HAL For Thirty-Somethings?

[WillWorkForCruise121]

On 11/2/2021 at 5:37 PM, iceman93 said:

Honestly, I think Disney is the right choice for you!

Appreciate the suggestion. 

 

We have only done 1 Disney sailing on the Disney Wonder with my brother and his family (he has two young children).   It was probably one of our least-favorite cruise experiences for adults.   I appreciated some aspects of it, but the areas dedicated to adults were way too small and it was impossible to get a seat for most adult activities.   So much of that ship was (understandably) dedicated to the kiddos.   I don't think we'd do another Disney cruise.  It was also overpriced IMO.   It wasn't awful, but we definitely enjoyed Celebrity and RCCL more.   

[WillWorkForCruise121]

14 hours ago, neuronbob said:

We started on HAL in our 40's.  Now in early 50's with some gray.  We don't drink and we aren't into the fancy rock climbing and waterslides, etc.  HAL offers a quiet, relaxing, traditional cruise, and you don't have to be "old" to enjoy that.  If we were party people, we'd be on Carnival.

 

LOL, I can relate.  We did a Carnival cruise once, and it was an experience we probably won't repeat unless it's on one of their newer ships in a Havana Cabana class or something.  It was by far our least favorite cruise experience to date.   It kind of felt like the Wal-Mart of the Seas. 

[zgscl]

This question is always hard to answer as we all find different things of value and what may be a dealbreaker for someone is a feature for someone else. I am 29 and have done a number of HAL cruises and continue to book with them for a couple reasons (more on that later). I tried to answer as much as I could. I did a live thread this past summer in Alaska (linked in my signature) which had a lot of photos of the menus, meals, daily programs, etc. and I will do a similar one in a week when I board the Koningsdam for a Mexican Rivera cruise. 

 

On 11/1/2021 at 12:42 PM, WillWorkForCruise121 said:

We enjoy the unique bars, specialty restaurants and entertainment on board

This varies a fair amount depending on the ship you are on. All ships will have Pinnacle Grill (steak house), Canaletto (Italian), and generally a Sel de Mer popup one night (seafood). The newer ships add Tamarind/Nami Sushi and the newest have Sel de Mer as a permanent restaurant. I am not a good judge of if any of the bars qualify as unique. Most are in the Music Walk Venues plus a couple of other bars onboard. I would describe them as traditional bars though I am sure some of 

 

Entertainment has been a pain point for many. HAL no longer does traditional production shows. They have the Step One Dance Company that does sort of modern dance with modern music (no singing, all recorded). There is a video on the HAL website that has a good representation of this. I believe they have a total of 2-3 shows but most 7 day sailings only will have 2. One night the main show is a BBC Earth movie with live classical music playing over it. They also usually have a magician or other visiting performers a couple of other nights. If you have a late port call the evening's main show could be a movie on the big screen in the main stage. 

They have a number of EXC talks which are all fantastic. These are 30-45 minute produced lectures given by the cruise director on various topics. On our recent Alaska cruise I think they had 8 or so of them. All were very interesting, however there were 2 nights where the evening's entertainment was one of these talks. 

HAL has the Music Walk with the number of venues changing depending on which ship you are on. These play 2-3 shows per night and depending on your taste in music these are fantastic. Also BB Kings has 1-2 30 minute comedy shows most nights. 

Here are a couple programs from Alaska this past summer. 

 

Sea day:

 

Port Day:

 

[zgscl]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:42 PM, WillWorkForCruise121 said:

We don't have kids and don't typically enjoy the craziness of the main pool on lines like Royal and Carnival.  We tend to gravitate to the adults only areas for relaxation.

This will be a plus for HAL. I have never had a single ship overrun with children or families. Even on the Caribbean/Alaska 7 day cruises during summers the average age onboard is 50 at the youngest. There are certainly families and kids, but you just don't get tons of kids running anywhere. Most ships also have an adult only pool (Sea View Pool). HAL also offers Cabanas for rent in The Retreat which is not technically adult only but kids are almost never there. I think you would find the main pool a lot more sedated than any RCI or CCL ship. Absolutely no waterslides or wave runners anywhere to be found. 

 

On 11/1/2021 at 12:42 PM, WillWorkForCruise121 said:

We are both into dining and appreciate good food and trying new things.

Post pandemic there has been a definite downgrade of the main dining room. Definitely fewer options and a couple items that used to be included are now only available for purchase except on long voyages (surf & turf with lobster, jumbo shrimp cocktail). Specialty dining continues to be great at least from what I have experienced. 

 

On 11/1/2021 at 12:42 PM, WillWorkForCruise121 said:

We aren't big into the party/dance type of thing but do enjoy listening to musical acts in lounges on ships while sipping cocktails.  

You probably would enjoy the Music Walk. BB Kings has a mix of 60s-early 80s soul, blues, Memphis, Motown, etc and is a popular venue for drinks and dancing. Live From Lincoln Center has classical music. Billboard Onboard has the two pianos (not technically dueling, but fun nonetheless). Rolling Stones Rock Room (only on 3 newest ships) is rock & pop. They have shows (usually 3/evening) but they are open so you can come and go as you please. Seating fills up quickly so coming early is recommended. On the Nieuw Amsterdam the showtimes were more of a suggestion but they played 3 forty five minute sets with a fifteen-ish minute break.  

 

On 11/1/2021 at 12:42 PM, WillWorkForCruise121 said:

I am admittedly a big fan of Karaoke and we typically do it at least 1 or 2 times per cruise. 

I have not seen Karaoke anywhere onboard for years on HAL unfortunately. 

 

On 11/1/2021 at 3:07 PM, WillWorkForCruise121 said:

If everything shuts down at 10pm though, that might be a bit of a bummer,  sometimes we like sitting in a lounge and listening to a solo act and things like that into the later hours but if there's no dance-club or themed parties, we will be just fine with that.

Generally speaking there is something going on until at least midnight. Usually Dance to the Hits is the final thing which is recorded music. I posted a program upthread which has some of the times venues were open. BB Kings and Billboard Onboard had shows going fairly late. I would say midnight to 1 AM is a more realistic timeline of when there is no one out and about. Can confirm no dance clubs and no theme parties. 

[zgscl]

On 11/4/2021 at 11:47 AM, WillWorkForCruise121 said:

 

LOL, I can relate.  We did a Carnival cruise once, and it was an experience we probably won't repeat unless it's on one of their newer ships in a Havana Cabana class or something.  It was by far our least favorite cruise experience to date.   It kind of felt like the Wal-Mart of the Seas. 

Our first two cruises were Carnival and we very quickly realized there was a whole world of cruise lines out there that were a better fit for us (granted it took us a few more tries to get it right). 

 

 

We really do like HAL despite a couple of the issues I have mentioned. Have wanted to try Celebrity but there are a few reasons I still give HAL the edge (no pun intended). 

• We primarily travel in a Neptune Suite (and recently have been turned onto the aft wrap Neptune suites). As far as the actual I view a Celebrity Sky Suite as a downgrade and a Celebrity Suite as an upgrade that I really don't need. I have no doubt the Celebrity Suite experience is a better overall product, but when I compare prices I have not yet found sailings where it would be comprable. Celebrity is usually priced more, but for perks I don't particularly value enough to pay the additional price. 
• Celebrity evening main shows look far better. However the daytime activities on X do absolutely nothing for me. We really enjoy the cooking demonstrations & EXC talks. When comparing side by side I did not see much that I would go to during the day on X whereas with HAL I am usually occupied. We really enjoyed the Music Walk and were very happy in BB King's the few nights we were not interested in the main stage show (and I will freely admit there were a couple nights we went back to our cabin and did absolutely nothing or watched a movie which was lovely too). 
• The main dining room is probably my biggest issue right now in terms of selection (I still found the food to be good, just the number of options was reduced from what it was before). We did purchase the "indulge" items a couple times. These are basically upsells they offer nightly. We never had a bad meal, and we absolutely did not go hungry. On my upcoming cruise I am planning 6 out of 7 nights in specialty dining. Will see how that goes. 
• Purely coincidence but HAL sail dates have always fit better with my schedule or the times I am looking for a cruise in a particular destination. I am open to trying X or another line but a number of stars would need to align for me to be willing to try something different. 

I think you might enjoy HAL. Particularly for Alaska, and especially if you can get onboard one of their Pinnacle or Signature class ships. HAL & Princess are really the experts when it comes to Alaska, and both have the most itineraries with Glacier Bay which is really too beautiful to miss.

 

[tuolumne couple]

We were in our 40's on our first cruise with HAL. Next year we will be on our 17th cruise (if you count back to back). We tried two other lines at the start, but stayed with HAL since 2009 for a plethora of reasons. At 4 stars, the perks are certainly worth it. Alaska was our first suite, and was so worth it with the long daylight hours the time of year we sailed.

We enjoy all the food and entertainment on HAL ships, but have the wherewithal to create our own entertainment as well. We are huge into excursions and snorkeling as well as other personal interests such as bird watching, walking the promenade, spending hours in the gym/spa, and enjoy meeting other cruisers, and listening to their life stories during a meal. We laugh, dance, explore, and absolutely love watching the wake of the ship on our deck. 

Good luck with your decision. Only you can make that call. Go with an open mind and no expectations.

Someone once told me, try everything once, and the fun things twice. 

Happy sailing, and may we meet on deck some day, and hear your life story.

 

[tuolumne couple]

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/holland-americas-rotterdam-isnt-grandparents-cruise-ship/

just saw this in the headlines

Edited November 11, 2021 by tuolumne couple

[si4444]

My first cruise with them was I was 39. I'm a fan now. Good dining all around. I enjoy BB King's for music. And sometimes there's rock room for live heavier music. The clientele is older but not stuck up and I really like the fact of quieter for sleeping and no kids running around me. 

 

Definitely give it a try.

 

Scott 

[terrydtx]

Pre Covid for the last 10 years HAL had been our cruise line of choice mostly in Signature Suites and one Neptune suite cabins, however, I retired in 2020 at 70 and we felt too young on our last HAL cruise in 2019. We cruised on Celebrity in August for the first time since 2009 in a Sky Suite and we were blown away by the service and amenities of the Retreat vs the suites on HAL so we have booked 3 future cruises on Celebrity on 2 of their newest ships, The Apex and Edge. We found the suites only Luminae restaurant to be the best of any cruise line, while the HAL Club Orange is a total joke. The Retreat suites only Lounge, has a full bar with bar tender and the Neptune Lounge is a joke with a liquor cart sometimes in late afternoons. In the new Edge class ships the Luminae and Retreat lounges are located on the high deck 12 and 15.

 

Our Oosterdam cruise next year of Greece will be our last with HAL, we booked it for the timing of the cruise and to use some FCC. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by terrydtx

[BigMattT]

We’re in the same general demographic as OP.
 

We do Celebrity if we suspect we want a few nights of drinking and Karaoke in there somewhere. HAL Pinnacle class if we we’re leaning toward more relaxation and recuperating from daily life. Both work just fine. I’d try HAL. At the very least, you’ll know for the future if it’s an option for you again. 

[BigMattT]

On 11/11/2021 at 6:07 AM, terrydtx said:

Pre Covid for the last 10 years HAL had been our cruise line of choice mostly in Signature Suites and one Neptune suite cabins, however, I retired in 2020 at 70 and we felt too young on our last HAL cruise in 2019. We cruised on Celebrity in August for the first time since 2009 in a Sky Suite and we were blown away by the service and amenities of the Retreat vs the suites on HAL

Oh, yeah— that’s the caveat. My former comments should apply to non-suites only. HAL’s suites and suite-level service don’t compare to Celebrity’s. Not even in the same ballpark.

 

It’s nice not NEEDING a suite on HAL to get the quiet and relaxing, non-salesy experience.

[MTAK]

OP - it sounds like you and your spouse are similar to us.  I am 46 and my wife is 39, no kids.  Our first cruise was in 2018 on HAL and we will be embarking on our 3rd HAL cruise next April.

 

Our cruises were 7-day Alaska and Caribbean itineraries and we never felt out of place.  There were plenty of people in our age range. We sailed both Signature ships and will be sailing on the Rotterdam.  We really like the music walk - sipping cocktails listening to live music is very much our thing, with some occasional dancing if we really like the music. We're not big show types, but felt the entertainment in the main stage was good.

 

The old-age related comments don't represent our experience. Maybe true on longer itineraries or more typical of HAL in the past but certainly not on the trips we've taken.

 

We have not sailed other lines yet.  I've compared Celebrity itineraries and they have not been competitive in cost for us.  We do have a deposit on a Virgin cruise in December '22.

[*Miss G*]

Well, I guess I’ll add my 2¢ worth.  When my kids were ages 21 & 23, my parents gave them a HAL Caribbean cruise for Christmas with $1200 OBC.  Two days later I received a phone call saying they had gone through the credit and needed more.  😂  (They were still in Uni at the time so not yet set up in life.)  They said the age range was slanted towards the older crowd but they were still having lots of fun and everyone was so nice!

 

FF 10 years (and more HAL cruises) and my daughter and SIL chose a repeat of the Mediterranean Romance (HAL) for their honeymoon cruise.  They had a blast and were even invited to the Captain’s Table for a special dinner!

 

Moral of the story is… some people are adaptable and make their own fun, while some people need to be entertained.  I highly recommend you try HAL, especially on the Pinnacle-class.  I was young when I started with them, too, and have loved every minute.

[zgscl]

52 minutes ago, MTAK said:

Our cruises were 7-day Alaska and Caribbean itineraries and we never felt out of place.  There were plenty of people in our age range. We sailed both Signature ships and will be sailing on the Rotterdam

 

52 minutes ago, MTAK said:

The old-age related comments don't represent our experience. Maybe true on longer itineraries or more typical of HAL in the past but certainly not on the trips we've taken.

 

I am 29 and this has certainly been my experience. Most of the 7 day sailings have a wide age range particularly when school is out. We did a 14 day Panama Canal and I think I was about the youngest person by 40 years (I was 19 or so at the time). HAL has always had a relaxed vibe on board, I have never felt overrun by children or seen the pool get out of hand. That being said I have had many lunches in the MDR where I was the youngest by a lot. 

 

1 hour ago, MTAK said:

We have not sailed other lines yet.  I've compared Celebrity itineraries and they have not been competitive in cost for us.  We do have a deposit on a Virgin cruise in December '22.

Celebrity has had some good deals lately. I have been wanting to try them for a while and have been tempted by a couple but schedule wise HAL usually works better for me. 

[zgscl]

1 minute ago, *Miss G* said:

Well, I guess I’ll add my 2¢ worth.  When my kids were ages 21 & 23, my parents gave them a HAL Caribbean cruise for Christmas with $1200 OBC.  

I am quite impressed they wen through $1200 in OBC in 2 days! 

[*Miss G*]

2 minutes ago, zgscl said:

I am quite impressed they wen through $1200 in OBC in 2 days! 

 

Well, I think my response was more shock than impressed, but we did have a good laugh about it.  We were going through some troubling times, and they were still working hard, so I was glad they were having fun.

[*Miss G*]

30 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Well, I think my response was more shock than impressed, but we did have a good laugh about it.  We were going through some troubling times, and they were still working hard, so I was glad they were having fun.

 

I should mention that they had extrapolated their requirements to include tips, etc, to determine what they would need to close out at the end of the cruise.  Okay, kids are here for lamb dinner!  Got to go.