UPDATE to Issues w/ ClubHAL on Oosterdam

[otters92]

This is an update to the issues I expressed in December regarding the changes to ClubHAL on the Oosterdam in the following post:

 

 

I received fair compensation for the way the changes affected my family's cruise over Thanksgiving. More importantly, I received confirmation that the former ClubHAL has been mostly reinstated on the Oosterdam. Please see the attached flyer.

 

Upon receiving so many complaints and concerns after the Thanksgiving cruise, HAL sent the management person in charge of developing the new High Score! program on the cruise immediately prior to Christmas week. Like the Thanksgiving cruise, there were over 300 children on that cruise. Based on that person's observations, the following changes have been made. (I was asked to mention that this information is still "subject to change.")

 

Guest relations have confirmed that all children ages 3-9 will be supervised on a sign-in/sign-out basis in the Kids Club.  Parents of children ages 10-12 will be offered the option to have to sign their children in and out or allow them to come and go on their own. The new High Score! program (an arcade-style room) will be available for the older pre-teens through high school aged children. Also, families will still be able to use that area from 7-10 pm.

 

Lastly, it has been confirmed that the new High Score! program will next be implemented on the Nieuw Amsterdam, probably sometime in April. The new program on that ship will be modeled after the newly revised High Score! and kids club on the Oosterdam. This was a huge issue for my family because our next cruise had been booked on that ship out of Venice in June.  There was no way we would have maintained that booking without the ability for our 7 year old son to enjoy some of his time in the kids club. Now we are excitedly looking forward to that cruise.

 

Lastly, I want to compliment the people I worked with from HAL Guest Relations and the Office of the President. I don't want to name names, but never was I made to feel that my concerns weren't justified.  It became an issue of "we messed up, now we want to make sure we get it right before making any promises."  They were all very respectful and responsive, and I appreciate their efforts, especially when they had so many other issues to deal with at the same time. (See Nieuw Amsterdam Azipod.)

121219_Oosterdam Family Programming Changes Letter.pdf

[fatcat04]

Thank you very much for following up on this so diligently. This seems a very good compromise. I can definitely see our family going to High Score and our daughter going to the Kid's Club too.

And thank you to HAL for listening and working for a good solution. Means a lot to us.

Edited January 31, 2020 by fatcat04

[Tapi]

I appreciate the update. My kids would’ve been negatively affected by the previously advertised changes, but this “tweak” sounds much better. We can work with that.

[dobiemom]

3 hours ago, Tapi said:

I appreciate the update. My kids would’ve been negatively affected by the previously advertised changes, but this “tweak” sounds much better. We can work with that.

(I miss seeing your signature block. 😉)

[ski ww]

Thanks for the up date. We'll be sailing with our 10 year old GGD in July, she loves Club HAL from a previous cruise.

[Tapi]

3 hours ago, dobiemom said:

(I miss seeing your signature block. 😉)

Me too. I edited my profile and lost the pic! 😭

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the update.

 

This sounds better than what HAL originally did with Club HAL.

[TN Fem]

this sounds like a much better plan... 7-17 is a huge age range and while I think 10 year old could sign themselves out, 7 year olds still need supervision.  We really appreciated ClubHal in the evening when my kids were younger. We would feed them in the Lido and then drop them at Club Hal before we went to dinner kid free. 

Edited January 31, 2020 by TN Fem

[otters92]

(See post below)

Edited January 31, 2020 by otters92
Left off quote

[otters92]

37 minutes ago, TN Fem said:

this sounds like a much better plan... 7-17 is a huge age range and while I think 10 year old could sign themselves out, 7 year olds still need supervision.  We really appreciated ClubHal in the evening when my kids were younger. We would feed them in the Lido and then drop them at Club Hal before we went to dinner kid free. 

 

That’s exactly what we would do. It’s not that we wouldn’t want to eat with our son. The problem is that meals in the MDR oftentimes last more than an hour and a half. What 7 year old has the patience for that? And how many other guests want hundreds of bored children running around the MDR?

 

The first formal night on our Thanksgiving cruise was a nightmare for all involved. People with open dining times who arrived after 5:45 pm were told there was a two-plus hour wait for a table. Kids were screaming and writhing on the floor BEFORE they even got a chance to sit down for dinner. Waiters were having to navigate carrying the trays with 10+ entrees around poorly supervised children. What a mess!

[fatcat04]

1 hour ago, TN Fem said:

this sounds like a much better plan... 7-17 is a huge age range and while I think 10 year old could sign themselves out, 7 year olds still need supervision.  We really appreciated ClubHal in the evening when my kids were younger. We would feed them in the Lido and then drop them at Club Hal before we went to dinner kid free. 

We did this with our son (graduating from HS this year) for years. I anticipate our daughter (2, our delightful surprise baby) may also like this idea one day but you never know.

[fatcat04]

52 minutes ago, otters92 said:

 

That’s exactly what we would do. It’s not that we wouldn’t want to eat with our son. The problem is that meals in the MDR oftentimes last more than an hour and a half. What 7 year old has the patience for that? And how many other guests want hundreds of bored children running around the MDR?

 

The first formal night on our Thanksgiving cruise was a nightmare for all involved. People with open dining times who arrived after 5:45 pm were told there was a two-plus hour wait for a table. Kids were screaming and writhing on the floor BEFORE they even got a chance to sit down for dinner. Waiters were having to navigate carrying the trays with 10+ entrees around poorly supervised children. What a mess!

Oh I can only imagine how that night was... must have been chaos and pretty horrible for everyone.

 

Son also found 1.5 hour long dinners boring (so do some adults on this forum). 😛

[Dulciana8]

@otters92 thank you so much for following up to let us know the resolution to your situation. We have a six year old who has loved Club HAL, and have been closely following this situation with the changing club/High Score set up before booking our next HAL cruise... especially since our son will be 7 when we are able to cruise again, the changes would directly impact him. 
 

Based on your information, we are cautiously optimistic! Thank you so so much for the report back from HAL corporate. Fingers crossed they continue to be a viable option in the way of family cruising. 

[shudie]

thank you! we are taking our first HAL cruise later this year - we wouldn't have been impacted this time as they assured us the roll out on the Zuiderdam would be after our cruise, nevertheless, the idea of 7-17 was crazy!

 

the new flyer you have attached sounds great for future cruises with HAL. 

[LMaxwell]

Thank you for the update and THANK YOU for the original post.  Without your original post HAL would have never refunded me my full cruise fare without penalty.  I think the update to the program makes much more sense but the money has already been spent to go on Celebrity and HAL's corporate stance at the time was basically "You weren't supposed to find this information online..."  With the changes we may entertain HAL for our Alaska trip. 

[SwimCarrie]

4 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Thank you for the update and THANK YOU for the original post.  Without your original post HAL would have never refunded me my full cruise fare without penalty.  I think the update to the program makes much more sense but the money has already been spent to go on Celebrity and HAL's corporate stance at the time was basically "You weren't supposed to find this information online..."  With the changes we may entertain HAL for our Alaska trip. 

Out of curiosity, how far out were you? We are 5 weeks out. 

[LMaxwell]

23 hours ago, SwimCarrie said:

Out of curiosity, how far out were you? We are 5 weeks out. 

 I was 3 months out and had just paid in full