Zuiderdam -Last Week in February

[rmmm]

Hello All,

 

I am considering taking a Carribean cruise during the last week in February. I am a teacher and thus far have only cruised during the summer. OUr school is closed the last week in February and I am considering taking a cruise. My question is this: will the ship be full of children? Usually by February I need a break from kids and an adult vacation. I am not interested in cruising on a boat full of children. The cruise I am considering is and Eastern Carribean cruise on the Zuiderdam. Could you let me know if you think the ship will be full of children?

 

Thanks.

 

Rose

[dakrewser]

Hello All,

 

I am considering taking a Carribean cruise during the last week in February. I am a teacher and thus far have only cruised during the summer. OUr school is closed the last week in February and I am considering taking a cruise. My question is this: will the ship be full of children? Usually by February I need a break from kids and an adult vacation. I am not interested in cruising on a boat full of children. The cruise I am considering is and Eastern Carribean cruise on the Zuiderdam. Could you let me know if you think the ship will be full of children?

Compared to a Disney, Carnival or Royal Caribbean cruise, no, a HAL ship is never full of children. But the Zui does normally (it seems) carry more kids than the smaller HAL ships. A lot will depend, though, on how many kids are out of school that week.

 

Still, a cruise on the Zaandam, Volendam, Veendam, Maasdam, Staatendam or Prinsendam would more than likely have far fewer kids.

[grannynurse]

Better to take an "S" class ship in February. The tone will be quieter with fewer pax (including kids).Look around, there are deals out there. Check the HAL website and some online consolidators for ideas.

Probably feb will be better than March, and there may be some awfully good prices available.

Good hunting,

GN

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have cruised several times at the end of February - the weather has been great.

The Vista class ships do tend to attrack more families.

Not all the schools have breaks at the same time.

For a quieter and more relaxfull cruise - try to go for the "S" class ships.

[MandyGirl]

Rose -

 

I am a teacher as well, and it seems school breaks can vary from district to district, even within the same town/county (at least here in the Dallas area). Wow... a week in February - that would be awesome! Just as comparison, we get the week of Easter this year and that is it as far as breaks go for our Spring semester (except for one MLK day in January and one day for Memorial Day in May). So none of my 143 kiddos would be on the cruise with you in February! :) And I totally understand the need for an adult vacation! We're on the Z for eastern Caribbean during Thanksgiving break (we get the whole week). Of the four lines we have sampled in the past four years, we have found HAL to have fewer children than the others we have cruised on (Celebrity, HAL, and NCL). Each of our cruises were 7-night Caribbean - so similar in passenger clientele the Caribbean attracts. Have fun!!

[stefhef]

We have sailed several times during Presidents' Week with our kids - that's the week that we get off. There have been a fair number of kids on the cruise (our last during that week was on the Zuiderdam), but not overwelming. If you mean the last week of February that leads into March, that week probably has less kids aboard.

[swmichigan cruiser]

We were on the Zuiderdam the last few days of February and first few days of March this year. There were very few kids on this cruise that we saw. There was one we did see a lot of he was about 4 1/2 years old course he was our grandson so maybe that explains that. He was to young for the HAL kids club so he was with us the whole time. We never ate in the diningroom with him so he wouldn't bother the other passengers. Anyhow there were not many kids of that cruise. Hope this helps.