boulders Posted July 27, 2018 #1 Share Posted July 27, 2018 I'll be sailing on HAL's Noordam this coming March with my 13 year old on a 2 week Auckland to Sydney itinerary. I've sailed HAL a couple of times before. Both were during North American break times and one cruise had 300 kids and the other had fewer than 30, so I know not to expect a lot of kids. I know it's not a school break time in Australia or New Zealand. I'm just curious if anyone has an idea if how many kids to expect on board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted July 28, 2018 #2 Share Posted July 28, 2018 I'll be sailing on HAL's Noordam this coming March with my 13 year old on a 2 week Auckland to Sydney itinerary. I've sailed HAL a couple of times before. Both were during North American break times and one cruise had 300 kids and the other had fewer than 30, so I know not to expect a lot of kids. I know it's not a school break time in Australia or New Zealand. I'm just curious if anyone has an idea if how many kids to expect on board? Very few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradUT Posted July 28, 2018 #3 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Next to none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulders Posted July 28, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Thanks to both of you. That's what I suspect. That's OK. We'll be off the ship in most ports anyway and DS is good at entertaining himself. If there are kids his age, it will be a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted July 28, 2018 #5 Share Posted July 28, 2018 I’m pretty sure that in Aus, HAL has the oldest demographic. Add in that it’s during school term and kids will be a bit like rocking horse poo, pretty hard to find. If you have a 13 year old, You will be one of the younger passengers, let alone you boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlbcruiser Posted July 30, 2018 #6 Share Posted July 30, 2018 sounds like you have already made your arrangements with Holland America but with a 13-year-old, and having done a number of cruises with 12-year-olds through college aged kids, I think your best chance to find anyone near that age would be on Royal Caribbean‘s Ovation of the Seas. That ship has three March in 2019. Even in the Caribbean, any cruise over 7 or 8 days long in March has fewer kids of any age on board, while the cruise seven days and less are generally packed with kids in March. The Ovation has bumper cars, a skydiving attraction and more. If the young person you are bringing along is used to being with adults all the time it might not be so bad. However, generally13-year-olds like to be with others their age, at least part of the time. If there was a cousin or friend that age who is able to go along that would help a lot. Good luck in whatever you decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulders Posted July 30, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Yes, I'm an experienced cruiser on both HAL and RCCL as is my son. And you would be surprised at how much closer I am to the HAL demographics than the RCCL demographics. ;p I was originally booked on Ovation of the Seas but the ports and shore excursions didn't interest me. Their sail date was also inconvenient. HAL's itinerary suits our needs much better. We have sailed Oasis class and my son was not interested in any of the bells and whistles. After sailing HAL, RCCL doesn't do it for me anymore either. I'm just curious if anyone has info specific to a New Zealand cruise in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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