Onboard activities on “focus” itineraries

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

Mornin All

Having just returned from first HAL cruise (Aug 23 Boston -Montreal Zaandam) I am trying to determine future trips… having a tough time convincing DH though.   He was not thrilled at all with the onboard daily activities, especially on at sea days.   There was a total of 2 daytime activities during 3 at sea days that caught enough of his interest to actually attend.   I had some crafts and pickleball to keep me going, although one day I too was bored, since everything that I was interested in all overlapped in time.   Posters in some other threads have alluded to more in depth guest lectures and more itinerary-focused activities.   Can anyone tell me how to “find” which itineraries these would be, and give me examples of types of activities that would be included?  Somewhere on CC I had seen that cooking demos were offered (once upon a time….pre-Covid, maybe?).   Seems like these are a thing of the past?   
He will not agree to a future HAL itinerary unless he thinks there will be something to keep him “interested “; he loves sitting with a good book, but wants “more” … 

TIA for suggestions!

[0106]

The longer the itinerary, the more sea days, the more “interesting” activities.  Last year on the Oosterdam TA there were cooking demonstrations and an interesting speaker.  Keep your eye on the LIVE threads and look at any Dailies that are posted.  I will be on the Rotterdam TA at the beginning of October and there will be a live thread.

[Sea42]

32 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Mornin All

Having just returned from first HAL cruise (Aug 23 Boston -Montreal Zaandam) I am trying to determine future trips… having a tough time convincing DH though.   He was not thrilled at all with the onboard daily activities, especially on at sea days.   There was a total of 2 daytime activities during 3 at sea days that caught enough of his interest to actually attend.   I had some crafts and pickleball to keep me going, although one day I too was bored, since everything that I was interested in all overlapped in time.   Posters in some other threads have alluded to more in depth guest lectures and more itinerary-focused activities.   Can anyone tell me how to “find” which itineraries these would be, and give me examples of types of activities that would be included?  Somewhere on CC I had seen that cooking demos were offered (once upon a time….pre-Covid, maybe?).   Seems like these are a thing of the past?   
He will not agree to a future HAL itinerary unless he thinks there will be something to keep him “interested “; he loves sitting with a good book, but wants “more” … 

TIA for suggestions!

What type of activities is your husband interested in? It may be that HAL just isn't a good fit for him.

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

Is there a “pattern” to which itineraries have guest lectures and /or more focused onboard activities?   Any way to find out in advance?   Port activities/ location easy to find… onboard activities not so easy.

 

[ScottishMaid]

We were on the 23rd August sailing and also the 29 July 25 day sailing which had a lecturer on board. The 23rd August had only 3 sea days and 7 port days so not worth HAL providing a lecturer. We also love sitting with a good book on the promenade deck. Do you have any idea what type of "more" he wanted? 

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

Likes: Lectures, history of ports, any “natural” phenomena in upcoming ports, cooking demos, etc.

We are not card players.  Not bar-sitters. Not onboard shoppers.  would love to see anything “informative” regarding the itinerary (more than the cursory “questions about….” sessions in a small bar.   )  More use of main theater during the day to maybe learn something about where we are headed or other interesting locations that HAL sails to.

He just felt that most of the offerings were either crafts or shopping activities.

 

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

45 minutes ago, ScottishMaid said:

We were on the 23rd August sailing and also the 29 July 25 day sailing which had a lecturer on board. The 23rd August had only 3 sea days and 7 port days so not worth HAL providing a lecturer. We also love sitting with a good book on the promenade deck. Do you have any idea what type of "more" he wanted? 

@ScottishMaid if you have them, could you post one of the daily activities listing for one of the at sea days on the Greenland/Iceland trip?   

[sailawayward]

I think it depends mostly on which Class you'll be sailing on. The Zaandam and Volemdam are both in HAL's Rotterdam Class of ships, so they are the oldest in the line. They were each christened in 1999 and just don't have the facilities like the newer ships with Music Walk (BB King's/RS Rock Room/Billboard Onboard) and World Stage. The Rotterdam Class ships are smaller though, so they are able to navigate waters the larger ships can't; and the smaller passenger count can be a definite plus for some.

 

We sailed the Baltic on the Rotterdam in June and absolutely loved our cruise; but we found the entertainment to be lacking especially on sea days.  It's really the only disappointment we had with our experience.

 

I would recommend downloading the Navigator app several weeks before your cruise if you don't already have it on your device.  Once you are logged into the app, there is an icon of the HAL logo centered at the bottom - named 'Experiences'.  Click that icon and you'll have access to the Daily Program (along with Shore Excursions, Dining, Spa, Photo Gallery, and Room Service).  Start checking this Daily Program schedule in the Navigator App about 2 weeks before your cruise and then monitor updates & changes until your Sail Away date.  You'll at least know the names and times for (most of) the 'shows' that may interest you before embarkation.  Pay attention to what is only shown once during the cruise so you can prioritize your schedule.

 

 

[ScottishMaid]

1 hour ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

@ScottishMaid if you have them, could you post one of the daily activities listing for one of the at sea days on the Greenland/Iceland trip?   

Sorry we threw out the printed programs and the activities are no longer on the navigator app. I do realize that because we are 5 star mariners we had a welcome drink party in the Crow's Nest, a complimentary wine tasting and also a medal ceremony event on both cruises which enlivened some days.

[cbr663]

Cooking demonstrations have been gone for a while now.  We enjoyed every one that we attended.  We use to really enjoy the movie theatre on the Nieuw Amsterdam also but I believe that is gone now also.  That big movie screen in the Lido on the Pinnacle class ships simply doesn't interest us.

 

We feel like your husband does.  We want very few sea days as there simply isn't much to peak our interest on the ships.  It's great that some people can enjoy sitting and reading a good book, and I can too, I just think I don't need to paying the per diem to do it.  😆

[TiogaCruiser]

We sailed to Mexico (Oosterdam 12 day) and had Ambassadors onboard for cultural activities during sea days and for sail away in 2022.

 

This past spring we did Panama Canal Volendam and had no special speakers. The CD ( or whatever the current title is) did do a lecture on the history of the canal that he wrote. He also did a presentation on where to be during the transit. But that was it for lectures.

 

1 hour ago, sailawayward said:

I think it depends mostly on which Class you'll be sailing on. The Zaandam and Volemdam are both in HAL's Rotterdam Class of ships, so they are the oldest in the line. They were each christened in 1999 and just don't have the facilities like the newer ships with Music Walk (BB King's/RS Rock Room/Billboard Onboard) and World Stage. The Rotterdam Class ships are smaller though, so they are able to navigate waters the larger ships can't; and the smaller passenger count can be a definite plus for some.

 

 

 

 

It might depend somewhat on class of ship but that really has no baring on whether lecturers CAN be provided. R and S class ships previously had lecturers. Our cruise to Antarctica in 2013 had at least 3 lectures a day on pertinent topics by the 4 man team. That was on Veendam, a smaller ship. So size isn’t an excuse.

[Giggleypuff]

I did a week long trip to Alaska. There were “lectures” daily but honestly they were very superficial and mainly had the cruise director chatting between showing clips. 
 

what does you husband normally do during HAL cruises if you two have managed to obtain 5 star status?

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Is there a “pattern” to which itineraries have guest lectures and /or more focused onboard activities?   Any way to find out in advance?   Port activities/ location easy to find… onboard activities not so easy.

 

 

2 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Likes: Lectures, history of ports, any “natural” phenomena in upcoming ports, cooking demos, etc.

We are not card players.  Not bar-sitters. Not onboard shoppers.  would love to see anything “informative” regarding the itinerary (more than the cursory “questions about….” sessions in a small bar.   )  More use of main theater during the day to maybe learn something about where we are headed or other interesting locations that HAL sails to.

He just felt that most of the offerings were either crafts or shopping activities.

 

We have the same concerns but are hoping their longer 3-5 week itineraries will provide some of what you're also hoping for. Our last HAL cruises to Antarctica and then Australia in 2019 were awesome, with plenty of lectures and evening shows in the theater. But once they implemented their Music Walk entertainment strategy, it all changed and we moved on to Celebrity, Princess and on occasion NCL if the itinerary is just too awesome to pass up.

 

That is until about a month or so ago, when we saw some very reasonable cruise fares along with some very alluring booking bonuses. In addition if we're reading the "tea leaves" correctly, lectures, port talks, and other informative presentations have a better chance of being provided on the longer 15+ day boutique "single itinerary" cruises, at least that's what we're hoping for.

 

To test our theory, we've booked an April 2025 21-day cruise from Ft Lauderdale through the PC ending up in Seattle on the Eurodam in an aft-facing cabin for a very fair price.

 

21-Day Panama Canal (hollandamerica.com)

 

But it definitely helped in our decision-making process that HAL has implemented some early booking bonus packages to lure us older folks back. For example, if you book a cruise within 90 days of being released for booking, they include a Mariner Society early booking bonus.

 

Mariner Society Early Booking Bonus | Holland America Line

 

Then there's the Have It All Early Booking Bonus, if you book your cruise over a year out from embarkation day.

 

Have It All Early Booking Bonus | Holland America Line

 

When we put all that together, plus getting additional perks for booking through a TA as well as being able to apply 10% discounted AARP gift cards to help pay for our cruise, we decided to give them another look.

 

Hopefully these additional thoughts might help sway your DH to give HAL another try if the itinerary is just right.

 

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

13 minutes ago, Giggleypuff said:

I did a week long trip to Alaska. There were “lectures” daily but honestly they were very superficial and mainly had the cruise director chatting between showing clips. 
 

Thanks.

Even if they were superficial, as long as they were Alaska-related and  during a down-ish time…. It’s definitely something “to do” and exactly what he would be interested in.

 

question is: how do find out which itineraries these happen (other than Alaska )?

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

We have the same concerns but are hoping their longer 3-5 week itineraries will provide some of what you're also hoping for. Our last HAL cruises to Antarctica and then Australia in 2019 were awesome, with plenty of lectures and evening shows in the theater. But once they implemented their Music Walk entertainment strategy, it all changed and we moved on to Celebrity, Princess and on occasion NCL if the itinerary is just too awesome to pass up.

 

That is until about a month or so ago, when we saw some very reasonable cruise fares along with some very alluring booking bonuses. In addition if we're reading the "tea leaves" correctly, lectures, port talks, and other informative presentations have a better chance of being provided on the longer 15+ day boutique "single itinerary" cruises, at least that's what we're hoping for.

 

To test our theory, we've booked an April 2025 21-day cruise from Ft Lauderdale through the PC ending up in Seattle on the Eurodam in an aft-facing cabin for a very fair price.

 

21-Day Panama Canal (hollandamerica.com)

 

But it definitely helped in our decision-making process that HAL has implemented some early booking bonus packages to lure us older folks back. For example, if you book a cruise within 90 days of being released for booking, they include a Mariner Society early booking bonus.

 

Mariner Society Early Booking Bonus | Holland America Line

 

Then there's the Have It All Early Booking Bonus, if you book your cruise over a year out from embarkation day.

 

Have It All Early Booking Bonus | Holland America Line

 

When we put all that together, plus getting additional perks for booking through a TA as well as being able to apply 10% discounted AARP gift cards to help pay for our cruise, we decided to give them another look.

 

Hopefully these additional thoughts might help sway your DH to give HAL another try if the itinerary is just right.

 

A lot of the perks are why I have been still “looking”… but he would like some recent examples of itineraries and activities before he would consider.

a few of the longer (20 or more days) itineraries are ones I would consider, but as of now he is VERY hesitant. 

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

A lot of the perks are why I have been still “looking”… but he would like some recent examples of itineraries and activities before he would consider.

a few of the longer (20 or more days) itineraries are ones I would consider, but as of now he is VERY hesitant. 

@Btimmer just started an almost Live From thread on their Grand Voyage South America cruise on the Zaandam that you may want to follow along on. That’s too long of a cruise for us. However, if you do a cruise search for itineraries on the Zaandam during the Oct-Dec 2023 timeframe, you’ll find some shorter segments that make up the Grand Voyage. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Of course their 22-day Antarctica cruise is always awesome which I’m sure has a wide variety of lectures and other informative talks.

[retird]

20 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

A lot of the perks are why I have been still “looking”… but he would like some recent examples of itineraries and activities before he would consider.

a few of the longer (20 or more days) itineraries are ones I would consider, but as of now he is VERY hesitant. 

Noordam from Sydney to Vancouver in April 2024 has some good perks and prices right now if you sign in with your mariner number

[sailawayward]

45 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

question is: how do find out which itineraries these happen (other than Alaska )?

You won't know the schedule of activities for your cruise until it gets closer to your embarkation day.  That's why I recommended checking the Navigator app regularly leading up to the final days of your Sail Away date so you'll know the schedule of activities prior to embarkation.  It would be nice if HAL published those activities a year in advance to help you make a better buying decision before your cruise, but it doesn't.

Edited September 24, 2023 by sailawayward