A few kid related HAL questions

[brookeinmn]

Hi there. Our Alaska cruise is getting really close. I wanted to know is it possible to call HAL and get an idea of the number of kids on our sailing. Would I call ship services? I'm mainly just curious how much company my 2 will have.

 

I plan on doing a few mock cruise ship dinners at our house to prep the kids for the longer meal time. Can someone give me an idea of how long there is between each course and the overall length of dinner. I want to find a few quiet things they can do at the table between courses. I am open to any and all suggestions to success in the MDR. My kids are 10 and 6 and are well behaved..but we do tend to eat quick family meals. We have a large party of 10 people. (Please don't turn this into a kids in the MDR debate. We eat dinner with our kids every night and the cruise will be no exception. Plus..they have tuxes for formal night ;) )

 

Does anyone have any sample menu's at all? I want to give them an idea of the food available. Regular and kids menu would be great if anyone has them.

 

Lastly are there any not to miss things for kids on either the ship or Alaska itinerary. We'll be going NB to Seward on the Oosterdam. Thanks!

[boulders]

My personal vacation planner was able to tell me how many kids were on our HAL cruise in December.

 

There is a kids menu, but we always had to ask for it. I found that once the courses started coming, there was not a lot of lag time between them. DS8 was always itching to leave the table by 7 pm to get to the kids club. Our table of 8 was generally done with our entrees by 7 or 7:10.

 

If there is some food - bread, fruit cup, broccoli (my kids love it, I loathe it), that will keep your kids happy until the food is served, don't be afraid to put in a standing order.

 

There are lots of great excursions for kids on Alaskan cruises. Have fun!

[bra1nchild]

Our grandchildren had a great time on a pre-Christmas cruise on the Westerdam. The youngest was only 8 months old, but she dressed for dinner including formal night. All she needed was a roll and a spoon to keep occupied. We also made sure we got mashed potatoes for her every night.

 

The boys [6 and 9] also dressed for dinner and wore ties for formal night. They enjoyed trying things like escargot. Although they ordered from the kids' menu, they "shared" with the adults. Our steward always brought their food first even if ours was not ready. When things lagged, as they will sometimes, the boys were allowed to occupy themselves with their electronics which they did gladly. W all had a good time at dinner.

[elzbal]

If you have reserved seating in the MDR then the servers will get to know your kids very well. Our DD (then 6 years old) had a shrimp cocktail waiting for her at her place at the table every time she sat down... just because the first or second night she told the server that she liked shrimp! As boulders said, you can place your own standing order as well.

 

The kids also switched between the kids and adult menus, depending on what they felt like eating. They ate a lot, and any tasty leftovers got split between the adults.

[NYteacher]

A great thing about dining with kids on cruise ships is that it is a wonderful time for them to try new foods. You can order a new dish, along with an old favorite just for them to sample. My son learned to love calamari, before he learned it was squid.

 

Also, the waiters will be quite prepared to bring your children's courses faster than the adults. One thing we have done is to let our son eat faster than the adult courses for a large table would allow, then one of us dashes him up to the kids' club. There is a shared family dinner, but on a quicker kids' schedule, win-win.

[POA1]

One thing we have done is to let our son eat faster than the adult courses for a large table would allow, then one of us dashes him up to the kids' club. There is a shared family dinner, but on a quicker kids' schedule, win-win.

 

That's a great idea.

[kazu]

Hi there. Our Alaska cruise is getting really close. I wanted to know is it possible to call HAL and get an idea of the number of kids on our sailing. Would I call ship services? I'm mainly just curious how much company my 2 will have.

 

I plan on doing a few mock cruise ship dinners at our house to prep the kids for the longer meal time. Can someone give me an idea of how long there is between each course and the overall length of dinner. I want to find a few quiet things they can do at the table between courses. I am open to any and all suggestions to success in the MDR. My kids are 10 and 6 and are well behaved..but we do tend to eat quick family meals. We have a large party of 10 people. (Please don't turn this into a kids in the MDR debate. We eat dinner with our kids every night and the cruise will be no exception. Plus..they have tuxes for formal night ;) )

 

Does anyone have any sample menu's at all? I want to give them an idea of the food available. Regular and kids menu would be great if anyone has them.

 

Lastly are there any not to miss things for kids on either the ship or Alaska itinerary. We'll be going NB to Seward on the Oosterdam. Thanks!

 

There are menus on the halfacts.com website (just click on the link in my signature). There is also a schedule for he activities for Club HAL which you may also find helpful.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Children’s Menu

Supper Duper Fresh Fruit - Should probably read Super Duper, but the menu says Supper Duper

 

C & C Crazy Dippers - Carrots and Celery with ranch

 

Dutch Fun Fair Frites

 

Junior Cucumber Bites

Cheesy Caesar

 

 

Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Soup of the Day

 

3-2-1 Pasta

Home Run Sliders

Chicken Clucks - chicken strips

 

Gobble Gobble Wrap - Turkey wrap

 

Piece of Pizza

 

Very Yummy Veggie Dumplings

 

Capt'n's Favorite Fish

[CGYCruisingFamily]

The last HAL cruise we did with our kids they were 4&7. We never had issues with them finding something to eat and actually ended up ordering from the adult menu with them more often than. Not (we try to limit the "children's menu because I don't like the idea of pizza, hamburgers and chicken nuggets- but that's a totally different discussion not for here). Our son fell in love with Caesar salad on board HAL and are one almost every dinner meal.

 

We also took time to plan it out. On occasion if there was something they really wanted to do in Club HAL, we would take them for an early dinner at the buffet on the Lido then to kids club, then we would go for a later dinner. This didn't happen often but it was an option too so the odd night they didn't have to sit for 2 hours.

 

As for timing, we found it well paced. We did bring their iPads (***with headphones***), and also had a small bag with colouring stuff. However we found in most cases we didn't need either. Sometimes we would also run them up to Club HAL between dinner and dessert if they were done and starting to show signs if boredom.

 

Our kids are actually doing 2 cruises this summer so it should be interesting. They are going for 7 days with Grandma and Grandpa to Alaska then 2.5 weeks later the 12-night Mediterranean with G&G and us. They will have 19 nights on a ship in July and August.

Edited June 1, 2014 by CGYCruisingFamily

[Mytime2014]

Hi there. Our Alaska cruise is getting really close. I wanted to know is it possible to call HAL and get an idea of the number of kids on our sailing. Would I call ship services? I'm mainly just curious how much company my 2 will have.

 

I plan on doing a few mock cruise ship dinners at our house to prep the kids for the longer meal time. Can someone give me an idea of how long there is between each course and the overall length of dinner. I want to find a few quiet things they can do at the table between courses. I am open to any and all suggestions to success in the MDR. My kids are 10 and 6 and are well behaved..but we do tend to eat quick family meals. We have a large party of 10 people. (Please don't turn this into a kids in the MDR debate. We eat dinner with our kids every night and the cruise will be no exception. Plus..they have tuxes for formal night ;) )

 

Does anyone have any sample menu's at all? I want to give them an idea of the food available. Regular and kids menu would be great if anyone has them.

 

Lastly are there any not to miss things for kids on either the ship or Alaska itinerary. We'll be going NB to Seward on the Oosterdam. Thanks!

 

I don't have any suggestions - but a huge well-done to you for thinking it out so your kids know ahead of time what to expect and what is expected. I hope you all have a good trip

[pmd98052]

We took a 41 night cruise last fall with our 8 and 6 year olds and dinners worked great. We were always seated in the same place in the MDR each night with the same servers even though we were "anytime". We took coloring books and nintendos and all was good. Some nights we asked to be "Fast" and we were generally in and out within 45 mins those nights.

 

HAL wouldn't tell us how many other kids were on the ship prior to leaving but even on that cruise there were 8 kids including ours and they had a blast.

[Lynda S]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1841439

 

This thread might help a bit - this was an 'almost live from' thread from the Alaska season last year written by a lovely young lady in her teens who took pictures of not only the menu's - but the food too. I didn't read it until it surfaced again this year after I got back from our Zaandam Alaska cruise a couple of weeks ago, and I was quite surprised to see that the menus that she took the pictures of were almost the same as the ones we had on this year's cruise!

 

I guess that really goes to show if something works well, don't change it!

 

PS - all the meals were wonderful but the best was that roast chicken with sage stuffing! Don't miss that one & I am sure the kids will love it.

[brookeinmn]

Thank you all so much for the replies. These are all very helpful!! I forget how wonderful the wait staff can be. OH...and will some of you adopt me! Wow, your children are very lucky to cruise so much. ;)

[c-cruise]

The best suggestion I have for speeding things up with kids is to get to the dining room early. We've done probably 10+ HAL cruises with our kids found that if your table starts getting served first you can get out of there probably 20-30 minutes faster than someone who comes in a bit late. Dinner usually takes 1.5 - 2 hours. With a party of 10 you should plan on that being on the longer end of the spectrum.

 

It's nice to take a break from the long dinners at least once during the cruise and go to the Lido with the kids for dinner. Or even take them to the Lido for dinner, drop them at the club and then do a late dinner by yourself at one of the specialty restaraunts.

 

ClubHAL closes during dinner so you will want to check the schedule and see what time activities start that evening (usually 7:00) to know if you need or want to rush the kids through dinner.

 

We bring iPod touches to dinner for our kids (volume off). Usually keeps them entertained if necessary while waiting for that first course.

 

We've found the kids menu to be really hit and miss on if they actually have what you select and if what you select is actually what you receive.

 

Our HAL cruises have typically had between 50-100 minors onboard. You may have a few more kids on a Summer Alaska sailing.

 

Honestly on HAL I wouldn't say there is anything on the ship for them "not to miss". We've done the Oosterdam 2 or 3 times and I am honestly having trouble remembering what the kids club even looks like - it's nothing remarkable as far as the facility itself. There are no water slide, characters, giant movie screens, etc. that you will find on some other lines. Make sure to get them signed up for ClubHAL first thing and make sure they go the first night to get oriented and meet new friends. I'm sure they will have a blast with ClubHAL. Another nice thing for Alaska is that the Oosterdam has a covered pool area.

 

Not sure how you are getting from Seward back to Anchorage, but if you are driving there is a really cool place called the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center just off the Seward highway about an hour from Anchorage. Our daughter loved going there. Really neat way to get the kids up close to Alaska wildlife.

[dritan]

Hi

I'm taking our 6 and 3 year old on their second cruise in a few months, and understand the concerns. The first cruise was last October on Costa where there was no buffet option in the evenings - so the kids ate in the main dining room with us.

This was something I was worried about prior to the cruise, but apart from one evening where they cried because they had to say goodbye to our waiter, they were actually much better behaved in the MDR than in the more relaxed buffet.

You mentioned that you were going to try a few longer meals at home, so would suggest a few trips to restaurants in your area. I think it may help?