HAL, Family friendly - or older crowd?

[AmyinVail]

I'm trying to book a cruise to Mexico this spring. We're early 30's with two kids and taking my 26 year old brother and his, same age, girlfriend. My travel agent today said that the crowds on HAL are predominantly over age 55 and, his words, "50% are over the age of 65". Is that true? We enjoy a more refined cruise experience and won't do Carnival, etc. I'd like to sail this line, but don't want to feel uncomfortable dining with my children with frownig looks of other, older passengers. Can anyone tell me?

[iluvcruzin]

I don't think you will dine with people frowning at you. You will however find an older crowd than on most of the other lines. There were very few children onboard on my sailing to the point we never saw any children in the kids area. I may get tomatoes thrown at me, but I would suggest Princess, Celebrity or RCCL in this order over HAL for families. They offer more for kids.

[AmyinVail]

I'm very sensitive about my kids in public spaces, but kids are kids. The only other cruise lines, with newer ships, cruising Mexico in April is Princess and Norwegian. Ironically, HAL (from what I've read) offers in-cabin babysitting and Princess does not. Norwegian will actually allow 2 year olds in their kids club, but we've cruised NCL before and want to bring it up a notch. I'm bringing my mother along, too, and am not worried about daycare per say - I just don't want to feel uncomfortable with my kids while retirees are trying to enjoy a quiet sail. I appreciate your advice...what a dilema!!

[jhannah]

Unless your kids are screaming hellions, they won't be frowned upon at all. In fact, you will find they will get lots of extra attention from the staff and other passengers. Yes, the HAL demographic tends to be older; but I was on a Princess Panama Canal cruise that was "older" than any HAL cruise I've been on. It depends on the itinerary, time of year, etc. HAL is expanding their Club HAL, so your young-uns will have plenty of activities to occupy them. Take 'em along and enjoy!

[garydm]

If you want younger demographics, you might consider booking during a shool vacation period when the number of kids on HAL increases exponentially. Many "traditional" HAL cruisers avoid these times for just that reason.

Gary

[JDee]

Amy: If you book a cruise in spring, especially during the spring vacation breaks, you will find a zillion kids of all ages on almost all cruise lines, including HAL. HAL has been taking a very vigorous campaign to woo over family cruising, especially on their new Vista class ships (Zuiderdam, Westerdam & Oosterdam). Many of HAL's 7 day cruises in Alaska and Caribbean (and probably Mexico) draw many families when school is out.

I wouldn't be concerned with having a lack of playmates for your kids or disrupting any tolerant seniors. Many seniors b**tch because there are too many seniors on their ships.....

Happy cruising.....

[localady]

Amy- I am a frequent HAL cruiser who is bringing my 2 teen sons with us in March on the Zaandam. The boys are totally psyched! :) By then the Zaandam will have it's teens only area and expanded childcare facility. Well behaved children are well received on the cruises. We love HAL, it's ambiance and it's cabins! Hope you give it a try!:cool:

[palmgirl]

Our 10 day Mexico cruise had 20 to 30 children on board. Most were delightful and they seemed to enjoy the Club Hal activities . We had some sitting near us at dinner (late seating) and they had beautiful manners and were a delight to watch. OPC (other peoples children) can be so wonderful, especially if you haven't been around any in a while.

Then there were the ones whose parents turned them loose on an unsuspecting public:eek:

If you are concerned enough to post this, I am sure that your children fall in the first group rather than the last. ;)

Enjoy your cruise on HAL

[Peggy Sue]

We have taken 2 HAL cruises and enjoyed them both. Not sure if any of their Vista class ships are sailing in the region you plan to travel, but consider either the zuiderdam, westerdam or oosterdam. (I think the 4th vista will be sailing Jan 06 too)

Our first cruise was on the zuiderdam, may 03 ..there were families of all ages. Scale did tip a bit towards the seniors (65+) but there were kids on board who seemed to be having a great time. We're in our late 40's/early 50's and there were lots of folks in our age group, and younger.

Our second cruise was on the volendam (nov 04)..there were only 4 kids on board. one around 10-12 and 3 older teens. hardly ever saw them. On this cruise age was mostly 65+. Great people, fun to be with, just pointing out that it was an older demographic on board this cruise. We were the "young ones".

When the Volendam docked in Tortola the Zuiderdam pulled in beside us. It was an interesting contrast to watch the folks spilling out of the ships. We sat on our balcony and watched many young families exit the zuiderdam, and older couples exit the volendam. It was a very noticable difference.

That said, HAL has an active campagne underway to attact families. They've added areas for kids during recent dry docks and have really enhanced Half Moon Cay with water park, horse back riding etc.

Our zuiderdam experince was more peppy than our volendam experience. With only 2 HAL cruises, I'm not sure that's enough evidence to draw a scientific conclusion from..but our personal experince found the Volendam very sedate and the Zuiderdam a lot more active. Now, we had great weather on the zuiderdam, and so-so on the Volendam, and weather can impact passengers over time..so take our experince with a grain of salt!

We enjoyed meeting the passengers on both ships. We enjoy spending time with passengers of all ages. We have met so many interesting people who travel frequently and enjoy sharing their experiences. Fun discussions.

Good luck with your decision!!

Peggy Sue

[travellady]

Give HAL a call and ask them how many kids are currently booked for the sailing you are considering. I did this when I was looking into a Feb cruise, Mexican Riviera cruise on the Oosterdan, and was told 75 were booked at that time - this was back in September so I suspect that number may have grown somewhat.

[ryansmemom]

We are frequent HAL cruisers. Last year we brought our daughter, son-in-law and three year old grandson on a cruise on the Maasdam with us. We all had a wonderful time. We had decided that we wanted a child centered cruise, so our week was dedicated to sharing the experience with little Ryan. He was one of about 10 children on board. Some took advantage of Club HAL (underage children are allowed to participate if accompanied by an adult) we chose to keep Ryan with us. We chose not to take advantage of the babysitting services.

Ryan was very well behaved. His behavior was not perfect, but when necessary one of the adults removed him from the situation before any of his fellow cruisers could be disturbed. His parents and grandparents took responsibility for him and his behavior. He has been taught how to behave in public. He has excellent manners. He is very personable. And is was three years old, therefore he required constant, close supervision.

As the week progressed it seemed that more crew members knew Ryan's name. The Captain called him "Shy Ry". Sailors and engineers waved and called him by name. Room stewards, dining stewards, people working in the shops and salon, the list goes on and on, all said "Hi Ryan."

As far as passengers, he brought smiles to so many faces. One memory that stands out for me was on one formal night when we were posing for a formal portrait just outside the Ocean Bar. Ryan was being shy and would not look up. There was a small group of women who were probably in their 80's all making silly faces at him. They were trying to make him laugh. There were lot's of incidents like this one.

What I want to say is, bring your family. Mine had a great time. The HAL crew really seem to enjoy well behaved children. HAL passengers for the most part do as well. My family is looking forward to our next family cruise on HAL. This time we will bring Emily (She is 4 months old, now)

Oh, if you look at my avitar you will see my wonderful grandchildren Ryan and Emily in the picture with me.

I know you and your family, including your children will enjoy your HAL cruise.

Linda :)

[doone]

A few years back, my entire family, kids included, sailed February school vacation week onboard the Veendam. The kids younger kids had a blast with Club HAL, as a matter of fact, they can't wait to sail again and enjoy the Club HAL activities. The older kids found Club HAL a little lame, but they did hang out a bit with some other kids they met onboard their ages and they are looking forward to our upcoming family cruise again.


There were probably about 80 onboard the Veendam February school vacation week. There were enough kids for everyone to hang out with, but not too many to take over the ship.

[lipoppop]

Cruise with us! We miss our granchildren and will spoil yours. Seriously I have not noticed any unpleasant behavior towards children. While the activities are more directed towards the older passengers the experience being aboard ship and the shore excursions will more than make up for their being in the minority.
:cool:

[Ine]

On our 3 HAL cruises we have seen just a few kids.

However much to our surprise our last cruise (also Mexico) was in september/october on Mercury of Celebrity lines. Although not during school holidays there were more then 100 children on board.
The kidsprogramms were apparently very good, because we didnot notice them, it was mentioned in a cruise-talk.
Also we found that people on board this ship were younger then HAL.

[Tatka]

Well...on our Zuiderdam cruise in August we had 400+ kids of all ages.

We were 32 + 32 + 12 y.o.

Our son doesn't really like orginized activities but had fun playing basketball/volleyball. They also have ping pong tables which many kids enjoyed.
(We participated ping-pong competition). Many kids had a great time swimming in the Lido pool.

They have some special dinner for the kids on some days , but they had to come with parents.

Overall my kid (he didn't really participated) said that on Celebrity kids program was kind of better but it doesn't mean HAL was bad.

One thing though Celebrity offers pizza party and free sleep over party (upto 1:00 PM ) on both formal nights, which was great!!! Celebrity is also doing better job of matching tablemates. On our last cruise on Century we were seated with two families and all kids were 11 years olds...On HAL (even with 400 kids on board) we were seated with 82 years old people...(Don't get me wrong they were wonderful people and we were fine, but I am not so sure our 12 years old was that happy).

[AmyinVail]

Thank you so much for all of the replies! I can't find a newer Celebrity ship that is sailing in late April to any place other than Alaska - and Princess doesn't offer in-cabin daycare for my 2.5 year old (for those late night shows). I'm very reassured with the response from everyone. My kids are well behaved and I'm very cautious of other's experiences and have NEVER let my kids disrupt anyone. I just don't want to be on pins and needles the entire cruise. I feel better and will call HAL and see how many kids will be sailing that week. Thanks again everyone - I feel welcome on HAL already!

[Tatka]

We are going on California Coastal on April 17th from San Francisco on X Mercury.

When we return on April 24, ship will sail 10 Days to Monterrey, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas.

[Sunrise]

I cruised twice on HAL -- ages 27 and 29. I LOVED both cruises and actually prefer HAL over RCI. There were older folks on the ship, but I found being a younger passenger afforded me a little more attention from the staff. My family also had a table next to a family with 5 kids. The staff were very accommodating (chicken strips and grilled cheese every night) and the kids seemed to have a wonderful time. My opinion is that HAL caters to a more refined crowd (which tends to be older) but it also means that there are hardly ever any rowdy drunk or terribly rude passengers. I think it is a perfect cruise for a family!

[Tatka]

I cruised twice on HAL -- ages 27 and 29. I LOVED both cruises and actually prefer HAL over RCI. There were older folks on the ship, but I found being a younger passenger afforded me a little more attention from the staff. My family also had a table next to a family with 5 kids. The staff were very accommodating (chicken strips and grilled cheese every night) and the kids seemed to have a wonderful time. My opinion is that HAL caters to a more refined crowd (which tends to be older) but it also means that there are hardly ever any rowdy drunk or terribly rude passengers. I think it is a perfect cruise for a family!
I completely agree.:)

[MandyGirl]

I cruised HAL Maasdam at age 29 and HAL Zuiderdam at age 30. Was fine for me and hubby.

However, as much as I would LOVE to cruise during NONpeak times, being a teacher, my "vacation" times are dictated to me. For some reason I can only cruise during expensive peak seasons...

Last week on Zuiderdam: almost 2100 passengers and 350 in Club HAL (according to staff)

[Thoth]

I'm trying to book a cruise to Mexico this spring. We're early 30's with two kids and taking my 26 year old brother and his, same age, girlfriend. My travel agent today said that the crowds on HAL are predominantly over age 55 and, his words, "50% are over the age of 65". Is that true? We enjoy a more refined cruise experience and won't do Carnival, etc. I'd like to sail this line, but don't want to feel uncomfortable dining with my children with frownig looks of other, older passengers. Can anyone tell me?
according to my information the Oosterdam will sail to Mexico from Jan 22 until April 23 visiting Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta on 7 day itineraries. These Vista class ships are designed to attract additional families as compared to the older class ships. This past July I sailed her to Alaska, and NO... it was by no means all old people.
This nonsense about Holland America being ALL old folks is pure rubbish!

[Longboysfan]

I'm trying to book a cruise to Mexico this spring. We're early 30's with two kids and taking my 26 year old brother and his, same age, girlfriend. My travel agent today said that the crowds on HAL are predominantly over age 55 and, his words, "50% are over the age of 65". Is that true? We enjoy a more refined cruise experience and won't do Carnival, etc. I'd like to sail this line, but don't want to feel uncomfortable dining with my children with frownig looks of other, older passengers. Can anyone tell me?

Simply stated - try Royal Caribbean.
The activities for the kids will be great for them.
The kids programs on HAL are a bit lacking.
The cruise age group should be more to your liking.