Anyone have experience with Holland America Kids' Programs?

[helenb]

We're taking our first HAL cruise in July. My children have been on many other cruise lines. I'll have a 7 y.o. and a 9 y.o. on the cruise, so they'll be in 2 different age groups.

 

What is the children's menu like in the dining room? I understand that kids under 12 can eat at the Pinnacle Grill for free, but do they have to order from the adult menu? My 9 y.o. could do that, but my 7 y.o. is picky.

 

Any other comments/recommendations about children on HAL? This is a very port-intensive cruise, so I'm not too worried one way or the other, but it's nice to be prepared.

[6rugrats]

I keep reading children may eat free in the Pinnacle Grill, but I believe to do so, they must order from the regular child's menu from the main dining room. That was our experience. I cannot believe HAL would give an adult meal off the PG menu free to a child. That makes no sense, and would love to hear if someone has successfully done this.

 

Kid's menu in the main dining room has all the kid favorites; pizza, chicken, etc. I have a very picky eater, and she just had pizza every night. The waiters will do whatever they can to keep your child happy, including getting what your child wants, if it's being served in the Lido. In the MDR, children can also order what they like from the adult menu; there are some basics, such as steak, available every night.

 

My kids loved HAL.

[jam82]

Has anyone done HAL to Alaska with kids? How is the kids club? Can you put your kids in the club and leave the ship?

[helenb]

Obviously I haven't been on HAL yet, but some people on the HAL board are saying that their kids went to Pinnacle Grill and ordered free off the adult menu. I know my DD would love filet mignon!

 

I know HAL offers port-day sitting, but I think you have to sign up for it in advance, I'm not sure if there is an extra charge or not.

 

I'll be happy to post here again after our cruise in July!

[6rugrats]

Obviously I haven't been on HAL yet, but some people on the HAL board are saying that their kids went to Pinnacle Grill and ordered free off the adult menu. I know my DD would love filet mignon!

 

I know HAL offers port-day sitting, but I think you have to sign up for it in advance, I'm not sure if there is an extra charge or not.

 

I'll be happy to post here again after our cruise in July!

 

Please come back and report on your PG experience, because I'd be interested to hear what happened.

 

About port days child care (from HAL's webpage):

 

Club HAL’s port day activities as well as After Hours is available for children ages 3-12 who meet Club HAL’s eligibility requirements. (Children must be pre-registered for the program in the way of a completed parental consent form, they must be potty trained, out of pull ups and 100% independent in the restroom as the youth staff are not permitted to assist.) Club HAL® After Hours is available on all ships (except the ms Prinsendam) from 10:00pm - 12:00am for children 3 years of age or older. The fee is US$5.00 per child, per hour. Parents must pick up their children on time or a late fee is charged. For babysitting outside of the hours offered in Club HAL, guests may check at the Front Office to schedule this service provided by staff on a voluntary/limited basis only.

[mom2jax]

We did HAL last Easter and my kids, then 11 and 7, loved it. Mine are picky and they always found something to eat. They loved the kids club, my son never wanted to come into port with us. The kids club was very busy that cruise b/c it was a holiday but the staff did a great job.

[CruiseVacationQueen]

We're taking our first HAL cruise in July. My children have been on many other cruise lines. I'll have a 7 y.o. and a 9 y.o. on the cruise, so they'll be in 2 different age groups.

 

What is the children's menu like in the dining room? I understand that kids under 12 can eat at the Pinnacle Grill for free, but do they have to order from the adult menu? My 9 y.o. could do that, but my 7 y.o. is picky.

 

Any other comments/recommendations about children on HAL? This is a very port-intensive cruise, so I'm not too worried one way or the other, but it's nice to be prepared.

 

We have sailed HAL twice with our son. He was 7 when we sailed on the Zaandam in 2005 and 11 years old when we sailed the Westerdam last year. He enjoyed both cruises ~ food & Club HAL included. (His father & I were un-impressed with the Zaandam in 2005, but think it was because HAL was in a "transition" period at the time. We all REALLY enjoyed the Westerdam last year, and are so glad we gave HAL another chance!)

 

What do you mean by "picky" eater? I assume you mean an aversion to "squishy vegetables" and "yucky sauces"? LOL! The menu in the MDR has basic kid's fare found at most restaurants. TIP: kids (and adults!) can order from both menus. Want macaroni & cheese with your Surf & Turf? No problem! LOL! BTW ~ cruising has cured our son's "pickiness", because there is no "pressure" to finish what he doesn't like. (He figured out early that mommy & daddy will "help" him clean his plate!) He now loves shrimp cocktail & escargo, which is the ultimate in "squishiness"! :D

 

Last year, we ate at the Pinnacle Grill twice with our son. He ordered from the main menu both times. I can't remember if they offered him a choice of a kid's menu, or not... sorry! I am sure they would accomodate your picky eater, however. The food is really good at PG and not to be missed! FYI ~ a little background on why we ate at the PG twice: When we boarded the ship, we went straight to the PG podium to confirm the reservation we had pre-booked online (which was on the second formal night). We then learned that the dress is "smart-causal" at PG on the first night of the cruise, so we also made a reservation to eat there that evening, shortly after sail-away.

 

Here's a few things we learned about dining at the PG with kids:

 

1. Yes, kids eat "free" at the PG, BUT be sure to check your room folio because our son was "charged in error" both nights. The waiter didn't give us a "bill" to sign after either meal, which also prevented us from tipping extra using our room key (bring cash if you want to tip extra). The reservation we paid for online was not "credited" to our folio either, resulting in a double-charge for us, plus the "charge in error" for our son. All the extra charges were eventually reversed by the end of the cruise, but this required many phone calls and three trips to see the PG manager in person. :confused: I can't emphasize enough the importance of checking your folio the day after eating at PG!

 

2. Kids are "welcome" but not "encouraged", so proceed with caution. The PG is TRULY a fine dining experience, and the best of all other cruise line "specialty" restaurants, IMO. First of all, the PG dining room is very small & intimate. Secondly, the waiters are very well trained and speak only in "hushed whispers". Thirdly, each course is perfectly timed, meaning the meal takes about 2 hours (quite long for even the most well-behaved kid, IMO). Our son is quite experienced in eating at fancy restaurants, so we didn't hesitate at all in bringing him with us. Unfortunatley, our son felt sick both nights and we ended up feeling really out of place and that our presence "disturbed" the other guests. As a result, he won't be dining with us at the PG any time soon! (BTW ~ we don't blame him, he behaved just as well as could be expected, under the circumstances!)

 

Our first night (casual dress) at PG, started out great. We were well received at the podium and seated at a very nice window table. The bread and drink services went perfectly. Then, the unexpected happened. All of a sudden, our son got a very upset stomach. He wanted to stay and finish the meal, but needed to take bathroom breaks (poor thing!) between courses. Every time our son left the table, the waiter grew more and more frustrated. (Like no one on a cruise ship ever had an upset stomach, LOL!) To our horror, after the salad course, the waiter stopped serving us altogether! My husband had to "flag down" the manager, who we had noticed had been "diligently observing" us from across the room. Eventually, another waiter took over and the service from then on was just mediocre at best. The food was great, and we thougt our son made a valiant effort to "hang in there". At the end of the evening, we said to ourselves "well, at least this was the casual night!" Well, unfortunately, for us the second night was even worse! :eek:

 

So, five nights and one REALLY BAD sun-burn later, the three of us showed up at the PG podium (10 minutes late, BTW) fully expecting to be "remembered" from the first night. To our surprise, we were warmly received by the PG manager (who acted as if he didn't "remember" us, thankfully!) and promptly seated us at a table in the center of the room, with about 6 other parties ALL around us. Little did the other guests know, that they would be dining with the "Beverly Hillbillies" that evening! :o (FYI, this was the second formal night, and everyone was dressed to "the nines", including us. We were late to dinner BTW because of our bad sunburns, especially our son who is not used to wearing a 3-piece suit, anyway.)

 

Well, to start things off (badly!), our son didn't want to go at all. We insisted he go, because the kid's camp was closed and we didn't want to leave him alone in the cabin. Plus, by then, it was too late to cancel. To make matters worse, when our son sat down at the dinner table, he put his chin down and started pouting. Well, everything really went south when the waiter came over to introduce himself. The waiter noticed the scowl on our son's face and proceeded to give our son a hearty "pat on the back" to cheer him up (unaware, of course, of the severe sun-burn)! Our son's response was a loud "yelp" (that got everyone's attention, all right!) and his eyes welled up with huge tears. I immediately got a very bad sinking feeling that this evening would "top" our first visit to PG. Well, the evening turned out to be even worse than I even imagined. Everything that could go wrong, did! Long story short, our names have mostly likely been put on the PD "banned" list! As much as I tried to salvage what was left of the evening, all dignity ended up being tossed out the window. The service was bad. Our son misbehaved. My DH lost his patience and refused to use his "indoor voice", if you know what I mean! We were sneered at by everyone: the waiters, the manager, the other guests... heck, we even sneered at each other! I can't think of another time I have so wanted to crawl under the table and hide. We were troopers, though, and stayed the course. After a while, we actually started to laugh (which resulted in even worse sneers!). What can you do but find humor in a really bad situation, right? We actually felt better by the dessert course, although by then, our servers were so non-existent we practically had to go into the kitchen to get it ourselves! LOL! :eek: (No wonder they charged us "double" at the PG! LOL!)

 

So, that is our PG dining room experience! Better luck with yours! :D Do I recommend bringing kids to PG? Um... NO WAY! Take them to Club HAL and make it a "date night" instead! The "free" meal is not worth the risk of repeating our mistakes! LOL!

 

Another thing: do be prepared to catch some flack for coming on HAL with your children and even for bringing them "into existence". Don't let it ruin your vacation, just be aware that you may hear comments from other passengers that "all these families need to get off HAL ships and go back to Disney." Please don't be dismayed if you encounter such, as HAL really does want your business and they offer a great family vacation experience. (We noticed a big improvement in Club HAL from our first sailing with them in 2005 to our most recent last year, BTW.) The counselors and facilities are top-notch, and our son had a fabulous time and made many friends. BUT, please keep your kids away from the adult pool area at the back of the ship (for their safety and your sanity), unless, of course, you actually like confontations! Some of the "other guests" WILL loudly inform your kids that "this is an ADULT area, ARRGGHHH!" And you'll be highly offended that a complete stranger yelled at your kid! (Funny story: On the last day of our most recent HAL cruise, the main pool had to be shut down because someone got "sick". The CD then made an announcement that the kids were free to use the adult pool while the main pool was being cleaned. Well, you cannot begin to imagine the "political uprising" than ensued! Spit and cuss words were flying from all sides! We were utterly amazed. During the onslaught, we kept saying to ourselves: don't these people realize that one day, all those "little brats" will grow up and be their banker, dentist or possibly care-taker? So, be nice, everyone!)

 

We Love HAL ~ looking forward to sailing with them again soon! Hope you decide to give them a try!

[helenb]

Wow! Thanks so much for your detailed description of your experiences, Cruisevacationqueen! I was laughing and sympathizing with you as you described your meals at the PG!

 

We've never taken our kids to a specialty restaurant before, but when I read that kids were free I assumed that meant they were welcome at the PG. I appreciate your experience, and knowing otherwise now. I think my DD (age 9) would do quite well there, but my son might not. Perhaps I'll put him in Club Hal and then take my DD only. And I won't go after we've been sunburned! ;)

 

IKWYM about people who don't think children should be on cruise ships. My kids have been on 8 cruises (only 2 of them Disney) and we generally run into people everywhere who are aghast that we're not leaving them at home with a nanny. Sigh... but because of this, I've spent years teaching my kids not to run, not to yell, not to splash anyone in the pool, etc. Last Christmas (yep, a HOLIDAY cruise full of kids) one older man on our cruise saw me with my kids (who were standing quietly next to me) and suggested that if I went to the back of the ship I could use them as 'fish bait'. I couldn't even think up an appropriate response, so I simply looked at him with a 'And what's your problem?' expression. He actually looked embarrassed and turned away, muttering, "Guess not..." So I've learned that I will run into these people everywhere.

 

Regardless, If a line offers a children's program and children's menu in the dining room, I feel I have every right to be there. We're going to be cruising in July (and over the 4th) so I'm sure there will be other kids onboard as well (although perhaps not a lot).

 

As for the pools... I think we'll probably stick with the Lido pool, even if we didn't have kids, simply because it is covered! Or can be... We're cruising to Canada/New England, so I'm guessing the weather has the potential to get a little chilly. One thing that really bothers me about RCCL and Celebrity is that the covered pool is for adults only. We took RCCL to Alaska, and when it was raining and 50 F they refused to let my kids swim in the indoor pool. Ugh... we had so many problems with that line. Never again. We still love Celebrity, but we will only cruise them in warmer weather, because of the pool thing. As you can see, a covered pool is a big part of our cruise experience! ;)

 

I appreciate your insights. Thanks so much!

[CruiseVacationQueen]

 

Sigh... but because of this, I've spent years teaching my kids not to run, not to yell, not to splash anyone in the pool, etc.

 

INWYM, on some cruises we have felt "pressured" to NOT let our kid be a kid, instead needing to constantly "groom" him to be a "perfect miniature adult"! LOL! That's why we thought he'd do so well in the PG at the age of 11. Well, kids ARE kids and the "perfectly groomed behavior" our son usually displays, unfortunately went TOTALLY "bye-bye" at the PG! :o LOL!!

 

 

...one older man on our cruise saw me with my kids (who were standing quietly next to me) and suggested that if I went to the back of the ship I could use them as 'fish bait'

 

Wow, I hope that man doesn't have any grandkids! If so, I hope he leaves them an inheritance for all the therapy they'll need! :eek:

 

 

One thing that really bothers me about RCCL and Celebrity is that the covered pool is for adults only. We took RCCL to Alaska, and when it was raining and 50 F they refused to let my kids swim in the indoor pool. Ugh... we had so many problems with that line. Never again. We still love Celebrity, but we will only cruise them in warmer weather, because of the pool thing. As you can see, a covered pool is a big part of our cruise experience! ;)

 

Oh, no. That is not good news. We are pool people, too. As you can see in my signature, we just took our first cruise with Celebrity ~ a short one, to "test them out". We enjoyed ourselves and purchased two vouchers for future cruises. My DH was afraid that 2 days was not enough to get a true "feel" for X. Thanks for the heads-up. We would have never known. Guess we'll stick to summers months with X, also! :)

 

 

 

Enjoy HAL & the PG! What ship are you sailing, btw?

Leah

[helenb]

We'll be on the Maasdam. Other than the Pacific Princess (< 700 passengers), it's the smallest ship we've ever cruised.

 

Celebrity is a wonderful line... just be aware of the covered pool thing! FWIW the adults-only pool is very nice... thermal and often with jets. On the new Solstice-class ships they have a water-fountain at the main 'family' pool that both kids and adults love to play in. It becomes a dance floor during sailaway!

 

Food is excellent on Celebrity, and their fancy specialty restaurant (Murano on the new ships, name varies on the older ships) is fantastic. There are a lot of nice, elegant touches. I would say that the big downside (other than the pool issue) is that the entertainment isn't as varied or plentiful as some other lines. Generally there's one show during an evening, and if you don't happen to like that entertainment, there's not much else to do. The kids program is great, and my two certainly seemed to enjoy it.

[CruiseVacationQueen]

We'll be on the Maasdam. Other than the Pacific Princess (< 700 passengers), it's the smallest ship we've ever cruised.

 

We really like the "smaller" ships, also. The RCL Nordic Empress (renamed Empress OTS) was our absolute favorite, bcause she is a small ship. That's one of the reasons (beside the amazing food & service) we enjoyed the X Century so much, last month... she's "smaller" than most. Hmmm... I may just look into the Maasdam. We've been wanting to try a cruise outside of the Caribbean, but the airfare to Alaska & Europe has deterred us from sailing from those ports. I'm assuming the Maadam is sailing from Baltimore or New York? Airfare to New England from Florida is usually very affordable. Is the roll-call very active with kids for your sailing over the 4th? That would be neat if we could join you ~ at least I'd know there were two other "well groomed" kids onboard! LOL!!!

 

Thanks again for all the X info! Have a great night. Leah

[helenb]

HAL has a unique Canada/New England itinerary going between Boston and Montreal. We're actually taking back-to-backs, and going round trip out of Boston. When we looked at the airfare to fly through Montreal, the cost of the additional 7 days was minimal, so we decided to enjoy ourselves a bit longer on the ship. ;)

 

So the cruise leaves from Boston, and ends in Montreal, unless you want the round-trip back-to-back version.

 

If you want a cruise with more reasonable airfare, for Alaska you could always take a cruise out of Seattle. That's much cheaper than flying to Vancouver or Anchorage. Check out Southwest and Alaska Air. The Golden Princess is also doing a wonderful 2 week cruise round trip from LA to Hawaii. That's the cruise we took over Christmas. It's across the country from Florida, but hopefully LA is a large enough airspace that you could find a good fare. Again, check Southwest.

 

Come to think of it... Princess also has a couple of round-trip San Francisco to Alaska cruises as well. Airfare might not be too bad there.

 

Oh, the roll call for our cruise is dead. I'm presuming this is because it's a smaller ship, with fewer passengers? Either that, or the ship is empty. ;)

[jam82]

CruiseVacationQueen - Thanks for sharing your experience. It's good you can laugh about it. In your post you said that you made your son go with you because Club HAL was closed. Do you know why it was closed? Do they keep regular hours?

[yogi2929]

Has anyone done HAL to Alaska with kids? How is the kids club? Can you put your kids in the club and leave the ship?

 

Done Alaska with young teens and they loved it. Our kids love nature and camping. Lots of excursions that are kid friendly in Alaska.

[CruiseVacationQueen]

CruiseVacationQueen - Thanks for sharing your experience. It's good you can laugh about it. In your post you said that you made your son go with you because Club HAL was closed. Do you know why it was closed? Do they keep regular hours?

 

Hi, jam82! Yes, Club HAL keeps regular hours (varies per itinerary), and closes for a couple of hours (two or three times a day) to give the counselors a break! :) HAL has one of the best schedules for kids IMO. The "closures" are usually during lunch and dinner, which means we get to eat with him. (Our son would spend 24/7 with his cruise friends if we let him ~ thanks to the "closures" he is "forced" to spend some time with us! :D)

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Hi, helenb! Wow, Boston to Montreal sounds wonderful ~ I will definitely look into that itinerary. Thanks for the Alaska/CA airfare & Golden Princess info, too! Very helpful! :) Take Care ~ Leah

[jam82]

CruiseVacationQueen - Thanks for sharing your experience. It's good you can laugh about it. In your post you said that you made your son go with you because Club HAL was closed. Do you know why it was closed? Do they keep regular hours?

 

 

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I thought you meant that is was totally closed. Glad that is not the case.

 

I read on another post that HAL lets children in the covered pool. Is the pool heated? Are there certain hours for kids swim? Anyone know how long each day that would be?

 

Does anyone have the kids club schedule? We will be cruising HAL to Alaska this summer.

[helenb]

I have seen in many threads that the Lido (covered) pool is the family pool. The adult pool is in the back of the ship (not covered). This makes much more sense to me!

[jam82]

Thanks for the info. My son loves to swim. I've only done Celebrity to Alaska before, and children were not allowed in the solarium pool so I assumed that was standard. It would be great if he could swim. Is the pool heated?

[e050377]

We did the Boston- Montreal trip last year on the Maasdam with our 2 kids (5 & 6 years) We went in May, so there were only about 48 kids onboard total. The kids club staff was great and my kids couldn't wait to get there. they would beg us to come back from shore early to go to the club!!

 

The rest of the staff went out of their way to remember the kids and greet them by name all around the ship. At dinner the servers would come over and teach them how to fold napkins into animals and played games with cups! They really made the kids and us feel comfortable being a family on the ship.

 

I did not take the kids when we went to PG, and did not see any other kids there. That is probably because there were so few on this trip. I wouldn't have hesitated to bring my 7 yo with us as she is well behaved and I can give her the evil eye if she starts to misbehave!! My 6yo on the other hand would have been miserable.

 

We had only cruised Princess without kids, so this was our first cruise with the kids and with HAL. The thing that I liked best was at night the buffet is different. You grab your appetizer (s) then you order what you want (usually same menu as restaurant) and they serve you at the table. The kids loved this as we were not stuck at dinner for a long time between courses. We really loved this, because we would let the kids eat and then drop off at kids club, then go eat by ourselves.

 

You are lucky to be going B2B. We went one way, but we live near Canadian border, so we had someone pick us up in Montreal.

 

This was definitely the best family trip we have taken. We had family time, mom & me/dad & me time, plus alone time. The kids even chose to do another cruise rather than returning to Disney! Here's my review if you want to read it:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=55532

[helenb]

I read your review earlier, and I sent it on to my husband, so he could see what we were getting into. You posted a lot of good information, particularly for those traveling with kids!

 

We are in California, so when I factored in the cost of flying in or out of Montreal for four people, and the special price that HAL was offering on the 14 day version of the trip, it wasn't much more for us to spend an extra 7 days onboard.

 

If you don't mind my asking, what cabin category were you in? How were the four beds arranged? Did the extra ones come out of the wall or the ceiling, or was there a sofa bed? Where were the extra bunks located?

 

Thank you for all of your great information! It's especially helpful since it is the same cruise and ship.

[e050377]

We were in an inside on the Lower Promenade. Our door was right by a hallway that took you to an outside door and on deck. It was like having a balcony room without any windows!! We got to sleep in!

 

We had a queen bed, 1 drop from the ceiling and the couch turned into a bed. Very comfy and we had enough room for everything. I had 2 suitcases, a garment bag, 1 bathroom bag, 2 bookbags with kid stuff, and 2 booster seats!!

 

I tried to attach photos. Hope they come through!

[e050377]

Well, that was the sofa bed. For some reason I can't upload the queen with the bunk. I'll try again later.

[helenb]

Thank you, that's very helpful! I like that kind of sofa bed... the ones that don't stick out into the room. And my kids love the bunks. They argue over who gets to sleep there! Fortunately, this is an even-numbered night cruise, so they can alternate. ;-)

 

I just booked my airfare, and hotels for the night before and the night after the cruise. I got some travel guides on Amazon. I'm very excited!

[Lizzie1213]

We're taking our first HAL cruise in July. My children have been on many other cruise lines. I'll have a 7 y.o. and a 9 y.o. on the cruise, so they'll be in 2 different age groups.

 

What is the children's menu like in the dining room? I understand that kids under 12 can eat at the Pinnacle Grill for free, but do they have to order from the adult menu? My 9 y.o. could do that, but my 7 y.o. is picky.

 

Any other comments/recommendations about children on HAL? This is a very port-intensive cruise, so I'm not too worried one way or the other, but it's nice to be prepared.

 

 

I have been on three HAL cruises with my children. It is by far their favourite line. they have always enjoyed the kids' program, and my older one now enjoys the teen program.

 

A kids' menu is always offered, but children can order from the adult menu in the MDR, or mix and match. My daughters love the chilled soups from the adult menu (not to mention the desserts!)