Holland, Celebrity or Princess 4 toddler in europe?

[mom247]

Hi,

 

I am going to do a 10 or 12 night cruise in Europe June 07 with my 4 yo. Not sure which line would be best for cruising with a toddler. I have been on Holland and Celebrity though when she was really young so did not use the kids programs. I have never been on Princess though there is a new ship which will cruise the Med next year. I want to be pampered on a nice ship and want a good kids program for her while I am getting pampered and/or doing an excursion not appropriate for a toddler! Thanks for any advice :)

[crusinmama06]

She's at a good age because she is no longer a "toddler" but a "preschooler". So you have many more options with kids programs because she is at the right age.

 

There are med cruises with RCCL, Princess and Disney...any of them would have great kid's programs for her.

[~Roses~]

We cruised with my dd who was 3.5yo last November on HAL. She absolutely loved Club Hal, and wanted to keep going back, every day. Loved it! Since they've upgraded their ships with the "signature of excellence" the kids' program has improved. Plus, HAL has nice ships, excellent service, etc, which you probably already know! ;) GL!

[betonic]

We're going on HAL this fall on a transatlantic sailing that has a bunch of ports of call in Europe. My son will be almost 7 when we sail and he's so excited.

 

I just answered a post on the Europe boards about a Mom who's interested in leaving her kids in the children's program while she goes on excursions. Needless to say, she was getting blasted!!! There is something important to keep in mind, many of the European ports are very far from the city, Rome and Florence for example. It would be your personal preferance as to whether to leave your kids on board but it's definetly something to consider.

[Arubalisa]

IMHO, I would not do HAL. Not with a child. We were on a Christmas cruise on HAL with lots of kids, and children were not as welcome by the passengers (crew and staff were wonderful) as they were when we cruised on Celebrity.

 

We also had a large disappointment in the Club during the day we were in Martinique. Our daughter wanted to attend, so we had signed up our DD the day before as required. When my husband went to sign her into the club that morning, none of the Club HAL staff was there. “They” decided they felt like taking the day off, and we were “lucky” that one of the male entertainers “volunteered” to man the Club that day. Luckily we had not scheduled an excursion. If we had, we would have missed the tour. My husband chatted with the gentleman a considerable amount of time, long enough to determine he felt safe leaving DD at the Club. Our daughter happily played on the computer for a couple of hours, but obviously that was beside the point.

 

Dd had something to compare HAL to when we sailed Celebrity this past Christmas. This was 'only' her second cruise and the third time she had "traveled". She by far enjoyed the kid's club on Celebrity than HAL. Mom and Dad ;) also thought the staff was more approachable and better trained to work with the kids. Wider variety of activities, wide range of hours, overall IOHO just better.

[lisiamc]

I read the thread title too quickly, and for a moment, I thought you were travelling with four toddlers! My first thought was "Good heavens, that woman deserves a medal!!!" For your sake, I'm relieved to see it's one toddler, although even one can be a handful at times, I'm sure.:) Happy cruising!

 

Lisa

[~Roses~]

Even though we have nothing to compare HAL with, other than the one yucky time on NCL, we were thoroughly impressed with Club HAL. All the people that worked there were younger and loved the kids, and my dd loved them too. They were there all day, and into the night, other than lunch and dinner time, which seems appropriate. They can stay there during port days so adults can go ashore if they want, and kids can stay and play. It woked fine for us. Don't discount HAL. they did a great job. We'll be using Club HAL again on our cruise next week and I bet it will be just as good. We'll see.:D

[cheesluvscows2007]

I went on a cruise to greece last year I was 16 at the time but my cousin was4. We went on RCCL, When we got to the first island he opted not to come on as he was having so much fun in Adventure Ocean. He stayed on board and had a blast. Their kids clube is amazing and the staff is very well trained. We went on another european cruise the year before on Holland America. He was 3 and decided the same thing again, he didn't want to go on the island, so that morning we went to drop him off but we had the same problem as the other person did, they decided that they wanted a day off, and no one was there. It was horrible they had no one to even cover the kids club. So he was forced to come with us which didn't make him a happy camper, and you know how annoying 3 yo can be when they are mad. Anyways I would definentally suggest RCCL or Carnival over HAL. The kids clubs are much better. I hope this helps

Amy

[mom247]

Thanks for all the great tips. This is a big decision and having input is invaluable. I am leaning toward the Norwegian Jewell, RCCL or Carnival Freedom now. I have been on NCL and Carnival before. We did NCL in Feb to the caribbean and she liked the kids club then.