Club HAL for Eight Grandchildren under Eleven

[Been There, Planning That]

We're just back from a grand family celebration on the Zuiderdam with our three children and their families. We were a group of 8 adults and 8 children from just over one year to eleven years.

 

It proved to be a perfect setting for our family celebration. I'd feared that the children would be 'out of place' on a HAL ship, but there were about 100 children in total on board and all appeared to be accepted by the other passengers, when seen in public areas.

 

Club HAL proved to be a hit for the ones in the youngest group and for one of the two in the middle group. All activities were very low key, which suited our kids' personalities and the parents were pleased with the young staff. They were only in for an hour or so on most days, but this brief time provided a nice break for their parents.

 

The one and a half year old was not allowed to play in Club HAL with a parent in attendance, but in the end she was content to just toddle around the ship.

 

One concern was raised when on the final night there was a pillow fight and all pillows were simply tossed in one grand pile. Lice do exist out there and are a problem at the highest end summer camps, but all grands came home with clean heads so concerns were for naught.

 

Each family carefully checked the daily schedule and the kids chose when they'd like to attend. Neither painting T-shirts nor stuffing a bear were ever scheduled, but two of the children were there for T-shirt painting so I can only imagine the more expensive crafts are not mentioned.

 

The Park Warden came to speak with the children and the two youngest groups were together. He appealed to the 3 to 7 year olds but had little to offer our two older grandchildren who were well prepared for our Alaskan Adventure.

 

There were never more than a dozen children in the Club at any one time.

 

I'd be happy to answer questions anyone might have about the suitability of HAL for children.

[toonye]

Hi!

 

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us!

 

We had hesitated between RCCL, Princess and HAL for our oncoming summer vacation and finally decided for Princess as we could not find enough positive feedback about HAL and children at the time we were searching.

 

We had been told HAL would cater more to adults , and especially people seeking for calm activities as there would be less "active" activities than at RCI for example. Is it true?

I personally enjoy activites like line dance, dance poolside in the afternoon, aerobics classes,...

Would I have miss that on HAL?

 

And regarding the kids club, is it open while at port?

Can you leave the children there while visiting ashore?

 

What were the regular opening hours during sea days?

 

And also, what about restaurant/buffet? Is the buffet open for dinner? Did you have a chance to feed the children at the buffet and let them at the kids club while you would enjoy dinner at the main restaurant ?

 

Thank you so much for your feedback as we're still interested in HAL , perhaps going on the Noordam next summer!

 

Toonye

[Scrapchick]

I have sailed on HA several times with my DD and think they're excellent for families and do a very nice job. There is cruising for families beyond Carnival and RCL!

 

HAL is definitely not as lively as RCL but there is a variety of activities going on all day long. There are plenty of aerobic classes and their gyms are great. I don't recall poolside dancing but line dancing is on most ships.

 

The kids club is open during port days for supervision and yes, you can leave your kids there and go ashore without worrying. The staff are great and well trained and keep the kids safe and happy.

 

Sea day opening hours tend to be 9-11.30 then 1-4.30 and 7-10. It can vary a bit ship by ship, but it's pretty much in line with most other cruise lines. They do close for lunch and dinner. They take the kids for dinner on formal nights too, if you want., plus ice cream in the afternoons.

 

They have an evening buffet, which is a scaled down version of the main dining room dinner. It's not a full out 24 hour buffet. They also have a pizza/burger bar with a small selection specially for kids. We used to take our DD to diner at the early seating and then take her to the kids club at 7PM while we finished our dinner and lingered over dessert. HAL now has Anytime Dining as well, so you can find timing that works best for your familiy. They have kids menus in the dining room and the waiters are great with kids.

 

I have been on the Noordam and loved it. Great ship, lovely pool area and very friendly staff. We did the Greek Islands on her and there were several evening poolside buffets as well, plus the evening chocolate buffet one night as well. I remember the Noordam especially because they had a cotton candy machine at one of the poolside buffets and it was a huge hit with the kids.

 

I think HAL is a great choice for families. We've always had a good time on their ships and will definitely sail with them again.

[Been There, Planning That]

Tooyne, we've only sailed on NCL, Celebrity and HAL so cannot really compare HAL with other lines. And we've sailed as seniors without children.

 

Because it was chilly, only children braved the pools most days and there were no fancy slides or water equipment. I'd agree that Scrapchick has the hours of operation correct. Our grands were included in our shore excursions which limited options for land tours but ours was a family celebration and the cousins, from three cities enjoyed being together.

 

Our families ate most of their meals in the diningroom because of the difficulty balancing dishes with no trays available in the Lido and leaving children unattended while parents picked up food. The family with the oldest children, 6,9 and 11 certainly used the Lido and enjoyed the greater variety of offerings.

 

Ours, I fear, is a dull family. We have some prize pictures of the older set individually sitting cross legged on a deck engrossed in a book, so I'm not much help with dancing either for kids or adults. We had a total of seven cabins, inside steerage, and my husband and babysat a couple of nights so the parents could enjoy a bit of night life on a ship.

 

I can't say enough about connecting cabins for young familes. Granted a balcony would be best BUT with connecting cabins, the adults had greater freedom. And with the pitch black interior the children slept well -- ours was a three hour time change so this helped.

 

Many on this board would prefer that children be banned from HAL I suspect, but we rec'd several compliments about behaviour.

[Naomi John]

I'm considering HAL for a cruise as my step father enjoys the line. My DD who is 8 enjoys that type of vacation and loves the camps. She also enjoys eating in the MDR and with friends.

 

Is there a general schedule of activities? Can you post them? How were the couselors?

[toonye]

Thank you SO much for sharing all this information.

 

Seems like HAL is also very suitable for families, it's probably just that they don't advertise in that way as I understand their target -or at least repeat customers- probably remains seniors

 

You said you had inside cabins. How were they? Did you have a sofa?

Do you happen to remind which category of insides you had?

I was offered different types of inside cabins on the Noordam and our TA told me some would be larger -and of course more expensive!

 

A balcony would be nice but not affordable for us as we'll cruise during summer vacation (August) in Europe and the prices are extremly high (about 5000$ -cruise only- for an inside for a family of 3, 10-days sailing):eek:

So, you understand I'd like to be sure to take the right decision!!!

 

Toonye

[Been There, Planning That]

Naomi, my husband and I did not get the schedules and I never thought to ask our children for copies, but they're given out each day. It was our impression however, that it wasn't always followed and there certainly was no mention of painting Tshirts or stuffing bears. T Shirts were done one evening. I wonder if they deliberately don't advertise the activities with a cost attached.

 

But, our grandchildren were happy in Club HAL though they never were there much longer than one hour.

[Been There, Planning That]

Toonye, I cannot remember the category of cabins but we were on the main deck inside with a total of 7 cabins, two pairs of which were interconnecting.

 

Our cabin in fact was designed for four with what appeared to be a pull town bunk above our bed and a sofa which converted to a bed. The interconnecting cabins had two adults in one and three children in another. The bed was separated to twins and each night the hideabed was made up for the children. This made for a very 'cozy' cabin, but room to move around. The cabin sizes were more generous it seemed than window cabins we've had on other ships. And the total blackness made for good sleeping for the youngest children who were coping with a three hour time change.

 

HAL certainly caters to repeat and senior customers, but should we ever be able to afford another family gathering I'd certainly consider HAL first if the ports were ones we wanted.

[fqtvguy]

I'm considering HAL for a cruise as my step father enjoys the line. My DD who is 8 enjoys that type of vacation and loves the camps. She also enjoys eating in the MDR and with friends.

 

Is there a general schedule of activities? Can you post them? How were the couselors?

 

 

Another CC participant has posted HAL kids club schedules online:

 

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Holland%20America%20Club%20HAL/

[topspot]

Toonye, the "larger inside" cabins on HAL are the J category on the main deck. Plenty of closet space, two large drawers under the bed (plus room for suitcases). We have stayed in these on two cruises.