Teens on Eurodam

[bre]

We are planning a family cruise to the Caribbean, for Sping Break. We will traveling with our 4 children ages 20,18,15,12. Is The eurodam going to be a good fit for our family? We have never sailed on Holland before. But we have been on several other cruises and have sailed with RC, NCL, MSC and Carnival. Just wanted to make sure, that this a ship, that my family can enjoy as well. Any thoughts.

[cb at sea]

It will be a bit more "laid back" than Carnival, NCL or RCI....don't know about MSC.....but it will be fine. It's a vacation! ANY vacation is great!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Do agree about HAL being more laid back.

You didn't mention what your children like. The 12 and 15 year old have Club HAL that they can go to. There aren't any specific activities for the 18 and 20 year olds.

[NordicPrince]

We are planning a family cruise to the Caribbean, for Sping Break. We will traveling with our 4 children ages 20,18,15,12. Is The eurodam going to be a good fit for our family? We have never sailed on Holland before. But we have been on several other cruises and have sailed with RC, NCL, MSC and Carnival. Just wanted to make sure, that this a ship, that my family can enjoy as well. Any thoughts.

 

Knowing that my college age daughter went on Carnival with her bachanalian friends for spring break a few years ago I would suggest you stay away from them. She has a picture of her friends almost dangling her over the rail. HAL never has a large number of young people on board from my experience. We went to Bermuda twice and I can;t recall being there wiith a lot of young kids so they may feel out of place. NCL always seems to charge extra for many things. Never been on MSC.

 

IMHO I would stick with RCL. If you don't want the Oasis class if you think it's too big we've had a good time on Explorer OTS and Serenade OTS. DW and I have been on Celebrity. and their S class ships are really beautiful. Maybe that might be a happy compromise.

 

To me the Caribbean trips are about the islands. Just make sure you get off the ship to do lots of interesting excursions.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[MsMolly]

We took our children when they were aged 17, 16, 13 and 11, on the Eurodam. They LOVED it. We spent a lot of our time on the ship up on the sports court playing basketball and kicking a soccer ball around. They enjoyed the movie theatre as well. Other than that we played board games and relaxed. My youngest spent a few hours in club hal and there were never more than 2 or 3 other children there. My kids LOVED their time on the eurodam but I know many of their friends would have been bored and looking for water slides, rock climbing walls etc that are on other lines. We travel for quality time together as a family so Hal is a perfect fit for us. Our children are now 19, 17, 15 and 12 and we are booked on the Eurodam for their spring break and we are all counting down the days! I think it depends on your children and what type of vacation you are looking for as to if the Eurodam will be a good fit for you all.

[Baudoin]

We took our children when they were aged 17, 16, 13 and 11, on the Eurodam. They LOVED it. We spent a lot of our time on the ship up on the sports court playing basketball and kicking a soccer ball around. They enjoyed the movie theatre as well. Other than that we played board games and relaxed. My youngest spent a few hours in club hal and there were never more than 2 or 3 other children there. My kids LOVED their time on the eurodam but I know many of their friends would have been bored and looking for water slides, rock climbing walls etc that are on other lines. We travel for quality time together as a family so Hal is a perfect fit for us. Our children are now 19, 17, 15 and 12 and we are booked on the Eurodam for their spring break and we are all counting down the days! I think it depends on your children and what type of vacation you are looking for as to if the Eurodam will be a good fit for you all.

 

 

I am so worried that my two teen boys will not enjoy the Eurodam. I'm booked for an alaskan cruise the July (29). They have only sailed Disney Cruise line. But this itinerary and dates worked better. The price was definitely better!!! They enjoy basketball and the activities put on through the clubs (at least on Disney). Were they many kids on board when you sailed?

[styles27]

I am so worried that my two teen boys will not enjoy the Eurodam. I'm booked for an alaskan cruise the July (29). They have only sailed Disney Cruise line. But this itinerary and dates worked better. The price was definitely better!!! They enjoy basketball and the activities put on through the clubs (at least on Disney). Were they many kids on board when you sailed?

 

 

I think since you are cruising in July there will be some teens on board.

 

We saw a lot of young families when we were on Eurodam in May to Alaska and not many teens but school was still in session so that didn't surprise me.

 

Eurodam has a great full court basketball court on the sports deck. Your boys will enjoy that I'm sure!

 

Alaska is beautiful and is the star of this cruise...the ship is second fiddle in my opinion.

We loved Eurodam and I'm sure you all will too!

 

It's a port intensive itinerary with a lot of exciting things for you and your family to enjoy.

 

Have a fantastic time!

 

 

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[Baudoin]

I think since you are cruising in July there will be some teens on board.

 

We saw a lot of young families when we were on Eurodam in May to Alaska and not many teens but school was still in session so that didn't surprise me.

 

Eurodam has a great full court basketball court on the sports deck. Your boys will enjoy that I'm sure!

 

Alaska is beautiful and is the star of this cruise...the ship is second fiddle in my opinion.

We loved Eurodam and I'm sure you all will too!

 

It's a port intensive itinerary with a lot of exciting things for you and your family to enjoy.

 

Have a fantastic time!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you very much for the response. I am really looking forward to the trip. I'm sure it will be fine and Alaska will be amazing.

[Baudoin]

Thanks so much for the input. I think my kids will have fun. I shouldn't worry too much about the reviews where people complained there wasn't much to do on board and HAL is not kid friendly. Alaska should be entertaining enough right? The boat looks nice and my kids really don't care about slides or the pools. They like the basketball court and enjoy club activities with other teens. We also have nice excursions planned to keep us active. Enjoy your upcoming cruise with your family. It's nice to hear your teens enjoy all that family time together. On our past Disney cruises I only saw my teen for supper (which was rushed). He couldn't way to join his new friends. Maybe we will see him more on Holland, lol.

 

I am so worried that my two teen boys will not enjoy the Eurodam. I'm booked for an alaskan cruise the July (29). They have only sailed Disney Cruise line. But this itinerary and dates worked better. The price was definitely better!!! They enjoy basketball and the activities put on through the clubs (at least on Disney). Were they many kids on board when you sailed?

[catl331]

There were a group of teens on our Thanksgiving cruise and they took dance lessons, played trivia, played sports, went to the movies, behaved in the pools, played board games. They were just great to watch. Alaska cruises are so port intensive that everyone is tired out when they get back to the ship. I have seen some people let their kids go on their own and not pay attention to them. Families that play together have a good time together.

[ThanxMM]

Last time we took our kids on HAL they were bored out of their minds. It;s just nor really kid-oriented. However, whatever line you pick, they tend to get bored under they are under 18 or 21 and over. Not much for 18, 19 and 20 y.os. to do. They're to old for the kids clubs and too young for the bars.

[Epicureangirl]

My husband and I are in our 40's and have been cruising HAL mostly in recent years, the last couple of trips we took our kids with us (now ages 12 and 20). We were on the Eurodam with our girls for a Baltic cruise during summer vacation and my eldest one (18 at the time) had a fantastic trip, but not because of the ship -- other than the pool it doesn't actually have too much geared towards teens and young adults. A group of teens 'found' each other early on in the trip and started meeting up in the Crows Nest area and hanging out and played games -- one of them had a couple decks of cards, taught them a few games and they always seemed to be having a great time (the kids were from all over the world, and despite some language barriers and age differences, everyone accepted each other and stuck together throughout the cruise). The kids in their 20's 'might' like Trivia and (if 21) hitting happy hour specials in the Crow's Nest. If there is a younger musician playing there, they might even be lucky and be able to request songs they actually know. We actually met a great musician on the ship that made it great fun (yes, even for our kids). If they have a Karaoke night and they like to goof around and perform, they might find that fun too. But no, the Eurodam doesn't have a lot (outside of the kids/teens clubs) to hold their interest. I'd tell them to bring some games (maybe they will end up being the ones who get everyone socially interacting and playing together) or something to occupy their time for their sea days.

[weirdo0521]

We are planning a family cruise to the Caribbean, for Sping Break. We will traveling with our 4 children ages 20,18,15,12. Is The eurodam going to be a good fit for our family? We have never sailed on Holland before. But we have been on several other cruises and have sailed with RC, NCL, MSC and Carnival. Just wanted to make sure, that this a ship, that my family can enjoy as well. Any thoughts.

 

 

This is hard to say be all kids are so different. We just got of the Eurodam this past Sunday. My kids are 23, 19, and 15. The boys (the younger two) loved it. There favorite on board activity may have been the dueling pianos all request show. They went every night. This was our 3rd cruise, but first in nine years. Definitely a different (older) crowd, but I am guessing Spring Break will bring a lot of families.

 

Most of our time was family related, but we did split up on the ship occasion. If it fits your budget, I would recommend a Lido cabana, it was fantastic for us.

 

Best of luck!

[K&RCurt]

The age mix is different, as our daughters were 21 & 22 and our son 15 at the time, but we did a family trip with the three of them and the Girl's fiances who were 20 & 21 on the Eurodam and they all had a great time. The couples hung out together but did find a few other folks their age and also became friends with a couple of the dancers from the ship's crew. Our son went to the teen club for a short time each evening and met some friends his age and they hung out all throughout the cruise. He had dinner with them on the Lido a couple nights and a couple of them he still keeps in contact with.

 

Our oldest daughter and her new husband went on a Carnival cruise for their honeymoon the following year and they reported "it was OK, but not as good as HAL."

 

Depending on how much your kids need to be entertained it may be great for them or may be 'boring." YMMV

[Crew News]

Here is a link to the Kids Activities that I have collected to give you an example of what kids can expect.:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/holland-america-lines-kids-activities-examples/

 

 

From speaking to HAL teens, I have learned that meeting new friends from around the world was a big plus. It must be noted that even when there are more kids than usual on a HAL cruise, the kids are only visible during dinner as they are kept busy during the days in Club HAL.

[Oregonpoppa]

We were on the Eurodam eastern Caribbean cruise Dec. 24-31 with our kids and grandkids (ages 8-11-16-19). The young ones were OK with Club HAL, although they often preferred exploring everything with their mom and dad and devoured everything in sight at meal times. The 16 year old was bored a lot of the time, until he discovered the Explorer Lounge with all the games. The real problem was the college sophomore...and we wrote this up on our post-cruise critique. There was no structure for college kids (who are actually adults by law) to meet each other. It wouldn't take much for HAL to have a meet&greet scheduled. They're adults, but can't drink...so it wouldn't cost anything. The only social thing on the schedule for their age group (and others) was an 11:30 p.m. DJ "dance" following the last BBKing set in the Queen's Lounge (where the drinks flow, but not for them).

Our granddaughter didn't complain, but we did on her behalf. Fortunately, with port calls four of the days there was plenty to occupy her time and, since she is an artist as well as a serious academic student, she enjoyed wandering around the ship with her sketch pad.