elaine5

yes. merged quotes, yours was only last part. sorry.

We were on Rotterdam a few weeks ago. The Music walk is fun, but doesn't make up for lackluster headliner entertainment. The Rolling Stones band some fun 80 music and people were dancing on a small dance floor. BB King is a nice jazz/blues band, Billboard is dueling piano singers. All are good for an evening or two. 1 group rotates off each night. You must go at least 45 minutes ahead of 1st show to get a seat, then fairly packed for the rest of the night. They usually play 3 45 minute sets/night. Again, if smoke bother you, almost 1/2 of Biilboard and Rolling Stones are not good, thus limiting seating options.

I'll also put in a plug for Cunard. We sailed QV to France/Spain last summer as we got a great deal and it fit out time parameters. We expected a stuffy, boring cruise--not--we enjoyed it very much. There were very few children, even during UK summer holidays. Good food in MDR and buffet. Entertainment was the main drawback-headliner show was salute to 20/30s songs. But there were several nights that were very good (crazy cellist). Theater was Victorian style-beautiful. We also enjoyed watching cruisers ballroom dancing very much-some were very good. At it was fun watching the host/hostess teach others to dance. If we wanted a refined, fairly sedate cruise to relax, read, get some sun, this would be it for us if we wanted to mix it up from Princess and Celebrity.

Just got back from Rotterdam. We expected an older crowd. But, on our sailing, I'd guess at least 25% were 50 and under, with 25% in the 50-75 age group. A few children and young adults. Music walk was full in the evenings. On the Orange party night, the venue (at BB King's) was packed at 10pm. The Orange bar hop was at capacity at 9:30. Someone at HMC (young adult) said she felt that her (older) HA ship was mostly a quite old crowd.

There is also a recent comparison with Celebrity on the HA board. Celebrity is a better fit for us; it has a good mix of activity, more than HA or even Princess, but less than Royal C, Carnival, or NCL. Pricing is usually better on Princess so we tend to stick with Princess for similar itineraries. For ex, on a NZ cruise, a balcony on a 13 day P was $1K less than an OV on 12 day C for the same ports. We have always had a good experience and feel P delivers a quality product. But, there are many loyal HAers, who feel the same for HA.

On Rotterdam early January, college bowl games and pro play-offs were on large pool screen and also in rooms where one could chose which play-off game to watch.

We just got off a 9 day HA in the Carib. It is similar to Princess in quality, with a bit older demographics. It was not school holiday in USA, so very few children. I do not know what it would be like for school holidays. We were on Rotterdam, there is a good discussion of our sailing (comparing to Celebrity) recently on the HA board. Overall, we much prefer Princess and found HA to be a bit too quiet for us, with the entertainment is severely lacking. Food was very good. Here is a recent discussion:

thanks. I just found the video. I thought that would be really weird as it seemed to open directly in deck plan.

are those chairs free, or do you reserve them for a fee?

I'm considering an OV cabin on deck 3 across from the photo gallery (3700-3712). Is there a separate hallway for the cabin? Confirming that the doors do not open directly into the photo gallery area?

Can we just get off ship, grab some chairs in the shade (under a palm tree, etc.) and hang for the day at the beach, swim, eat the BBQ lunch without spending extra $? Or do we need to get a clam shell? If so, can we pick which one or is it assigned? Are there certain places/beaches that we'd need to pay an entrance fee? We don't care about water toys, zip lines, etc. Just a great beach day for 2 60 yr olds.

Asking here on CC for late 2024. Didn’t realize excursions are still Canx after boating incident.

I was just checking Blue Lagoon options when planning a cruise.

Thanksgiving is a bit higher, but not much. You can still get a bit of tropical weather in mid-late Nov, esp. in W. Carib. Early Dec weather tends to be calmer and pricing tends to be fairly low, as it's between holidays and most kids are in school, followed by Jan, with Feb getting higher. We love March (usually good weather), but pricing can be a higher due to spring breaks. Water tends to be warmer in early Dec than Jan/Feb. The "older, with good stuff" ships on RCCL that I'd look at are Freedom/Liberty/Indy and Voyager/Adventure/Explorer/Navigator. I think all have ice skating shows/sessions, flow riders, climbing walls, putt-putt, sports courts, water slides, fun indoor promenade/cafe area. Most (all) have been renovated. As it's your 1st cruise, I think you'll be wowed by any of those ships. And, personally, I'd save the "bigger/better/newer" ships for another cruise. We've done both newer and older ships. When we got off Explorer this summer and DH said, "I really like that class of ships, it's a great size and layout, and the slide/flow rider are fun."

From a family of 5-tip. Some of the older ships (Liberty, for ex), have lots of cool tween-teen things to do and come in at a much lower price point. They have family Oceanview cabins (ultra spacious Oceanview) that can be a really good deal. There are some configured like a suite (usually front corner rooms, below) with a separate small bunk bed room. We have done both 5 person cabins and 2 rooms depending on the pricing.

if platinum, is daily charge $7.50?

I didn't smell any smoke from Verandah, so I don't think so. The smoking was "avoidable." Casino is 3rd floor forward. If you came to Billboard/Rolling stones (on 2) from midship, it was OK towards that end. The front part was not OK. To get to main theater (front of ship) to avoid casino, walk on 2 to front where there is an elevator. We just avoided aft pool area.

Yes, very nice time, we're beach/water people-we also get a great deal ( 2 months out). Agree, Celebrity tends to be $$$ unless we're booking last minute. If I may ask, how did you get a great deal on your Amex? Was it just for HA?

How did you like it? How does the beach compare to Grand Turk or ships' private islands/areas (Coco, Half Moon, Castaway, etc.)?

We were on the same sailing, also in early 60s. Our 1st HA. We had an enjoyable time, great weather on a beautiful ship. We echo original poster's thoughts with a few additional observations. Agree--smoking was an issue. We could only sit on the far side of Billboard and Rolling Stones, with already limited seating; and almost zero seats by main pool (sun or sahde) by 7am--never had this issue on RCCL, Celebrity, Disney or Princess. We met another couple who said the pool chairs was a deal killer for them for future HA Carib. cruises. Main DR food was very good (maybe even slightly better than MDR Celebrity/Princess), Rudi's excellent, buffet was fine, but we found above-listed cruise lines to have more variety and better taste/spices. Room was wonderful, shower great. Entertainment-HA seems to have given up on this, with the exception of a dance group, which was excellent. Otherwise, mostly single entertainers (comic, magician), a lecture on HA history, a few movies, and steel drum band (very good) as the headliner events. The steel band was what I'd expect on the pool deck or in a club, not as a headliner. We enjoyed Rolling Stones and BB King Blues each 1 night, but found ourselves just watching movies in our cabin the other nights--HA has a good selection of free on demand. We noticed many people with coughing, sneezing, upper respiratory issues. We actually enjoyed Grand T and HMC, both places we snagged seats in the shade. We sailed a similar itinerary last year with Celebrity and found the vibe and entertainment more our style and would choose that again in heartbeat. After this sailing, we would sail HA again only if it had a great itinerary for a great price, esp. if in Europe with more port stops and using the ship as a floating hotel.

can anyone report back about their experience the past year?

Are we allowed to take a small shade tent (we'd sit on towel on sand, top of shade tent hits just above head)? OR can we bring a typical beach umbrella? Or are the ship's clamsells all that are allowed?

Are we allowed to take a small shade tent (we'd sit on towel on sand, top of shade tent hits just above head)? OR can we bring a typical beach umbrella? Or are the HA clamsells all that is allowed?

We’re on princess majestic to NZ this spring. We had the same decision. Princess balcony vs celebrity OV. We’re about the same age. For this cruise, we don’t care much about entertainment. But I find Celebrity entertainment better including a great 2 person cirque type show. The overall celebrity vibe was a bit cooler, hipper than princess. Think princess-very nice Marriott, celebrity-hotel indigo. We ultimately decided on princess for balcony and slightly better timing.

Oh, I understand now. Yes, federal BCBS covers overseas. If anyone with federal BCBS has any advice, please chime in. Thanks. Elaine