HAL with kids?

[amberwc]

We are having to consider non-DCL for a N. Europe/Baltic trip June 2018. As of now, Holland America has some great prices and a good schedule for us. But I always heard this is the "old folks" line. Anyone with experience, with kids? Or any experience on the Zuiderdam?

 

[MunFam]

We were on the Westerdam in May 2012 with an almost 2 your old. There were 5 minors onboard. The other 4 were 16-18 years old...however, it was not the Baltic tip. We definitely noticed the "Grandparent aged" guests.

 

[Dug720]

I can just comment on what I heard while I was on the Westerdam in Alaska... The clubs were a) hardly ever open that I saw and b) according to the few kids I saw on board and heard whining to their parents "so boring - there is nothing to do in there".

 

[Gigi22]

We are having to consider non-DCL for a N. Europe/Baltic trip June 2018. As of now, Holland America has some great prices and a good schedule for us. But I always heard this is the "old folks" line. Anyone with experience, with kids? Or any experience on the Zuiderdam?

I have travelled on HAL several times, but never with kids. Generally there are very few children or teenagers on board, unless the cruise occurs on a holiday, then there are kids of all ages. On those occasions, HAL will provide programming. There is a designated area devoted to the kids, but it is not as large as what you will find on DCL.

At a guess I would say most HAL passengers are in their 50s up. Longer cruises attract older passengers, so if you are going on a cruise over a week long, you can expect a greater number of older passengers.

I have been on the Zuiderdam a number of times. Lovely ship, roughly comparable to the Dream in size. FYI, no guest laundry available. Extensive adult club area, shops, small casino, specialty restaurants, etc.

 

[coloradocutie]

We have traveled with (and without) kids on HAL and will never do it again. DCL just "gets" cruising with kids i.e. like when the servers cut the food for you for your little ones, sigh, so nice!
On HAL they were just clueless on how to help with children. They did nothing to get food on the table early for the littles when you are in the dining room, and one night their "mac and cheese" was noodles with nacho sauce poured on. There is just no concept of how to help families cruise. Never again with children for us.

 

[dcassetta]

Have only sailed HAL to Alaska with kids, and thought that was a really good experience. However I think with lots of Alaska cruises have lots of kids, and the ships are more prepared for that. The clubs were not open as long as the ones on Disney are, and there wasn't as big a variety of activities. However, the kids had an enjoyable time, and they were certainly far fewer children for the youth counselors to look out after. I don't know the Northern European cruise would have the same number of children, so your kids might have a different experience.

 

[quandrea]

Which ship? If it's the Koningsdam that ship is trying to grab the family market. If you check on cruise critic, many people say their kids loved HAL over any cruise line.

 

[Lisa F]

My son is only 8 but being the planner I am, I am starting to research taking him on a European cruise maybe when he is around 12 or so. The disney prices are easily 2-3x of the other lines and I am having a hard time justifying that premium when the focus of the cruise is the european ports rather than the ship. I feel like it would be a nice, safe way to tour Europe (I'm a single mother so it would be just the two of us) without a lot of luggage hassle or packing up to go from place to place.

This is an article I found that lists the most kid friendly ships. Here is a summary:

1. Royal Caribbean. Ships: Anthem, Harmony, Allure and Oasis of the Seas
2. Norwegian Cruise Line. Ships: Norwegian Escape, Breakaway, Getaway and Epic
3. Carnival Cruise Line. Ships: Carnival Vista, Breeze, Dream and Magic
4. Disney Cruise Line. Ships: Disney Dream, Fantasy and Magic
5. Princess Cruises. Ships: Regal, Royal, Ruby, Crown and Emerald Princess

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2

The bottom line is that the newer ships of the various cruise lines are the ones that were designed and built with kids in mind. The article does mention that Disney is the best fort he age 4-11 set but if your kids are a bit older there are some options that have focused more on that age group. I figure when the time is really here to start researching I will cross reference itineraries with that list of ships and actual reviews of those ships and see what I can come up with for a good price. I know there will be some ship time too but for a European cruise it would be more about touring Europe and having a safe and consistent place to rest our heads at night.

It's tough, I love Disney so much and picked the 4 night Dream for my son's first cruise because I feel like at 9.5 he will still be in the DCL sweet spot and I have always wanted to take him on a Disney cruise. But as a single mom, the cruise fare on a longer cruise is a bit of a tough nut to crack. it was over $2100 for a 4 night in a verandah (it was only a few hundred more than in an inside room) but that $2100 could buy me a 7 night cruise on other lines, with the 7 night cruises running closer to $4k on DCL. Maybe kind of hoping that with the onboard discount and careful planning I could get a 7 night cruise in on DCL for more like $3k... although there are good bargains to be had in september as well, but it is getting tougher to pull him out of school the older he gets, especially right at the beginning. which is probably why those are so cheap.

 

[amberwc]

My son is only 8 but being the planner I am, I am starting to research taking him on a European cruise maybe when he is around 12 or so. The disney prices are easily 2-3x of the other lines and I am having a hard time justifying that premium when the focus of the cruise is the european ports rather than the ship. I feel like it would be a nice, safe way to tour Europe (I'm a single mother so it would be just the two of us) without a lot of luggage hassle or packing up to go from place to place.

Exactly, I can't imagine going to Russia any other way. HAL came in cheaper than even NCL. RCCL won't release their itinerary's until March or so I hear. Since it's so port intensive, and only 2 days at sea, I have HAL on the table... I know we won't do this trip again, and I don't want to make a "wrong" decision.

 

[amberwc]

Which ship? If it's the Koningsdam that ship is trying to grab the family market. If you check on cruise critic, many people say their kids loved HAL over any cruise line.

It's the Zuiderdam, and cruise critic doesn't say anything about this ship's kid areas.

 

[quandrea]

We are having to consider non-DCL for a N. Europe/Baltic trip June 2018. As of now, Holland America has some great prices and a good schedule for us. But I always heard this is the "old folks" line. Anyone with experience, with kids? Or any experience on the Zuiderdam?

Try Celebrity.

We did the Baltic in 2010 with our three kids. Dd was six and our twins were eight months at the time. They did an amazing job with the kids program. My daughter loved it. There were not many kids on board but a full program was run and it was actually nicer because of individualised care. The cruise line also provided a skid's worth of formula, baby food and cereal for my twins. I am serious when I say I never bought any food or formula for them again. We brought it all home with us at the cruise line's urging. Celebrity has wonderful family staterooms. You need to call direct for pricing. Can't get the prices online. Our cruise was a 14 night Scandinavia and Russia out of Southampton. It came in at over ten thousand dollars cheaper than Disney. And that was back in 2010!

The reading I've done on HAL doesn't sound too promising where families are concerned. They also allow smoking on their balconies which is a nonstarter for me. Let me know if you have any questions. We've cruised all over the world with our kids.

 

[amberwc]

Try Celebrity.

We did the Baltic in 2010 with our three kids. Dd was six and our twins were eight months at the time. They did an amazing job with the kids program. My daughter loved it. There were not many kids on board but a full program was run and it was actually nicer because of individualised care. The cruise line also provided a skid's worth of formula, baby food and cereal for my twins. I am serious when I say I never bought any food or formula for them again. We brought it all home with us at the cruise line's urging. Celebrity has wonderful family staterooms. You need to call direct for pricing. Can't get the prices online. Our cruise was a 14 night Scandinavia and Russia out of Southampton. It came in at over ten thousand dollars cheaper than Disney. And that was back in 2010!

Thanks, I priced Celebrity, and they are coming in the same as Disney online. But I haven't called or gotten a TA involved to see if the pricing is better. I think I'll do that. Celebrity is up on the list, but HAL was coming in at less than half of the Celebrity cost.

 

[quandrea]

Thanks, I priced Celebrity, and they are coming in the same as Disney online. But I haven't called or gotten a TA involved to see if the pricing is better. I think I'll do that. Celebrity is up on the list, but HAL was coming in at less than half of the Celebrity cost.

We did really well with a family cabin. Category FV. You save because everyone is in one cabin. We are a party of five so to get one cabin always works in our favour. How many in your group? You don't need a travel agent. I have always found I can beat a travel agent's price when I've booked directly with Celebrity. Try calling them direct and see how it goes. Let us know. It's a wonderful trip. We hope to go again.

 

[hrhdhd]

They [HAL] also allow smoking on their balconies which is a nonstarter for me. Let me know if you have any questions. We've cruised all over the world with our kids.

They are currently phasing out balcony smoking. Zuiderdam is already balcony-smoke-free.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7263

 

[amberwc]

@hrhdhd Did you like the Princess Regal? Did you take kids on that one?

 

[hrhdhd]

@hrhdhd Did you like the Princess Regal? Did you take kids on that one?

Yes, I really liked the Regal Princess, but I didn't take kids--I didn't even take DH! My understanding is that the kids' clubs on Princess are more like the ones on HAL--shorter hours and fewer organized activities after a certain age, but fewer kids so they get more attention from the counselors.

 

[karl_nj]

I saw some photos of the kids clubs on Regal Princess on Cruise Critic and they looked really good:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/regal-princess-679/princess-pelicans-kids-club-100432/
http://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/regal-princess-679/remix-teen-club-100428/
http://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/regal-princess-679/shockwaves-tween-club-100469/


I asked my travel agent about HAL/Celebrity/Princess for a cruise with my mother and my kids, and she recommended Princess.

I've done Celebrity to Bermuda with my kids, and they weren't too impressed with the Kids club. But the staff may have been overwhelmed since it was August out of NJ.

I'd like to try sailing HAL eventually, but probably w/o the kids.

 

[mevelandry]

Bring books and travel versions of board games. That will entertain them during quiet times/when the club is closed.