Any good books in ship library?

[Maclean girl]

I am a voracious reader and am wondering what the ships library's are like. We will be sailing on the Rotterdam. I love mysteries and wonder if any of you fellow readers ever borrow books on the ship for reading while sailing? IF so, do you find that the books are current ...and are there lots of variety available?

I would rather not bring too many books with me but would hate to be stuck with nothing to read!! And I know that there are many other things to do on a cruise which we will be sampling but I do need a book to read as well.

 

Looking forward to hearing from cruising book lovers. Thanks so much

[newmexicoNita]

yes, HAL has excellant libraries. They also have a policy that allows you to donate a book to the library and take another one to keep. The exchange program, sometimes has very good and some of the latest books. Other times you will find one that may not be something you would purchase, but will enjoy and not have to worry about finishing before you disembark. NMnita

[earl_m]

I agree, HAL has excellent libraries,it is very much up to date.And

I like the trivia sheets that they hand out each morning. I try to answer them without refering to any books for the answers.

[DFD1]

I always take three or four books with me and leave them in the library when I am finished with them. I've been able to find some goods ones when I've run out of my own.

[jtl513]

I agree with above posters, but it's best if you get there ASAP before the most popular books are taken! :D

[Spinner2]

I too use the library aboard ship a lot. In addition to fiction there are travel guides that you can use to extend your knowledge of the ports you'll be visiting. I generally discover a new author or two from browsing in the library and they'll let you have, as I remember, three books out at a time. I didn't investigate carefully last time but I'm pretty sure I saw some books on CD which I could have transferred to my laptop and then onto my ipod had I not brought several ipod books with me. Those may have had a rental charge attached to them; not sure about that. But there's no charge to borrow the traditional library books, so long as you bring them back (unless they came from the take one--leave one shelf, of course).

[Krazy Kruizers]

When the new libraries were put onto the ships about 3 years ago, we did check out quite a few books.

 

But we have found since then that new books are not being added to the collection (which is quite large) in mny categories.

[silvercruiser]

Most ships have pretty good libraries, heavy on best sellers. Access was limited on a recent cruise because they were on Red Alert and no one could touch the books. You peeked through the grates and made out a slip for a particular book. Also no magazines or books were available. I've been on other ships with a Red Alert and this library precaution wasn't part of the deal.

[SF49erfan]

I visit the library often. Like the OP, my favorite is mystery. I usually find books I haven't read by authors I enjoy - James Patterson, Lisa Scottoline, Kathy Reiche, the Kellermans etc. There also are new release best sellers both fiction and non-fiction. DH enjoys the large print. He did Harry Potter on the Maasdam last fall and was introduced to John Griscom's books on the Volendam in February. We also enjoy the daily quizes and daily Saduko found in the library. Also the cappachino! There is a lot to like in HAL's libraries.

[Maclean girl]

Thanks so much for all the encouraging words about the libraries. It looks like I will be able to limit myself to just a few to travel with and then use the library for the duration of the cruise. Whew...DH will be pleased not to have to lug lots of books on our travels!!

[May4]

I've always been able to find titles that I've wanted to read there, as well as old favorites that are enjoyable the second, or third, or fourth time around.

 

The Explorations Cafe is a great place to read as well. Nice squashy chairs, good light, and good coffee.

 

Enjoy.:)

[readinglady]

We were on the Rotterdam last July and I am also an avid reader. There was a wonderful selection of books. There were a lot of bestsellers and a good selection of older books. I discovered several new authors on that cruise. I also donated all of the books that I brought to the library on the ship.

[Maclean girl]

Great suggestions! No need to carry home a book that has been read, eh? I am looking forward to perusing the titles. By the way, is the library only open at specific times?

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Great suggestions! No need to carry home a book that has been read, eh? I am looking forward to perusing the titles. By the way, is the library only open at specific times?

 

Maclean Girl:

 

The library is open from 8 am to 10:30 pm for book and dvd checkout. The internet center is open 24 hours, but for those needing assistance, the internet manager has morning, afternoon, and evening hours which you will find in the daily program.

 

The Explorations Cafe/Library/Internet Center is my favorite public space on the whole ship! HAL did a great job with this area during the Signature of Excellence upgrades. I think there are something like 3,000 book titles, and there are plenty of new books being added to the collection. I have found some recent books by some of my favorite authors. As others have mentioned, there is also an area where you can donate your own books, and select from titles that other pax have left. I just love it! I do bring along a few extra books of my own, because I love to read. Enjoy!:)

 

Karin

[mamaofami]

I usually bring along my own books so I'm sure of what I will have to read, since I love reading on sea days. My husband uses the library though, and he was very impressed with the selection on the Noordam.

[happy1]

This gives me great hope. On the Carnival Liberty Med cruise, the library was open one hour per day. I had to "schedule" around when I could obtain/return books. I've found Celebrity to have great librarys, and RCL to have average selections. I look forward to experiencing HAL this June.

[sail7seas]

Did you really mean to say Carnival ships open the library ONE HOUR per day? :confused: That's ridiculous!

[barante]

I don't know whether HAL "Standard of Excellence" upgrades started on the Noordam, but our March cruise would have been far less enjoyable without the ship's outstanding library.

You expect a good fiction section. But the Noordam had a good selection of recent and important books on politics, history, biography, science (!!!) and so on. It also had an incredible section on travel books. There was basically every Lonely Planet and mainstream guide you could think of. In another cabinet, two shelves under lock and key (which the library person could open). They contained expensive fine art books.

The library also had a bank of computers and other electronic gizmo. It is a total information center, cosponsored by the New York Times.

This was our sixth cruise (four times on Celebrity, once on the Norwegian) and the first on HAL. The Noordam's library was far superior to any other, just as the total cruise experience was the best we have had. And we have never had a bad cruise.

We got to San Juan on a Sunday morning. Determined to get some newspapers, I went to a hotel across from the pier. Their newstand was closed about 8:45! (If this doesn't tell you what the future of newspapers is nothing will). In fact, I couldn't find anything open that sold newspapers during our brief shore walk. (We went back to the ship to enjoy the empty pool).

However, later that day I went to the Noordam's library and, lo and behold, they had about eight copies of San Juan Star available there. (No one was reading a newspaper, except for me).

The library also had a huge puzzle that passengers were trying to complete. It was still largely uncompleted when the cruise ended.

Someone claimed that the puzzle had been started by the previous cruise!

[barante]

In another year we will be taking an trans-Atlantic on the Emerald Princess. I have decided that I'll take my tux, instead of a bag of books.

Can anyone report on the Emerald Princess library? Can it keep one satisfied for 18 days?

[cruznon]

Love HAL's libraries on the ships we've sailed. It's cozy place to curl up with a book, do jigsaw puzzles, etc.

[earl_m]

I love the library. Readind a book on the promende deck when at sea `

Its hard to beat.

[CDRMark]

I am a voracious reader and am wondering what the ships library's are like. We will be sailing on the Rotterdam. I love mysteries and wonder if any of you fellow readers ever borrow books on the ship for reading while sailing? IF so, do you find that the books are current ...and are there lots of variety available?

I would rather not bring too many books with me but would hate to be stuck with nothing to read!! And I know that there are many other things to do on a cruise which we will be sampling but I do need a book to read as well.

 

Looking forward to hearing from cruising book lovers. Thanks so much

I was impressed with the relative newness of the selection in the libraries of both Maasdam and Westerdam, but if you are a reader like I am a reader, bring your own and anything you find interesting will be gravy. The sheer volume of volumes is restricted by ship-space available.

Cheers

Mark

PS We'll be on Rotterdam 8/07.:)

[barante]

Before our 11-day Caribbean cruise on HAL's Noordam, I posted a query about its library. Although people assured it was good, I took a couple of books of my own, including an 800-page tome.

The next time we take the Noordam, I won't take any of my books at all. The beauty of the library was that they had stuff I would never have read otherwise -- all recent, solid stuff. I read a thriller by a former colleague of mine, I read history. One book in the latter category was "Mississippi in Africa," a fascinating story about slaves repatriated from a Delta plantation to Liberia in the 1830s. The author brought the story up to recent times.

I was told that the Noordam had duplicates or even triplicates of many of the books.

[LHC]

If you take books for the pre and post part of your cruise, or like me look for books with themes throughout the year please consider leaving them aboard for others to enjoy. You will find a section of the library just for this, so it is wonderful that you can leave your paper back behind and get another good read for the time of mourning going home.

The library is a great place for us "quiet souls" aboard HAL. The game section of the library can be downright rowdy..Scrabble takes on all new meaning when playing with others.

There is truly something for everyone on a HAL ship.

LHC

[Maclean girl]

Wow, it sounds like there will be lots to read on board. That will really make it simpler for me when packing...just a couple of books for our post cruise week in Britain. And if I get to them before leaving the ship, I will be able to leave it behind and swap it for another. HAL has really thought of everything!