Noordam Quads and kids onboard

[2boyzmom]

OK- if there are not many quad cabins on this ship (looks like very few when I was browsing) then how can there ever be alot of kids on board? Unless Mom and Dad get two cabins, which I highly doubt you would do with children under 12 right?

[Seago2]

There were very few kids on board when I sailed the last cruise. I really want to cruise the Noordam again, and I am planning a cruise with two of my kids this summer- but there is no way it will be on the Noordam. My kids would be bored OUT OF THEIR MINDS. My older kids might be okay, but crosswords in Explorations? It's just very tight in the promenade corridors and the only openings for congregation are in the lounges. The Lido is great but that's the only real place (besides Club HAL) for kids. Club HAL- roll of the dice. Don't know, but God forbid your kids hate it.

 

I cruised Carnival with four of my kids last year and they LOVED it! The Elation has this "Elation Way" which is huge and easy to navigate, and the kids can watch the world happen there. There is just so much more for them even on NCL.

 

I am trying to book a Fantasy-class Carnival ship. Airfare is obviously a factor. If it has to be an East Coast departure I would say to book Royal Caribbean out of Philly or Baltimore or wherever it is...

[Seago2]

Then again... I sailed on the QE2 when I was 11 and I had plenty to do. Went to the movies by myself, walked around- it was the best time of my life!

[2boyzmom]

My boys are young enough not to get bored yet (5 and 7). We will be cruising next Presidents week so I'm sure there will be activities planned. Yes-Carnival ships have a great kids club- I just didn't enjoy the cruise for us adults!

[ekerr19]

You will be surprised at how many kids are onboard. Especially during President's week. Our kids (who are now teens) have participated in Club HAL for years. We cruised with them on the Noordam this past summer in the Med and even though they are teens, they were not bored at all.

 

I think it will just be what you make of it. Our kids always meet other kids and have a great time. They've cruised on HAL regularly for the past seven years. :)

[Roz]

Have you checked into the cabins that have adjoining cabins with a door in between? I think this is what some families do. Mom and Dad are in one room, kiddos in another, but you can keep the door open between them or not.

 

I tell people that HAL accomodates families with children, but doesn't really promote them. If you're looking for a line geared towards a lot of facilities and activities for children, as well as a lot of other children on board, you may want to check into Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or Norwegian.

 

Roz

[GPoll189]

I was on the Noordam with my parents over the x-mas vacation. I can tell you that there is a plenty of rooms for children aboard this ship. If you really look at the room arrangement you will see that there are other rooms that are not marked as quads but really are quads. What I am talking about are the Suites in the catorgy of Deluxe Verandah Suites which are SA - SC they have a sofa bed in addition to the regular bed that can sleep two so that brings those rooms up to a possible 4 people.

 

I can tell you that there were at least 300 children aboard the ship during the holiday period. And as a past HAL cruiser when there was not allot of activities to go on there was enough on the ship to prevent the children from going bored. I have been lucky enough to sail on many cruise lines throughout the years and I want to tell you that I believe deep down in my heart the HAL has improved there youth program over the years and is far better than other cruiselines that are known for them. The reason for this is that the club Hal crew cares more for the children and spends more time for them and with them. I can understand why people don't think HAL is for children but I would recommend that they give it a especially during a school holiday. Don't knock something unless you give it a try.

 

Geoffrey

[2boyzmom]

Have you checked into the cabins that have adjoining cabins with a door in between? I think this is what some families do. Mom and Dad are in one room, kiddos in another, but you can keep the door open between them or not.

 

I tell people that HAL accomodates families with children, but doesn't really promote them. If you're looking for a line geared towards a lot of facilities and activities for children, as well as a lot of other children on board, you may want to check into Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or Norwegian.

 

Roz

 

I already have a cabin booked. I was just curious about number of kids. Honestly I don't care if there are 10 or 500 on board :)

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

The number of kids depends on when you will be sailing. When school is out, there probably will be a lot more. When we sailed over New Year's, there were approx. 300 kids, of all ages on board. My 6 year old son could not wait to go to Club HAL. He enjoyed every second of it and was upset when we had to pick him up for lunch and dinner!

[Old As Dirt Mom]

I already have a cabin booked. I was just curious about number of kids. Honestly I don't care if there are 10 or 500 on board :)

 

 

Hi Mom:

 

On Monday, call HAL ship's services at 1-800-541-1576, and ask the service rep to give you the numbers of kids onboard for your cruise. I did this for my last two cruises with my family, and they gave me the info right away.

 

Karin

[2boyzmom]

Thanks - I will do that as we get closer.

[shirleygr]

Hi, we're sailing on the Noordam for this President's week vacation. I have daughters who are 4 and 6 yo. There are about 300 kids on this sailing with something like 75 in my daughters' age group. I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers were comparable for your cruise next year.

We've never sailed on HAL before, but were able to book an inside quad for a really good price. Saved us a ton of money over a much shorter cruise with airfare to Florida. I'll be sure to post our experiences once we get back. :)

[2boyzmom]

Shirley- I look forward to your review. This will also be our first sailing with HAL next year and are very excited about the extra days at sea and no airfare:)

[SallySlapCabbage]

I will be taking my family of four aboard the Noordam this fall for our third Caribbean cruise together. We have previosly sailed the Maasdam and Norwegian Dawn - both were 10 days. I hope you find this as amusing as we do, but we actually sail during school so there will be fewer children on board! We love our kids but do not want huge numbers of children on board because as adults we enjoy the adult atmosphere. Actually this started because we cruised with my parents and they didn't want too many kids on board. We have grown to agree with them. I can't imagine what it's like on a Disney ship where the kids out-number the adults.

 

We sailed the Dawn because we booked last minute and got the deal of a lifetime. I will tell you that if you ask my kids they will say they they liked the Dawn better. And that's fine with us. However, as the parents we get to choose the details of any vacation. Sometimes, like when we go to Disney, the vacation is obviously more about them. I just can't see my husband and myself puting our kids priorities in front of our own for a cruise. I certainly want them to enjoy themselves, and I hate to sound like my parents, but they should just feel lucky to be on a cruise. I can hear my dad saying, "How can you be bored? Just look out at the ocean!" As a child my sister and I were very fortunate to go on wonderful family vacations all across the US and Europe. My dad just hated it if I pulled out a book to read as we drove for hours across Southern France--he wanted me to be enjoying the scenery!

 

 

Club HAL is a fantastic program run by caring counselors. My kids enjoyed it, although there were only a handfull (maybe 30) kids onboard. The Maasdam is much smaller than the Noordam, however, so we are hoping for a few more kids this fall. I am sure there will a good number of kids on board your cruise as it is over Presidents Day Weekend.

 

While, for the money we paid, we were more than satisfied with our Norwegian cruise, we much prefer HAL. We are not night owls ( as we have our kids with us) so the night life is not important to us. We so enjoy being pampered by our waitstaff who had chocolate milk waiting at the table for my kids, and Bevy Jo even cut up my son's meals for him!

 

I like some peace and quiet on vacation and you sound like you do too. I know you are going to fall in love with HAL next February.

 

There a lot of geat tips for families on the "cruising with kids" thread!

[2boyzmom]

It's funny- my kids can make a fun time out of sitting in an empty room :) They enjoy eachother's company and being a working Mom- anytime we spend together as a family is truly quality time. They also loved NCL last year, but I'm sure they will love HAL too. We are cruisng Crown Princess in less than 2 weeks and will be anxious to see how they handle the kids on a ship with over 3000 passengers !!

[shirleygr]

Shirley- I look forward to your review. This will also be our first sailing with HAL next year and are very excited about the extra days at sea and no airfare:)

We fly to Florida several times a year to see my in-laws so this will be a treat to go on a cruise without the hassle of flying. It's really a pain, especially with the current restrictions on liquids.

We've been on the Norwegian Dawn and my girls enjoyed that. They really loved the kids' club area with the ball run and the very cool dinosaur pool. They also really enjoyed our most recent family cruise to Bermuda on Explorer of the Seas. That was in October and they talk about that trip almost every day. I have little doubt that they will take many good memories away with them from the Noordam as well.

I would be interested in hearing what you think of Princess. We are currently booked on a Princess cruise for our anniversary in November and I've heard mixed reviews.

 

Sally, it must be nice to be able to take your kids out of school during regular school days. My older daughter is in the first grade and we've had a lot of problems with the school district concerning unexcused absences, which is what they consider family vacations to be. My dh and I both work on the weekend and vacation time with our children is very important time for us. Unfortunately, the school district doesn't agree.

Thanks for your positive feedback concerning HAL's program. And the pampering from other crew members. Can't wait to experience this for myself.

[CruiseQueen13]

2boyzmom - they'll love Princess! My daughter's favorite kids programs are Princess & Celebrity. We are sailing on HAL (1st time) in March. She didn't like NCL's kid program at all. But, she already had been on celebrity & princess and was expecting that type of program. They were closed more than open, EVERYTHING required parental supervision - from water balloon toss to making pizza to sports olympics! It was ridiculous. If my dghtr spent 6 hrs the whole wk there - it was a lot and this was a 9 day trip. Princess has fantastic program and Celebrity - wonderful - never disappoint.

 

We hven't sailed Crown yet but have been on the Golden ad the Grand.

 

Enjoy!

[doone]

I agree with some other posters here, there is plenty to do at Club HAL. My nieces and nephews and some friends and their children sailed last February for 10-days on the Volendam. Childrens ages were from 10 - 17, they all had a blast with Club HAL, they wouldn't miss an activity, even the older kids. They still talk about that cruise and cannot wait for their next HAL cruise and Club HAL experience.

[ekerr19]

we actually sail during school so there will be fewer children on board! We love our kids but do not want huge numbers of children on board because as adults we enjoy the adult atmosphere. Actually this started because we cruised with my parents

 

Sally -

 

We have also done this a time or two when the kids were younger. Our kids don't attend public school so I never even realized some schools have an issue with until I started reading about it on this board. We don't do it anymore as the kids are now in JHS & HS and my son is preparing for college - he doesn't like to miss any school - but when the kids were still in grade school, we did.

 

Their teachers would give them their schoolwork in advance and they usually had an extra assignment relating to the trip they would have to present when they got back.

 

One of the last times we did this was the last time we cruised with my parents and we all had a fantastic time. My kids played Bingo with my Dad and my Mom did crafts with my daughter in Club HAL - stuff like that. I'm so grateful we did it - my Dad passed away not long after that trip and I know it meant a lot to my parents that they had that time together with all of us. :)

[2boyzmom]

I'm still trying to figure out the age groups. The brochure says the younger group is until age 8 and another area in the book says age 7.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

I'm still trying to figure out the age groups. The brochure says the younger group is until age 8 and another area in the book says age 7.

 

Hi Mom:

 

The age groups are 3-7, 8-12, and 13-17. Here's a link to HAL's website with a description of Club HAL; hope it's helpful.

[SallySlapCabbage]

To the poster who's child's school will not allow unexcused absences, I encourage you to press the administrators to make an exception. Especially since you and your husband work weekends, this time together is very important. I realize I have now opened myself up to critsizm for not respecting the importance of school, but to each his own. I do take schoolwork very seriously and my kids spend time each day on their assignments.

 

ekerr19,

 

Our Maasdam cruise in the fall of 2004 was the last vacation that we were able to take as an extended family, too. My mother passed away in October 2005 followed by the sudden death of my dad in October 2006. We were a very, very close family so it has been a rough time for my sister and me. As you can imagine, October has become a very ugly month for us---which is exactly why we booked the Noordam together this October. It will be a very sentimental trip for us, full of many wonderful memories. And, in the meantime, it is giving us something to look forward to.

 

I only regret that some of the grandchildren are too young to have memories of them. My memories, many of them while on vacation, are the greatest thing I inherited.

[seasideny]

Time with family is precious and life experience can be more important than you think. As a teacher - I believe children can learn even more on a cruise than in the classroom that week.

 

Enjoy and keep building vocabulary and experiences for reflection.

 

 

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