HAL for kids

#1 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2003, 04:21 AM

My wife and I (both 38) are booked on the Volemdam 10 day southern carribean on April 8th. As luck would have it, our baby sitter is falling through and we are seriously considering taking our kids - 12, 9 and 7 - in fact we have a cabin reserved for them and have to guarantee it very soon.

We have been on several cruises (Princess, Premier, Royal Carribean, Carnival) and always have the time of our life - we average about two per year and the kids love it.

However, we have never cruised HAL and are well aware of the target audience. We have been trying in vein to get information on how many kids will be cruising on our ship along with details of the HAL kids program before we make the commitment. We want to be sure the kids will have plenty to do so they won't be bored to death hanging out with mom and dad. We also hope they will be able to make new friends of similar ages. Additionally, we plan on diving in Bonaire and want to ensure they have activities during the day while in port.

Is anyone familiar with Holland Americas kids program? HAL kids information on their web site is very limited and emails to HAL have gone unresponded.

Thanks

#2 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2003, 08:38 AM

I'm the family cruise editor here. Actually, I'm going on HAL with my family for the first time this Saturday. We'll be on the Zuiderdam 7 day Caribbean cruise. My daughter is 9 and I have a toddler. My daughter has been on 12 cruises but this will be her first on HAL. Our cruise has over 120 children on it, which is a nice amount. I assume your cruise would have less children since it's a 10 day itinerary. However, the youth program will be up and running and all your children are old enough to participate in it.
I think you should take them with you. Last summer, my daughter and I went on a small ship which only had three other children on it (all boys). There was a youth program, however, and my daughter ended up having a really great trip. Granted she spent a bit more time with me compared to when she's on a ship with lots of other kids, but it was nice having her company too. (There wasn't even a pool on the ship.)
Bonaire is a great little island by the way. We called there on the above mentioned cruise and rented a car for the day. It's extremely easy to get around the island and only about $35 for the whole day. There's some interesting things to see including salt mountains, slave huts, donkey preserve, flamingoes, etc. We loved it!
Plus, since you have three children, they will always have each other for company too!
I'll see if I can get any details for you on the number of kids on that cruise -- I can't promise results but I'll try!
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey GAynor

#3 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2003, 02:10 PM

Thanks so much for the information and if you could find out the number of kids on our cruise we would greatly appreciate it. We called HAL directly and said they had no way of knowing and our travel agent said she couldn't find out either.

#4 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2003, 08:30 PM

I was able to get you the details -- the are 12 children booked on your cruise, between the ages of 5 and 17. While it's not a lot, as I mentioned, my daughter was not looking forward to our cruise last summer that only had three other boys on the ship, but in the end she had a really great time!
Please keep me posted on what you decide. I assume there's a slight chance that the numbers my increase a little bit before then, however, you should't count on it.
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor

#5 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2003, 09:30 PM

How do you find out how many kids are on board? I am going on the Conquest 6-8-2003 with a 11 & 14 old. Could you let me know how many other s their age Thank You so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!x Travel agent was no helprsor wrote:

> My wife and I (both 38) are booked on the Volemdam 10 day
> southern carribean on April 8th. As luck would have it, our
> baby sitter is falling through and we are seriously considering
> taking our kids - 12, 9 and 7 - in fact we have a cabin
> reserved for them and have to guarantee it very soon.
>
> We have been on several cruises (Princess, Premier, Royal
> Carribean, Carnival) and always have the time of our life - we
> average about two per year and the kids love it.
>
> However, we have never cruised HAL and are well aware of the
> target audience. We have been trying in vein to get
> information on how many kids will be cruising on our ship along
> with details of the HAL kids program before we make the
> commitment. We want to be sure the kids will have plenty to do
> so they won't be bored to death hanging out with mom and dad.
> We also hope they will be able to make new friends of similar
> ages. Additionally, we plan on diving in Bonaire and want to
> ensure they have activities during the day while in port.
>
> Is anyone familiar with Holland Americas kids program? HAL
> kids information on their web site is very limited and emails
> to HAL have gone unresponded.
>
> Thanks

#6 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2003, 10:39 PM

Thanks Luisa

#7 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2003, 10:45 PM

I am sure a Carnival Cruise in the summer will be packed with kids. We have take our kids on two CCL cruises during the winter and spring and they were both packed with kids. HAL is a different situation because their target audience is older (much older). Also, I was concerned due to the fact that we are going on a 10 day (vs 7 or shorter) cruise which also attracts an older crowd.

Have a great time.

luv 2 cruise wrote:
How do you find out how many kids are on board? I am going on the Conquest 6-8-2003 with a 11 & 14 old. Could you let me know how many other s their age Thank You so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!x Travel agent was no helprsor wrote:

#8 (**permalink**) March 21st, 2003, 05:48 AM

I talked to my contacts at Carnival re the Conquest on 6/8 and they wont' have numbers until about 6 weeks prior to the cruise. However, they said the departure is very full and all the quad cabins are sold out, which is a good indication there are lots of families aboard. With Carnival, there's sure to be plenty of kids aboard at that time!
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor

#9 (**permalink**) March 31st, 2003, 09:47 AM

To Rsor:
I was curious whether you are planning to take your kids on the Volendam next week. Let me know.
We just returned from our HAL cruise aboard the Zuiderdam. There were 200 kids aboard! My 9 year old daughter enjoyed the youth program -- it took a day or two for her to get into it, but she did have a good time. There will be a youth program even if there are only 12 kids on your cruise. However, there might only be one youth counselor so that there might be a large age spread in the youth program groups. (It usually is 5-8 years; 9 to 11 years; 12-14; and 15 -17 on the Zuiderdam, but it may vary on a ship where there aren't so many kids.)
Smooth sailing!
Luisa Frey Gaynor
Family Cruise Editor

#10 (**permalink**) March 31st, 2003, 08:30 PM

Thanks again for your reply. It was a hard decision, but we are leaving the kids home this time - they have been on many cruises and we all love cruising. However, our babysitter ended up coming through and we didn't feel like the kids could miss 10 days of school.
Richard

#11 (**permalink**) April 1st, 2003, 08:33 AM

Richard:
I hear you about kids missing 10 days of school. My 9 year old missed a week and that was plenty. If you try a HAL seven day cruise sometime in the future, you'll have better luck with more kids on board. Enjoy the tranquility!
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor