Princess cruiser considering HAL, any advice?

[kywildcatfanone]

That's one of the plusses on HAL. They dress up the Lido for evening meal for those who want less formal setting than MDR - but still want good food and service. Additionally, all selections are available for room serviice dinng if you really want informality.

 

Wow, and that includes things like salads and desserts? Amazing. Actually to me it makes perfect sense, I don't see why Princess (and probably others) don't do the same thing.

I likely won't take formal night clothes if this is the case.

 

Mike

[schoolinmy3]

Wow, and that includes things like salads and desserts? Amazing. Actually to me it makes perfect sense, I don't see why Princess (and probably others) don't do the same thing.

I likely won't take formal night clothes if this is the case.

 

Mike

 

We did not take formal wear on our Alaskan cruise and did not feel as if we missed out on anything. ;) We ordered room service one evening right off the dining room menu. Another evening we ate in the Lido. This upcoming cruise I am taking formal wear as our 10 yo daughter is excited at the prospect of dressing up. It is all in what you want your cruise experience to be, and IMO that is a personal thing. Also, regarding formal wear, be forewarned this is a hot topic on these boards.:eek: Just take every comment concerning formal wear with a grain of salt and enjoy your cruise.:D

diane

[kywildcatfanone]

We did not take formal wear on our Alaskan cruise and did not feel as if we missed out on anything. ;) We ordered room service one evening right off the dining room menu. Another evening we ate in the Lido. This upcoming cruise I am taking formal wear as our 10 yo daughter is excited at the prospect of dressing up. It is all in what you want your cruise experience to be, and IMO that is a personal thing. Also, regarding formal wear, be forewarned this is a hot topic on these boards.:eek: Just take every comment concerning formal wear with a grain of salt and enjoy your cruise.:D

diane

 

Hi Diane,

 

Thanks for the reply. As I mentioned earlier, this is a hotly debated topic on the Princess boards as well, but I would think that problem would go away entirely if they did what it appears HAL does, offer the same menu in the buffet, or even room service. It certainly solves that problem for me.

The only reason we dress up ourselves is so that my wife can have the lobster on formal nights, as it is something she enjoys and since Princess does not offer the menu anywhere but the DR, we go.

Don't misunderstand, we try to be respectful of people who want to dress up, and tend to avoid the public areas on formal nights and such, and just hang out on the pool decks or buffet area playing cards. But, I have never been able to understand how I'm dressed matters to anyone else, as how they dress does not matter to me. But, as you say, to each his own.

 

Mike

[navybankerteacher]

Common sense is all that is required. Ships' dailies usually specify dress code -- and there is a good deal of flexibility -- a suit for a man is always acceptable on formal night - in fact a jacket and tie fills the bill in most cases. Aside from common sense, common courtesy goes a long way. Just do not expect towear jeans in the MDR on a ship which requests you not to. Whether you understand it or not, some people choose a ship or line for the atmosphere they advertise - they are entitled to get what they paid for ---actually more entitled than is someone who thinks he is entitled towear what he wants regardless.

[kywildcatfanone]

Common sense is all that is required. Ships' dailies usually specify dress code -- and there is a good deal of flexibility -- a suit for a man is always acceptable on formal night - in fact a jacket and tie fills the bill in most cases. Aside from common sense, common courtesy goes a long way. Just do not expect towear jeans in the MDR on a ship which requests you not to. Whether you understand it or not, some people choose a ship or line for the atmosphere they advertise - they are entitled to get what they paid for ---actually more entitled than is someone who thinks he is entitled towear what he wants regardless.

 

Yeah, I agree. I do understand why (at least on Princess) some people are upset that because they don't want to dress up (for whatever reason), they feel they are punished because they can't get the DR food, which on Princess is better than the fare served in the buffet. After all, they too paid, and are entitled to what they paid for.

But, like I said earlier, this should be a non-issue on HAL with the same menu being served in the buffet (and room service apparently).

 

Mike

[fann1sh]

While generally the Lido menu is very close to the MDR, there are a few exceptions.

 

On "lobster night", shrimp is usually substituted in the Lido. There *can* also be differences in salads and desserts.

 

However the menus are quite close, as already pointed out. Those who crave lobster and don't pack a jacket/tie or its equivalent can get their lobster from room service.

[gkny]

Hi Mike, If you want to go for lobster night at the MDR you don't have to go formal. During my cruise I never dressed up on HAL. I went to the formal nights in a nice sweater and pants. Everynight I was in a sweater and nice slacks. The only thing thats different then on Princess is that there is much less activites during sea days and at night too on HAL. The library is excellent and the passengers, I thought were more sophisticated and more traveled than the other lines. The passengers seem to be between the 60s and the 80s and are very nice people. My wife and I are in the early 50s so the entertainment is geard for the older crowd. You won't see anybody in the disco past 11pm. I like HAL better than Princess because of the staff. They will do anything possible for you and they are so nice. The crew and the staff make your vacation a great one.

[kywildcatfanone]

Hi Mike, If you want to go for lobster night at the MDR you don't have to go formal. During my cruise I never dressed up on HAL. I went to the formal nights in a nice sweater and pants. Everynight I was in a sweater and nice slacks. The only thing thats different then on Princess is that there is much less activites during sea days and at night too on HAL. The library is excellent and the passengers, I thought were more sophisticated and more traveled than the other lines. The passengers seem to be between the 60s and the 80s and are very nice people. My wife and I are in the early 50s so the entertainment is geard for the older crowd. You won't see anybody in the disco past 11pm. I like HAL better than Princess because of the staff. They will do anything possible for you and they are so nice. The crew and the staff make your vacation a great one.

 

That does seem to be the consensus as I have been reading, and honestly that fits us just fine. We usually spend our day by the pool (MUTS on Princess is nice, but we can live without it), eat a nice dinner and not much else the rest of the evening, so it sounds like HAL would work out well for us.

 

Mike