25 day HAL cruise with kids

[pryce_tag]

So I have had this cruise booked for the longest time and paid the deposit for three of us (two adults and a five year old).  I was looking through some stuff online and just discovered they say that cruises 25 days or longer don't have a kids club.  I am really quite annoyed as it doesn't say it in the kids club area it was kinda in another random area and I only happened upon it by chance.  I wasn't told this when booking either.  So my question is, is it true?  And if it is they say that there will be some activities for kids on over the days but I am wondering how limited it is.  I am really worried that my 5 year old is going to bored out of his brain.  And we aren't going to have a very great holiday.

 

 

[ExpatBride]

HAL is not a cruise line for kids. There wasn't a kids club on my recent 7-day cruise. There were a few "meet & greets" for teens ages 13-17, but they were at 8 PM. I've just looked through my daily programs from that sailing and I don't see any kid-specific events. There were teens and kids running all over the ship bored out of their minds. We heard one of the teens say that he couldn't wait to go home "because even the music is disgusting." 🤣

 

Longer sailings usually have fewer kids than shorter sailings, so I think you can safely count on having to entertain your bored 5 year old.

Edited August 12, 2023 by ExpatBride

[Despegue]

My wife and I used to be found very often on HAL vessels for our vacations ( obviously 😉), but since we are a small kids family, we prioritise the happiness of our small children and choose different more family-friendly lines within the Carnival corp. (Aida is by far the most friendly line afloat).

 

 

[BSinPNS]

While you booked a 25-day cruise, it is probably made up of several segments.  We just completed a 21-day cruise that was really a B2B 7-day followed by a 14-day.  You may want to check this by going to the HAL website and seeing if there are “other” shorter cruises departing the same day as yours from the same port and same ship.  While HAL is not really a kids oriented line, they do offer a kids club and with only a few kids on board, yours will receive special attention.  We find many of the staff really enjoy seeing your kids as they miss theirs who are at home. 

[pryce_tag]

3 hours ago, BSinPNS said:

While you booked a 25-day cruise, it is probably made up of several segments.  We just completed a 21-day cruise that was really a B2B 7-day followed by a 14-day.  You may want to check this by going to the HAL website and seeing if there are “other” shorter cruises departing the same day as yours from the same port and same ship.  While HAL is not really a kids oriented line, they do offer a kids club and with only a few kids on board, yours will receive special attention.  We find many of the staff really enjoy seeing your kids as they miss theirs who are at home. 

Thank you for this.  I have asked my agent to check for me.  Yes it is made up of a couple of shorter segments so maybe we are lucky.  

I have never sailed HAL before, the only reason we picked it because the dates suited for where we are going.  We are actually travelling to the USA and thought we might sail instead of fly this time.  I really am hoping you are right and it does have the kids club as our son won't mind being the only child in there.  But hey if there isn't a kids club, then we will do as we usually do and keep him entertained.

[OlsSalt]

Is it too late to cancel? This was a failed material expectation.

 

However, we have seen solo children on some of our longer cruises, officer's children perhaps? Staff is also available for baby sitting, and one often hears how delighted the crew is seeing young children onboard since they remind them of their own children they had to leave at home. 

 

Travel is meant to be adventuresome, so why are you thinking this will be boring even for a young person? What would you do,  if this were a land-based 21 day vacation? 

[kazu]

OP, I see it from a different perspective - I’ve been on cruises where there are few children.   The Prinsendam (now gone from the fleet) did not have a kids’ club - at least not formally.  We were on a 30 day cruise and 2 young children were on board with their parents.

 

The ship sprang into action.  While no club, they did have staff trained in care.  The children were out and about everywhere with the staff and their parents often came to see them or take over.

 

They were little treasures - so well behaved.  I would guesstimate the girl to be around 8/9 and the little boy 5/6.

 

The little ones were invited to every VIP party, every get together and fussed over by the crew and officers.  They were charming and fun to watch when we saw them.  The little ones certainly had a good time from what I could see.

 

On the Westerdam, a longer cruise, the Children’s Club was open despite there only being 2 children.  Two other gems - well behaved and full of life.  When the Captain and HD came to our M & G, they brought drinks for our roll call and had special treats for the two little ones.  Their eyes lit up.  Just like on the Prinsendam, they were fussed over by the crew and enchanted them all.

 

Experiences can vary of course.  But these 2 really stuck in my mind since they were 2 cruises where there was only one family’s children on board.

 

Whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you.

[ClippyJoe]

We were on a transatlantic cruise. One young mother traveling to meet her husband had a toddler about 2 or 3. Everyone, from passengers to crew, were thrilled. Within 24 hours everyone knew the childs name, and would talk to her when ever they saw her. The crew were wonderful and went out of their way to help the mother. I think everything will be fine. My children cruised with me. I would plan a scavenger hunt as a back up, for the "boring days". You can go to the ships description and see what pictures, sculptures etc they have plus where the ice cream and snacks are located and use life boat numbers to find....break into teams and have a time frame. It can be a lot of fun.

[DE Solo]

I sailed with my daughter on a cruise when she was approximately 5 years old. She was the only child on the ship, and had a great time. She was a very vocal, curious, and adventurous kid, and formed relationships with everyone on the ship, from the cabin stewards to the sommeliers, chefs, waiters, captain, etc. We did not depend on a kids club to keep her entertained, but instead had a variety of books, activities, and games with us to keep her amused and challenged. We had a great time, and so did she. 

[Dobby36]

If this is the 25 day Noordam South Pacific crossing, by chance? (April 2024)

 

if so, it does not look to be boookable in shorter segments so I doubt the kids club will be operational if they are following the rule noted above for sailings of that length.  
i still say go for it! You know your child best,  it if they are anything like my family they can have fun at the pools, watching some of the events/shows, and playing board games.  Alternatively, the kiddos I know can entertain themselves on their devices for hours on end 😉 

[TiogaCruiser]

Can HAL (Ships Services) tell you if there’s going to be a Club HAL? 
 

We were on Volendam last April for a 17 day canal crossing ( ours was the shortest segment) and there was no Club HAL. Onboard there was a most mature 10ish year old and in another family a set of babies. All were very well behaved. The young lady joined our group when we ( independently) did crafts and she was delightful.

 

Obviously you will know best what type of activities your son would enjoy.

[pryce_tag]

Thank you everybody for all your wonderful comments.  We are going to go for it regardless.  We will take lots of items to keep him entertained, cards like uno as we like to play that, puzzle books, colouring in etc and we will just have a ball with him.  He loves to swim and we love being by the pool so win/win.  We will just treat it like we are at home with him except much more exciting to be on the sea.  I am so grateful for everyone's ideas and responses to this and I feel like we can make it work and it will be a blast.  Thank you again. 

[OlsSalt]

I think you just got approximately 1000 new sets of grandparents.

[pryce_tag]

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

I think you just got approximately 1000 new sets of grandparents.

You could be right hahahahahaha.

 

[Haljo1935]

5 hours ago, pryce_tag said:

Thank you everybody for all your wonderful comments.  We are going to go for it regardless.  We will take lots of items to keep him entertained, cards like uno as we like to play that, puzzle books, colouring in etc and we will just have a ball with him.  He loves to swim and we love being by the pool so win/win.  We will just treat it like we are at home with him except much more exciting to be on the sea.  I am so grateful for everyone's ideas and responses to this and I feel like we can make it work and it will be a blast.  Thank you again. 

Hey @pryce_tag hope your son makes a lot of memories and has an awesome trip.

you definitely want to take him to the animal walk...

 

[pryce_tag]

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hey @pryce_tag hope your son makes a lot of memories and has an awesome trip.

you definitely want to take him to the animal walk...

Ohhh thank you.  Will do.  He would love that.

 

[sltgator]

On 8/12/2023 at 4:37 AM, ExpatBride said:

HAL is not a cruise line for kids. There wasn't a kids club on my recent 7-day cruise. There were a few "meet & greets" for teens ages 13-17, but they were at 8 PM. I've just looked through my daily programs from that sailing and I don't see any kid-specific events. There were teens and kids running all over the ship bored out of their minds. We heard one of the teens say that he couldn't wait to go home "because even the music is disgusting." 🤣

 

Longer sailings usually have fewer kids than shorter sailings, so I think you can safely count on having to entertain your bored 5 year old.

Just wanted to chime in here. Every kid, every family and every cruise is different. We have a teen and he loves HAL. We traveled this summer and there was no teen club but there were many teens and they made their own fun. They loved hanging out in the crows nest doing puzzles, playing games and drinking coffee. They danced to the BB King band. They enjoyed the pool and hot tub.

 

Anyway, all this to say I think you get out of it what you put in. For your 5 year old, Unfortunately you won’t know how many other kids will be on board until you go. However, you may want to join a role call for that cruise (or the smaller segments that make it up), and do a post and ask if others are bringing kids. 
 

thanks

[Riversedge]

Hopefully you will have lots of fun.  As a long time kindergarten teacher I can guess the 5 year old will be very bored.  That’s a long time to play without other kids (maybe you’ll get lucky) even if the staff takes extra time to talk to them.  We took our kids on cruises while they were growing up but not on HAL.  I hope your cruise has lots of port days so you can get him off and do fun things.  I doubt he would like the ship tours where most likely everyone will be retired.  

[OlsSalt]

Never too early to teach children how to deal with "boredom".

 

Always fond of the saying allegedly ascribed to the Queen Mother in response to a child's complaint "I am bored". My dear, if you are bored then you are boring. 

[Roz]

51 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Never too early to teach children how to deal with "boredom".

 

Always fond of the saying allegedly ascribed to the Queen Mother in response to a child's complaint "I am bored". My dear, if you are bored then you are boring. 

 

I'm sorry, I don't agree with this.  25 days is a L-O-N-G time for a kid, especially a 5 year old.  

[ExpatBride]

5 minutes ago, Roz said:

 

I'm sorry, I don't agree with this.  25 days is a L-O-N-G time for a kid, especially a 5 year old.  

 

And for the other people onboard who have the misfortune of being in the vicinity of a bored 5 year old. We were sat next to a table with 3 bored kids (I'd guess ages 5–7) in the MDR one evening and it was not enjoyable in the least. They may as well have been climbing the curtains.

[Banditswife]

Sounds like you have it figured out.  Hope you have a great time.  

Not sure which ship you are on, but HAL has coloring for adults, which I think could be adjusted for kids.  And the in cabin TV has a pretty good selection of family friendly shows.  Like you mentioned: puzzle books, games, the pool will help alleviate the boredom.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Banditswife

[pryce_tag]

3 hours ago, ExpatBride said:

 

And for the other people onboard who have the misfortune of being in the vicinity of a bored 5 year old. We were sat next to a table with 3 bored kids (I'd guess ages 5–7) in the MDR one evening and it was not enjoyable in the least. They may as well have been climbing the curtains.

He is actually a really good kid and I would never allow him to be a nuisance to others.  We would leave the dining room before I allowed him to annoy other people.  But I understand this isn't the case for everyone with kids.  I have been on cruise ships where the kids have run amok and it made our cruise far less enjoyable even with kids ourselves.

 

[OlsSalt]

10 minutes ago, pryce_tag said:

He is actually a really good kid and I would never allow him to be a nuisance to others.  We would leave the dining room before I allowed him to annoy other people.  But I understand this isn't the case for everyone with kids.  I have been on cruise ships where the kids have run amok and it made our cruise far less enjoyable even with kids ourselves.

 

 

What happens if your child loves cruising and demands to be taken again.... and again.... and again .....🥰

[TiogaCruiser]

6 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

What happens if your child loves cruising and demands to be taken again.... and again.... and again .....🥰

5 star before age 21.

Presidents Club before 40…..