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Help - bringing teens on HAL Maasdam


AtlFolks
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Greetings HAL Cruisers:

 

We are active cruisers on RCI and Disney, and our teen boys (15 and 18) are experienced cruisers as well. This will be our first HAL experience - any tips for teens on the Maasdam.

 

Also, any tips on a few must see/do on that ship, and anything to be aware of?

 

Thanks folks!

 

 

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Unfortunately, the Maasdam is not going to have a lot for your teens to do. There's a basketball court, a practice tennis court, a fitness center and a small pool. That's it for "active" things to do. There are movies shown in one of the small theatres, a couple of production shows and some musical groups, but the production shows and musical groups will not likely appeal to them. That's it for "entertainment". The burgers and fries at the "Dive In" are excellent, but there's no "New York Pizza". Hopefully, you have chosen a port-intensive cruise so that you and your teens are off the ship most of the time.

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It looks like you are cruising in July, so I suspect you will be on a New England and Canada cruise. That is a port intensive trip. I did it once, and enjoyed it, but it also seemed like people socialized a bit less and spent more time and energy (on average) going ashore and doing excursions than on longer cruises or ones with more sea days.

 

Oh, one correction to the above, there are two pools on the Maasdam, one midship on the Lido deck and one on the aft of Navigation deck.

 

Do your teens like to hang out with you all day, or look for other teens? Being a summer trip, there will probably be several other teens, but still not huge numbers. In my experience, teens tend to find each other and then hang out together: in the lido buffet, by the pool, in the showroom at night, etc. There could be some organized activities for them, but the teens seem to often like doing their own thing.

 

Just in case, I would look into and ask on embarkation day, for your younger son, to visit Club HAL and ask for a daily program. I believe HAL still distributes a separate daily schedule containing Club HAL activities to families that have registered for that. The "kids" schedule is not otherwise posted or included in the regular daily schedule delivered to cabins that way; it's just for them. (Every now and then I have seen one in the mail slot outside a cabin.)

 

There is some Club HAL space reserved for younger cruisers, but it might be more geared towards pre-teen ages. (I've never actually checked it out or cruised with a teen, so I don't have first hand knowledge.)

 

HAL doesn't lend itself to the wild and crazy demographic, at any age. But it's good for people who like to socialize, or watch the world go by, or focus on the ports of call, or like all the food options, etc.

 

Your questions were rather open ended, so it is hard to know what else to suggest. Do you have any particular questions?

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  • 4 months later...
It looks like you are cruising in July, so I suspect you will be on a New England and Canada cruise. That is a port intensive trip. I did it once, and enjoyed it, but it also seemed like people socialized a bit less and spent more time and energy (on average) going ashore and doing excursions than on longer cruises or ones with more sea days.

 

 

 

Oh, one correction to the above, there are two pools on the Maasdam, one midship on the Lido deck and one on the aft of Navigation deck.

 

 

 

Do your teens like to hang out with you all day, or look for other teens? Being a summer trip, there will probably be several other teens, but still not huge numbers. In my experience, teens tend to find each other and then hang out together: in the lido buffet, by the pool, in the showroom at night, etc. There could be some organized activities for them, but the teens seem to often like doing their own thing.

 

 

 

Just in case, I would look into and ask on embarkation day, for your younger son, to visit Club HAL and ask for a daily program. I believe HAL still distributes a separate daily schedule containing Club HAL activities to families that have registered for that. The "kids" schedule is not otherwise posted or included in the regular daily schedule delivered to cabins that way; it's just for them. (Every now and then I have seen one in the mail slot outside a cabin.)

 

 

 

There is some Club HAL space reserved for younger cruisers, but it might be more geared towards pre-teen ages. (I've never actually checked it out or cruised with a teen, so I don't have first hand knowledge.)

 

 

 

HAL doesn't lend itself to the wild and crazy demographic, at any age. But it's good for people who like to socialize, or watch the world go by, or focus on the ports of call, or like all the food options, etc.

 

 

 

Your questions were rather open ended, so it is hard to know what else to suggest. Do you have any particular questions?

 

 

 

Thanks for the nice info, very helpful. I see that HAL has both a National Geographic type activity and a cooking activity; have you done those, and if so, what are your impressions?

 

 

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HAL also has an excellent library with a supply of board games, chess sets and other quiet table games.

 

Should we assume teens always want to be active (make them do laps around the deck for some reward?), or are they also willing to engage in more quiet activities. Pretend they are ocean travellers of yore who had to find ways to amuse themselves?

 

As a teen once, I loved to read and play card games and cribbage. Time to learn how to play bridge? There are ping pong tables, puzzle tables, even shuffleboard and pickle ball - but none of the high-energy, programmed entertainment choices they may have found on other cruise lines when primary passenger target were younger passengers and families.

 

How about even an "art tour" of the ship (there are some stunners onboard) with the head phones and treat it like a treasure hunt or even a history lesson. Everything can be enrichment if they get exposed to something new. Always thought it would be a good idea for the front desk to have a printed check list available to use as a treasure hunt so one can spend time exploring some of the unique features of each ship.

 

Try them out ahead of time with a copy of Ann of Green Gables to read - it is still a very good coming of age book - and then that NE port stop will really come alive, if you choose to pay the author's house a visit and picture the places she used in her story line.

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Thanks for the nice info, very helpful. I see that HAL has both a National Geographic type activity and a cooking activity; have you done those, and if so, what are your impressions?

 

 

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Not exactly sure what you mean by a "National Geographic type activity" (and I used to work there), but as for the cooking activity, America's Test Kitchen does two demos a day on sea days (so if you're on the Boston<-->Montreal trip, I think you only have one sea day). You sit in the theater and watch the ATK chef cook. You don't participate and there's no samples. It's enjoyable but perhaps not what you're looking for. There may (or may not) be a hands-on class but there are very few spots and those will go to five-star mariners first. That is a lot of fun.

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