HAL Child Friendly??

[jodster]

I'm new to cruising and I have only cruised once before (Princess) with my huband. We would like to give HAL a try. My question is we want to take our 13 year old son with us next time around to either the Eastern or Western Caribbean. Whenever we mention that we are considering cruising with HAL some people say that it's an old person cruiseline. From the brochure I have paged through, it doesn't appear that way. We are not looking for a 24 hour party atmosphere so we wouldn't mind if the ship was more on the sedate side.

Can someone tell me their experiences bringing children on HAL with regards to activities, kid club, etc. Thank you in advance.

Jodi

[localady]

Jodi-

I am bring my boys, ages 17 and 13, on to the Zaandam for the Easter break cruise. We chose this cruise as the Zaandam has been updated with "Signature of Excellence" upgrades including a teen center and a teen waterfall, sun and tan area that is "teens only". I think they will love the Ship with a place like this to hang out. You would be wise to consider a Ship with those enhancements IMHO, but I think you might like it.:cool:

[LetsGoAgain]

We cruised on the Zuiderdam-Eastern in November of this year. My son is 13 and he had a great time(just as he always does on HAL). We have only cruised with HAL so I am not able to compare with other lines. There was plenty of activities for teens going on each with the Kid's Club. He also enjoyed the video arcade, basketball, oversize chess set, playing Bingo. They can also go swimming. He loves to wander around the ship on his own, looking at the shops, visiting all the different areas. Most nights he was at Teen supervised activities until 11:30 or midnight. The staff were very friendly and went out of their way to get to know my son, remember his name and in general make him feel special. He loves going on HAL so that he does not have to contend with lots of kids(we usually cruise during the times when there are fewer kids). Your son should have a great time.

[Arubalisa]

LAFFNVEGAS has beautiful photos of the Teen Oasis on the MS Ryndam at http://community.webshots.com/album/220062986gmCYIZ (http://community.webshots.com/album/220062986gmCYIZ)

[doone]

My entire family cruised on the Veendam a few years back on Feb. school vacation week. The younger kids loved Club HAL, the older kids, teens, thought it was a bit lame for them, but they did find enough teens their age to hang out with and had a great time. We had approximately 80 kids onboard that week. The kids and adults had such a wonderful time on this cruise, we're planning another family cruise for Feb. 2006, only this time they want to go longer, so it will be a 10 day cruise. I think you will find HAL to be a good choice for you and your family.

[TYMAN]

We (including 7yr son) have been on Disney, HAL(x3), RCCL(x5), NCL(x3) plus other lines not currently sailing and must say my son has enjoyed HAL the best(Feb '05 will be his 6th cruise overall). There are actually are less kids on board which gives him more attention from the staff. The kid's area are definetly up to par with the other lines.

[Jacqueline]

HAL is becoming more and more family friendly. For people who are not looking for a high energy RCI/Carnival type of experience this is a great line.
The teen program is not as sophisticated as other lines but mine still had an excellent time. ANd this was 2 weeks in Europe not the Carribean over spring break.

[crzr]

Jodster,

Our 14-year-old son has been on Holland America ten times. That tells you osmething about how much he likes it!

Club HAL is the kids group. The counsellors break them up into age groups (yours will be with teens up to 17 years old) and get to know them on a first name basis. The number of kids varies with the vacation schedule, but during summer you can expect 300 kids of all ages on board.

They will do several activities together on sea days, less when in port. They will play basketball or volleyball, do a parlor game like Pictionary or Scattergories, tie-dye a T-shirt, have a pizza party and ice cream bash during the week, trade e-mail addresses (ours still keeps contact with several out-of-state kids he met on board, plus a couple who live just 15 miles away from us), or watch a movie.

Our son loves it, our 20-year-old loved it, and the kids I talk to onboard seem to all be having a good time. I've yet to meet a bored kid onboard Holland America, at least in the Caribbean and Alaska.

Happy sailing!

[josee]

We were on the Volendam from Dec 16-26 with our 2 dd age 10 and 14. Out of 1400 passengers, approximately 65 were under the age of 18. Most 5-12 participated in the youth activities during sea days. These were held from 9-12, 2-5 and 8-10. My 10 year old could sign herself out but prefered not to due to her limited English skills. The staff went out of their way to make her feel welcome and she truly enjoyed herself. Her English improved and it felt like an extension of her private lessons back home!! They had some arts and crafts, games, snacks and on the last night, a pyjama party. They also participated in the great pretender show which is a lot of fun. Passengers who sign up are provided with costumes, props, a few dance steps and lip sync to various tunes - a very funny show. Also, they did Christmas carrolling as it was a holiday cruise.
The participation in the teen group was maybe 50%. As a group, they are not allowed in any of the bar area (they are quite limited as to where they can go on their own), however, on a few nights we took our girls up to Crows Nest for a few dances in their fathers arms and a twist/dance competition with their mother!! We did see a few unsupervised teens there. There are certainly distinct groups at that age!! Teen activities involved sports, dance in the sky room, movie, arcade (the only time when you did not have to pay.)

At Half Moon Cay, the kids could not go on the slides as the water system was not functioning - it sure burns if you slide down those slides without water. We mostly stayed as a family or hung out with other parents and their girls.

On port days, you had to speak with the counselors and confirm your presence the day before if you wanted to make use of the program on those days.

Overall, a good experience. We did find there was few family oriented activities, and we had to negotiate the hours for our 14 yr old as the activities went to 1 am ((10-1) after the younger left the sky room.) She had a midnight curfew most nights unless we met with her at the midnight (1130) snacks on the Lido followed by a few dance moves, then everyone in bed.
Josée