club HAL questions

[Akheila]

So we leave Jan 5/08 for our first cruise...soon...yet it doesn't seem soon enough! lol
anyway, we are traveling with a 3 yr old and one of the port days my husband and I would like to snorkel. Obviously she can't do that with us...she can't swim. Is the HAL kids program open on port days? Is there an extra fee? How does this work? From the reading I've been able to do it seems we can drop her off after each meal and drop her back off if we choose in between on sea days. Just curious as at least one day we'd like to have a little break to enjoy stuff we know she won't like...and really dragging her through stores or something else will just not go well.
any insight to the Hal program for little people would be great thanks

[middle-aged mom]

............. Is the HAL kids program open on port days? Is there an extra fee? How does this work?............ thanks

Yes, Club HAL has a program on port days. There is no extra fee. However, and this is important, you must register your child for the port day program during the prior evening. So, the evening before you plan to snorkel, please let the Club HAL staff know that your child will be participating in the Club HAL port program the following day.

Have a wonderful family cruise.:)

[GottaLuvCruising]

Can anyone tell me if they will allow an 18-year-old to participate in the teen activities with her younger sister? Thanks!

[Akheila]

we just called HAL and they said if we are planning an off ship excursion we must take her with us.....is that because she is only 3

[RuthC]

we just called HAL and they said if we are planning an off ship excursion we must take her with us.....is that because she is only 3
Consider this, you leave your daughter on the ship while you go ashore. For some unforeseen reason you can't make it back to the ship before it sails---traffic, medical emergency, etc. Do you want your daughter left with HAL? Do you think HAL wants your daughter left alone with them on the ship?

[Akheila]

oh make no mistake...I don't mind taking her off the ship with us...after all if we didn't want her with us we would have made other arrangements then taking her with us! we had friends who cruised and were given a pager when they did a shore excursion when they left their little one...just wondered really if HAL had something like this

[6rugrats]

Can anyone tell me if they will allow an 18-year-old to participate in the teen activities with her younger sister? Thanks!

We got of the Zuiderdam on 15 Dec. There were 32 children on board. Staff at HAL club said they would allow children to move down to a lower age group, but they could not move up to an older one.

My 13 year old was often the only one in the Loft. He received a daily program of Loft activities after the first couple of days on board, but none of the organized activities on the schedule were ever held. He had a difficult time getting the staff to unlock the cabinet to get him a different video game to play. He still loved having a lot of time to play video games, as this is not the case at home. When he was bored, he would sometimes go to Club Hal and watch a movie. He especially like it when they got to play free at the video arcade.

I think your 18 year old would have no problem participating, but you would have to check with the staff. Probably depends on the number of teens participating.

Also, Club Hal was not open when we were in port.

[RuthC]

oh make no mistake...I don't mind taking her off the ship with us...
Never crossed my mind.
we had friends who cruised and were given a pager when they did a shore excursion when they left their little one...just wondered really if HAL had something like this
I was thinking about the reverse---something happened to you and you couldn't get back to the ship, and couldn't contact them, either.
Things like that are never planned, but do happen.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree with Ruth.

I can't imagine accepting the responsibilty of taking care of a small child while the parents are on a shore excursion.

What would happen if the child got sick or had an accident? How would HAL get hold of the parents?

Too many liabilities here.