Is Holland America a good fit for us?

[Reds4life]

Hello HAL cruisers,

 

We are considering an after Christmas cruise on Holland America. This would be our first time on the line and the ship we are looking at is the Zuiderdam. Our family is myself and my wife, in our 40s, two teens 18 and 17 and our 12 year old daughter. My mother that is 82 would also be with us. We have cruised with Royal Carribean and MSC previously and enjoyed parts of both cruise lines. So far, in my research, it appears that HAL has very good food offerings and lots of musical programming. We are curious about a few other aspects. Namely, daily and evening activities.

 

- We typically enjoy an evening show of some type. I did not really see this offered in some of few "Where and When" documents posted online. Is there something I am missing?

 

- Our kids are very different in their dining tastes. Will there be options at the buffet or kids menus with basic American fast food as a last resort? (Ex. chicken fingers, burgers, fries, pizza etc.) We all love MSC pizza especially. 

 

- What are the free drink choices? We don't drink alcohol so we don't get a drink package usually.

 

- Our kids do not usually do the kids clubs. They enjoy water activities and so nerdy things like science demonstrations, geographical or historical museums, and some arts and crafts type stuff. Not so much arcade games or meeting other kids. They do enjoy movies, but it looks like HAL tends to show older films (e.g. It's A Wonderful Life) that even my wife and I would avoid. Any suggestions for them?

 

Thanks in advance for any help in deciding. We like to experience other styles of cruising but we are a bit concerned that HAL is more geared towards a more mature demographic and we want to make an informed choice weighing the pros and cons. 

[Homosassa]

There is no comparison between MSC pizza and  HAL pizza.

 

MSC pizza is made according to the standards of the Vera Pizza Napolitano. HAL pizza could be straight out of the freezer section of the grocery store. As a couple chowing down on the cardboard disc told us, "Love HAL pizza - it is just like we can get in our town in the UP of Michigan."

 

 

[Hlitner]

This is the 2nd post, we have seen, in two days asking about comparisons of HAL to RCI.  Food is always subjective but HAL can hold its own against the MDRs on RCI and MSC.  If you cruised in MSC's Yacht Club you would be very disappointed in HAL.   In terms of entertainment, IMHO HAL does not hold up well against most of its competition.  HAL no longer has Production Shows while on MSC you have Production Shows every night and RCI has more than their share.  HAL does have multiple music venues but some might find the set times not to their liking (this depends on your own schedule).  I have always thought that HAL designs it daily schedules to favor early diners (and early to bed folks) with late night (on HAL this would be after 9:30) somewhat boring.  Consider that on MSC or RCI you can find plenty of live music venues after 10:30 while on HAL that would be very limited.  

 

As to activities, HAL is not at all competitive against RCI or MSC.  HAL ships will sometimes have only 2 full time folks in the cruise director department (cruise director and assistant cruise director) and their main function seems to be hosting trivia (very popular on HAL).   Your teens are in a very tough age group for cruising, and in our experience that age group lives or dies with the new friends they can find on a ship.  No way to predict how many other teens will be on your cruise, but if you are on a New Years cruise there would certainly be other families.  Once you get past New Years and into early January, that is when you find a lot fewer teens (most are back in school).

 

Hank

[BermudaBound2014]

I have also sailed RCL (multiple times) and MSC (both in and out of the Yacht club). You didn't mention which ships you have sailed, and with the expansion of ship classes I think particular ship comparisons are more relevant than comparing entire lines. So if you give us an idea of ships you have sailed we can probably do better listing some differences. 

 

While subjective, here is my take:

 

1) In order of shows for entertainment I would list RCL, MSC, and Hal a distant third

2) In terms of food, I would rate HAL, RCL, and MSC a distant third

3) Specifically pizza I would rank MSC much higher with RCL and HAL about the same.

4) They will all offer "American" food for your kids

5) They will all offer basically the same in terms of free beverages.

6) RCL has a  major lead in anything that is activities/entertainment. Much higher energy on RCL ships (unless you happened to have sailed the older vision class on RCL). Children coming off an Oasis class where they enjoyed flow riders, zip lines, ifly, bumper cars, etc... are likely going to be let down with HAL offerings.

7) In terms of enrichment HAL is going to win that hands down. Of course, this does change with the itineraries.

 

If your kids liked MSC, I think they will likely do just fine on HAL. 🙂 

 

 

[*Miss G*]

You will find the most varied array of live music on the Pinnacle-class ships, namely the Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam, and the Koningsdam, which all have Music Walk.  They all go late night despite what others, who haven’t sailed them, may say.

 

HAL does not do full-on broadway production-type shows if that is what you are looking for.

 

Yes, there is American fast food aplenty.  Click on @Crew News’s website and scroll down to Specialty Restaurants for menus.

 

Free drinks include water, milk, juices, ice tea, lemonade.

 

The movie and TV series selection on the ships with smart TV’s is great.  They will have one or two movies focused to the region they are sailing in (which are always excellent), as well as a great many choices in all genres.  There will be select movies every evening on the large *outdoor screen (with wings, popcorn, and blankets) on the Pinnacle-class ships.  (“Outdoor” as in the Lido pool with covered retractable glass ceiling.)  I have never seen It’s a Wonderful Life.

 

Have a wonderful cruise and welcome to HAL!

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by *Miss G*

[Mary229]

HAL is more about travel itineraries than being a resort at sea.   As much as I like HAL I think there are better choices in the Caribbean especially for people traveling with children and teens

[*Miss G*]

I will have to disagree with Mary.  Just like adults, children vary in their outlook, demeanor, and interests.  All the children in my family loved HAL and still make it their choice as adults.  I do agree with her in that HAL’s focus is on enrichment vs entertainment.

[julia]

Firstly...  I love your avatar!  I grew up in the Queen City, watching the Big Red Machine (especially #5!)

 

It sounds like you've done a fair amount of research on this, but my feeling is that HAL would not be the best choice for your family. Unless the itinerary is port intensive, your kids will not have a lot of things onboard to keep them occupied.

[Mary229]

6 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

I will have to disagree with Mary.  Just like adults, children vary in their outlook, demeanor, and interests.  All the children in my family loved HAL and still make it their choice as adults.  I do agree with her in that HAL’s focus is on enrichment vs entertainment.

Yes, I should have said her children.  She described teens looking for specific things.  You are right, I have met some truly travel oriented young people on HAL

[HamOp]

Your 82 year old mom will love HAL.

[Reds4life]

Wow. Thanks so much for the information! I really didn't expect that much, but it is certainly appreciated. The pricing for the cruise on Zuiderdam for 5 nights is about the same as RCI and Carnival for 4. So, we are definitely considering for the value and because it looks like a different experience. 

 

What do you guys mean when you say "enrichment"? I noticed some of the Alaska itineraries had what looked like informative sessions on wildlife, nature, etc. Again, my kids are a little different than most and would probably rather go hiking at a National Park than go to "meet and greet" with kids they don't know and all join each others social media. I feel like they may be cool with attending some of these sessions or the BBC Earth shows. My youngest also like theater and might like some One Step Dance productions. The production shows is one of her favorite aspects about MSC. 

 

Do they have any comedy shows? And, do they have Harry Potter specific trivia? 

 

And, lastly, the itinerary says Amber Cove arrive on Day 3 at 9am and leave Day 4 at 2AM. Is this a 17 hour timeframe from 9am on Day 3 to truly 2am on Day 4 and then Day 4 becomes a sea day? Or do they stay for the rest of Day 3 and all of Day 4 as well? 

 

Thanks again for your responses 🙂

Edited August 18, 2022 by Reds4life

[Loreto]

1 hour ago, Reds4life said:

Hello HAL cruisers,

 

We are considering an after Christmas cruise on Holland America. This would be our first time on the line and the ship we are looking at is the Zuiderdam. Our family is myself and my wife, in our 40s, two teens 18 and 17 and our 12 year old daughter. My mother that is 82 would also be with us. We have cruised with Royal Carribean and MSC previously and enjoyed parts of both cruise lines. So far, in my research, it appears that HAL has very good food offerings and lots of musical programming. We are curious about a few other aspects. Namely, daily and evening activities.

 

- We typically enjoy an evening show of some type. I did not really see this offered in some of few "Where and When" documents posted online. Is there something I am missing?

 

- Our kids are very different in their dining tastes. Will there be options at the buffet or kids menus with basic American fast food as a last resort? (Ex. chicken fingers, burgers, fries, pizza etc.) We all love MSC pizza especially. 

 

- What are the free drink choices? We don't drink alcohol so we don't get a drink package usually.

 

- Our kids do not usually do the kids clubs. They enjoy water activities and so nerdy things like science demonstrations, geographical or historical museums, and some arts and crafts type stuff. Not so much arcade games or meeting other kids. They do enjoy movies, but it looks like HAL tends to show older films (e.g. It's A Wonderful Life) that even my wife and I would avoid. Any suggestions for them?

 

Thanks in advance for any help in deciding. We like to experience other styles of cruising but we are a bit concerned that HAL is more geared towards a more mature demographic and we want to make an informed choice weighing the pros and cons. 

Hi Reds4life,

I am a Cincinnati transplant to California....my mom had Pete Rose as a student at Western Hills HS!

We sailed on the Zuiderdam last Christmas for the Sea of Cortez, and most recently her sister ship, the Westerdam for Alaska in June.  Our 15 year old grand daughter came with her parents and us.  She chose not to join Club HAL, and had a great time on the ship and on excursion.  Last summer Alaska we has our 12 year old grand daughter and family and she, too, made lots of friends independently, and is still talking about it a year later!   Both loved the Dive In and getting smoothies and the pools. 

 

The Zuiderdam is a nice sized ship, but doesn't have the activities ( or crowds) of the larger lines.

Hopefully you will look at all the posts and decide for yourself.  Go Reds!

Karen

[iceman93]

It sounds like HAL would tick some of your boxes and leave others unticked (as it sounds RCCL and MSC did as well).  Have you looked at Disney?  Their cruises are expensive but I think would tick *all* the boxes for all three generations in your travel party.

[doone]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

I will have to disagree with Mary.  Just like adults, children vary in their outlook, demeanor, and interests.  All the children in my family loved HAL and still make it their choice as adults.  I do agree with her in that HAL’s focus is on enrichment vs entertainment.

I agree with Miss G, the kids in my family have sailed HAL since they were young like 6 -10 years old and now in their 20's and 30's, are joining us on our March Rotterdam cruise and they cannot wait.....just depends on your kids and what they like......

 

I would also suggest the Rotterdam or Nieuw Statendam for families with teens, more music venues and it may also have more teens onboard during the holidays...........

 

Either way, enjoy whatever cruise you decide on.

Edited August 18, 2022 by doone

[Mary229]

I sailed HAL in the Caribbean, pre-pandemic, and there was no enrichment to speak of just some port talks and one talk like a pirate talk.  If one is beach hopping and going for the shore excursions it is as good as any and maybe better in some regards.  How? Active shore excursions rarely fill so are small group excursions offered at a large group price 

[Reds4life]

7 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

It sounds like HAL would tick some of your boxes and leave others unticked (as it sounds RCCL and MSC did as well).  Have you looked at Disney?  Their cruises are expensive but I think would tick *all* the boxes for all three generations in your travel party.

Disney is about 4X more expensive for this particular window. Can't do that one lol. 

[Mary229]

Have you looked at NCL?  When I lived on the gulf coast we absolutely loved NCL.  It was always so much fun and so filled with activities 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Mary229

[cruisemom42]

I would not expect much (if any) enrichment activities on a 5-day cruise. HAL tends to make an effort in this area only for longer cruises.

 

I've never seen Harry Potter trivia offered on HAL or mentioned as being offered.

 

You know your kids best, but on average I would tend to say they would enjoy other cruise lines more than HAL. I cruised with my DS from late childhood through teen years (and now 20s, lol) and I have to say that he did not cotton to HAL on our trial cruise (ironically enough on Zuiderdam).  He's also not one to like things like RCL offers (e.g., would not do rock climbing or flowrider,  more of a nerdy type like yours).  He actually preferred Princess most during the 10-16 year-year-old age frame.

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by cruisemom42

[sofietucker]

I love HAL but would not recommend it for your needs (I'm a boomer, lol).  The wider range of music choices is not going to be found on the Zuiderdam, nor enrichment activities on a shorter cruise. They do tend to have more kids' activities on the holiday cruises-- but maybe not all that interesting for your teens. I'd definitely point to RCI as a better fit. But also: look at Celebrity!

[Tudy]

I say, if your kids enjoy putting together Jigsaw Puzzles, they will be happy. 🙂

 

I am sure that a shorter cruise will have more young people on it. the HAL cruise that I was sailed, was definitely skewed toward an older demographic. But it was a longer cruise.

 

I would put success of taking teens on a HAL cruise in the category of "A Bit of a Gamble." Manage expectations. Sounds like odds could be in your favor if your children are not really into meeting other kids. They might find a smaller number of kids less overwhelming than a full kids club.

 

Final analysis: a good cruise is mostly about attitude. We always say, "The best cruise is the cruise we are currently on." It's about being present, relaxing, and laughing together. You can definitely do that on a HAL ship.

[Homosassa]

Tricia on HAL is more of a challenge knowledge wise than on other cruise lines.

 

Questions are geared to well educated and well traveled folks.

[jeff74]

We were reminded not too long ago that kids can be fickle with their opinions.  We were on the K-dam over Thanksgiving but my son said that he didn't really like the cruise that much because there wasn't an arcade on board or other fun things like some of the other cruises we've been on.  Fast forward to a few weeks ago on an Oasis class ship and my son mostly wanted to spend time in the room playing online with his friends and didn't care much for any of the attractions that the ship had to offer.  At the end of the cruise he said he would prefer for the next voyage to be on HAL.  Go figure.

 

As for my wife and I, we're both in our 40s and enjoy the more laid back pace of HAL over RCI and our opinion is that the food is somewhat better.

[Reds4life]

Interesting perspectives. I don't mean to make my kids seem odd. They are very athletic and enjoy water sports, but also very well rounded and intellectual. Honestly, they don't like ANY kids clubs because the activities, counselors, and other kids usually seem immature and annoying. Again, too much flirty, loud, obnoxious efforts to be "cool" which comes across to them as fake and forced. We may take a chance on HAL. They appreciate good food, enjoy a swimming pool, and tend to be easy to please. 

 

I saw that they have cooking demonstrations. Any info on those? (Kids like those too lol)

 

Also, any info on the BBC Earth or One Step Dance?

 

 

[PACD_JG]

What enrichment on a short New Year's cruise in the Caribbean?  I'm not sure a showing of Cool Runnings on the Lido qualifies. 

 

As far as Club HAL.  Technically your 18 year is too old anyway, but there isn't really a club for teens.  Meaning, they meet once an evening on port days for one hour.  On sea days, it's twice a day for one hour at a time.

 

Good comments here in linked thread, and keep in mind this is from a newer, bigger ship.  I'll put down a fiver that the older and smaller the ship, the less there is to do...for all ages. 

 

 

[vicd1969]

HAL is not as competitive in its offering for mainstream Caribbean trips. Where it shines is Alaska, Europe, and other international destinations. You are looking at a 5-day trip on a cruise line that has a stronger reputation for 10+day itineraries. When you compare pricing, HAL isn't able to charge the premium that Celebrity, Princess, or even RCL charge on Caribbean cruises of 7-days or less. Also, if you are constrained and have only 5 or 6 days to spare, it won't really give you the similar experience of a normal HAL sailing. Princess may be the better multi-generation option for you, as CruiseMom42 suggested but I don't think they have a short 5 day cruise during New Year's.