the4ofusandallourfriends
November 22nd, 2009, 11:27 PM
and we had a great time! We are a group of 13 consisting of 11 to 50 year olds.... I'm 37 myself. This was our family's 10th...plus cruise...sorry, I've lost count. We always travel with our kids. No one gets left behind.
We've done one HAL cruise about 8 years ago on the old Westerdam, that was great.....but.....boy were the people old and the ship dead after supper. There was no kids on board then.
The new Westerdam ship was beautiful, a perfect size to get around, great decor, well thought out seating throughout.
The four of us had an inside room on deck 1. Great location for easy access to everything including getting on and off on ports.....and the room was nice and big!
Cruise director Jason was outstanding.
Joel Mason who headlined a couple shows was a great musician, good singer and really funny guy.
The food was superb....all soups outstanding.
The ship was surprisingly very lively late into the night.
Surprisingly there was quite a few families with kids of all ages on board and lots of couples in their 30's and 40's.
Our only complaints:
The pool area is quite small which made it harder to get a chair with all the chair hogs on HAL. Thank goodness none of us are big tanners anymore....Even the promenade chairs were hogged with books and towels. Promenade cushions were hogged. We even saw a few people doubling up the cushions despite people needing them.
The back pool was apparently an adult pool only, even though it has the decor of a kids pool and that is where all the activities and pool games occurred. I personally never even saw a sign but the boys (who were being well behaved) were told so by a couple of elderly women (who were not even swimming) this was so.
The food was really good, but dinner took 2.5 hours EVERY night! I wish I could blame the waiter but he worked his butt off with way too many tables and not much assistance from others.
Half moon Cay lunch buffet was a mess and kinda gross......and although still a beautiful beach I felt it had lost it's natural beauty it had when we visited 8 years ago :(
In Aruba we did the Jolly Pirates something's fishy snorkelling. Really fun...but we felt it sorta turned into a half booze cruise which is not what we wanted for the kids....but we all had fun anyways and the snorkelling was good.
In curacoa we rented a car and drove to Porto Marie beach....Amazing snorkelling!
We had a great time. This is a super relaxing itineary where you can sleep in most mornings....no annoying customs to do....3 sea days.....just a great cruise overall!
We've done one HAL cruise about 8 years ago on the old Westerdam, that was great.....but.....boy were the people old and the ship dead after supper. There was no kids on board then.
The new Westerdam ship was beautiful, a perfect size to get around, great decor, well thought out seating throughout.
The four of us had an inside room on deck 1. Great location for easy access to everything including getting on and off on ports.....and the room was nice and big!
Cruise director Jason was outstanding.
Joel Mason who headlined a couple shows was a great musician, good singer and really funny guy.
The food was superb....all soups outstanding.
The ship was surprisingly very lively late into the night.
Surprisingly there was quite a few families with kids of all ages on board and lots of couples in their 30's and 40's.
Our only complaints:
The pool area is quite small which made it harder to get a chair with all the chair hogs on HAL. Thank goodness none of us are big tanners anymore....Even the promenade chairs were hogged with books and towels. Promenade cushions were hogged. We even saw a few people doubling up the cushions despite people needing them.
The back pool was apparently an adult pool only, even though it has the decor of a kids pool and that is where all the activities and pool games occurred. I personally never even saw a sign but the boys (who were being well behaved) were told so by a couple of elderly women (who were not even swimming) this was so.
The food was really good, but dinner took 2.5 hours EVERY night! I wish I could blame the waiter but he worked his butt off with way too many tables and not much assistance from others.
Half moon Cay lunch buffet was a mess and kinda gross......and although still a beautiful beach I felt it had lost it's natural beauty it had when we visited 8 years ago :(
In Aruba we did the Jolly Pirates something's fishy snorkelling. Really fun...but we felt it sorta turned into a half booze cruise which is not what we wanted for the kids....but we all had fun anyways and the snorkelling was good.
In curacoa we rented a car and drove to Porto Marie beach....Amazing snorkelling!
We had a great time. This is a super relaxing itineary where you can sleep in most mornings....no annoying customs to do....3 sea days.....just a great cruise overall!