin) went to bed earlier than me, and the next day would be at sea anyway so I went to find a bar. At 1:30 AM everything was closed!

 

My guess is that even if just 2 or 3 passengers out of 1400 would like to have a beer in the Crows Nest till 4 AM, they still would be making money.

[Hlitner]

We think this is not about just 2 or 3 passengers. Lets assume that half the passengers (i.e. 900 souls) have a propensity to go to bed at 10pm. That leaves another 900 souls who would love to enjoy some late night entertainment. And lets assume that only 1/4 of those 900 (225 souls) would really like to enjoy very late night entertainment (after 11:30pm). This is probably close to reality. We have been on many other lines (13 plus HAL) and on our last 2 cruises with other lines (Celebrity Eclipse and Ruby Princess) they did have some late night entertainment including an amazing standing room only midnight adult comedy show on the Princess ship. The folks on that Princess cruise (it was a TA repositioning voyage) were similar in demographics to HAL. Hundreds of these folks were up till after 1am to hear "Julie Barr" do a wonderful show (and she had already performed twice that night in the main showroom). HALs idea of late night entertainment is to show a tired old movie.

 

Hank

[BellBoys]

We witnessed a lack of late night attendance on our cruise last week. It maybe because at 11pm there were 7 bars open, some of them with good attendance and others with only a handful of passengers. Perhaps keeping only two or three bars open late night would force passengers to congregate in a few areas would create an energized environment?

[esimon]

maybe HAL got tired of trying to please every one. Just read thru those posts - no two are alike - if you must have late night entertainment - there are many other cruise lines -

 

Flexibility is a key here - Do you really expect everything you want all the time on each cruise line?

[DreamingBig1]

HAL seems like an exceptional cruise line, with gorgeous boats.

 

I think because there is a lack of night life, meaning a place to grab a drink and listen to some music to the very late hour range, then I think we will pass over them for future cruises. Unless there were port considerations. We went on a Celebrity cruise, and felt that it also got very quiet late into the night. There were some bars open, but no entertainment. Well if you consider the casino entertainment, maybe that counts. We don't go to the casino.

 

I would love to give HAL a try, but I don't want to call it a night at 10-11.

[AmazedByCruising]

Flexibility is a key here - Do you really expect everything you want all the time on each cruise line?

 

I don't expect a Best Stars of The World Dancing on Ice show at 4 AM, no. But I did expect the ability to have a drink outside my room at 2 AM in a 5 star hotel with 1500 guests and no bar down the street.

 

I can live with it, and it's not at all a reason not to cruise with HAL anymore, but I was surprised.

[GeorgesGal]

This thread just reminded me of my first cruise on board =x= Eclipse. They had a really up-beat female quartet playing in the Atrium after dinner. Was on the way to my room with my sister and I stopped at the railing on our deck to listen for a few minutes. Well, the beat got to me, so I went to our room to see if M wanted to go downstairs for a bit. Although she declined, I went down by myself.

 

Now, I haven't 'boogied' in many years, but their music was so good that, you know, I just joined in the dancing! Had a great time, worked off some of the calories from dinner, and decided to do the same for the rest of the cruise.

 

Once back in the room, told M how great the music was and what great exercise I'd gotten. Right then and there she decided to join me on the subsequent nights. We had quite a sister act going for the rest of the cruise.

[sail7seas]

Only speculation on my part, but I suspect they would run into overtime charges for port pilots, linesmen, shore staff if they sailed late into the evening. The costs for these services is already very high and to sail late on a regular basis might not be financially sensible?

 

If the ship sails late, DH and I almost always had drinks and dinner ashore. That mean no drinks from HAL bars and no specialty restaurant bills/bottles of wine. I don't know how many guests would do such spending ashore but probably at least some 'countable' number.

 

[mame42]

Although I have cruised on ships with a myriad of late night activities (Norwegian Jade) and on ships with NO night life (Crown Princess, truly a dead boat), I am completely indifferent to the night life available on a cruise.

 

Perhaps one can categorize pax into three overlapping groups: those for whom the ship is the destination, those for whom the ship is a means of transport to the destination, and those who seek a balance. Therefore, in my admittedly fairly inexperienced opinion, I think much depends on the itinerary and the type of pax it draws.

 

Since I live in a part of the country where outstanding food and night life are available every night on any corner, I fall firmly into the second category, and choose port-centric itineraries with few sea days. To take as much advantage as possible of every port, I prefer full day, active excursions and tours. I go ashore with the first group every morning and return with the last, ready to grab a bite to eat, shower, and crash, so I can do it again the next day. Sea days are occupied with personal chores abandoned during successive port days.

 

Does HAL lack for night life? I never noticed!

[7leagueboots]

You may be correct but my thinking is that there really isn't that good of entertainment later in the evening to give anyone a reason to stay awake.

 

Good point.

[elusive_23]

I just sailed with Azamara in October and I have a little bit to chime in with. For those that are not familiar with the line they have more port days and stay longer in port each day. Some Similarities:

-Age demographic

-No organized entertainment past 9/10 pm

-Casino open late

-Bars open late

 

Some Differences:

-702 passenger capacity. I was told we sailed with less than half that!

-They include a standard beer/wine/alcohol/soda package for free among other things.

-They offer a FREE excursion on one of the nights. Ours was a wonderful orchestra performance in Ephesus with free wine, cheese and crackers.

-They had a late night White Night party with food, singing, dancing and free drinks of course. I believe there was an additional Gelato party night too.

-No fixed seating dinner times.

-They offered a limited selection on night excursions.

-They offered an overnight Jerusalem excursion.

 

The following was our itinerary to lend some insight into my observations: (this may get jumbled with copy/paste and formatting. I apologize!)

 

 

Day Port* Arrive Depart

Sun Oct 12 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 05:00 pm

Mon Oct 13 At Sea

Tue Oct 14 Katakolon, Greece 08:00 am 01:30 pm

Wed Oct 15 Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey 01:30 pm 11:59 pm

Thu Oct 16 Patmos, Greece 08:00 am 08:00 pm

Fri Oct 17 Rhodes, Greece 08:00 am 10:00 pm

Sat Oct 18 At Sea

Sun Oct 19 Jerusalem (Ashdod), Israel 06:00 am

Mon Oct 20 Jerusalem (Ashdod), Israel 10:00 pm

Tue Oct 21 Haifa, Israel 07:00 am 07:00 pm

Wed Oct 22 Paphos, Cyprus 08:30 am 06:00 pm

Thu Oct 23 At Sea

Fri Oct 24 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 06:00 am

 

My observations:

I did not believe I saw a larger proportion of people staying up later because of our later departures nor did I feel a larger proportion of people stayed on shore later than dinner time. In fact several days we left port early because everyone was back aboard. I believe one night we left over an hour early.

 

I do believe there were a handful of guests much like HAL that would eat on shore before returning.

 

There were a small proportion of guests that took night excursions.

 

A similar proportion of guests gambled and drank socially in the bars later into the night as HAL guests do. You would think having free flowing alcohol would create more of a night life? Perhaps the grueling itinerary has to do with this?

 

A similar proportion of guests attended the show which was offered at one time only.

 

The only nights where I saw that a large proportion of guests stayed up late were the nights Azamara provided the free night excursion to Ephesus (Azamazing Evening) and when there was the White Night party.

 

Conclusion: Even if you stay late in port and give free wine/beer/alcohol out sometimes the nightlife is still dismal!

Perhaps the key here is the early docking times? I would love to sleep in!

Edited February 11, 2015 by elusive_23

[Krazy Kruizers]

I just sailed with Azamara in October and I have a little bit to chime in with. For those that are not familiar with the line they have more port days and stay longer in port each day. Some Similarities:

-Age demographic

-No organized entertainment past 9/10 pm

-Casino open late

-Bars open late

 

Some Differences:

-702 passenger capacity. I was told we sailed with less than half that!

-They include a standard beer/wine/alcohol/soda package for free among other things.

-They offer a FREE excursion on one of the nights. Ours was a wonderful orchestra performance in Ephesus with free wine, cheese and crackers.

-They had a late night White Night party with food, singing, dancing and free drinks of course. I believe there was an additional Gelato party night too.

-No fixed seating dinner times.

-They offered a limited selection on night excursions.

-They offered an overnight Jerusalem excursion.

 

The following was our itinerary to lend some insight into my observations: (this may get jumbled with copy/paste and formatting. I apologize!)

 

 

Day Port* Arrive Depart

Sun Oct 12 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 05:00 pm

Mon Oct 13 At Sea

Tue Oct 14 Katakolon, Greece 08:00 am 01:30 pm

Wed Oct 15 Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey 01:30 pm 11:59 pm

Thu Oct 16 Patmos, Greece 08:00 am 08:00 pm

Fri Oct 17 Rhodes, Greece 08:00 am 10:00 pm

Sat Oct 18 At Sea

Sun Oct 19 Jerusalem (Ashdod), Israel 06:00 am

Mon Oct 20 Jerusalem (Ashdod), Israel 10:00 pm

Tue Oct 21 Haifa, Israel 07:00 am 07:00 pm

Wed Oct 22 Paphos, Cyprus 08:30 am 06:00 pm

Thu Oct 23 At Sea

Fri Oct 24 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 06:00 am

 

My observations:

I did not believe I saw a larger proportion of people staying up later because of our later departures nor did I feel a larger proportion of people stayed on shore later than dinner time. In fact several days we left port early because everyone was back aboard. I believe one night we left over an hour early.

 

I do believe there were a handful of guests much like HAL that would eat on shore before returning.

 

There were a small proportion of guests that took night excursions.

 

A similar proportion of guests gambled and drank socially in the bars later into the night as HAL guests do. You would think having free flowing alcohol would create more of a night life? Perhaps the grueling itinerary has to do with this?

 

A similar proportion of guests attended the show which was offered at one time only.

 

The only nights where I saw that a large proportion of guests stayed up late were the nights Azamara provided the free night excursion to Ephesus (Azamazing Evening) and when there was the White Night party.

 

Conclusion: Even if you stay late in port and give free wine/beer/alcohol out sometimes the nightlife is still dismal!

Perhaps the key here is the early docking times? I would love to sleep in!

 

 

Now that Oceania cruise line has been sold to NCL, how long do you think before many of the items you listed will be gone?

Carnival bought HAL in 1989 and the last few years we have seen quite a few changes. Some we like -- some we don't like.

[galensgrl]

(Just kidding...I haven't "boogied" in decades.)

 

So, one of the things often discussed about HAL is it's lack (or shortage) of a nightlife. They roll up the decks for the most part after the late show, some even come up during or before.

 

I was thinking, might many passengers be more inclined to stay up later (and shell out some discretionary cash) if the ship docked in port later (10:00 am, say), but also stayed in port a bit later (say, 8:00 pm). Most people would be back aboard by 6:00 or so anyway for dinner.

 

I think one reason that people retire early, relatively speaking for some, is because they want/have to be in port (beach, shop, excursion) as early as possible. I know, duh! Right?

 

Now, I admit I haven't thought this through completely. I am on my third glass of Pinot Grigio after all, but what say you on this idea?

 

Firstly, cheers to your Pinot Grigio. :)

We have had 4 cruises on NCL, and we are 'jumping ship" with them to do a week long Boston to Bermuda with HAL in May. We have had fun with NCL, but we were discouraged with the food and service on our last cruise. Hence, we are giving HAL a try. We were never big on the "shows," and being 3rd shift employees we are also not early risers, so we tend to find places to hang out for a bit at night. When we hear there is nothing to do after 10pm, does that mean everything closes down early? What about the pool and hot tubs, do they close at 10pm? I have a feeling the bars are open until at least midnight or 1am, and that they have music to enjoy there. I figure we are docked right on Front Street in Bermuda, so there will be no problem finding things to do at night while we are there lol. We are looking forward to the HAL experience and docking on Front St, as you can probably tell I'm in the "May can't get here fast enough" frame of mind! lol

 

Lorie

[Folk Singer]

Even if I do drink I still cannot boogie.:(

[galensgrl]

I don't expect a Best Stars of The World Dancing on Ice show at 4 AM, no. But I did expect the ability to have a drink outside my room at 2 AM in a 5 star hotel with 1500 guests and no bar down the street.

 

I can live with it, and it's not at all a reason not to cruise with HAL anymore, but I was surprised.

 

We are night owls due to our work schedules, and though I too didn't expect anything like shows after 10pm, I find it a little weird that even the bars close early on the HAL ships. But we are already booked and the itinerary is awesome, so it looks like we will be reading and watching movies in our cabin late at night on the sea days lol.

 

Lorie

Edited February 12, 2015 by galensgrl

[OCruisers]

While HAL is a very nice cruise line, don't expect too much in the way of later evening things to do. ;)

LuLu

[cavecreekguy]

Firstly, cheers to your Pinot Grigio. :)

We have had 4 cruises on NCL, and we are 'jumping ship" with them to do a week long Boston to Bermuda with HAL in May. We have had fun with NCL, but we were discouraged with the food and service on our last cruise. Hence, we are giving HAL a try. We were never big on the "shows," and being 3rd shift employees we are also not early risers, so we tend to find places to hang out for a bit at night. When we hear there is nothing to do after 10pm, does that mean everything closes down early? What about the pool and hot tubs, do they close at 10pm? I have a feeling the bars are open until at least midnight or 1am, and that they have music to enjoy there. I figure we are docked right on Front Street in Bermuda, so there will be no problem finding things to do at night while we are there lol. We are looking forward to the HAL experience and docking on Front St, as you can probably tell I'm in the "May can't get here fast enough" frame of mind! lol

 

Lorie

 

My experience on my Alaska cruises (only HAL cruises I've been on so far) is that they do put the nets over the pools and hot tubs around 10 p.m., but the Crows Nest was open until around midnight. I never actually "closed it down" but some nights there were only a few there after 11:30 p.m. That works for me though as I'm an early to rise kind of guy, so by 11 or so I'm ready to go back to my cabin.

[MYMOTHERSCHILD]

(Just kidding...I haven't "boogied" in decades.)

 

So, one of the things often discussed about HAL is it's lack (or shortage) of a nightlife. They roll up the decks for the most part after the late show, some even come up during or before.

 

I was thinking, might many passengers be more inclined to stay up later (and shell out some discretionary cash) if the ship docked in port later (10:00 am, say), but also stayed in port a bit later (say, 8:00 pm). Most people would be back aboard by 6:00 or so anyway for dinner.

 

I think one reason that people retire early, relatively speaking for some, is because they want/have to be in port (beach, shop, excursion) as early as possible. I know, duh! Right?

 

Now, I admit I haven't thought this through completely. I am on my third glass of Pinot Grigio after all, but what say you on this idea?

 

I retire when the music stops playing and I have to stop dancing. Still, even if there are a few people in the Crow's Nest, many on board can be sound asleep by 11 or earlier. On one occasion I had reason to speak to guest relations at about midnight, so I trotted to the elevator and through hallways in my pajamas and didn't see a soul. All was eerily quiet in the atrium and I had to ring a bell at the desk to awaken someone and problem was solved. I'm bringing the same pajamas on board in March just in case.

MMC

[elusive_23]

Now that Oceania cruise line has been sold to NCL, how long do you think before many of the items you listed will be gone?

Carnival bought HAL in 1989 and the last few years we have seen quite a few changes. Some we like -- some we don't like.

 

Azamara is owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises and two more ships have been rumored to be ordered for Azamara.

[Folk Singer]

While HAL is a very nice cruise line, don't expect too much in the way of later evening things to do. ;)

LuLu

 

 

True but fun is where you make it.