we get lost on the ships

[retiredkid]

does HAL give out locator maps that are easy to carry around? Otherwise, I will make up a pocket guide. TIA

[fire eater]

Your stateroom keycard comes in a small folder, which includes a deck plan. Good idea, I think.

[CJcruzer]

at check in, you will receive your keycard for cabin, inside a small folder (similar to hotel keycards with folder). inside will also be a compact (easy to slip in pocket) deck plan guide. Also note you hve the brass plaques at the elevators, showing you all the decks with pointers to venues, lounges, areas and a notation with a dot "you are here"

 

the plaques are identical in setup/notation to the small folded deck plan you are given with keycard at check in.

 

Carol

Edited September 6, 2015 by CJcruzer

[retiredkid]

thanks... we've learned the hard way. lol

[retiredkid]

love the idea of the you are here dot, too. :)

[CaveDiving]

It’s easy to remember. Entertainment in the front, dining in the rear, Lido buffet & pool up, and most other things near the middle on either the Promenade and Upper Promenade decks, or the Promenade and Lower Promenade decks (depending on the ship.)

 

Scott & Karen

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I loved it on our Princess cruise that one hallway carpet had a red color woven into the pattern while the other side had the plain pattern. So easy at a glance to see which way to wanted to go when you got off the elevator.

[TiogaCruiser]

On HAL, the Bow of the HAL emblem at cabin doors always points to the bow of the ship.

 

I kept getting lost on my last cruise when I was starboard, forward of the atrium. My previous cruise I was port, aft of the atrium. A Front Desk staff member pointed that out. She said the Medical Department pointed that out to her.

[hugger]

On HAL, the Bow of the HAL emblem at cabin doors always points to the bow of the ship.

 

I kept getting lost on my last cruise when I was starboard, forward of the atrium. My previous cruise I was port, aft of the atrium. A Front Desk staff member pointed that out. She said the Medical Department pointed that out to her.

 

what an awesome tip that is - help me understand this better please. The Emblem where the room number is?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Even when we first started to cruise, we never got lost thus we never had to use those little maps.

[GUT2407]

That's why as soon as we board we wander the ship, top to bottom, fore to aft.

[whogo]

love the idea of the you are here dot, too. :)

Holland America ought to add those you are here dots to the pocket locator maps.

[kazu]

One thing I discovered (at least on the Vista ships) is that at the central elevators, the chairs there (or the people on the chairs) all face forward. So that can also help you with your bearings.

[retiredkid]

Great tips! I always relied on the carpets to point forward and aft on Disney Cruiseline, but it never helped with left or right at the elevators....

navigation is not my forte. . LOL

[retiredkid]

Holland America ought to add those you are here dots to the pocket locator maps.

lol....little stickers that you could move around.:D

[dakrewser]

I have an app on my iPad (also for iPhone) called Deck Director which provides an interactive map of ships. It even does directions to help you get somewhere quickly (most helpful on non-HAL ships).

[TiogaCruiser]

what an awesome tip that is - help me understand this better please. The Emblem where the room number is?

 

I'll check my pictures and post later. Each cabin has the emblem with the cabin number.

 

Basically, the HAL logo (small galleon with a modern hull behind it) is on the wall by each cabin door. The direction the bow of the emblem faces is the bow of the ship. Cabins on the opposite side of the hall have the mirror image - so they too face the bow. On ships with lanai cabins, the emblem on the patio door also faces the bow.

Edited September 6, 2015 by TiogaCruiser

[chefestelle]

I have an app on my iPad (also for iPhone) called Deck Director which provides an interactive map of ships. It even does directions to help you get somewhere quickly (most helpful on non-HAL ships).

 

 

Me too and I think it loads the maps so it works offline (though maybe not the interactive part because that would need some kind of signal). Love the app. I'm directionally challenged. It's a stubborn affliction and I need all these little cues!

[RuthC]

Most of the elevator banks have one opening to a cross passageway, that leads to the starboard or port side. If you are coming off such an elevator, you are facing forward. Starboard is to the right; port is to the left.

 

This is not true on the Prinsendam, which has a different set-up. On the Prinsendam the forward elevators open so you face aft; the aft elevators open so you face forward.

[avian777]

On HAL, the Bow of the HAL emblem at cabin doors always points to the bow of the ship.

 

GREAT POST - in all the time I have been cruising on HAL, I never knew this ... and obviously was not smart enough to "break the code" myself. So thanks greatly for this very valuable piece of info/advice!!!

Edited September 6, 2015 by avian777

[OlsSalt]

We still get turned around coming off the elevators or stair wells, even now after multiple cruises. We now on the first day always look for some asymmetric visual clue in the deck stairwells and vestibules - a statue, a painting, a carpet pattern --something that is different for each side of the ship to know which way to turn down the corridor to our cabin.

 

The smaller ships have fewer stairwells and elevator banks but the ones where you lose track of being in the aft, forward or middle elevators is where it gets most confusing when you land on your cabin deck.

 

There are signs, but often they are hard to see or in an obscure location, but they are there so find them and learn how to use them for quick reference. One also needs to sort out the names and the numbers for the different deck as each is used. Particularly confusing is which one is really the 360 promenade deck when there are three possibilities carrying that identifying name: lower, upper and promenade which I think is not really the 360 promenade deck.

 

My favorite (awful) landmark were the over-the-top Blue Boy benches on I believe the Oosterdam - we had to pick out one of them to "point" the way to our side of the ship when we got off the elevators. My favorite were the paintings on the Rotterdam which were unique in each stairwell elevator vestibule.

 

I always thought ships could do a better job with signature visuals and even carpet patterns that indicated forward and aft since many times one cannot see the water outside nor even get a feeling of it directional movement sometimes for quick reference.

 

The general rule as previously suggested - dining in in the back and entertainment is forward need a little jingle to make it easy to remember

Eat and Aft are three letter words -- Show (lounge) is where the ship "goes" (forward). Groan - okay but you get the idea.

Edited September 6, 2015 by OlsSalt

[dakrewser]

Me too and I think it loads the maps so it works offline (though maybe not the interactive part because that would need some kind of signal). Love the app. I'm directionally challenged. It's a stubborn affliction and I need all these little cues!

 

 

No, it works fine off-line as the entire map is stored on the device.

[jtl513]

Most of the elevator banks have one opening to a cross passageway, that leads to the starboard or port side. If you are coming off such an elevator, you are facing forward. Starboard is to the right; port is to the left.

 

This is not true on the Prinsendam, which has a different set-up. On the Prinsendam the forward elevators open so you face aft; the aft elevators open so you face forward.

I know you said "most" of the elevator bays face forward, but since you pointed out the P'dam as an exception I'll point out that the central two non-glass elevators on Vista and Sig ships face aft. (And of course the glass elevators face port or starboard.) :) Edited September 6, 2015 by jtl513

[chefestelle]

No, it works fine off-line as the entire map is stored on the device.

 

 

Even better!

[avian777]

I have an app on my iPad (also for iPhone) called Deck Director which provides an interactive map of ships. It even does directions to help you get somewhere quickly (most helpful on non-HAL ships).

 

Thanks for the tip ... unfortunately us "directionally challenged" cruisers who use cell 'phones/tablets with Android OS cannot use the Deck Director ... do you know of any similar apps the do work on Android devices?