11 day Panama Cruise on HAL - how many kids??

[croozen]

We did a 10 day HAL cruise to Panama Canal back in 08 but I honestly can not recall if there were any on board. This time we have our just turned 11 son with us on the 11 day Zuiderdam sailing tp PC. Any one with experience of being on these 10 or 11 day sailings and seeing children? or did you have kids who participate in kids club and can say how many were there? I read one review where the writer was quite sure there would be ZERO kids.

[ghstudio]

Longer cruises (over 7 days) tend to have less kids....and HAL tends to attract less younger families with kids.  I'd suggest looking at Princess, RCL or perhaps even Celebrity for "equivalent to HAL" cruises.  Of course, if you want really kid friendly...look at Carnival and NCL.

 

Every cruise is different....so other's experience may be interesting, but probably will have little bearing on your experience.

[croozen]

16 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

Longer cruises (over 7 days) tend to have less kids....and HAL tends to attract less younger families with kids.  I'd suggest looking at Princess, RCL or perhaps even Celebrity for "equivalent to HAL" cruises.  Of course, if you want really kid friendly...look at Carnival and NCL.

 

Every cruise is different....so other's experience may be interesting, but probably will have little bearing on your experience.

The cruise is already booked so we wont be looking elsewhere. We have sailed HAL many times since 2008 (and also Princess and Celebrity) so quite familiar with older demographic on HAL. Posed this question to get particular feedback on Panama cruise experiences and the number of kids.

[I like vacation]

We did the 11 night Caribbean Sunfarer on the Zuiderdam in late October to early November 2018.  This was the partial Panama Canal trip.  Unless all the children were in Club HAL all day I don't think I saw more than 4 children the entire time.  This cruise appeared to have a much older crowd than usual.

[Roz]

44 minutes ago, croozen said:

We did a 10 day HAL cruise to Panama Canal back in 08 but I honestly can not recall if there were any on board. This time we have our just turned 11 son with us on the 11 day Zuiderdam sailing tp PC. Any one with experience of being on these 10 or 11 day sailings and seeing children? or did you have kids who participate in kids club and can say how many were there? I read one review where the writer was quite sure there would be ZERO kids.

 

What time of year are you sailing?  I just got off a 13-day Carnival PC cruise.  The cruise director told us there were 2,000 passengers onboard.  Of those, 1,250 were 60 and over, and 19 were 21 yrs. old and under.  11 of the 19 were in Camp Ocean.  I would expect similar demographics on HAL.

[fatcat04]

Another important question is when is the cruise. If it is around school holiday times, that means more kids are possible on all family friendly cruise lines.

[croozen]

We are sailing March 18th. Son has two week break from school. I think we will be catching some school break passengers, possibly.

[*Miss G*]

You will definitely be catching school break passengers.  That “zero kids” person is nuts.  😂Have a wonderful time!

[davy jones]

It depends on whether school is in session.  Two weeks sounds like a long school break in March, at least here in PA.  I would be surprised if there are a lot of kids on the sailing, but there will be some.

[msmayor]

We did a 10-night Zuiderdam a couple of years ago in mid-March, not too far from Easter.  There were definitely kids on board but not nearly as many as one might see on a 7-night cruise or one of the other lines more popular with families.

 

I'd say there were at least two dozen or so - we ran into one group on a 'field excursion' through the ship one sea day...all very well behaved.

 

This past October we were on an 11-night on Eurodam and there were also children, though I don't think I ever saw more than 12-18 or so.  Also well behaved and not bothersome at all. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by msmayor

[croozen]

40 minutes ago, davy jones said:

It depends on whether school is in session.  Two weeks sounds like a long school break in March, at least here in PA.  I would be surprised if there are a lot of kids on the sailing, but there will be some.

we don't need a lot! just some!

 

[croozen]

25 minutes ago, msmayor said:

We did a 10-night Zuiderdam a couple of years ago in mid-March, not too far from Easter.  There were definitely kids on board but not nearly as many as one might see on a 7-night cruise or one of the other lines more popular with families.

 

I'd say there were at least two dozen or so - we ran into one group on a 'field excursion' through the ship one sea day...all very well behaved.

 

This past October we were on an 11-night on Eurodam and there were also children, though I don't think I ever saw more than 12-18 or so.  Also well behaved and not bothersome at all. 

thanks for the info. We are mostly just concerned that he has some kids onboard. Like more than zero. 🙂

[JeremyTexas]

We are doing the 14 day transatlantic on the Zuiderdam in April with 4 kids in tow.  I would be interested in hearing your experience.  

[love4trvl]

We just returned from the 11 night Eurodam cruise. We saw a family with 3 children. 

[Rinderoo]

I was on the Nieuw Statendam in December and there were a couple of kids. Not many. Saw a couple of boys at the ping pong tables. There were a few in the under 3 crowd. 

 

When my kids were teens, we took them on HAL. They hated kids clubs and liked finer dining and the lower key vibe of HAL. Did they like entertainment? Not really, but we had a good time in Billboard Onboard. We did these trips on the Eurodam and had the Family Retreat Cabana booked for all our family trips. They were up there enjoying the break from college and what we did in the ports. (I do not book Cabanas for the two of us.)

I quit worrying what they wanted to do because they didn't like kid clubs at all, except on Disney. They absolutely hated teen activities. 

If the 11 y/o likes to read and do cultural things, and enjoys good food, then you shouldn't have any problems. But he may be on his own to make friends and be with you for most of the trip. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by Rinderoo
clarity

[OHCruiser]

On our 10 Eurodam partial transit cruise two weeks ago we saw less than 5 children...............

[whogo]

There were lots of kids on our Christmas/New Year Rotterdam cruise... In 2008.

 

Back then Holland America would tell you how many children would be onboard. You might call HAL and ask.