Maasdam (Canada/New England) w/kids?

[pdxsteeler]

Looking at one of the August Canada/NE cruises on the Maasdam. Wondering how this would be with 2 young kids (2 and 4.5)? We took both kids on a Celebrity cruise last year (Millennium/Alaska) and that worked out well.

 

Specifically:

- Room: Right now, we are looking at an ocean-view stateroom (DD). How crowded will that be with the 4 of us, especially with the youngest needing a crib?

- Onboard activities: The kids club probably works well for the 4 year old. What about the rest of us?

- Dining: What is the atmosphere like? Will there be a lot of annoyed people with our 2 kids, who may not exactly decide to be quiet and calm at all times (on Celebrity, we ate all meals onboard in Lumiere which was small enough that no one seemed to be bothered).

- For the Canada/NE itinerary -- are all the ports fairly walkable? Any need to take excursions or are self-guided walks through town fine?

[OlsSalt]

HAL ships are better suited for a quieter, older group of passengers.

 

Since you asked so directly, I will respond in kind. I know I would personally not like to be seated next to very young children who were not old enough to be "calm and quiet" for the hour or so that dinner takes place in the more formal main dining room on this small, older traditional ship. Because I am old and I like things quieter. Others can weigh in with their thoughts.

 

I am happy to see younger families take a look at cruise vacations because they can provide a wonderful package. But you might want to keep looking at other cruise lines until your children become a little more independent and can fully participate in the children activities on board - which by all reports are very good.

 

However, I think your family would enjoy this ship and this itinerary under the best of circumstances. Including starting the process of letting children know there are places where they can be noisy and places where they need to be quiet. Though penetrating cabin noises would again be a consideration for your fellow passengers since you already know your children are not always "calm and quiet".

 

Tough call.

 

Some tips from Parents.com that give insights from various perspectives; http://www.parents.com/kids/development/social/eating-at-restaurants-with-kids/

[RMLincoln]

The DDs on Main Deck will have a Pullman bed that folds down from the ceiling and I assume your 4 year old can sleep up there. It will have a safety net to keep her/him from falling out. There is a ladder for access than can be placed at the foot of the bed.

The couch can be made into a bed if you don't want to use the Pullman.

The two twins can be made into a queen but that leaves little room for a crib. If the twins are left as twins, you might be able to get a crib between them. That will leave you space the room in between the couch and the vanity, not much space but doable.

 

I suggest you carefully look at photos of how the quads are laid out with the beds open. The main beds will be set so that the window is over the head of the beds. Google for photos and HAL facts.

 

As for activities, the 4 year old can be taken to the HAL Club but I don't think they will take the 2 year old, do check on that. I know they require that all children must be toilet trained before they can be left in the children's programs.

 

The Lido pool (has a moveable cover) is open to children who are not in diapers; the aft pool is for adults only. The rime area around the pool is only ankle deep and I have seen children use it as a splash pool. I think there is a splash pool also in the children's area, The Loft.

 

The Lido buffet area is a good place for eating meals if the children are noisy and or messy; they have high-chairs and booster seats. There are a couple of semi-circular tables that are more apart from the main area. As for eating in the MDR, it is more formal and if the children aren't able to get through the meal time, the dining room manager would likely ask you take the child or children out for the comfort of the other guests. But having said that let me add that the wait staff will do everything they can to accommodate the children as possible. There is a children's menu in the MDR but it is the same every night but does have children's favorites, plus you can find some dishes on the main menu appropriate for them, perhaps to share with them. The wait staff will dote on the children as they have children of their own whom they miss greatly.

 

Maasdam is a small, older, traditional ship and does not have much variety of eating venues, not like large new cruise ships. The cabins are more generous in size than many of the newer ships but there are limitations.

 

As for the ports, I can't comment as I have not done that itinerary, but I have spend 60+ nights on Maasdam in Inside and Ocean View rooms. m--

[OlsSalt]

It might not be fair to the other diners to assume the already over-burdened main dining room staff will have the time to entertain small children. Agree, the Lido buffet would be the better fail-safe solution when dining with very small children. No long waits between courses either.

 

Agree also, the crew do get very high marks when dealing with small children, but the main dining room has become a well-oiled machine and all parts need to function efficiently for everyone's overall benefit. There is little down time for the dining stewards today - not like in the past where they had plenty of time to interact with the passengers.

[OlsSalt]

Here is what Disney cruise line offers for very young travelers - Traveling With Little Ones: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/traveling-with-little-ones/

 

And here is a very positive report from someone traveling with kids as young as age two on the larger and newer HAL Nieuw Amsterdam: https://babygizmo.com/holland-america-nieuw-amsterdam-review-is-it-kid-friendly/ They thought the main dining room worked fine for them., and yes the stewards did give them special attention.

[GradUT]

I think the previous posts have pretty well covered traveling on the Maasdam with young children, so I'll address the ports:

 

1. Quebec - You dock within walking distance of Old Town, but there is a LOT of walking to be done in Quebec. You would probably need strollers for your kids and not all of the streets are stroller-friendly (i.e. cobblestone car-free streets).

 

2. Charlottetown, PEI -- You dock close to the city, but there's not much to do there. You'd want to rent a car to drive around or take an excursion.

 

3. Sydney, NS -- You do not dock within walking distance of the city and there's no much to do there anyway. Again, you'd want to rent a car or take an excursion.

 

4. Halifax -- Ship docks within walking distance of many attractions. It's a walkable city, but hilly in places.

 

5. Bar Harbor -- You tender to town which has a lot of shops and a town green. You can take free buses to Acadia National Park after you pay the park admission fee.

[1of4]

As the mum of 2 who cruise HAL I can answer some of your questions and correct information provided in others. But our two were 7 and 10 when we took our first HAL cruise. We tried Disney but we much prefer HAL. But that is just our family. Club HAL is interactive is each and every child 3 through 12. They are more hands off with the 13-17 year olds. There is a Club HAL staff member with activities but the teens have more freedom.

 

We have not had an issue with space in quad rooms on your class of ship. Keeping the main bed as twins, as stated by another poster, will give more room but we have never used a crib. There is no net in the Pullman bed so for that reason we kept the bed as a queen on our first cruise just in case the child fell they would land on the bed. There is a safety bar.

 

The Loft area is for teens and no children under 13 have access to The Oasis which is the teen outdoor area so no splash pool. If your youngest wears swim diapers they are not permitted in the pool. This is a health and safety thing.

 

You can order room service, eat in the Lido or the main dining room. You children will be welcome anywhere by the staff. Not always the other diners. But my children have been much quieter and shown better manners than some adult tables around us. We use their (mis)behaviour as a teaching tool of what we do not find acceptable. It has worked well for us.

 

If you decide on HAL make sure you bring clothes for a picture. The photographers are out on one or two nights a cruise around dinner. That family picture is a great memory of our vacation.

[RMLincoln]

As the mum of 2 who cruise HAL I can answer some of your questions and correct information provided in others. But our two were 7 and 10 when we took our first HAL cruise. We tried Disney but we much prefer HAL. But that is just our family. Club HAL is interactive is each and every child 3 through 12. They are more hands off with the 13-17 year olds. There is a Club HAL staff member with activities but the teens have more freedom.

 

We have not had an issue with space in quad rooms on your class of ship. Keeping the main bed as twins, as stated by another poster, will give more room but we have never used a crib. There is no net in the Pullman bed so for that reason we kept the bed as a queen on our first cruise just in case the child fell they would land on the bed. There is a safety bar.

 

The Loft area is for teens and no children under 13 have access to The Oasis which is the teen outdoor area so no splash pool. If your youngest wears swim diapers they are not permitted in the pool. This is a health and safety thing.

 

You can order room service, eat in the Lido or the main dining room. You children will be welcome anywhere by the staff. Not always the other diners. But my children have been much quieter and shown better manners than some adult tables around us. We use their (mis)behaviour as a teaching tool of what we do not find acceptable. It has worked well for us.

 

If you decide on HAL make sure you bring clothes for a picture. The photographers are out on one or two nights a cruise around dinner. That family picture is a great memory of our vacation.

 

You are quite right! I had to go back to look at the pictures and yes it is a safety bar, not the straps I thought I remembered. Pictures are on the site with HAL facts, if you google those words - we're not allowed to include a link to it in posts here; the photos I sent to that site show our granddaughter in the pullman on Volendam, an R-Class ship, room 1815, a porthole room. m--

[geoherb]

We enjoyed a cruise from Quebec to Boston on the Veendam, which is the Maasdam's sister. There were not any children on our cruise, but it was in May. I think there's enough to do in the towns without booking an excursion. Halifax has the maritime museum with Titanic artifacts. Bar Harbor has lots of little shops plus the opportunity to walk along the bar when the tides are right. We enjoyed touring Province House in Charlottetown. Our cruise skipped going to Sydney due to high winds. Boston has a great aquarium plus all the historical attractions.

[dag144]

You are sensitive enough to worry if the kids and you will enjoy this cruise. The passengers are older. Go with your gut and book a cruise on a larger ship. Unless there are lots of kids, it could be stressful for you. Good luck.

[greenfroggie]

Hi,

 

Just came off the Maasdam with our 2 yr old. The room with the pack and play was tight but doable. Not sure where you plan on having the 4 year old sleep? You can't do a pull out and a pack and play as the couch doesn't come out. We're pregnant with our second and was thinking we couldn't really do it with that sized cabin in the future. If your okay with your 4 yr old sleeping in your bed (tight) than maybe? Or sleeping on the couch next to the pack and play. Or DD wouldn't wake up as we walked around the room but she's a pretty good sleeper.

 

The kids club would work for the 4 year old they have puzzles and video games. There's no toys or jungle gym stuff for the 2 yr old. They won't even allow you in there. On Princess they had said activities and let us use them if we supervised her.

 

BTW there were tons of kids on our cruise. Probably about 5-10 under 5 and another 10 under 10. Nobody was really running or doing anything crazy.

 

The buffets were great and the staff was very friendly. Dinning rooms was also good. For us we caved in and did the ipad/iphone thing this time as not to make a scene. Occasionally our DD would freak a bit but nobody publicly cared. She was overall excellent and we got lots of compliments. We order food for her to come asap etc.

 

There were a few other kids who made some peeps, nobody seemed to get upset. Honestly the crowed was much younger/forgiving than I expected. Pretty sure everyone with kids ate at the dinning room and everyone was happy. Nobody expected the staff to "entertain" any of the kids, but some did. They all have kids at home and miss them terribly and want to smile and see yours happy.

 

The ports are all very walkable. We didn't do any pre made tours. We did do a PEI bus tour which worked great though there are things to see in Charlottetown.

 

QC has a very steep incline. You can take a funicular up if you want. I carried my DD in a carrier (I'm pretty fit) but it drained all the energy out of my legs. I had also gone for a 10 mile run just before so it could have been that.

 

Sydney is very barren and not much to do.

 

Bar harbor has some shops but also fairly small. Still both walk-able and self guiding is fine.

 

What we did is looked to see where the public parks were and worked our way there to let our DD have some time on the swings etc. That's our strategy. Most ports had one within a mile.