Children on HAL?

[Rinderoo]

Anyone ever take kids on HAL?

I'm curious about the kids program/activities. Its not Disney, but is there enough to keep them busy for a couple of hours a day? (We were unimpressed with "Camp Carnival").

[hammybee]

My daughter, now 19, grew up on HAL and loved every minute of it.

How old is your child and when are you thinking of sailing?

[betonic]

I took my 7 year old on HAL for a 16 night transatlantic last year and he had a very good experience at Club HAL. There were only 4 kids on our sailing but the Club HAL counselors ran a very good program with most of their regular activities.

I'm not sure what the experience would have been like had there been 300 on children on board but my child can't wait to go again in September.

[doone]

Twice now we have taken my entire family, kids included, on HAL cruises. Each cruise, the kids had a wonderful time, they still talk about their Club HAL counsellors and all the fun they had. They especially enjoyed the smaller groups of children onboard, they felt special at Club HAL as they got almost individualized attention from the counsellors. They didn't miss a minute of Club HAL.

The kids ages ranged from age 5 - 13 on our first cruise. On the second cruise, the kids were 9 - 17, each age group had a blast.

We're hoping to go back on another HAL family cruise in a few years, the kids are already planning it!!!!

[eh2zed]

We took our grandsons (5 and 7) on the Zuiderdam. They prefer Club HAL to Disney; so much so that my son and daughter in law cancelled their next Disney and bokked the Westerdam. The kids also liked HMC better than Castaway Cay.:) :) :D :D

[Len3]

We sailed on the Volendam in March and if there were any children onboard, we didn't see them during the entire 10 days. It maybe just a matter of when you cruise and what itinerary you have selected. Generally, our sailing was an "older group" with lots of walkers and wheelchairs. We really enjoyed the cabin as it tends to be larger than most other cruiselines and the food was wonderful. If HAL is what you really want, then give to a try. As for us, we'll wait about 10 years before selecting another HAL just because of the age group. At 62 and 57, we were young.

[Solstice]

We just sailed on Zuiderdam a week ago with a 6 year old. He had a blast and still hasn't stopped talking about it. He loved Club HAL and after the 2nd night preferred evenings there instead of with the family in the dining room! They had a nightly program from 8-10pm for the kids which fit perfectly with our late seating. There may have been an earlier program too, but I don't know.
He also loved the pool and spent hours there with the friends he made at Club HAL. There were not hordes of children on board but there were a couple dozen in the 4 to 10 age group. Lots of teenagers too.

Unlike the previous poster, we found a wide variety of age groups on the ship. There were certainly some elders but I would say the majority on this cruise were 40-60, with a few younger couples.

[JohnQ]

We just got back from back to backs on the Volendam and were surprised at the number of kids there both weeks. From tiny newborns to teenagers. Lots of extended families with grandparents, kids and grandkids. In our little sitting are in middle of dining room, we had two tables for 8, which had 8 kids at them both weeks. (different kids!). We often felt sorry for the moms who never seemed to get to sit down and have dinner or finish dinner. We also saw many of them in pool area, etc, and most often, seemed to be well behaved. Going wild around the ice cream and toppings area, but what would you expect?

[Rinderoo]

My kids are currently 12 & 10 and are the veterans of two Disney cruises and a 7 night Carnival cruise. By virtue of my job I was able to get on a couple of HAL ships recently and I really liked the elegance of the ship and the attentiveness of the staff, and the food was wonderful. We're thinking of a January sailing, or even in the summer. My kids did not like Carnival's kids program; its "activity based" and not daycare like disney. (We really did like disney's kids program a whole lot). As a rule we go to the dining room every night and generally stay together as a family, and they certainly enjoy fine dining and excellent service.

I think they will be fine providing we limit the days at sea. Itinerary may be important, as will classes/activities. (They might like the cooking classes).

[cathy_kearns]

My girls were not impressed with the HAL kids club. Their complaints were the activities tended to be for the youngest in each age grouping, and because of that they allowed kids to go up a group, meaning the next group is picking activities appropriate for those younger than their age group. For instance, my 12 year old was in a 9-12 year old group that had activities appropriate for the 8 year olds in the group. (And perhaps this was just the cruises we were on.)

That said, they love cruising, they just don't go to the kids clubs anymore. They prefer to hang with us.

[hammybee]

I think they will be fine providing we limit the days at sea.

This is an excellent consideration. Too many at sea days, especially consecutive days in areas where the weather may not be great, often results in bordom, regardless of the programs available.

[Two if by Sea]

I've been on one cruise, about 20 years ago. We'll be taking our first, and hopefully not last, family cruise (the two of us and our 8-year-old daughter) on the Maasdam in June 2008. I'm wondering how to determine/guess if there will likely be other girls her age on board that she will enjoy hanging out with.

She could probably spend the entire cruise swimming if we were willing to sit by the pool and watch her, but I'm hoping she'll let us be by ourselves at least SOME of the time.

Is the number of kids something we can find out ahead of time from the cruise line, or from anyone else? Or is there any rule of thumb for guessing?

[middle-aged mom]

I've been on one cruise, about 20 years ago. We'll be taking our first, and hopefully not last, family cruise (the two of us and our 8-year-old daughter) on the Maasdam in June 2008. I'm wondering how to determine/guess if there will likely be other girls her age on board that she will enjoy hanging out with.

She could probably spend the entire cruise swimming if we were willing to sit by the pool and watch her, but I'm hoping she'll let us be by ourselves at least SOME of the time.

Is the number of kids something we can find out ahead of time from the cruise line, or from anyone else? Or is there any rule of thumb for guessing?


You can call ship's services at 1-800-541-1576 closer to your departure date and ask them to give you the numbers of kids on your cruise. They will break it down for you into the Club HAL age categories: 3-7, 8-12, and 13-17. Don't let them tell you "no", because they DO have that information. All you're asking for are the numbers, no personal info whatsoever. I've done this on all my HAL cruises, and each time the customer service agents have been able to help me.

[ekerr19]

Our kids have almost 100 days each on HAL. Their first cruise was a full Panama Canal transit in 2000. We worried that there weren't going to be many kids, but since it was over Christmas there were. They loved it and have been asking to cruise (for our family vacation) ever since.

They have always enjoyed Club HAL - though some ships had Club HAL staff they found more engaging and active than others... my DD is 14 now and doesn't attend any longer, but she is still in touch via email with one of her old Club HAL "counselors" and has very fond memories of Club HAL - and still has all her tie-dye t-shirts.

I think much of it depends on time of year and cruise itinerary. Longer cruises will have fewer kids and probably less Club HAL staff, thus fewer activities. I think many activities are based on the largest percentage of kids in each group. As Karin mentions above, you can find out ahead of time.

[Two if by Sea]

You can call ship's services at 1-800-541-1576 closer to your departure date and ask them to give you the numbers of kids on your cruise. They will break it down for you into the Club HAL age categories: 3-7, 8-12, and 13-17. Don't let them tell you "no", because they DO have that information. All you're asking for are the numbers, no personal info whatsoever. I've done this on all my HAL cruises, and each time the customer service agents have been able to help me.

Thanks! I will do that.

Hmm, when I called to reserve, the travel agent asked for the age of each of us. (Not sure why he needed the EXACT age of myself and my wife -- took me a while to calculate that. Isn't "mid-40s" close enough?)

Anyhow, I asked if he wanted my daughter's age NOW or on the date of sailing, and he said "now". She's 7 now and will be 8 then. I assume there won't be any trouble getting her into the 8-12 age group in Club HAL but I'm wondering if I need to call my agent back and make sure he's taken care of that.

[middle-aged mom]

Thanks! I will do that.

Hmm, when I called to reserve, the travel agent asked for the age of each of us. (Not sure why he needed the EXACT age of myself and my wife -- took me a while to calculate that. Isn't "mid-40s" close enough?)

Anyhow, I asked if he wanted my daughter's age NOW or on the date of sailing, and he said "now". She's 7 now and will be 8 then. I assume there won't be any trouble getting her into the 8-12 age group in Club HAL but I'm wondering if I need to call my agent back and make sure he's taken care of that.



I'm not sure why they needed your exact ages, either. No worries about Club HAL. Just attend the orientation session they offer the first afternoon/evening when you board, and everything will be taken care of.

Karin

[Two if by Sea]

Double-post, sorry!.

[Two if by Sea]

Great, thanks! That is reassuring.

Although I did cruise one time before (about 20 years ago, on the Seawind Crown), this feels in many ways like my first cruise. Certainly it is my first family cruise, and my first on HAL. I'm going to be looking forward to this for the next 10 months. But I have a lot to find out about.

[blazer10]

We will be traveling on HAL with two 11 year olds in February, we have done Disney when they where 5 and RCCL 3 times since - so I will do a review when we get back.

[SarasMommy]

I think one of the biggest factors is the itinerary. On our Baltic cruise in 2003, there was one 4-year-old and one teenager. Other than that I think that I, at 30, was the youngest person on the ship! Many passengers thought that I was a member of the crew. But on our recent Asia cruise there had to have been at least 50 passengers under 18. They seemed to be busy all the time, going around the ship on different missions eg. scavenger hunts, collecting signatures from passengers of various nationalities. I would guess that Caribbean itineraries would have more children on board.

[CarolineInToronto]

My daughter (now 9) has been on 2 cruises with me and my son (6) has once, and both *loved* the Club HAL program and counselors. I never heard a peep of dissent in regards to going to either morning, afternoon or evening programs on sea days, and we still had plenty of family time together/ But trust me... hubby & I greatly appreciated the chunks of couple time that we never seem to manage to have at home! :D

Both made great friends, loved the counselors and didn't mind one bit that they were in different camps (due to their ages). We'll be on the Noordam to Bermuda in March and they can't stop talking about that one either :)

FYI, the rest of the crew were OUTSTANDING in their interactions with the kids, everyone from the Lido deck staff, our wonderful cabin steward and the phenomenal Dining room attendants. Formal nights were a blast and I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did during that trip -- it was genuinely the best family vacation I could have ever dreamed of!

If you're interested, I have pics up on my Webshots gallery

http://community.webshots.com/user/carolineintoronto

HTH,
Caroline in TO

[LoveMyBoxer]

My daughter (now 9) has been on 2 cruises with me and my son (6) has once, and both *loved* the Club HAL program and counselors. I never heard a peep of dissent in regards to going to either morning, afternoon or evening programs on sea days, and we still had plenty of family time together/ But trust me... hubby & I greatly appreciated the chunks of couple time that we never seem to manage to have at home! :D

Both made great friends, loved the counselors and didn't mind one bit that they were in different camps (due to their ages). We'll be on the Noordam to Bermuda in March and they can't stop talking about that one either :)

FYI, the rest of the crew were OUTSTANDING in their interactions with the kids, everyone from the Lido deck staff, our wonderful cabin steward and the phenomenal Dining room attendants. Formal nights were a blast and I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did during that trip -- it was genuinely the best family vacation I could have ever dreamed of!

If you're interested, I have pics up on my Webshots gallery

http://community.webshots.com/user/carolineintoronto

HTH,
Caroline in TO

Caroline,

You said that you are going on the Noordam in March to Bermuda. I tried to find the itinerary, but can't seem to find anything for the Noordam stopping in Bermuda in March 2008. Thanks

[middle-aged mom]

Caroline,

You said that you are going on the Noordam in March to Bermuda. I tried to find the itinerary, but can't seem to find anything for the Noordam stopping in Bermuda in March 2008. Thanks

I see that Caroline is currently off-line, and because I'm an interfering busybody, I'll answer for her;) Caroline's cruise is a chartered itinerary, that has been booked by the group, Stampin' Up, a scrapbooking/stamping sales group.

Karin:)

[LoveMyBoxer]

I see that Caroline is currently off-line, and because I'm an interfering busybody, I'll answer for her;) Caroline's cruise is a chartered itinerary, that has been booked by the group, Stampin' Up, a scrapbooking/stamping sales group.

Karin:)

Thank you. I miss sailing to Bermuda on a good cruiseline!

[Two if by Sea]

Thanks for the photos! Your kids are lovely!

I think my daughter will love our cruise (not telling her about it yet -- there's other vacations before next summer I want her to be excited about first). I think she will especially like the formal nights. Not sure about me :). But I'll do it for her sake.

[CarolineInToronto]

I see that Caroline is currently off-line, and because I'm an interfering busybody, I'll answer for her;) Caroline's cruise is a chartered itinerary, that has been booked by the group, Stampin' Up, a scrapbooking/stamping sales group.

Karin:)

LOL! Karin, you can busy-body for me anytime :)

C