Entertainment and activities

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Evening Production Shows & Acts

Each night, there is live entertainment in the main show lounge. This will either be a production show featuring singers and dancers from the ship's own cast, or an act from a featured entertainer flown in for the occasion.

Production shows are song and dance routines, typically in the style of Las Vegas shows (though costumes are always family-friendly). The larger the ship the more elaborate the show will be.

Featured acts, especially the comedians, are generally entertaining.

Dance clubs

There is usually classical dancing to a live band in the Ocean Bar, though this may peter out relatively early in the evening.

Additionally, each HAL ship has a dance floor called the Crow's Nest which usually features a DJ or band in the evenings. This is rarely active very late in the evening.

The newer ships (Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Noordam and Eurodam) also have a dedicated nightclub called Northern Lights. Northern Lights is an excellent venue with comfortable booths, a good-sized dance floor, and a well-equipped DJ booth. Unfortunately, unless you bring your own group of people who like to dance, you will likely find Northern Lights under-utilized.

Culinary Arts Center

Each ship has a dedicated, interactive demonstration kitchen and each cruise features at least one cooking demonstration (free) and cooking classes (typically $15). These are usually led by the Executive Chef onboard, but on some sailings guest chefs selected by Food & Wine magazine are brought onboard.

Enrichment

All cruises will feature some enrichment activities such as the cooking classes,wine tasting, galley tours and so forth. (Cruises also frequently include sales-driven activities such as port shopping recommendations, health talks given by the spa and art auctions, but not everyone finds these particularly enriching.)

All Alaska cruises will feature a naturalist and a native artist, who will each give talks and/or demonstrations. U.S. Park rangers are also frequently onboard.

On longer cruises (10+ nights), an enrichment lecturer will be onboard to speak about the history and culture of the region. HAL has a good reputation for featuring lecturers who are both knowledgeable and engaging.