Best Holland America ship with kids?

[JVilleGal]

Hmm..when I went on an Alaskan cruise a few years back there were a LOT of kids on our ship..maybe it varies with the ship/sailing/time of year(ours was in August) the evidence seems very circumstantial..just sayin'.

 

Well I have only been on 6 HAL cruises spread out over about 7 yrs. Alaska was a Northbound at the end of June. This experience was pretty much the same on each of our HAL cruises. We do not sail the Big Ships though. The passengers seem to be more mature than RCCL, Princess, NCL and very few children but a handful of extended families. But this is just MY experience and I absolutely would not subject my grandkids to HAL. They love the kids clubs on the other mentions cruiselines.:)

Edited October 8, 2017 by JVilleGal
Directionally challenges :)

[Sea girl 23]

Personally, if I had small children or grandchildren, which very unfortunately I do not, I would want to make their trip with mom and dad or grandpa and grandma as special as possible. For me, IMO, if I were in that situation, I would take my children or grandchildren on Disney (first choice) or Carnival, or another big ship line that has so many activities that the youngsters really enjoy. Just my personal opinion, please don't flame me.

 

No flames here..but I wonder what time of year that people are cruising where they are on these all but kid-free cruises?:confused:

[Spunky946]

We’ve been in three Holland America cruises with our kids and going on a fourth over Christmas this year. We went on the Westerdam to Alaska, and there were quite a few kids on it, then on the Nieuw Amsterdam over February break and the oosterdam last Christmas and the Eurodam this Christmas,

 

Yes there are not the fancy bells and whistles, but the kids love the kids club and we travel with my in laws so we get great family time too. Last Christmas there were over 200 kids on board, so plenty for the kids to do.

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

No flames here..but I wonder what time of year that people are cruising where they are on these all but kid-free cruises?:confused:

There were some children on HAL cruises we have taken. I just, if it were me, might have chosen a line like Disney that I would be somewhat certain the kids would absolutely love. I am sure the children I saw on HAL cruises had a nice time, nevertheless. Did not witness anything to the contrary.

[Sea girl 23]

We’ve been in three Holland America cruises with our kids and going on a fourth over Christmas this year. We went on the Westerdam to Alaska, and there were quite a few kids on it, then on the Nieuw Amsterdam over February break and the oosterdam last Christmas and the Eurodam this Christmas,

 

Yes there are not the fancy bells and whistles, but the kids love the kids club and we travel with my in laws so we get great family time too. Last Christmas there were over 200 kids on board, so plenty for the kids to do.

 

This.Not sure where all these "There were no kids on our cruise" posts are coming from.Every cruise I've been on has had a moderate amount of kids. Granted,I usually cruise during the winter months so that's why!

[lastlook]

We’ve been in three Holland America cruises with our kids and going on a fourth over Christmas this year. We went on the Westerdam to Alaska, and there were quite a few kids on it, then on the Nieuw Amsterdam over February break and the oosterdam last Christmas and the Eurodam this Christmas,

 

Yes there are not the fancy bells and whistles, but the kids love the kids club and we travel with my in laws so we get great family time too. Last Christmas there were over 200 kids on board, so plenty for the kids to do.

February school vacation week is our next cruise. Normally we would avoid travel during this time frame, but we're taking our son, daughter-in-law and two teenage grandkids on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Wondering if you recall if there were many teens on your Feb. cruise? Hoping our grandkids will get to meet some other kids their age and that they might enjoy "The Loft", which is designated for their age group. Any insight would be appreciated since this is a first for them and of course we want everyone to enjoy themselves.

[Spunky946]

This.Not sure where all these "There were no kids on our cruise" posts are coming from.Every cruise I've been on has had a moderate amount of kids. Granted,I usually cruise during the winter months so that's why!

 

I don’t either, unless they were on longer cruises. We’ve only done 7 night cruises.

[Spunky946]

February school vacation week is our next cruise. Normally we would avoid travel during this time frame, but we're taking our son, daughter-in-law and two teenage grandkids on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Wondering if you recall if there were many teens on your Feb. cruise? Hoping our grandkids will get to meet some other kids their age and that they might enjoy "The Loft", which is designated for their age group. Any insight would be appreciated since this is a first for them and of course we want everyone to enjoy themselves.

 

I’m trying to remember the cruise, it’s been a couple of years. I think there were 90 kids or so, but not sure how many teens, I didn’t have a teen then. I’d make sure they went to the club on the first night, they usually have a get together then. My ds will be 13 on our next cruise, so it will be our first time with the loft.

 

Our kids love bingo and trivia and my daughter liked going to the cooking demonstrations with my in laws.

[GoWyoCowboys]

My kids, ages 9 & 11, have sailed many lines including Disney, but they LOVE Holland America. Every cruise there are one or two comments about "who would want to bring kids", but many more comments about how polite and well-behaved they are. (I hope they are behaving now as they are with grandma on the Grand Asia.)

 

Passengers on Holland are more mature so it's a great time for kids to practice their manners, offer up their seat, listen respectfully, etc.

 

Max number of kids in Club HAL has been too many to count on an Alaskan cruise, least was a 14 day Southern Caribbean where they were the only kids (8 & 10 for anyone who was on the cruise with us). They love the personal attention from the kid's crew. They get to do crafts, play games, and just have fun. Opportunities they've had on HAL that they've never been able to do on other lines are things like meet the performers, play name that tune trivia, and light the ship Christmas tree; generally if they ask to do something the kid's crew tries to make it happen.

 

My kids are self-entertaining. We don't have video games at home, so they don't expect them on vacation, but depending on the crew they'll sometimes get them on board. They are also homeschooled and on sea days are expected to do school before they are allowed to go to Club HAL. If your kids are dependent on others to entertain them, I agree with the others, I'd find a different line. Otherwise, I'd say give Holland America a try. Hands down it's my kids favorite cruise line.

[JVilleGal]

Spring break and Christmas Holidays would certainly have families sailing. I think HAL’s large ships have better facilities and activities due to being newer & larger ships. Our sailings have just had so few children that I only admired their parents for doing such a great job and the children being very well behaved and appropriately dressed in dining venues (neat, clean & tidy and age appropriate).

 

 

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[Sea girl 23]

My kids, ages 9 & 11, have sailed many lines including Disney, but they LOVE Holland America. Every cruise there are one or two comments about "who would want to bring kids", but many more comments about how polite and well-behaved they are. (I hope they are behaving now as they are with grandma on the Grand Asia.)

 

Passengers on Holland are more mature so it's a great time for kids to practice their manners, offer up their seat, listen respectfully, etc.

 

Max number of kids in Club HAL has been too many to count on an Alaskan cruise, least was a 14 day Southern Caribbean where they were the only kids (8 & 10 for anyone who was on the cruise with us). They love the personal attention from the kid's crew. They get to do crafts, play games, and just have fun. Opportunities they've had on HAL that they've never been able to do on other lines are things like meet the performers, play name that tune trivia, and light the ship Christmas tree; generally if they ask to do something the kid's crew tries to make it happen.

 

My kids are self-entertaining. We don't have video games at home, so they don't expect them on vacation, but depending on the crew they'll sometimes get them on board. They are also homeschooled and on sea days are expected to do school before they are allowed to go to Club HAL. If your kids are dependent on others to entertain them, I agree with the others, I'd find a different line. Otherwise, I'd say give Holland America a try. Hands down it's my kids favorite cruise line.

 

The worst thing you could do is overstimulate a child by taking them on a huge cruise ship with everything on it. *maybe* bring one or two things to keep the kids distracted if you cruise on HAL but that's it. Kinda bad to just say "well,that's what *all* kids want" No they don't. There are a lot of things to consider and I think that gets forgotten.

[gumby_ng]

We took our 7 and 9 year old on a Carnival Caribbean cruise on one of the their "smaller" ships. They were never interested in the Kid's Club and we ended up having 3 days at sea missing one of the ports. They spent time at the pool with us, we found the shuffleboard a few days too late, we played ping pong, they did the waterslide a couple of times. Would they have had more to do on one of the newer bigger ships, sure.....but when on vacation, I kind of enjoying spending time with them. I consider that time a luxury.

 

Fast forward 3 years and we are planning a cruise in Europe next summer. They want to see all sorts of stuff they have learned in school.....ended up choosing the Oosterdam itinerary on August 16th, very port intensive only one day at sea for 12 days. For us, I don't think they will miss the extra offered on other cruise lines.....we found an affordable itinerary that we liked so that's what we are taking. I'll see how it goes when we go but for us, it needs to be affordable and the itinerary needs to suit us. They are going to be tired (as are we) but we are ok with that. Most days I see us getting up early, coming back before ship leaves, having dinner some downtime and going to bed so those other extras are not important to us. For us the ship is a perfect way to see Europe (especially Greece) with the luxury of coming back to a nice ship, nice dinner every day and only having to worry about what we plan on doing each day. It's nice to only unpack once and explore a new place each day.

 

So in the end, it depends on your kids and what you want out of your vacation with your kids. If you have lots of days at sea, a ship with more activities might be better but for us, we aren't going to break the bank looking for one.

[Homosassa]

We have cruised with our daughter since she was 17 months old (first cruise was on Sitmar). She was never into the children's program on the ships (ships use to have very limited organized children's activities, if any).

 

On her first cruise with HAL, her response was: "Mom, you've been holding out on me."

 

It depends on the child and the family.

 

As I said, HAL is good for families that truly want a family vacation and who don't need to depend on gadgets and things like climbing walls to have a good time with each other.

[aljo66]

We have been on cruises on Nieuw Amsterdam and Koningsdam with our son when he was 7 and 10 and have booked Koningsdam for next July. He absolutely loves the kid's club and if we ask him what holiday he wants to do cruising always comes first. There have always been other children on the cruise and he loves the attention that comes from the great staff they have and the activities that they organize.

We have never had complaints from other cruisers and he has joined us at dinner in the Tamarind and MDR regularly.

My recommendation would be go for it - HAL does know how to look after the kids needs.