HAL FOD get togethers?

[cookspencer]

BF and I will be traveling to alaska on the Oosterdam on June 21, 2008. Does anyone know if HAL still has FOD receptions on board. Thanks.

 

Howie

[TnTom]

I have sailed on the Oosterdam and the Zuiderdam, and both had FOD get-togethers. On the O, we had a great group that actually did some gatherings on our own after the FOD meeting. On the Z, there were actually a couple of gay grew member that hosted us for lunch on a couple of occasions. I also think several FODs hung out in the piano bar at night, although I didn't do it myself.

 

In both cases, I found HAL to be very gay-friendly and accomodating. You'll love it!

[monsoon20009]

On my Alaska cruise on the Statendam, I asked the CD the first day for a FOD meeting, but it never happened. On the Noordam last November, they finally set a FOD meeting on the last night. Ed and I went, but we were the only ones there. I've heard from others that they've had better experiences.

[cookspencer]

I hope our experience is more like Tom's. It would be cool to hang with some family on this cruise.

[oceandrive]

I went on several HAL cruises and always had very good FOD parties. On several FOD parties, crew members joined in (anybody out there know the wonderful Jazzy ?)...

 

HAL have always been great to us. That's exactly why we are repeat customers !

[Buddy604]

There were several on my Oosterdam trip earlier this year, though the first was an FOD lunch in the dining room. Prefer an initial meeting in a more relaxed environment where I don't appear to be a great white shark hoovering up the amuse bouches. :D

[RlrCstr]

The Oosterdam is a great ship.

HAL is very good about FOD meetings. They will be listed in the

Daily Program.

Enjoy your cruise.

[ctguy001]

On my march Westerdam cruise, there was no FOD get together until the last day. It was a 'luncheon' in the main dining room. Attendance: 0.

Other HAL cruises have had meetings earlier in the cruise. Most with a few joining in.

[howndder]

Hi all, just a short note to let you in on how HAL handles FOD. An "FOD" meet and greet , MUST be requested by the passenger to the Cruise Director. Since 2005, Holland has changed their rules with regards to FOD. We are no longer considered a "special interest" group and therefore elegible to have these meetings. Again, they must be requested before they will print in daily program. Hope this helps.

howndder

[wisebear]

It really seems to depend on the cruise director. We were on the Westerdam in April and had a very difficult time getting an FOD scheduled, even though there were many of us making repeated requests. Finally they were scheduled for days 5,6, & 7 (one cocktail hour & two lunches) but the whole thing was way too difficult and reeked of homophobia. I called Jason, the Cruise Director, twice a day for 4 days to make my request, but he wouldn't speak to me personally. The CD on the Westerdam seems to be a huge closet case, so I can only assume internalized homophobia played a role in my difficulties. Anyway, after hearing how gay-friendly HAL is, I was very disappointed.

[canuk1]

Yes, we were on the Oosterdam in May and there were several FOD events.

[RlrCstr]

Although it might be a decision made by the CD, as you can tell from my signature, HAL is my line of choice for most cruises, and on each ship I

have sailed there have been a number of FOD meetings and lunches.

If they were requested, it was not by anyone that I got to know from those meetings.

I have 2 more HAL cruises booked, and will see if there are any listed in

the Daily Program.

[voyagerx]

My partner and I have cruised 215 days with HAL since 2001. On almost all cruises an FOD was scheduled early in the cruise and, usually, at the outset of each segment in longer cruises. On our longest cruises (62 and 105 days) very few people showed up. There were some other gays on the ship but, for whatever reason, were not interested in hooking up. Shorter cruises had a much larger turnout and were often hosted by a crew member.

 

It is always best to request an FOD meeting as soon after boarding as possible and put it in writing to the cruise director. We have a letter from the president of HAL indicating that there is absolutely no company policy against FOD meetings, so if the cruise director says it is not permitted, he is lying and go above him and also contact the president of HAL.

 

Bon voyage.