HAL for Teenagers Asia cruise

[The Investigators 2014]

Hi everyone,

We are planning an Asian cruise on March 30th 2015 with HAL from singapore to Hong Kong. We have two teenage girls and have chosen this cruise primarily for the ports and the fact it coincides with the Australian school holidays. We've done many cruises before but never with HAL. Keen to hear from others who may have done this itinerary with HAL or have knowledge of the general number of kids/ teenagers on these cruises. Have done a meditteranean cruise in peak summer with RCCL and despite recommendations they were the only teenagers on board. So I figure this is possibly worth a shot in light of our experiences on a supposed "family friendly" cruise line with no kids in sight. Thanks in advance

[rebeccalouiseagain]

The ship you are thinking of sailing is the Volendam and it is a small ship but there is a youth program and "The Oasis"- an outdoor hangout for teens with hammocks. A 17 yr. old girl on one of my cruises said she absolutely loved that area on Holland America. There may be some Asian families that time of year since Easter falls on April 5th in 2015.

 

If this itinerary appeals to you- go. It looks like a port intensive cruise. You'll probably come back to the ship hot and ready for a swim. If there are any kids- they'll be by the pool. The crew will take good care of you. Make the kids aware that there may be zero children on board besides them. Cruises are all about expectations. I did a cruise with my son in January of 2013 in the Med (Serenade of the Seas). I assumed that there would be zero kids on board but there were 90! In any case, he didn't really enjoy the teen program (he was only 12 at the time) because the older kids weren't very nice to him. In any case, we had a wonderful cruise and he did end up becoming friendly with two kids who were living in Afghanistan. Interesting. The following May we did a California Coastal cruise (Celebrity Solstice) and there were only 3 kids- two younger girls. We swam with them in the pool but otherwise it was just my son and myself hanging out with adults. The cruise was still fun for both of us.

Edited June 9, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[topspot]

We have cruised three times with teens on HAL. We always had our DD bring a friend, since we were afraid there would be no one for her to hang out with. They always had a great time and met other teens, but then we were travelling during Thanksgiving holiday. One cruise was in January, during the school year. There were 17 children total in all age groups. My two were the only teens that went to the Oasis. The staff was wonderful with them. Staff arranged for them to have a tour of the bridge because there was such a small number of them. I must warn you though. We were going into the dining room, and there was a short line and one of the people in line said "Hey look, someone under 90":p;). The girls got a big laugh out of that!!