Westerdam with Children-great!

[Chatim]

I wrote this review for our roll call (March 8 Westerdam)-partly about having my children with us but covering other aspects as well-hope it helps anyone thinking about HAL with school age children!

I've read through Dave"s (RetiredMustang) review during the cruise now on the main HAL board-can't disagree with anything he said, but we had an entirely different, though equally great, time on the same cruise! With 2 children along, and my mother who has some mobility issues, our experience covered the Club HAL, Lido restaurant, pool areas and beaches. We had reserved a wheelchair transport at embarkation, asked for it right after the passport clearance, and they got it in motion right away. Brought us directly to the Lido restaurant and found a table by the window (around 12 noon) and we started to sample all the stations had to offer. When the call for the cabins being open went our we waited a little while and had no problem getting an elevator or into the room. We had a VD on Deck 4 (4163), tight for the 4 of us, but great closet space and storage areas, we used the shelf under the bathroom sink for everyone's shoes! And they fit there!

We never made it to the Meet and Greet, too many details for 4 of us to accomplish it-I'm sure we ran into some of the CC members, we were at the coffee Dave mentioned where the hotel manager and food service director spoke, it was interesting to hear about the behind the scenes operation of the ship.

We ate all but one meal in the Lido, and had no complaints about the service or ability to carry the plates withour a tray. We usually made a separate trip for drinks, each night had a variety of main courses and my children's favorite-pasta to order made in front of them. Loved the ice cream, was not impressed with the desserts otherwise-note if you see one you want in the case, take it, because they may change and not be there later in the meal. Of course, they may put out something you like better so it's all up to luck.

My boys loved the Club Hal and wanted to be there the moment it opened. I think for them the fact that it was not constant motion and activity, and had some quiet projects, was good, they would have been too wound up with something more intense. They made crepes in the Culinary Arts Center-saw the illusionist perform-took over the Sports Deck-had mystery night and movie night, had a great time.

We used the Lido pool a lot, that's where the boys wanted to be when not in the Club. Hard to get lounge chairs, they were marked early in the day, but easy to get the tables with chairs surrounding them. The Aft pool was marked for adults so we didn't venture there after the first day when I saw the sign, there were more lounge chairs there, and the Aft Pool was heated, the Lido wasn't.

Complaints-they should post the schedule around the ship, if we didn't carry it we forgot what was happening when-casino was smoky and small, seemed cramped to me-all small things

Compliments-service was so great, every crew member knew my sons by name, everyone was gracious to give my mother, using a walker, space and time to get around, room service was on time and hot, towel animals 5 nights out of 7!

Would be happy to answer specific questions on items, so much to write about and remember!

Tina:)

[fenstersuzy]

I'm interested to know the ages of your kids. We will be going on the Westerdam in July with a 7-yr old boy and a 5-yr old girl. I'm wondering what age groups the kids club works best for, and if there were very many kids on the cruise.

Thanks!

[Jacob0525]

I would be interested to know to because I am considering booking the Ryndam for Thanksgiving week. I have two boys (7 & 4).

[Chatim]

My boys are 7 and 6. I think, for them, they liked the attention they could get since there were fewer children on board (probably 25 total in the 5 to 10 age range). If we were on a ship that was non-stop activity, it may have been too much for them, since they are non-stop themselves!

My seven year old became quite adept at ordering specific pasta dishes, made to order, and the six year old discovered the delights of room service. We didn't do the main dining room with them at all, but were more than satisfied with the Lido and the pool grill (along with the room service, of course!)

Tina:)

[timothy998]

Our kids (3, 7, 10) all loved Club HAL on Westerdam last month. As was said earlier they were busy, but not over-stimulated, and they had great fun with the various activities. Our youngest has a milk allergy and the staff did a great job making certain he had non-dairy snacks...parents list any allergies upon sign-up and when they do activities that include food, the staff goes through the paperwork and pulls out the details on each kid that is present at the time. Very good attention to detail!

[az-cruiser]

I wrote this review for our roll call (March 8 Westerdam)-partly about having my children with us but covering other aspects as well-hope it helps anyone thinking about HAL with school age children!

I've read through Dave"s (RetiredMustang) review during the cruise now on the main HAL board-can't disagree with anything he said, but we had an entirely different, though equally great, time on the same cruise! With 2 children along, and my mother who has some mobility issues, our experience covered the Club HAL, Lido restaurant, pool areas and beaches. We had reserved a wheelchair transport at embarkation, asked for it right after the passport clearance, and they got it in motion right away. Brought us directly to the Lido restaurant and found a table by the window (around 12 noon) and we started to sample all the stations had to offer. When the call for the cabins being open went our we waited a little while and had no problem getting an elevator or into the room. We had a VD on Deck 4 (4163), tight for the 4 of us, but great closet space and storage areas, we used the shelf under the bathroom sink for everyone's shoes! And they fit there!

We never made it to the Meet and Greet, too many details for 4 of us to accomplish it-I'm sure we ran into some of the CC members, we were at the coffee Dave mentioned where the hotel manager and food service director spoke, it was interesting to hear about the behind the scenes operation of the ship.

We ate all but one meal in the Lido, and had no complaints about the service or ability to carry the plates withour a tray. We usually made a separate trip for drinks, each night had a variety of main courses and my children's favorite-pasta to order made in front of them. Loved the ice cream, was not impressed with the desserts otherwise-note if you see one you want in the case, take it, because they may change and not be there later in the meal. Of course, they may put out something you like better so it's all up to luck.

My boys loved the Club Hal and wanted to be there the moment it opened. I think for them the fact that it was not constant motion and activity, and had some quiet projects, was good, they would have been too wound up with something more intense. They made crepes in the Culinary Arts Center-saw the illusionist perform-took over the Sports Deck-had mystery night and movie night, had a great time.

We used the Lido pool a lot, that's where the boys wanted to be when not in the Club. Hard to get lounge chairs, they were marked early in the day, but easy to get the tables with chairs surrounding them. The Aft pool was marked for adults so we didn't venture there after the first day when I saw the sign, there were more lounge chairs there, and the Aft Pool was heated, the Lido wasn't.

Complaints-they should post the schedule around the ship, if we didn't carry it we forgot what was happening when-casino was smoky and small, seemed cramped to me-all small things

Compliments-service was so great, every crew member knew my sons by name, everyone was gracious to give my mother, using a walker, space and time to get around, room service was on time and hot, towel animals 5 nights out of 7!

Would be happy to answer specific questions on items, so much to write about and remember!

Tina:)

Hi, we booked a Novemebr cruise and I am concerned that my boys..5 & 6 will not be able to swim in the pool since it is not heated...any thoughts? They love to swim and will be disappointed if they cannot

[cb at sea]

If you're cruising to the Caribbean, they will be able to swim, as the main pool will be warm enough (especially for kids!). On cold-weather cruises, they will usually open the 'heated" pool to everyone at some point during the day.