Which ship for less kids on the Feb. (Pres. Day week) Star Princ. or Zuiderdam?

[Ocruise]

Hi all. We are planning our Feb. cruise and since I teach, the only week I can go is the February break (President's Day week). It's just my husband & me & we would like to steer ourselves on a ship with less kids. We are down to the Star Princess or the Zuiderdam.

 

I know Princess usually puts a limit of 300 children per sailing, but I don't know if that will apply for that holiday week.

 

We have never traveled on a Feb. break & I have read some reviews that say there are HUGE amounts of kids on board. We have traveled mostly in the summer months (when a lot of families travel) but have never felt overwhelmed by the # of kids on board (we have even sailed Disney on a 4th of July cruise & not felt bombarded by kids!)

 

We like both itineraries equally. We have sailed Princess & loved it, have never sailed Holland America before.

 

Any advice would be appreciated,

 

Marina

 

6/03 ~ Celebrity - Horizon ~ Bermuda

7/03 ~ Carnival - Paradise ~ Exotic West. Carrib.

7/04 ~ Disney - Wonder ~ Bahamas

7/04 ~ RCCL - Explorer ~ West. Carrib.

8/04 ~ Princess - Golden ~ Southern Carrib.

[KAJOKG]

My daughter and son-in-law sailed on the Zuiderdam during a school break. There were over 400 kids on board and it wasn't much fun. The crew tried to set "adult" hours at a pool, but that didn't work -- parents didn't pay much attention. However, they made the best of it and enjoyed the Zuiderdam in spite of it all. Would they go again during a school break? NO.

[ahracer]

I think you are going to have a fair amount of kids either way. Princess does limit kids sometimes but when and why is a mystery. So don't be surprised if there are more than 300 kids on the Star.

 

You may have more kids on the Star but I think that ship is better designed to handle a large number of kids vs. the Zuiderdam.

 

We are sailing the Star the week before with our kids.

 

 

Scott

[cjh]

It might not be as bad as you think this year. Our schools and the districts around us are going on break early this year the week of Feb 14th.

[marciemi]

Our kids are also in break the previous week, but I see we're not too far from you, cjh. What a deal - paid about half as much for a ski vacation that week (Killington) as I would have the following week, which they had last year.

 

To the OP, you probably want to consider some other variables too besides the number of kids. As someone said, there may be more kids on Princess, but the ship may handle them better, meaning they'd affect your life less. Also, I see you've done Princess, but not HAL yet. Guess that might depend on your age somewhat too. I realize all cruise lines are becoming more family oriented, but when my mom and I were considering a cruise together and also debating between those 2, I read the HAL board for a week, and just didn't see myself (almost 40) fitting in. Honestly, I was trying to do searches on aft cabins, balconies, etc., and all my search results had to do with whether you could get wheelchairs in the ports, tenders, cabins, doorways. My parents have sailed it several times and really enjoy it (they're mid/late 60's), but admit it's an entirely different atmosphere than Princess, where especially during Break Week, I think it will be a fairly young crowd (meaning 40's-50's and/or families).

 

Good luck with whatever you choose!

[ALB0711]

I'd guess the Zuiderdam would have less kids. Holland charges a lot more for 3rd and 4th person in a cabin. We love Holland, but find Princess to be a much better deal when we bring our 8 year old son along.

[Stevesan]

I'd guess the Zuiderdam would have less kids. Holland charges a lot more for 3rd and 4th person in a cabin. We love Holland, but find Princess to be a much better deal when we bring our 8 year old son along.

I haven't checked Princess, but HAL's Zuiderdam E. Carib for the week of Feb 12 is $458.60 for a child ($558.60 for a third adult) for all categories. That's @ 1/3 the ebd fare for each of the first two pax in a cat VA balcony cabin ($1308.60).

[marciemi]

I think they're looking at the following week, but I did also find HAL to be much cheaper for kids - looking at a basic outside cabin running around $950 on each line, the third person was $850 on Princess and $450 on HAL. So maybe that will preclude as many kids on Princess, or maybe they know that since it's break week, people will pay it!

[ALB0711]

For our upcoming Golden cruises our child was $399 in the mini-suite. I am sure when we booked this upcoming cruise (a good year ago), the HAL ship we looked at charged almost as much for the 3rd person as the first two. I didn't know HAL had a special kids price for the 3rd person, bet I was looking at the adult price.

[Coral]

I think you will find a lot of kids on both.

 

Holland America is trying to target families on their new line of ships (Vista class?) - with the Zuiderdam, Oosterdam and Westerdam.

 

If you are trying to avoid kids - I would look for a 10 night cruise.

[woodofpine]

On the same week-weekend a smaller ship (esp. HAL) is going to have less kids per sq.space

[Coral]

On the same week-weekend a smaller ship (esp. HAL) is going to have less kids per sq.space

 

I agree - while the Vista class of ships are trying to appeal to families - some of HAL's other ships are not being marketed to families and most likely will have few children.

[imsulin]

I cruise HAL because I like it, and because there seem to be less kids onboard. I cruised on the Zaandam over Christmas in 2002, and there were very few kids onboard! I was on the Zuiderdam in mid-May 2003, and there were kids, but not many, because school wasn't officially out. I'm a big HAL fan, but I will say that their Kid's Programs aren't the best. IMO, Princess has a much better Kid's Program. The Zui is a very large ship, and if you want to cruise this week with a low number of kids, I would suggest you pick one of the smaller HAL ships, like the Veendam or the Zaandam. (I'm saying this on the Princess Board! Oops!)

[HeartofTexas]

We were on Zuiderdam in Nov 2003 - not too many kids - actually not too many people under 50. We liked the ship - one noticeable problem was vibrations in the dining room - but I've heard they've fixed it - better check recent review on the Zuiderdam to see. We had a very nice trip and would do it again - we too had a fantastic rate on our cruise.