How family friendly is a Holland America cruise?

[rebbie123]

My husband and I are looking to go on a 7 day cruise in March 2011. We want a relaxing vacation, but want to make sure our 9 year old son and 5 year old daughter will not be "bored". First of all, will Holland America be a good fit for us? Does anyone have any experience with the kids Club Hal? Finally, any ship recommendation? (we are considering the ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Eurodam, or the ms Westerdam) Thanks for the help!!!

[IRL_Joanie]

My husband and I are looking to go on a 7 day cruise in March 2011. We want a relaxing vacation, but want to make sure our 9 year old son and 5 year old daughter will not be "bored". First of all, will Holland America be a good fit for us? Does anyone have any experience with the kids Club Hal? Finally, any ship recommendation? (we are considering the ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Eurodam, or the ms Westerdam) Thanks for the help!!!

No one can say for certainty if HAL will fit you and your family. BUT, I can say that most everyone that I've read about who have cruised with their kids have really felt it was a fantastic cruise for them all.

I have a web site that is stocked with photos and descriptions from Cruise Critic members, and a few non CC members that show many of the various staterooms and most of the Public Areas on all of HAL's Ships http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/

Alaska is the perfect place to have relaxation and yet enjoyment in a cruise!!

Joanie

[Big Old Bird]

We have cruised with the kids a number of times. I would only caution to pick the cruise carefully, boht for duration and timing. We used HAL for a transatlantic, in school time (no school holidays anywhere in the world at that time), and there were only 5 teenagers on the boat, we were aware that there were a small number of younger kids as well.

We have done 2 14 night cruises around school holiday time and have had more than enough kids and entertainment (P&O and Costa) We also did 21 nights around Easter and there were v. few kids as well (Costa)

I suspect with 7 nights and if it's during school hols you'll have no problems as all. The HAL kids club has been the best by far even though there were only 4 of them turning up every day!!!

Personally I would choose HAL every time if I could guarantee there would be enough kids on board

[cruisemom42]

I cruised HAL once with DS when he was about 10 or 11. It was a 7-day cruise in early summer on the Zuiderdam, so there should've been a reasonable quota of kids, but there were very few on board. He did not like the kids program relative to what he was used to on Princess and spent most of the time in our cabin on his Gameboy when we weren't actively doing something together. We took the cruise at my parents' prompting and with them because they are avid HAL cruisers. Other than DS getting to spend time with them, it wasn't a real success.

We went back to Princess, where he always has enjoyed himself on cruises. This fall I am trying HAL again as a solo now that he's off to college....

[m steve]

but it's not as exciting as Carnival, Disney or Royal. That may be why you find fewer kids on HAL.

[Infi]

We sailed the Westerdam last March during spring break in hopes of a more well-rounded age group. The cruise itself was wonderful, and HAL is a great cruiseline with excellent food and service. My daughter is older than your kids, so I can't speak to the Club HAL experience. There was a respectable amount of kids onboard, probably about 200 or so. Not as much as I have seen for holidays on other lines, but enough so that kids will have company. I never saw a child misbehaving on our cruise, they were either with their parents or occupied in the clubs. The main negative was the adults - I heard so many folks loudly complaining about all the kids onboard and how awful they were. :eek: With all due respect, don't book a cruise during spring break, then! My daughter, who is pretty respectful and friendly, even got a few dirty looks as we walked around the ship or attended activities onboard. That was too much. I can only speak to this cruise, but I really hope this experience was an anomaly. It really didn't give me a good impression of HAL passengers, unfortunately. :(

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We have seen lots of children on HAL ships -- especially during the Holidays.

[fridayeyes]

My daughter, who is pretty respectful and friendly, even got a few dirty looks as we walked around the ship or attended activities onboard. That was too much. I can only speak to this cruise, but I really hope this experience was an anomaly. It really didn't give me a good impression of HAL passengers, unfortunately. :(

How sad that people would be so rude. I'm sorry you and your daughter had to put up with that. I have experienced similar behavior on Celebrity.

[mrszuhwiggins]

Hi,
Everyone has their own experiences, and therefore opinions.... Here's mine - We have cruised quite a bit with my two children now 12 and almost 14. They took their first cruise when they were 3 and 5. We have cruised on RCCL, Celebrity, NCL, Princess and HAL. Their favorite cruiseline BY FAR is HAL. And the reason is precisely because there are not hoards of kids on board. When they participate in kids clubs on other lines, they typically will be participating in whatever preplanned activities the kids counselors have scheduled. On HAL, because the numbers are far less, they typically can decide as a small group what they would like to do. I have almost always cruised on longer sailings, and during non-holiday periods, but in a few months we will be taking them on a 10 day Christmas cruise, so I'm sure there will be many more kids than they are used to - we'll see how that experience goes.... On the longer sailings, during non-holiday tiimes the number of kids on board are not great, however my kids have always found a few friends to hang out with - it's never been a problem. I have also found many, many of the "more experienced" cruisers to be very friendly towards the kids, telling them and us about their own experiences raising their families, and sometimes missing their grandkids a bit. If the itinerary and price work for you, I'm sure you AND the kids would have a great time on HAL.
Best of luck with your planning - and if you have any questions, please let me know.

[trophy_23]

I have only cruise HAL, so I really have nothing to compare to, but I have seen many children on our cruises. As mentioned above, the length of the cruise and timing has a lot to do with how many children will be onboard. Week long cruises during school breaks will have lots of kids. I do not have children yet, but friends who cruised HAL had nothing but good to say about the kids club onboard. Any children I have seen have always appeared to be having a great time!

[Scrapchick]

We sailed the Westerdam last March during spring break in hopes of a more well-rounded age group. The cruise itself was wonderful, and HAL is a great cruiseline with excellent food and service. My daughter is older than your kids, so I can't speak to the Club HAL experience. There was a respectable amount of kids onboard, probably about 200 or so. Not as much as I have seen for holidays on other lines, but enough so that kids will have company. I never saw a child misbehaving on our cruise, they were either with their parents or occupied in the clubs. The main negative was the adults - I heard so many folks loudly complaining about all the kids onboard and how awful they were. :eek: With all due respect, don't book a cruise during spring break, then! My daughter, who is pretty respectful and friendly, even got a few dirty looks as we walked around the ship or attended activities onboard. That was too much. I can only speak to this cruise, but I really hope this experience was an anomaly. It really didn't give me a good impression of HAL passengers, unfortunately. :(

That is such a shame... How rude of those passengers. No class and no manners. It is appalling to treat other passengers that way, and kids, like it or not, ARE paying passengers. There is a VERY small cadre of people who think children should never be allowed on cruises, especially THEIR cruise. In my experience, we have not encountered this on HAL ships and I very much hope we won't. I did find one very grumpy old woman on a Princess ship who passed my well behaved daughter as she walked down a hallway, and was muttering under her breath how kids shouldn't be allowed on ships. Some people are simply intolerant and shouldn't be allowed out in public themselves.... Imagine saying Jews/blacks/disabled people/ etc etc shouldn't be allowed or tolerated on a ship and see how much trouble it gets you in to... Yet people discriminate against kids freely and think it's their right to do so.... It is shocking how judgmental some people are!

We have had nothing but good experiences on HAL ships with our daughter, aged 9 now. We are going on the Rotterdam for Christmas and expect that to be a great experience. The Club HAL staff do a fine job and try very hard and we find HAL to be very family friendly. We don't care about the lack of rock walls/ice rinks etc etc and are happy to sail on lines that don't have them.

I wouldn't hesitate to book a family on HAL, and I think you'll find an ample number of kids on board during the main school vacation times. School times are another story on every cruise line.

[Himself]

You really have a smogesboard of opinions here. Best of luck in deciding. I have no children and I travel HAL. I was to Alaska in July on the Rotterdam and there were a good number of children on board. They seemed to do well. I saw a lot more smiles than pouts.
HIMSELF

[Chmielel]

My sons were 15 and 14 when us took our 1st cruise on the Westerdam a 7 day Alaska- Inside Passage. They loved HAL's Club. To this day it was one of their favorite vacation.

[lstrong]

My family had a wonderful 4-generation family cruise a few years ago on Carnival, celebrating my parents' 60th wedding anniversary. The little ones loved it. (And so did we adults BTW). Wanting to do another large family cruise my son called HAL to ask about their kids program. (His kids age 14, 9, 7). Whoever he talked with at HAL discouraged him from booking a Thanksgiving week cruise on HAL - told him it was not really child-friendly. So, back to Carnival we go, even though it will be more $$ than HAL for that week.

[Roz]

HAL cruises are PACKED with children at Thanksgiving. I don't understand why the HAL rep discouraged a family from booking.

Roz

[Scrapchick]

Wow, that's terrible on the part of CS... I've taken a couple of Thanksgiving cruises on the Oosterdam and they were paced with kids and multi generational families of all different sizes. HAL is perfectly family friendly and you can expect kids to be on board at the same times as on other lines. Shame on that CS rep!!

[Infi]

How sad that people would be so rude. I'm sorry you and your daughter had to put up with that. I have experienced similar behavior on Celebrity.

Thanks, fridayeyes. My daughter is old enough that she tried not to let it bother her too much, but it still stinks that you can get side-eye for just going about your day. We've personally never had an issue on X, but I'm well aware that grumpy passengers could be on any line. I don't understand why people who dislike children aboard would even consider booking a cruise during high-kid-volume times though. If you're retired and/or have ample vacation time, how hard it is to pick a week other than Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Spring Break? If you dislike kids that much, it's almost like asking for trouble.

That is such a shame... How rude of those passengers. No class and no manners. It is appalling to treat other passengers that way, and kids, like it or not, ARE paying passengers. There is a VERY small cadre of people who think children should never be allowed on cruises, especially THEIR cruise. In my experience, we have not encountered this on HAL ships and I very much hope we won't. I did find one very grumpy old woman on a Princess ship who passed my well behaved daughter as she walked down a hallway, and was muttering under her breath how kids shouldn't be allowed on ships. Some people are simply intolerant and shouldn't be allowed out in public themselves.... Imagine saying Jews/blacks/disabled people/ etc etc shouldn't be allowed or tolerated on a ship and see how much trouble it gets you in to... Yet people discriminate against kids freely and think it's their right to do so.... It is shocking how judgmental some people are!


You're exactly right - I agree 100%. I began cruising a long time ago, when kids were few and far between on ANY ship and I believe some HAL cruisers think cruising should have stayed that way. I know you cruise with your daughter a lot too, and if she's anything like mine, I'm sure she knows exactly how to behave on ships and is probably more of an experienced traveler than some of these people. ;) If they've paid a fare, the child is entitled to every part of the cruise experience that these grumps are. We had a similar experience with a kid-hating lady on Princess too - and on a Christmas cruise no less. My daughter was doing arts and crafts with the cruise staff and this lady, who thought she was the Queen Bee because she had done a B2B with the previous sailing, was ranting about all the kids onboard. She said it was disgusting for parents to bring their kids on a cruise for Christmas and ruin the holiday and Santa experience, and any parent who did that was unfit to parent. What?? :eek: DD eventually spoke up and said "I love Christmas cruises", after which the loudmouth lady looked quite embarrassed. Ugh, some people. Unfortunately, these judgmental individuals are not restricted to any one line. It's just best to ignore them and let them go on with their sad, grumbling lives. I doubt they'll ever learn.

[Lizzie1213]

My husband and I are looking to go on a 7 day cruise in March 2011. We want a relaxing vacation, but want to make sure our 9 year old son and 5 year old daughter will not be "bored". First of all, will Holland America be a good fit for us? Does anyone have any experience with the kids Club Hal? Finally, any ship recommendation? (we are considering the ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Eurodam, or the ms Westerdam) Thanks for the help!!!

I've taken several HAL cruises with my two children from the time they were 6 and 8. They loved all of them

[betonic]

I've taken my son on several HAL cruises and he's always had a great time. Because of our job situation I've never taken him during a school vacation and some of our cruises have been longer itineraries. We did a transatlantic that had a total of 5 kids and he still had fun.

Last year we tried Carnival because they had a cruise on the dates we could go and the price was right. My son had the best cruise experience ever. There were many more kids than on HAL and the Club hours were longer so we almost never saw him. In the end the only thing that was good about Carnival for us was the kids program, we didn't enjoy the ambiance, food, activities as much (for adults). We won't consider Carnival again.

This year we're going on a 4 generation cruise and it was any easy decision to take HAL. My son is almost 11 and will have a good time on any ship, and being with his grandmother and great grandmother are an extra bonus.

[rebbie123]

Thanks for all the input. I'm sure there will be plenty of other kids on the ship in March and that our kids will not be bored. We love everything about HAL and want to give it a try. We love the itinerary and can't wait to stop at Half Moon Cay. Our kids will have a blast there. My son was also excited about the pizzaria on board the ship!!!

[DizzyDallasDi]

Some people are simply intolerant and shouldn't be allowed out in public themselves.... Imagine saying Jews/blacks/disabled people/ etc etc shouldn't be allowed or tolerated on a ship and see how much trouble it gets you in to... Yet people discriminate against kids freely and think it's their right to do so.... It is shocking how judgmental some people are!

No kidding, huh? I wonder what kind of reaction it would get if people posted that elderly folks shouldn't be allowed to cruise because they clog up the ship with their walkers and wheelchairs and are crabby. :eek:

The rants against kids on cruise ships are truly a shame and I find those intolerable.