CGYCruisingFamily

Our older son will be 9 on our upcoming cruise and I am torn. He is a very mature child and quite responsible for his age. I also believe he wont do it (he prefers to stay with us and I cant see that he will want to go out on his own). For the most part I say no, he will not be allowed to sign himself out. However if they need to be able to sign out to participate in certain supervised activities, maybe then. But I do not want him wandering the ship by himself or with a group of unsupervised kids. I have seen too many times how groups can get out of hand (witnessed some kids running around the internet cafe on one cruise - they were about 12 yo - and one kid ran into a table which toppled over and hit and shattered a glass wall. The kids ran for it. It was all caught on security tape and we later saw the same boy, never out of the sight of his parents (I heard they had to pay for the repair too). I think if we did allow it, it would only be for group activities with the kids club but I dont know if that will even be an issue as I dont think they even have to sign out to do that.

Is it Banje beach?

Sorry still new, what's FTF?

Sorry this is more a general question than a HAL one but I couldn't figure out where to post it. We are trying to figure out what other ships might be in the different ports on the same day with us on our upcoming HAL Mediterranean cruise. Is there a website or place we can find this out easily? Any ideas? Just trying to figure out if it's going to be a zoo at the various ports.

TIA

Remember there will be more things happening if there are more kids on board (which will be likely later in the summer). HAL always (or almost always) has a youth counsellor on board even if there are no children. When my parents took their 26-day Amazon, not one child was on board the Prinsendam, but there still was a counsellor. They get repurposed. Also they will combine groups if there are low numbers so activities are likely to change. However from our experience, those schedules look similar to the ones we have seen.

In Europe' date=' the price difference is even more dramatic???[/quote']

 

Take a look at my earlier post in this topic which has some examples. The prices are high on HAL for tours in Europe.

One other thing we liked about HAL. When we were on the Amsterdam, they had DVD players in each room. You could go to the front desk and borrow (free) one for 24 hrs. They had about 500 titles. For a charge you could get a movie night room service package (it wasn't too expensive), which had popcorn, I think some chocolate and soft drinks. My parents did a movie night with the kids so DH and I could have a nice night sans kidlets.

Oh and I second the sentiments about fewer kids on board. Our kids didn't like the crowds of kids on the NCL cruises and preferred the smaller groups.

I saw one on a map and am wondering if anyone has been to any? We are looking for one (sometime during our Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venice) that we can take the kids to some day.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a beach which might be family friendly?

Yes you must pay for it in advance on the website. When we did our Christmas Caribbean cruise we booked one tour in advance and otherwise we did the rest on the ship.

We have 6 in our group and are looking at airport transfers direct as our way of getting from the airport to the apartment we are staying at. We looked at the train and transit but with someone in our group who has mobility issues, plus 2 kids, this seems like a better option after the TA flight. We were quoted 60€ because of luggage and the scooter.

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With 6 of us travelling together we decided to check out apartments seeing as finding rooms to accommodate us was proving a little difficult. In the end we are renting a 4 bedroom 1,000sq ft apartment in Eixample. Nightly rate is about $200 with a min of 3 nights. Apartments are another option too.

Thanks for the tip about buying stuff at the port. Might have to check that out.

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Sorry I should know this but I admit I have never used it... Anyhow, I am just wondering if there is an extra charge for the fitness centre? I know there is a cost to use certain spa things like the thermal pool etc, but what about the fitness centre (not classes). TIA.

Oh and I also forgot, one of HALs signature things is the Culinary Arts Centre which they end up holding kids programs in too. Our kids LOVE cooking and this is one of their favourite things to do. Last time they made their own chocolate sauce and then that afternoon used it on sundaes that they made.

We have not done Disney so i dont know if I can compare the two. With the kids, we have only ever done HAL and NCL.

The basic every day care is included and we never incurred any extra charges with anything to the with Club HAL (in fact at the end of the cruise the kids got little take away Club Hal bags with a souvenir in it too). When we went on NCL, there was a charge if we wanted to leave the kids in kids club in port (or if we stayed on board and they wanted to go while in port). On HAL, there is (or at least was the last time we went) no extra charge for in port days - so if you want to take a tour and feel comfortable leaving your child in the care of the staff this is possible. We travel with my parents so there is almost always an adult on the ship if they are in kids club. The port day hours on HAL were pretty good too - they can eat lunch as a group.

There was an extra charge only if the kids stayed for after hours, which again we did not do.

They do tend to be open (for at sea days), from early morning until about 12. They close for about an hour or 1.5 hrs, then open until 4, then close for a couple of hours then open again for the evening. This is intended 1) for the staff to get a break and 2) so parents dont just leave their kids in Kids club all day. If I remember right too, they almost always brought healthy snacks to the club in the evenings for the kids to munch on.

We have a 5 and almost 9 year old. The last time we went they were both in the youngest group. They had lots of arts and crafts, play activities, scavenger hunts, ice cream parties, reading time and at night movies sometimes. In your cabin, if you sign up for kids club, the kids will get their own itineraries for Club HAL with all the times of activities. So as adults you have your itineraries, and they have their own. The last night was a PJ party with movies and popcorn. For the younger kids they also have theme parties some days. The kids absolutely loved their time there.

This time when we go they will be split. The youngest will still be in the young group and the older one will be with the tweens. There are some PS 3's or Wii's or Xboxs on board and sometimes they will play with those. I am not sure what other activities they will have but it seemed the kids in all the groups were always busy.

I found this on another website to explain activities:

• Club HAL® — Kids*: Children, ages 3-7, can participate in such activities as story telling, fabric painting, indoor games, arts and crafts, drawing contests, ice-cream sundae parties, puzzles, bingo, pirate treasure hunts or a farewell pizza party. Children in the Kid's age group must be toilet trained. Children in pull-ups or diapers are not allowed in the youth facilities, due to mandates from US Public Health. Exceptions to this rule cannot be made.
  
• Club HAL® — Tweens*: Tweens, ages 8-12 might learn golf putting, have disco parties and theme parties, participate in the award-winning National Park Service Jr. Ranger Program on Alaska cruises, compete in on-deck sports events, compete in scavenger hunts or simply play Ping-Pong with a friend.
  
• The Loft and The Oasis*: Teens, ages 13-17 will especially enjoy the teen disco, karaoke sessions, video games, teen sports tournaments, card games, trivia contests, bingo, movies and videos. When there are more than 100 children on board, a HAL Talent Show is offered. (The Oasis is not available on all Vista-class ships)
  

I have to admit I am floored by the prices HAL is charging in Europe for tours. For instance in some of the ports it we wanted to get a private minivan for the 6 of us we are looking at $1999 USD for full day (9 hrs) and $1299 USD for a half day (4 hrs). But for a private vehicle with driver and the stops we want to go to at our own pace (if we decide we want to head back early), we just booked with a private company for a 9 hr tour in 2 different ports and it comes to about $680 USD each day. HAL want almost $100 per adult to take us into Rome and drop us off. Now granted the kids are cheaper but it's still almost $500 for the 6 of us on that day if we went with HAL.

I do hope they make some changes in the future including paying on board and maybe re-evaluating the price of their tours. However given their charges I can't see them doing this policy because they would lose out big time unless they brought their prices in the first place.

We have yet to make it to the lunch on embarkation day. I am not sure if you will be able to access it though. Also there is a special Mariners lunch during the cruise which you will likely not be able to access until you have one cruise on HAL under your belt.

Maybe try calling guest services to ask?

We went through 2 soda cards shared between a family of 4 for a 14 day cruise.

We have a piggy bank that we put extra change in too. The other thing is we have a cruise/trip fund box which we put money I get from freelance gigs I pick up or if we have a garage sale any money we make from it. Last time we had enough to cover 80% of our on board costs between the 2.

Carry it over your shoulder out of the bag then it doesn't count (put it back in afterwards). I had no issues doing this.

Thanks for posting this thread. It has been a very helpful read.

Also thanks to the pp which posted videos. Very helpful.

As a group of 6 we are thinking of Rome in Limo for our group (travelling with someone who has limitations for accessing trains). But it probably isn't for everyone.

We are doing our first European cruise this summer (but luckily most ports take the Euro). I would say have a bit of Euros and maybe a bit of USD (not all places accept USD). If you find you need local cash, you can go to an ATM. However for ease, your Visa might be the best way to go.

I know we are taking USD travellers cheques (for onboard charges) and Euros (for off ship money) with us for our trip.

We are booked almost directly below the entrance to the Queens Lounge (inside room) in August. Hoping we dont hear it too much. My dad says we shouldnt but we will see (they have been in the cabin they are in before and said they heard nothing).

We have never had issues on ships.

Let me tell you one funny story though. On our last HAL cruise we had bought our kid new Crocs. Midway through the cruise the kids were in kids club and they got playing a game of find the shoe. Anyhow the kids had to hide a shoe somewhere in kids club and then find them. You would think this would be fine. Well the kid who hid my youngest sons croc couldn't remember where he hid it. They searched everywhere. Anyhow, they ended up calling in the security team (ironically headed by someone I knew vaguely from our home town) who ended up reviewing security cameras (which apparently are plentiful) and they found the kid had hid it on a bookshelf which actually had a empty space behind it where it fell. They found the croc after an exhausted search because security was called in.

Yes it was just a croc but what this showed me is that everything is monitored and with that knowledge I feel very safe and sure about entrusting the care if my kids to kids club.

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No, it was difficult to do so as the servers never came back to us to inquire how we were doing.

Personally I would have been going to the m'aitre d and insist it comes out hot. If it still wasn't to your liking or you didnt get satisfaction, go up the chain to the Food and Bev. manager and so on. Asking for a manager sure gets the attention of the DR staff. (Example - we had huge problems with a rude Wine Stewart. Needless to say after talking to the head waiter, he was kept away from our table the rest of the cruise and the only time we did have him, he was acting very apologetic. It took a lot to complain and he was really rude).

We have had cold food served in the MDR and sent it back. It usually comes out correct in the future and we have always had luck with redo's if it is wrong.

We have only ever had fun with it but I still insist that the cruise staff had one answer wrong in one of the games we played :)

Usually all in good fun but there are definitely some people who are competitive.