Zuiderdam and teens

[DRich2]

I am planning a cruise for June and was wondering how Zui compared to other lines/ships for teen activities. Our two sixteen year old girls will be with us. Since it is June I am hoping there will be enough other teens although I realize HAL tends to attract the senior crowd a little more. Anyone have mid-teens with them on Zui before? How was it?

Thanks

[itsme_jj]

my fil cruises this line often and he said it depends on the time of year, but in the summer and holidays there are always plenty on board, but the ship is not taken over by the teens / kids. he said think of going to magic mountain an amusement park (carnival in summer) and then think of going to disney.... one is kaos the other is for everyone in the family.

dunno we will find out.

what to wear...still trying to figure this one out for a boy. See my post on the 6/4 cruise zuiderdam.

[super_grover]

I am on the Z right now and there are quite a few kids. my brother (17) isnt doing the club HAL or anything but is loving the room service and the fact that he sleeps all day long.
if your girls pal around together and learn to use their swipe card and the ice cream buffet they will be A- ok.
they might not like tortola much but the other ports should appeal. The straw market in Naussau is a knock-off handbag paradise!

[Himself]

I saw alot of teens when I was on the Zuiderdam two years ago

[daniTS]

But i was on the zaandam last august, for a 7nt. alaska cruise. One of my friends, who had done a couple of non HAL alaska cruises when she was a bit younger (I was 17 on the cruise) told me to stay away from the kids club stuff... I'm so glad i DIDN'T listen! They hand out comprehensive scheduales at embarkation, and I decided to go to the first night's teen meet and greet, and it just went from there...

We (about 40 of us, a core group of 20?) had a blast hanging out, preforming to Thriller at the passenger show, playing card games in the lido, having tennis table matches, polar bear swims, scavenger hunts, ice cream parties, etc. We spent the last night by giving Candace, our amazing and intrepid leader some presents, and then hung out on the deck/in the lido until after 3 am, just talking and playing cards -we didn't want to leave our new friends!- a lot of us keep in touch via msn/email, and i have a new best friend :) Luckily, she only lives a 2 hour trip away (I'm in Victoria, she's near Vancouver) and she just spent last weekend with me!
You (or your kids) can see pics of our group at: http://zandaamcruise.myphotoalbum.com (yes, zaandam is spelled wrong :eek: )

To end this long stream of randomness, even though it isn't a big kids/family boat, we all had a great time, and the Club HAL activities made it soooo much better! Just don't count on teen shore excursions - none had gone out that season by the time we looked into it - there is a minimum that doesn't seem to get filled often...

good luck!
dani