8 yr old on Holland???

[SUSIEK]

We are considering a Spring Break cruise on Niew Amsterdam next year. We have never sailed on Holland. Our son will be 8yrs old. He has been on 10 cruises and is familiar with the kids programs.... Princess is his favorite. Has anyone experienced Club Hal on Holland?

Do they get ALOT of kids on Spring Break. I am sure it would not be as large as Royal or Carnival.

Any advice or comments greatly appreciated!

[nothriver]

We were on HAL Eurodam last June in northern Europe, my daughter turned 7 on the cruise. There were more kids her age than I expected but they often had her age group combined with the next older group. We had only 2 sea days on a 12 night cruise so with very busy port days, we did not spend much time at Club HAL. I'd often let her go for an hour or so after dinner, but it wasn't long enough to bond with the staff but she did enjoy the experience. The staff was really wonderful, out wait staff made her little origami figures every night and we had towel animals every night in the cabin. We had a wonderful experience on HAL and would not hesitate to sail with them again; food and service were excellent. HAL did not offer the itinerary we wanted in the time period we needed, which is why we are on Celebrity for our upcoming cruise, Iwould have booked HAL in a heartbeat. My only very minor complaint is that I had to ask twice for a child size life vest to be brought to the cabin and did not receive one until the second day, AFTER we crossed the North Sea the first night... I know there were delays at embarkation and the cabin stewards were crazy busy delivering luggage but I would have rather had a life vest before my luggage!

[boulders]

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam last July. There were 300 kids. We were told that was a record number. Our experience was similar to the above poster, but ds7 wanted to spend as much time there as possible. Like other cruise lines, they offer late night hours, after 10 pm, for a fee. Unlike other cruise lines, they requested that I let them know when ds would be staying past 10 pm and they wanted payment in cash for the additional time.

[c-cruise]

We have had nothing but great experiences with club HAL. We just did a Disney cruise and just comparing kids clubs we liked club HAL better. A lot fewer kids so they get much more personalized attention. Staff around the ship are also fantastic with kids. They were always getting extra attention and waiters making them animals from napkins, carrying their plates at the Lido, etc. Generally under 100 kids on typical HAL sailing, but spring break on the Nieuw Amsterdam you might have 200-300 kids. We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam last year and it was our favorite HAL ship to date!

[bermuda63cruiser]

Check with Holland America when booking regarding the number of kids aboard. I have been on the Niew Amsterdam with only a few children But, school vacation week may have more.

[bermuda63cruiser]

:)Check with Holland America when booking regarding the number of kids aboard. I have been on the Niew Amsterdam with only a few children But, school vacation week may have more.