Just returned from Eurodam w/ 3 y/o and 7 mo old

[hockeyucf]

I'm feeling too lazy to post a full review but I'd be happy to answer any questions that anyone might have about sailing Eurodam with an infant and preschooler :)

[katyjeka]

Did you feel it was child friendly?

[hockeyucf]

I was starting to think there were no other parents who'd sail HAL :)

 

Let me answer your question from a few different angles:

 

Staff: the staff LOVED both of my boys. My older son got so much attention, so many fist bumps, and the head of the Lido dining room even brought him milk every night. A lot of the Eurodam staff have young children at home, so getting a chance to interact with a kid the same age is theirs is nice for them.

 

Other passengers: someone had posted that sailing HAL would be like sailing with 1000 extra grandparents. I would concur. Lots of pax, my parents' age or so, told me that they had grandkids the same age as my sons. We got lots of compliments on their behavior and cuteness.

 

The venues: Honestly, this ship was more accessible with our kids than Disney was, because there were very few "adult only" areas. However, whether you can actually BE in those areas depends entirely on your kids. We never ate in the dining room because we weren't sure whether our kids would sit through it. It's kind of crowded and mazelike in there, and I could just envision my 3 y/o throwing a tantrum while we were sitting at the furthest table away from the entrance. No thanks! We ate in the Lido and that was fine- we'd choose an empty area away from adults who might be wanting a quiet meal, and that was that.

 

On the flip side, our 3 y/o was completely entranced by the string quarter and sat through their performance like an angel, even clapping at the appropriate times.

 

We steered clear of the adults only pool on the aft deck but the lido pool was totally adequate and had plenty of kids swimming most of the time.

 

One other note, we rented a lido cabana for the week, and I highly recommend it if you have little kids. It was a nice "home base" with room to spread out, in the shade, a table to eat at, a lounge to nap on, etc.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to sail HAL with kids again, but we'll probably wait till both of our boys have outgrown naptime, as that was a big block of downtime each day. It is a lot of work sailing with little ones, but one short week later I'm already remembering the vacation fondly as if it was a piece of cake.

[maui_zaui]

We are considering the Eurodam with our 7 year old and soon to be 2 year old. Is there a place on the ship where the little one can go and "run/play" and yet still be safe? Our last cruise was on Royal Caribbean and they had that tot play zone that was nice. I know the little one can't be in the kids club, so I am wondering if there are other options for us.

 

Thanks!

[hockeyucf]

I would think that you could use Northern Lights or the Queen's Lounge when they're not holding other events there. They don't provide any toys (I'm assuming that's what you mean by the tot play zone?) so maybe bring a few favorites and easy to pack things like an inflatable beach ball, stickers, coloring books, small cars, etc.

[maui_zaui]

Thanks. I thought I read something somewhere about being able to bring the 2 year old into the kids club, as long as I stay there with her? Do you know anything about that?

[hockeyucf]

I don't know the answer to that, but the little kid area is fairly small. Let me say this, too: if you can, get a lido cabana! It made things way easier and a lot more enjoyable. If you can get your kid to nap on the chaise in the cabana, bonus. :D

[maui_zaui]

Ok, thanks again.

[mcw331]

hockeuucf,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

We are taking our twin daughters on the Eurodam this November (they will be 14 months at the time).

 

I was wondering if you used HALS cribs and what they were like and if you might have a pic of them.

 

Also did you see any info about the $299 photo package? would it include your children?

 

Thanks Again,

Mike

[hockeyucf]

We did use their crib, actually. I'm usually weird about using a crib that's not ours, but limitations in how much we'd be able to physically carry off the ship dictated a last minute call to ship services to reserve one. The told me that it would be an Evenflo or Graco... It turned out to be a Graco Pack n Play pretty much like the one we have at home except commercial grade. I brought two pnp sheets from home, since I wasn't sure the ship could provide those (and I'm pretty sure they couldn't, since the crib was delivered with regular sheets).

 

I didn't see any info on photo packages. I can tell you that they have the regular photography and then they also have a studio onboard that does special black and white portraits in a private sitting. There is no sitting fee, but her work starts around $175 if I remember correctly.

[lucigo]

We sailed the Eurodam in October 2009 with a 5yo and 14yo. There were very few kids. Many times my 5yo was the only one at camp, and although it was nice for him to have the undivided attention of the staff, it was also a bit boring, even for a child with autism :rolleyes:

 

As for child friendly, there were mostly older travelers, and I did get the impression they didn't really appreciate us in the pool (everyone else was just laid our around it most of the time), but no one was outright rude.

 

My son made it very clear that he prefers the ship with the whale tail.