Activities: Princess vs. HAL

[chimpanzoid]

Just returned from our first cruise on the Emerald Princess and it was the best vacation of our lives! We're in our late 50s but really like to be active. In addition to fulfilling our daily athletic needs in the fitness center, we participated in activities all day and all night, including trivia games, the Newlywed Game, karaoke, Jeopardy, dance classes, etc. We won 4 bottles of champagne during the course of the cruise. We especially love to dance to dj music or live bands and were out 'til closing time (wee hours) at one night club or another just about every night--the last night we were up until 3:30 am! We seemed to hold our own within the 20s crowd and learned many new dance moves from them.

 

Anyway, we're already planning for our summer 2011 cruise in Europe and it looks like it's coming down to Princess vs. HAL. What I'm wondering is what the activities scene is like on the HAL ships--do they have fun games like Princess? Do they have late night disco clubs and live bands? I've heard HAL caters to a slightly older crowd, especially on longer voyages. The activities on the Emerald were a major part of what made the cruise so memorable, so we're looking to replicate that experience.

 

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide about this--Dave

[geoherb]

Our most recent HAL cruise was to the Caribbean during a spring break week. So it drew a younger crowd. They had plenty of activities. The downside is that the cruise director doesn't have a very large staff. The upside was the culinary center, where there were lots of activities throughout the week. My favorite was a small cooking class (which cost extra). But there were plenty of free activities there as well, including lectures on tea and special culinary-themed trivias.

[Pam in CA]

Every HAL cruise I've been on so far has been totally dead after dinner. I tend to go back to my cabin early on a cruise but often stop by a bar or lounge to get something to drink before going. This would be at about 10pm at night. So many times, I'd walk through lounges with trios or bands playing and absolutely no one there. I felt so badly for them. Granted, I didn't check out all of the bars and lounges so there might have been activity somewhere. On Princess in comparison, all the bars and lounges are jumping after dinner.