Westerdam, April 6th - 12th with kids

[frodo63]

Many people have expressed concerns about whether Holland American is suitable for children. I travelled with two girls, one 12 the other 15. I have to admit that in the first few hours my girls were thinking they may have been better off if they had skipped this cruise. When I asked why, they complained that there were no young people to hang out with. "Too late now" I told them. They would have to make the best of it and not make me miserable in the process. By the time we went to dinner, they had totally changed their minds. I thought they had found kids their age to be with. They had actually been to the teen club, but my girls did not find they had a lot in common with most of the kids there. There were a few though, and while not utilizing the club a lot, they had fun with their new companions.

They love the ship. they think it is beautiful. They enjoyed meeting the cruise critic members, the mocktails, and were quite satisfied with the meals. The music played in the public areas was new enough to have them singing along. They only attended a couple of shows, but did like the ones they saw. They spent time on our balcony and found they enjoyed the privacy from time to time.

 

By the end of the cruise, I was amazed by the things they told me. They could tell me what some of the passengers had done for a living, about another travelling alone whose wife had died of cancer, how many days others had sailed on Holland America. It floored me that on their own, they found out that "old" people are not so bad to talk to.

 

I was strongly encouraged by them to book a future cruise. They feel they could live on the Westerdam.

 

I did see the younger participants of the kids program out and about occasionally. Once at the illusionists show, once eating icecream. They all seemed happy enough.

[hammybee]

Good to hear your girls enjoyed their cruise. How fabulous that they were able to learn more about other passengers besides who is cute and who is not cool.

 

If you had sailed mid March, most ships, most cruise lines were filled with kids- perhaps too many kids. :)

[frodo63]

Hi Hammybee,

Thanks for the compliment to my girls. They learned a lot while on board and may have acted a little more mature than I expected, but I suspect they were still rating the staff.

[gizmo]

Glad to hear you and the girls had a nice cruise. :)

[Zesty Italian]

As someone with a 10 & 12 year old girl, I am grateful for your positive comments about HAL. Thanks for taking the time, and how great that your daughters appreciated folks of a different generation. If mine do that, I will consider it a fabulous experience. May I ask what kind of activities they had for the 10-15 age group?

[frodo63]

I will have to check with the girls and see if they kept any of the flyers. They did not participate in kids/teen club activities. I will post back this evening if I can. I remember for the 13-17 group they had mostly socials and other mix and mingle activites. There were a few organized sport and game activities, some qualifying for Dam Dollars. My kids remind me that teens are not really into organized activities, they just like to hang out.

 

The first thing my kids did after checking out the cabin was go right to the gift shop to get their Dam Shirts. They sold out fast.

[frodo63]

Zesty Italian, I see Jersey Girl was able to answer your questions about Club Hal. I asked my "darlings" but they did not attend the activities and did not save their activity sheets. The kids mentioned there were games and other activities held by the staff. They also say that with the pool, the in cabin movies and the shows, occassional trips to club Hal and then time with parents there should be plenty to keep them happy.

[Zesty Italian]

Thank you for taking time to answer and for the suggestions.

[frodo63]

I was able to find the kids activity sheets and posted them under a new thread. Club Hal activities.