How is the Kids Club on HAL?

[alj1208]

Hi... We are considering HAL for a Baltic cruise next summer. Our son will be 7.5 years old. We have cruised as a family before on Celebrity and had a great experience. Can anyone tell us about the HAL kids club? Will there be many kids aboard in July?

[Crew News]

Hi... We are considering HAL for a Baltic cruise next summer. Our son will be 7.5 years old. We have cruised as a family before on Celebrity and had a great experience. Can anyone tell us about the HAL kids club? Will there be many kids aboard in July?

 

When US schools are on vacation, HAL ships will have a much higher percentage of kids.

 

I always try to ask a few kids on each cruise if they are having fun. ALL have said it was a blast. Cooking classes, video games, scavenger hunts, movies, games, tours of the ship, swimming, etc..

 

On a Caribbean cruise a few years ago, I saw then kids (4 - 7) dressed in paper pirate hats and carrying paper swords being led through the corridors by a HAL Club worker. The kids were chanting, "Oh-E-O, OH-E-O" from the Wizard of Oz movie. Adult passengers were very impressed.

[boulders]

DS turned 7 on our Med cruise last year. He had a great time! There were 300 kids on the Nieuw Amsterdam in July.

[1of4]

Our last cruise on HAL our children were just turned 7 & 10 (their birthdays are 7 weeks apart) and the loved it so much we are doing it again this New Year's Eve!

 

They begged us to bring them to Club Hal for all opening hours. We showed up 15 minutes "early" at 9:45 the first night and were told to come back later. Seriously!:)

 

There were very few children in the 3 - 7 group and the 3 of them were all 6 or 7 so they were allowed to join the 12 kids in the 8-12 group and they both had a blast making pancakes for breakfast, HAL Olympics, crafts, video games, scavenger hunts, etc. Even a pyjamma movie party. Very good memories were made that week in Alaska.

[Heartfruit]

We spent two weeks on the Maasdam last July with my 9 year old daughter. She loved it. Like the previous poster said, she was pretty much at the kids club any hour it was open if we were aboard ship. It is smaller then some of the other lines kids clubs but I found that meant the councilors actually had a chance to get to know the kids a little and the kids all got to know each other.

 

Last week my husband offered my daughter a choice, another cruise this winter or Disney World (we will already be in Florida with a spare week on our hands). She chose a cruise without a moments thought.

[crzr]

Our children grew up in Club HAL and have very fond memories of their times there.

 

I agree with the other posters - there will be perhaps 300 children on board. They are broken into age groups based on their age distribution. Such as 5-8 year-olds, 9-12s, and teens.

 

There will be one or two adults working with each group leading activities which are age-appropriate. Examples are creating arts and crafts, splash party, ice cream bash, and movie night.

 

I rarely see any discipline problems, other than the occasional run down the hallway.

 

From what I see, the children have fun, the parents are relieved, and the other passengers are grateful.

 

Hope this helps to answer your question.