Maasdam entertainment

[ozcruizer]

We are considering a cruise on the Maasdam later in the year and are wondering about entertainment on board.  Are there shows in the Lounge?  We know about the lectures etc which should be very interesting, but I read somewhere else where someone complained about the lack of entertainment.  Can someone who has recently been on the Maasdam tell me about it, please?

[Ken the cruiser]

I’d like to tag along to hear what folks have to say as we will be on the Maasdam for 40 days starting in October. I do know on our latest confirmation we got an attachment that tries to explain the entertainment differences you’ll find on the Maasdam versus other HAL ships. Here’s a partial copy of it:

                   

Welcome fellow voyager!
We are delighted that you’ll be joining us on an Explorations Central In-DepthTM Voyage aboard the beautiful Maasdam. These unique voyages are designed to afford guests like you an opportunity to combine their love of travel with their personal passions through our immersive Explorations Central (EXCTM) program.
This special voyage offers:
• A variety of curated themes for you to explore in-depth, on board and ashore, including: Photography; Nature and Science; Food, Wine and Spirits; History and Perspective; Arts and Culture; and Active Exploration. Focus on one for the duration of your cruise or explore several. It’s up to you.
• A unique selection of shore excursions to complement these themes including, on select voyages (subject to local regulations), exclusive Zodiac tours, which allow you to get even closer to the destination.
• World-class experts adding their insights, expertise and experiences to your adventures ashore–from a local naturalist or historian to a local guest chef or photographer.
• Diverse programming featuring local entertainers, as well as local music and dance troupes to immerse you in the culture of each fascinating destination.
Your EXC In-Depth Voyage is different from a typical Holland America Line cruise:
• Our port-to-table programming, featuring local chefs, will replace America’s Test Kitchen.
• Club HAL will not be available, due to the length of your voyage and few children sailing with us.
• We will continue to have live music in the Ocean Bar, our piano bar entertainer in Mix, and Adagio Strings in the Explorations Lounge.
• We will not be offering our traditional evening entertainment in The Mainstage in order to accommodate our expanded In-Depth enrichment programming, including EXC Talks, guest experts, local entertainers, local dance and musical troupes, etc.

In short, your EXC In-Depth Voyage will be all about you, the things you love and an authentic, immersive experience in each destination you visit.

Edited June 19, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[oaktreerb]

14 hours ago, ozcruizer said:

We are considering a cruise on the Maasdam later in the year and are wondering about entertainment on board.  Are there shows in the Lounge?  We know about the lectures etc which should be very interesting, but I read somewhere else where someone complained about the lack of entertainment.  Can someone who has recently been on the Maasdam tell me about it, please?

Just got off the Maasdam.  In the past I have enjoyed the production shows but didn’t miss them.  The entertainment was for the most part very good.  You may see the same entertainers performing different shows.   The comedians and magicians were funny , clean and relatable.   The Jersey Tenors (Unexpected Boys) performed three nights ...high energy and outstanding musical shows.  Emily Yates, Duncan Tuck, Paul Pappas, Robbie Howard, The Alley Cats all provided musical entertainment on the main stage.   Two shows a night as usual.   Two nights were BBC Earth.  There were late night crew shows.  Diane Slagle was an outstanding local musical entertainer and hubby AJ provided enrichment reciting Robert Service poetry of the Yukon.  Lecturers were well received and experts in their fields.  HAL needs to bring back America’s Test Kitchen.  

 

HAL needs to reconsider the kids club if they want the younger cruiser between 20 and 40 for these EXC cruises.  The cruisers were typically HAL 4* cruisers and above who enjoy eating and had the time for a 21 day cruise.  The Zodiacs were not part of the activities and many of the more adventurous excursions did not sell out.

 

Your itinerary and activities offered will vary with the location.  

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

HAL needs to reconsider the kids club if they want the younger cruiser between 20 and 40 for these EXC cruises.  The cruisers were typically HAL 4* cruisers and above who enjoy eating and had the time for a 21 day cruise.  The Zodiacs were not part of the activities and many of the more adventurous excursions did not sell out.

 

Your itinerary and activities offered will vary with the location.  

When it comes to the Maasdam, I hope HAL doesn't reconsider the kids club. There is a reason why the 4* crowd is booking HAL's new in-depth EXC lecture-based cruises with longer itineraries and we hope it continues. HAL has plenty of ships for young families to have fun cruising on. 

[Shmoo here]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

There is a reason why the 4* crowd is booking HAL's new in-depth EXC lecture-based cruises with longer itineraries and we hope it continues.

And that reason would be......?

 

We had pretty weak EXC speakers.  They pretty much were showing vacation slides and saying things like "this is a beach",  "here you'll find a lot of shops", "I don't know what kind of tree that is, but it's nice, right?"  

 

I think on long cruises a few production shows would be nice.  I was not very  impressed with the entertainment on our recent 28 night cruise, except for the Billboard Onboard dual pianos, and a couple of the comedians.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

And that reason would be......?

 

We had pretty weak EXC speakers.  They pretty much were showing vacation slides and saying things like "this is a beach",  "here you'll find a lot of shops", "I don't know what kind of tree that is, but it's nice, right?"  

 

I think on long cruises a few production shows would be nice.  I was not very  impressed with the entertainment on our recent 28 night cruise, except for the Billboard Onboard dual pianos, and a couple of the comedians.

 

 

What 28 day Maasdam cruise were you on where the in-depth EXC presentation was a total flop?

 

As far as the 4* cruisers go, I'll let you know after this 4* goes on our 40 day Australia circumnavigation and Polynesian island cruise this coming October. From what I've read about the Maasdam EXC In-depth cruises, the lecturers are supposed to be very good and discuss a wide variety of topics. However, if the lecturers are like you describe, then that will be the last time we cruise with HAL as their quality and variety of entertainment has on most of their other ships on longer itineraries definitely has gotten worse, especially on sea days, over the past 2-3 years.

[colbe]

1 hour ago, Shmoo here said:

And that reason would be......?

 

We had pretty weak EXC speakers.  They pretty much were showing vacation slides and saying things like "this is a beach",  "here you'll find a lot of shops", "I don't know what kind of tree that is, but it's nice, right?"  

 

I think on long cruises a few production shows would be nice.  I was not very  impressed with the entertainment on our recent 28 night cruise, except for the Billboard Onboard dual pianos, and a couple of the comedians.

 

 

You certainly were not at the same lectures as us - in fact I would suggest that you were not even on the Maasdam. The EXC lecturers were very knowledgeable and we learnt a great deal.

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What 28 day Maasdam cruise were you on where the in-depth EXC presentation was a total flop?

 

18 minutes ago, colbe said:

You certainly were not at the same lectures as us - in fact I would suggest that you were not even on the Maasdam.

I never said I was on the Maasdam.  I was on the 28 night Eurodam Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in March.  And they had the EXC presentations on that cruise, also.  And I was less than impressed with the whole thing.

 

 

[colbe]

6 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

 

I never said I was on the Maasdam.  I was on the 28 night Eurodam Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in March.  And they had the EXC presentations on that cruise, also.  And I was less than impressed with the whole thing.

 

 

This thread is all about entertainment on the Maasdam.

[Shmoo here]

4 minutes ago, colbe said:

This thread is all about entertainment on the Maasdam.

I was reacting to the statement "There is a reason why the 4* crowd is booking HAL's new in-depth EXC lecture-based cruises with longer itineraries and we hope it continues."

 

To me it sounded like it was saying the EXC lectures were why those cruises were popular.  I was only reporting my experience with an EXC in-depth voyage.  

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

 

I never said I was on the Maasdam.  I was on the 28 night Eurodam Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in March.  And they had the EXC presentations on that cruise, also.  And I was less than impressed with the whole thing.

 

 

Good catch colbe!! And as far as Shmoo here's comments go, they pretty much just reinforce our feels of cruising on any of HAL's other ships, especially on longer itineraries.

[Ken the cruiser]

16 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

I was reacting to the statement 4"There is a reason why the 4* crowd is booking HAL's new in-depth EXC lecture-based cruises with longer itineraries and we hope it continues."

 

To me it sounded like it was saying the EXC lectures were why those cruises were popular.  I was only reporting my experience with an EXC in-depth voyage.  

Well, thank goodness we have that cleared up now. To summarize the only place you are going to hear HAL In-Depth EXC lectures will be on the Maasdam. On all of the other HAL ships, you are only going to hear boring "regular" EXC briefings IMHO.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[joekerstef]

22 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I was reacting to the statement "There is a reason why the 4* crowd is booking HAL's new in-depth EXC lecture-based cruises with longer itineraries and we hope it continues."

 

To me it sounded like it was saying the EXC lectures were why those cruises were popular.  I was only reporting my experience with an EXC in-depth voyage.  

Shmoo, you said that you were on Eurodam. That was NOT an EXC "In Depth" voyage, which is currently only offered on Maasdam. These voyages have several guest expert lecturers on board, not the usual EXC guides, who are HAL employees. The guest lecturers on our Alaska voyage that ended this week were quite good and spoke on a variety of topics. The entertainment on this cruise was as oaktreerb described (same cruise) in post #3. And while 4*s and up were well represented, there were plenty of 3* and below as well. 

 

I was actually surprised by the number of children and teens on our cruise. They for the most part entertained themselves in the pool, lido, or atrium and weren't disruptive. No idea how the lack of Club HAL affected their cruise experiences.