Question about Veendam and Bermuda

[3boyswrestle]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if someone who has been on the Veendam to Bermuda could advise me if this is a good choice for a family trip. My husband and I have 3 teenage boys, we took them on the NCL Dawn two years ago to Bermuda and they loved that. It seems the Veendam stays an extra day and is docked closer to the action. NCL is casual and family friendly. Is it like this on HAL? Thank you so much for the help.

[Cruising since 3]

We got off of the Veendam a couple of weeks ago, but our kids were much younger - 3 and 5. The kids program is great though. The Veendam has a wonderful area dedicated to teens, and the counselors really kept them involved. We would see the teen group doing activities, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We regularly saw a couple of teens heading to the pool or jacuzzis, and did see them ashore with their families.

 

The crowd was older, but we never felt uncomfortable or out of place. I love HAL and have spent 104 days on her ships since I was 3. Please feel free to ask any other questions.

 

~Heidi

[ekmmom]

We got off of the Veendam a couple of weeks ago' date=' but our kids were much younger - 3 and 5. The kids program is great though. The Veendam has a wonderful area dedicated to teens, and the counselors really kept them involved. We would see the teen group doing activities, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We regularly saw a couple of teens heading to the pool or jacuzzis, and did see them ashore with their families.

 

The crowd was older, but we never felt uncomfortable or out of place. I love HAL and have spent 104 days on her ships since I was 3. Please feel free to ask any other questions.

 

~Heidi[/quote']

 

I have 4 kids, 17, 15,(girls) 12 and 7(boys). Is the retreat area adults only? If you noticed, how did older boys dress at dinner--are khakis and dress shirts/collared shirts ok? Thanks!!

[RuthC]

Is the retreat area adults only?

On the Veendam, The Retreat is a public area available to all. It has a "poolette" with loungers, a bar and pizza counter, a bandstand, and a movie screen. It is not a "retreat" from hustle and bustle in any sense of the word, as it is on the E-dam.

If you noticed, how did older boys dress at dinner--are khakis and dress shirts/collared shirts ok? Thanks!!

That would be fine on smart casual nights. On formal nights they would want to add a jacket and tie.

[ekmmom]

On the Veendam, The Retreat is a public area available to all. It has a "poolette" with loungers, a bar and pizza counter, a bandstand, and a movie screen. It is not a "retreat" from hustle and bustle in any sense of the word, as it is on the E-dam.

 

That would be fine on smart casual nights. On formal nights they would want to add a jacket and tie.

 

I appreciate the answers! :)

[CCMP]

We have daughters who will be just turned age 13 when we take this cruise at the end of August. They have been on three other HAL cruises and one three day Carnival cruise. They prefer HAL and have enjoyed the HAL tween programs, although the HAL cruises we have been on were a bit dressier (but not much) at dinner than the Carnival cruise. Frankly, my kids thought some of the adults were poorly behaved on the Carnival cruise.... (Which makes me chuckle when I think of how many posts I have read about adults wanting to avoid children due to misbehavior of children.....) Even on formal nights, your sons will be fine in nice slacks and a sports coat, shirt and tie. My husband wears a suit. The first cruise he wore a tux but he won't do that again. You do see some tuxes, but not that many and I would think to Bermuda in the summer you would see fewer tuxes than some of the other cruises.

[Cruisin'NJMama]

Hi.... Couldn't help but reply to this because we are sailing on the Veendam on June 27th. We are going with my family, so we will have 2 teenagers and 5 kids with us. The teen and 5 boys will be wearing a shirt and tie, but no jacket. For the couple of formal dinners, we couldn't see going out and buying jackets for them. I think they will all look very nice.

 

As for your question on whether Hal is good for kids, I was a bit concerned about this because our other cruises were on "kid oriented" ships. But I called Holland and found out that there are 75 teenagers and 105 children aged 3-12 on this sailing. It sounds like plenty of children on-board. This will be our first time sailing Hal and we're looking forward to it.

[ekmmom]

Hi.... Couldn't help but reply to this because we are sailing on the Veendam on June 27th. We are going with my family' date=' so we will have 2 teenagers and 5 kids with us. The teen and 5 boys will be wearing a shirt and tie, but no jacket. For the couple of formal dinners, we couldn't see going out and buying jackets for them. I think they will all look very nice.

 

As for your question on whether Hal is good for kids, I was a bit concerned about this because our other cruises were on "kid oriented" ships. But I called Holland and found out that there are 75 teenagers and 105 children aged 3-12 on this sailing. It sounds like plenty of children on-board. This will be our first time sailing Hal and we're looking forward to it.[/quote']

 

but the customer rep sounded very taken aback when I asked and told me they aren't at liberty to disclose that :( He wouldn't even tell me if there are more than a handful of kids/teens. He would just say that HAL is changing it's demographics and kids do sail on the line, which i had already learned here at CC! :)

[Cruisin'NJMama]

If I remember correctly, I think when I called Holland's main customer service line, they didn't provide the info, but member services did.

[snyderc635]

I think kids can make their own fun anywhere if they want to. Having said that, however, we were on the Veendam to Bermuda June 13-20, and there were not many teens. I spoke to the mother of two children on the ship, and she told me that the children's area was closed quite a bit while we were in port. As the ship stays docked for several days you may want to consider this. Teens like to complain when they are bored (mother of one, high school teacher to many more), and that can ruin everyone else's time. Just a thought! Have fun whatever you decide to do.