No teen program?

[rsldonk]

Just got off Eurodam from a 7 day Alaska round trip Seattle cruise (April 30-May 7). When we boarded, we took our 3 teens (17, and twin 13 year olds) to the loft to register them. We were informed that since there were only a total of 17 teens aboard that they were only going to do one activity per day. To make this worse, they scheduled it at 10 pm.

 

I know HAL tends to cater to an older crowd, but is this a Covid thing or is this normal?  

[PACD_JG]

I'm about to go to Alaska with my two teenaged daughters.  I know from earlier research that there is no registration or sign in/out procedures for teen programming. Teen activities are held in the Loft and throughout the ship. Activity times and locations will vary. Once on board, a full list of activities can be found on Navigator, our mobile app.  https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/onboard-activities/cruise-activities/teen-no-registration.html

 

TBH, if I truly cared about my kids' opinions about the cruise, I wouldn't have booked with HAL.

[rass2008]

Hmmmm we are heading to Alaska with our two kids (9&14) June 22nd, was hoping there would be at least a handful of kids on board and activities running.

 

@PACD_JGwould love to know what kind of programming you have on your sailing if you don't mind looping back when you get home.

 

First HAL cruise for us, and yes I know HAL is light on kids/family activities, but still hoping for the best.

[PACD_JG]

1 minute ago, rass2008 said:

@PACD_JGwould love to know what kind of programming you have on your sailing if you don't mind looping back when you get home.

I actually leave after you - June 25 out of Vancouver.  I've read/heard/watched enough - the consensus is HAL is light on kids, but Alaska is probably their most kid-friendly offering because Alaska cruises peak during summer vacation and it's full of multi-generational bucket-listers.

[PACD_JG]

And I always tell my kids...if you're bored it's because you're boring.  

[rass2008]

8 minutes ago, PACD_JG said:

I actually leave after you - June 25 out of Vancouver.  I've read/heard/watched enough - the consensus is HAL is light on kids, but Alaska is probably their most kid-friendly offering because Alaska cruises peak during summer vacation and it's full of multi-generational bucket-listers.

Agreed - just hoping a few more kids don't go to the last day or two of school so they have other people to talk to lol

[kentuckycruiser]

I think that late April/early May there are very few kids who aren't in school. AP exams are still going on this week for high schoolers! 

Anyway,  we were on the Rotterdam during spring break in the Caribbean so there were kids on board. For my two teen boys, the official teen group met in club HAL from 9-10 each night then kids tended to head to the Lido together or roam around. On a few more days they had activities like teen shuffleboard or ping pong during the day.  

[kentuckycruiser]

1 hour ago, rass2008 said:

Hmmmm we are heading to Alaska with our two kids (9&14) June 22nd, was hoping there would be at least a handful of kids on board and activities running.

 

@PACD_JGwould love to know what kind of programming you have on your sailing if you don't mind looping back when you get home.

 

First HAL cruise for us, and yes I know HAL is light on kids/family activities, but still hoping for the best.

there will be gobs for the 9 year old to do. That is a great age group for Club HAL.

[rass2008]

Thank you so much @kentuckycruiser- so helpful. We have done mostly Carnival but my parents wanted us to come on HAL with them so we are looking forward to it 🙂

[twinprincessmama]

@rsldonk this is concerning to hear! we are going on the eurodam in a few weeks with our twins the same age as yours. Did they still have a good time? did you happen to take pics or screen shots of the daily activity sheets you can share (the general ones on the ship) so i can see if there is anything they would be interested in? was there any nighttime entertainment they liked?

[rsldonk]

1 hour ago, twinprincessmama said:

@rsldonk this is concerning to hear! we are going on the eurodam in a few weeks with our twins the same age as yours. Did they still have a good time? did you happen to take pics or screen shots of the daily activity sheets you can share (the general ones on the ship) so i can see if there is anything they would be interested in? was there any nighttime entertainment they liked?

They had a good time doing things like excursions. The time on board, there was a lot of them just sitting in the room watching tv. They did like to go to the trivia stuff with me and loved afternoon tea. 
 

The fact that the main lido pool is covered was also a big plus because they could swim desire the outside weather. 

[twinprincessmama]

thanks @rsldonk. were you able to swim the whole time? were there good movies on tv for that age group?

[TiogaCruiser]

Gee. 17 teens onboard- that seems significant to me, and like a pretty good showing. If only 3 or 4 were interested in participating, I could understand not planning anything. With a potential group of up to 17, it would be nice if they tried (as we move more towards “normal”.
 

On our last cruise ( and previous ones) there were several activities that 15 or less pax attended, and they weren’t cancelled.

[rkacruiser]

One of the areas of the ship that I specifically wanted to visit on the Nieuw Statendam was Club HAL and seeing a daily activity program for the children--including teens--aboard.  (As a retired educator, I knew this would be of interest to me.)  Very short review:  I was impressed with the facilities.  I was impressed with the activity program for that day.  

 

19 hours ago, kentuckycruiser said:

For my two teen boys, the official teen group met in club HAL from 9-10 each night then kids tended to head to the Lido together or roam around.

 

Personally, I think that is a bit late for an "official" teen group for all teens that may be aboard.  While that late night experience may be OK for an older teen, for a younger teen, some parents may feel that their teen would benefit by an earlier curfew.  

[kentuckycruiser]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

One of the areas of the ship that I specifically wanted to visit on the Nieuw Statendam was Club HAL and seeing a daily activity program for the children--including teens--aboard.  (As a retired educator, I knew this would be of interest to me.)  Very short review:  I was impressed with the facilities.  I was impressed with the activity program for that day.  

 

 

Personally, I think that is a bit late for an "official" teen group for all teens that may be aboard.  While that late night experience may be OK for an older teen, for a younger teen, some parents may feel that their teen would benefit by an earlier curfew.  

It is a supervised hanging out in Club Hal. When my boys were in the 8-12 age groups, those age groups met from 7-10 p.m. every evening I don't think teenagers in Club Hal from 9-10 pm. is late at all. Where else would they be? What 14 year old is going to bed at 9:30 pm on vacation?  The Lido opens at 10:30 and thats where all the kids end up or watching the outside movie. 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by kentuckycruiser