Help! I need advice from past HAL cruisers, passenger age, casino, hot tubs

[pbuhle]

Hi everyone, I have been on 9 cruises. 7 with Carnival. At least 3 were a big disappointment. I want to book a 10 day cruise with HAL in early 2006 for the Eastern Caribbean but have a few questions. I'm concerned about the general age of the passengers. We're in our mid 40's. I have been told Princess Cruises are predominately elderly. What is the situation on HAL? Also, one of the most important features in determining a cruise is the number and quality of hot tubs on a ship. What can you tell me about this. On Carnival, it can be extremely difficult to get hot tub time. How are the Casinos? Do they use shuffle machines on the Black Jack tables? Do the dealers wipe you out swiftly and painfully as on Carnival? Are their slots fairly loose? What is the best shore excursion for St Maarten and St Thomas? Thanks for your help.

[JimVrhovac]

HAL has different class ships and the questions you ask can have different questions depending on which ship you are looking at.

 

HOT TUBS: Never overcrowded and have different temperatures. One warm and one Hot....

 

Jim & Ruth

[RuthC]

I can confirm Jim's report on the hot tubs---on the S- and R-class ships there are two, two temperatures, and rarely full---frequently empty on my cruises. They do close earlier than on some other lines, so don't expect to be poaching under the stars.

In general expect to be one of the youngsters on a HAL cruise. Of course, this will vary depending on the length of the cruise and whether or not schools are on vacation. But! HAL oldsters tend to be a lively---and well-traveled---group. On my cruise a couple of years ago my roomie (who had more than a few years on me) was still out having a good time when I toddled in at 2:00 AM.

Can't speak to your other questions.

[mikefang]

My wife and I have been to St Maarten twice on HAl cruises. Both times we really enjoyed the Golden Eaqle catamaran snorkel trip. Snorkeling was ok to good but the overall trip was a lot of fun and left time to do some walking around in St Maarten.

Mike

[tomc]

I've found that the older HAL travelers are younger than the younger travelers, if you know what I mean. Often a lot more fun and less stuffy, too.

[jazncruiser]

Our first cruise in 1995 was on the Nieuw Amsterdam for our 20th anniversary. We found the folks to be in all age ranges from 20's to ???. We had a wonderful time. We are now 51 & 53 and this Oct will be sailing Volendam to Southern Caribbean. Our other 2 cruises, we have hung out with people our own age to people in their early 70's because they were so interesting. It is what you make of the ship and the other passengers. All 3 of our cruises have been wonderful as we like the "traditions" on HAL as well as the relaxation, entertainment, and of course the wonderful crew/staff.

[desertrose]

First of all you should relax. Cruises should be fun. My husband and I are both 56. We have been sailing together for the last 10 years. HAL is our favorite. Hal is not just for older people. You will find all ages there. I prefer HAL because the food is better as a rule and there are fewer screaming kids. I never use the hot tubs, we like to hang out on our private balcony. As for casinos, the most we gamble in a night is $20. Happy crusing.

[yiddishkopf]

One of the most interesting people I've ever met on a cruise was a man in his 90's who had enough days on HAL to own one of the ships. You will find passengers of many ages -- enjoy them all, but don't expect loose slots -- it definitely is nothing like Vegas!

[MikeT718]

We went while school was on a break..We really did not see the kids as they all hung out at the Oasis which is the teen hang out that was installed as part of the SOE. They Casino did not use the shuffel machines as of that time. The dealers were OK and DW played the Joker Poker Machines and did quite well. I hope this answers your questions:)

[McDebbie]

On our recent Zuiderdam cruise we were seated with a couple in their 60's, we are in our 40's (were) and the third couple was in their 20's. The 60's were up later than we were each night. :D Go figure. There were of course many more of the older crowd than on our Carnival cruise which was great, the hot tubs and pools were never crowded nor the aft Sea View bar. :rolleyes: One of our favorite parts of the day was going to the Ocean Bar right before dinner for cocktail hour, the older folks would be over on the other side dancing to the oldies and man, they could throw some floor! On the sea days we went to lunch in the dining room and were seated both times with older people but found both occaisions to be remarkable, there was a wealth of experience and knowledge that we would not have had a chance to experience otherwise. Don't let the age factor bother you, I would do HAL again in a minute over Carnival.

 

The shore excursion we took in St Thomas was the safari bus to Moutain Top, it wasn't as scary as the one on Tortola but these are some steep and winding roads! There is also the tram which takes you to the Skytop area, we were too chicken to take that one. Since we live in Florida, we had no interest in the beach, boating or snorkling excursions, maybe next time. And of course, then we went shopping!!

 

As for the casino, we rarely venture in, our $20 slot money lasted about 45 minutes which was good enough for us. Hope this helps, I don't think you will be at all disappointed in a HAL cruise, my only disappointment was I didn't get to do everything I wanted to!

[ldog]

I think the HAL age question is getting a little tedious. We were in our early 50's when we started cruising again and found HAL.

 

there are people of all ages who do all sorts of things. If you want to party late at night HAL probably isn't the place for you but then again on our Baltic cruise there was a group, much older than us, who closed down the Northern Lights every night and by the end of the twelve days were ringleaders for all sorts of fun with the rest of us.

 

What we like about HAL is that it is laid back enough that whatever happens on a cruise is good. We enjoy the other pax but make our own fun as needed.

 

I am always sorry to hear people say that HAL is great for teens and kids because it isn't and WE LIKE IT THAT WAY! There is no reason for all of the cruise lines to try to be alike.

 

When, or if, we have grandchildren and want to cruise with them it will be on a different line but for now we love HAL and it's passenger mix.

 

j

[Sequim88]

We were in our 40's (technically DW still is) and found a fair variety of ages on our Alaska cruise. It definitely was not a ship full of old people.

 

We never saw anyone (othe than some kids) in hot tubs the entire cruise and the Lido pool area was hosed down and cleaned up (and closed) by 8pm.

 

In the casino, since we don't play Blackjack, can't really say about how fast they would wipe you out but....if the roulette was an example the dealers are personable, friendly, helpful and make the time enoyable - even if losing.

 

the Joker Poker Machines

One hint about the casino in general and an indication of the slots "looseness"....check the paytables on the video poker machines. With the right charts for each game the "payback" can easily be calculated (such as 9/6 Full House to Flush ratio versus 8/5 or 7/5 etc... ). The card deal is always random but what the hands pay is set in the schedule which is plainly visible. This is a tip off for the entire casino operation. If VP is paying under 95% (or as low as 90%) why would the slots be any better? VP is usually 3-4% better than slots (when played perfectly - because they assume people won't/can't).

[CDRMark]

I heartily recommend the America's Cup Race in St. Maarten. A truly memorable experience. There is more info here: www.12metre.com.

Cheers

MarkB

[CruiseQueen13]

PBuhle - Princess is not primarily elderly. We've been on quite a few cruises as you can see below. We loved Princess and were very happy with the crowd. I think it depends more on the time of your cruise, as well as, the length. IMO That determines the age of the passengers.

 

This is my first HAL cruise - I'll let you know if I feel same applies here. We are trvlg without our daughter and going during school time - we'll see.