What's different? Will we fit in?

[ARI421]

I have always heard Holland America is an older crowd, my husband and I and our 12 year old son are looking into a cruise from Boston on June 18th..

I assume there is a children's program? Can anyone tell me some differences I may see from ncl and carnival? How are dining? Assigned seating etc? Thanks

[ksqueak]

I can't answer most of your questions since I've never been on Carnival and only once on NCL but a couple of years ago I did the same cruise with my 14 year old niece and she had a blast. Several kids her age to hang out with in the evenings. I've been traveling HAL since my mid 30's and yes, I was often one of the youngest but people are friendly and travel minded. always someone to do something with. We did anytime dining but my niece preferred the Lido so we ate there most nights. have a great cruise!

[meglet]

I've done a lot of NCL in the past few years (sorry, no Carnival) and a decade ago (before my eldercare stint started at home) I did a lot of HAL. There aren't as many kid dedicated spaces and activities on HAL. It was built for a generation for which cruising was an adult vacation more than a family vacation and people really didn't have the notion of kids being catered to. (I sailed the Veendam during her inaugural season, so you can tell I'm an old fart.)The Veendam is a smaller ship than you may be used to on Carnival. No rock walls or teen disco. On NCL teens congregated at night in the pools and hot tubs, but I've read that on the Veendam, the pool is closed at 9. The entertainment isn't as showy and "cutting edge" as NCL. Around here in Boston, many schools aren't finished yet, so there may not be as many kids on board. I think HAL is a more traditional cruiseline with a dress code for the dining room and Gala (dress up nights) dinners which are enforced to eat in the dining room. Of course there's still the Lido for those nights if you want to avoid them.

 

Do you know about the cruisecritic feature of reading member reviews by ship and destination? If you go back to last summer and the one before that, you may be able to find some reviews that specifically address family cruising.

 

Maybe someone who has cruised HAL with teens can chime in with his/her experiences.

[Roz]

HAL has both assigned seating at dinner and open seating - take your pick. As already mentioned, there's the Lido for a more casual dining experience.

 

Roz

[RMLincoln]

I have always heard Holland America is an older crowd, my husband and I and our 12 year old son are looking into a cruise from Boston on June 18th..

I assume there is a children's program? Can anyone tell me some differences I may see from ncl and carnival? How are dining? Assigned seating etc? Thanks

 

Most longer cruise itineraries have an older set of passengers, no matter which cruise line. We cruised 48 days on Carnival and the clientele was just like on HAL for a long itinerary. On short cruises HAL will have more multi-generational groups and may look a lot like that on NCL, fewer young singles than on Carnival.

 

We had 3 grandkids on a 7 night Alaska cruise and they had a grand time, ages 11,13 and 16. The younger ones enjoyed the kids programs - might have different age brackets than Carnival. The older one enjoyed more grown-up activities. She and I went to tea a couple of times which she loved. And they enjoyed the excellent room service for full breakfasts which you won't get on either Carnival nor NCL.

 

You will receive the daily program for the kids group activities corresponding to the age group that your son registers for when on board. At 12 years old he will likely be given a wristband to wear all the time that shows his muster station number, although that could be for only those under 12, I don't recall exactly. Our kids liked the small sized kids groups, more personal attention.

 

Overall I think you will find a quieter, slightly more polished environment than Carnival or NCL and gracious service from the crew who tend to pay attention to the children on board. You should feel confident that any entertainment would be appropriate but do check the movie ratings and make your own judgment.

 

You can ask for a kid-size bathrobe for your son. The only pool on Veendam is the main pool under the retractable cover and I'm sure he will want to use it as often as our grandkids did!

m--

[just_cruising_along]

I agree with a prior poster, it depends on how long your cruise is. For longer cruises, the age goes up, retired folks can cruise for 3 weeks or more, and not worry about getting back to work :)

 

For a 7 day cruise I would say it is a mix of folks, both young and old, with and without kids.

 

We have cruised with ours sons to Alaska several times and as they matured, they still found stuff to do. They liked the HAL's kids club, but if you are expecting Disney-type kid entertainment, this is not it.

 

However, each time, our sons found people to hang out with, had supervised activities, loved going on shore and and had a terrific time.

 

We took the Boston cruise a couple of years ago and there were kids onboard, but not 100s of them.

[Hlitner]

Would we recommend the Veendam for kids and teens? No way! Why? Because the geniuses in Seattle decided, several years ago, to remove the aft pool so they could cram more cabins underneath. The result is you have a vessel with only a single small pool (amidships). Asking a group of kids to co-exist with lots of seniors (some of whom also want to use the lone pool) is not a good thing. Yes, HAL does have a staff dedicated to working with kids, and they do have some activities...but most teens and kids would be a lot happier on a ship that has more facilities geared towards younger cruisers (on HAL that would be anyone under 60).

 

Hank

[aljo66]

We are on our second HAL cruise in 3 weeks time with our 11 year old son - we have also cruised with him on Carnival. We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the kids club was amazing and he loved being there. Next cruise is on Konningsdam and from what we have seen it looks as good if not better. You may want to avoid the older, smaller HAL ships (although our friends have sailed Rotterdam 3 times with children with no issues) but the "larger" ones are great [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[creel5857]

It is still a mixture of ages but does not pretend to emphasize parties, huge unique pools, rock climbing or ice rinks or 24/7 activities.....nor does it pretend to have the largest kids programs. HAL, like Princess, has kid programs that have been complimented by many but don't go on HAL thinking it is a Disney and carnival type ship.......because it is not. But that being said, they still have a structured nice program for kids