Kids club??

[Msmojo66]

We've only cruised via NCL and they have a wonderful kids club.  Wondering if you have any information on kids club, especially for an 11 yr old, who is very grown up!!!  

 

Also any other tips to someone new to Holland??? We've sailed twice on NCL and enjoyed the "freestyle" cruising, anytime dining, etc.  

 

Thank you in advance!!!

Michelle 

 

[kazu]

Hi MIchelle

 

Yes HAL has kids’ clubs.  There is Club HAL as well as a club for older children/teens.  I have a few CC friends who cruise with their children and they have to “drag” them out of Club HAL.  They enjoy it.

 

If you enjoy freestyle dining, you can have that on HAL by simply doing the “open” or any time dining (not fixed time - just go to the MDR/Lido when it suits you.

[Crew News]

10 hours ago, Msmojo66 said:

We've only cruised via NCL and they have a wonderful kids club.  Wondering if you have any information on kids club, especially for an 11 yr old, who is very grown up!!!  

 

Also any other tips to someone new to Holland??? We've sailed twice on NCL and enjoyed the "freestyle" cruising, anytime dining, etc.  

 

Thank you in advance!!!

Michelle 

 

Welcome to the HAL Forum.  Here is a link to typical kids activities on both Alaska and Caribbean cruises:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/holland-america-lines-kids-activities-examples

 

I strongly recommend using the laundry service (usually next day return) for $7/day/stateroom, if purchased for the whole cruise, so you can pack for just three days to save airline luggage fees.  After more than 200 laundry days, I have yet to have a single item damaged/lost. 

 

If you are booking any excursions involving flying, book ASAP as seats are very limited.

 

Enjoy your cruise planning.

[TN Fem]

I'll second the laundry service. Gosh I wish I could get laundry for $7/day at home too 😄

 

The kids club is good.  Some depends on your ship though, if there are a lot of kids, etc. We did a 22 day South America/Antarctica cruise with our kids a couple years ago and the kids club was fantastic. Most of the kids on board seemed the same age range as mine 8-11 at the time. The kids club that activities related to our cruise so took the kids down for some of the talks, the kids went outside as well to see the wild life, etc . as well as more traditional kids club activities.  The kids usually met up when kids club was closed at the pool Lido to swim and play ping pong and chess. 

[Jareds_mommytoo]

Our kids used the clubs last Easter, they have done 7 Disney cruises. They were bored with the clubs on HAL there were lists of planned activities but it was never followed. There were 80 kids in the age group they were in, so it wasn’t lack of kids. The leaders just didn’t really engage them it was more a place to hang out with the leaders just there or the leaders just sent them to the basketball court. They did have fun once they made a few friends and started doing stuff on their own. 

 

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, TN Fem said:

Some depends on your ship though, if there are a lot of kids, etc

Exactly.  On our Panama Canal cruise a few years ago, there were 5 kids onboard under the age of 12.  Totally.  Including 3 kids that belonged to a crew member.

 

It was over Halloween, and the kid's club leaders brought them all over the ship for trick or treating.  Everyone onboard knew who they were.

[jkrislc]

My son, who just turned 12, enjoyed the club on HAL's Konningsdam and actually preferred the clubs when he was younger on HAL much more than on Disney primarily because they were less children. He would often ask to go to the club in lieu of other activities. He did complain, though, that they "curriculum" as he called it was too structured, so perhaps they are following the schedule now. He really liked the free-time options.

[DukeASUGirl]

I'm considering an Alaska cruise next summer, and HAL seems to have the best pricing on this itinerary. My kids will be 8 and 10.

 

I'd always thought of HAL as being really stodgy and an "older" clientele, but from what I've read their kids club looks pretty good. I like that the age group is 7-12, because it means both my kids will be able to be together.

 

Any thoughts on how this club compares to Camp Ocean from Carnival?

[cruisingrob21]

Our kids loved the HAL kids club on the Koningsdam - better than on Princess even which wasn't what we expected.

 

As a child that cruised, I HATED the kids clubs, so every kid is different.  As others have pointed out, there might be fewer kids on HAL vs NCL, so your child might enjoy that more?  It really depends on the itinerary I think.

 

HAL feels like a step up from NCL, the only thing that cruisers new to HAL seem to lament (we have cruised HAL, just mostly Princess as of late) is that there is not a venue that has food from say, 6am to midnight - there are a few times in the late morning and late afternoon where you may need to order room service if you must have food at that moment.  Otherwise, its maybe 30-45 mins twice a day where there isn't any freshly prepared food at a venue.  I will say however, that I've found the food quality to be from slightly to much better than average on HAL.

 

The only other thing you should be prepared for is less activities in general vs NCL, RCCL, Princess, and Carnival and the activities that are offered are more cultural (music, cooking demos) - highly recommend going to an America's test kitchen show, even if you aren't a big cook, they have so many tips and tricks to make cooking easier and better, you really need to try. 

 

One really nice thing about HAL is the generally smaller ships - fewer crowds and shorter lines and always good nooks and crannies to read, play games, or just contemplate the meaning of life with a view of the ocean 🙂

 

Enjoy!

[DukeASUGirl]

On ‎3‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 7:32 PM, cruisingrob21 said:

the activities that are offered are more cultural (music, cooking demos) - highly recommend going to an America's test kitchen show, even if you aren't a big cook, they have so many tips and tricks to make cooking easier and better, you really need to try. 

 

See, I love that. When I was 9 and my brother was 7, we went on a cruise to Alaska with my grandparents and other extended family. It was on Sitmar, which doesn't exist anymore, but was bought out by Princess. There were so many different types of activities, such as cooking classes, dance classes, Italian lessons. I loved it! I so wish lines would bring the cultural stuff back, so I think maybe HAL would be perfect for us.

[simplyrubies]

On our recent Med cruise, there seemed to be quite a few kids on board but I didn't really see them until the last sea day when they all seemed to be in the Lido Pool! Even on the newest ships, there don't seem to be as many amenities that kids would enjoy as other lines (eg. RCL). There were only two pools on the Koningsdam, only one of which allowed children (the Lido Pool). Aside from the basketball court and whatever the kid's club offered, there wasn't much else. If your kid is adventurous and enjoys trying different amenities like the skating rinks, surf machines, rock climbing walls, and arcades that other lines offer, HAL might not be right for them. The shows offered at night could be things that a kid would enjoy, like a magician or a singer, but HAL tends to draw on a much more classic repertoire. Unless your son is into the Beatles, Elton John, or other musicians of their time, he may not enjoy the shows.

 

The only kid-appealing main activities (not part of kid's club) I remember seeing on our itinerary were the kitchen tour and towel animal demonstration. Perhaps he enjoys cooking demonstrations or port lectures?

 

It also depends on how many kids are onboard and if your son enjoys kid's clubs. Even the mix of kids or the counsellors on board can really affect the experience - which of course, can't really be anticipated. Truthfully, even though I was a more mature kid who thoroughly disliked the kid's clubs, I don't know if HAL would have been suitable for me as a kid cruiser. I was definitely an introvert (still am!) and wouldn't have minded seeing a cooking demo or port lecture with my parents, but with only one pool and no other "cool" amenities on the Koninsgdam, I would've been pretty bored.

[DukeASUGirl]

9 hours ago, simplyrubies said:

If your kid is adventurous and enjoys trying different amenities like the skating rinks...

 

LOL, my kids are ice skaters (daughter does competitive figure skating and son plays hockey), so they certainly wouldn't be being "adventurous" in "trying" a skating rink. In fact, going without access to a rink for a week might be a vacation in and of itself. 😉

[simplyrubies]

11 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

 

LOL, my kids are ice skaters (daughter does competitive figure skating and son plays hockey), so they certainly wouldn't be being "adventurous" in "trying" a skating rink. In fact, going without access to a rink for a week might be a vacation in and of itself. 😉

 

Best pick a ship without a skating rink so they aren't too tempted 😂 In all seriousness, when I was on RCCL's Independence of the Seas, the rink there wasn't very big and the ice quality was pretty poor. I'm not sure if there'd be room for figure skating tricks (or if your daughter would even be allowed!) and I don't recall seeing hockey advertised, only free skate events.

 

Sounds like your kids are pretty active - would they be satisfied with having one pool and one basketball court or do you think they'd need more space for active activities?