First hal cruise, with kids

[aquasat]

Hi,

 

Yeasterday we booked L2685 on the ms Rotterdam for 4/aug 2012.

It will be our first hal cruise after RCI Alaska and NCL Canary Islands.

 

I have some questions

 

1. Our stateroom, what is located just under this stateroom? It is a gray area. At least it is not above our stateroom. I hope it will not be noisy.

 

2. We toke open seating, it is almost impossable with kids to take early or late seating. Do we need to expect long wait to be seated in the MDR for a table of four? On the ncl jade it took us max. 5 minutes.

 

3. How formal is formal on Hal? Is a nice suite with tie ok. And are black jeans allowed for a 4 year old.

 

4. How safe are the pullman beds, on ncl they are not safe for a small child.

 

5. Hal advertises 5 course meals, what does it exactly mean. I count four, is coffee THE fifth?

 

Thx in advance.

[rafinmd]

HAL is not my cruise line of choice but when I'm on it I always love the experience. I hope I'm near the point where I have enough experience to have some answers but haven't quite lost the perspective of a newcomer. (answers with questions):

 

Hi,

 

Yeasterday we booked L2685 on the ms Rotterdam for 4/aug 2012.

It will be our first hal cruise after RCI Alaska and NCL Canary Islands.

 

I have some questions

 

1. Our stateroom, what is located just under this stateroom? It is a gray area. At least it is not above our stateroom. I hope it will not be noisy.

 

I can't really answer but I don't ever remember HAL ships being particularly noisy or that area being noisy. On the Rotterdam I was forward inside and found the location very pleasant. BTW, there is a doorway from your hallway which leads out to the open deck. I found that deck a perfect place for reading.

2. We toke open seating, it is almost impossable with kids to take early or late seating. Do we need to expect long wait to be seated in the MDR for a table of four? On the ncl jade it took us max. 5 minutes.

 

I had fixed seating on Rotterdam but open seating on similar Zaandam. I tended to dine early, never bothered with a reservation, and there were never more than 3 or 4 parties in a very fast moving line.

3. How formal is formal on Hal? Is a nice suite with tie ok. And are black jeans allowed for a 4 year old.

 

I think those clothes would be fine.

4. How safe are the pullman beds, on ncl they are not safe for a small child.

 

Totally out of my league in this one.

 

5. Hal advertises 5 course meals, what does it exactly mean. I count four, is coffee THE fifth?

 

Not really a foodie, but I would say the 5 courses are:

 

Appetizer

Soup

Salad

Main

Desert

 

Definitely try the cold soups. They are excellent.

 

Menus from my Rotterdam (7/11) and Zaandam (2/12) cruises are here:

 

http://arctictriple.wordpress.com/rotterdam-2/

 

http://zaandamasia.wordpress.com/menus/

 

Thx in advance.

 

Roy

[aquasat]

Thx for the menu's, now I can't wait to dine on our first night.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The area below your cabin looks to be some kind of a storage area.

[PathfinderEss]

I've never had a noisy cabin on Hal, not to say there may be some. What looks like under your cabin, I really don't think there is any problem.

You will never have much wait for anytime dinning. It should work out well with you and your kids.

Your dress for formal night sounds fine. I love the black jeans for your boy on formal night.

Hal's five course dinner consists of Appetizer, Soup, Salad, Main course and Desert

 

[Typhoon1]

We had a chance to tour Club HAL on our last cruise.

 

It looked like something the kids would enjoy.

[aquasat]

On HAL my kids are in the same group 3-7, on ncl they where in different age groups.

They loved the kids club on ncl.

I read there are cooking activities with the age group 3-7, are these activities not to be missed?

[kazu]

On HAL my kids are in the same group 3-7, on ncl they where in different age groups.

They loved the kids club on ncl.

I read there are cooking activities with the age group 3-7, are these activities not to be missed?

 

HAL's program for children is one of it's best kept secrets. The cooking activities are included. My sister took her dd's on HAL and they had an absolute blast:D They loved Club HAL:)

[KirkNC]

On the open seating ( a good choice with children), we have been seated immediately everytime but once. We tend to go earlier (pre-7:00) and I think that may make a difference.

[Jen&Joe]

We love the open seating option with our 2 year old. We also love that the full menu is available in the room for those nights where he is a total bear.

 

I am really looking forward to putting him into Club Hal on our next cruise (he will be 3). I have heard nothing but good things about it.

 

For formal night we had him in a little tux (he was 6 months) because he already had it from a family party. I think black jeans on a 4 year old sounds great!

 

The HAL staff really are fantastic with kids. We were in the Pinnacle twice when our son was 6 months and each time the staff went above and beyond for him. They specifically asked if he was eating solids and I thought he was just making small talk. I answered bananas and avocados and the next thing I knew there was a plate of sliced banana and avocado on our table!

[RMLincoln]

We had grandkids with us once, tweens and teens, but ate early, 5:30ish. Needed a table for 5 and almost always got a window table with open dining. m--

[TheCalicoCat]

With the caveat that this will be our first HAL cruise & we are cruiseing to Alaska in June (22-ish hours sunlight) we are planning on using LIDO & room service a lot.

 

With that said on his previous two cruises, my son LOVED the MDR experience. (He also loved the kids club previously - so we are anticipating that all will go well on HAL as well.)

 

Right now he is the most excited traveller in our group - he can't wait for the airplane, the train, & the big boat - he's 3.5...