19 yr-old girl with 70 yr-old grandma.Zaandam 5/28

[marycang]

My 19 yr-old granddaughter is going with her other grandma to Alaska. Granddaughter's first cruise. Grandma has cruised once and generally in life she is pretty clueless. I would like to clue in my granddaughter about the ship. Me and my DH have sailed 9-10 times. Only one time on the old HAL Noordam.

Anybody have any suggestions for me to educate my granddaughter?

[DaveOKC]

Just back from the Zaandam. Ship is the perfect size IMO, not too large, not too small. Our cabin was mid-ship and made good use of the mid-elevators, as they were seldom used. One quicky thing - deck 4 does not go through from the front to the rear, so to get to the main dining room (lower level) you need to use the rear elevators or stairs.

 

The public areas are mostly on decks 4 & 5, plus the Crows Nest on Deck 9 forward. Kind of hard to get lost IMO.

 

My best advice would be to have your grandaughter review the CC message boards for Holland and the Alaska one. Also Canada board and West Coast Departures. Thoughly research all the ports she is stopping at ahead of time. Since both of them are new to crusing, I would advise them to stay with Holland tours - not much more expensive in AK IMO, well worth the safety/getting lost factor.

 

Tell her about room service for breakfast - a number of hot items, plus you can request other items (such as pancakes). Also, remember that you can order off the main dining room dinner menu for room service if you call just after 5 PM (can set a later delivery time).

 

DaveOKC

[innlady1]

My 19 yr-old granddaughter is going with her other grandma to Alaska. Granddaughter's first cruise. Grandma has cruised once and generally in life she is pretty clueless. I would like to clue in my granddaughter about the ship. Me and my DH have sailed 9-10 times. Only one time on the old HAL Noordam.

 

Anybody have any suggestions for me to educate my granddaughter?

 

I would do as the other poster suggested and have her read CC and the Zaandam posts. Suggest that she join the cruise's roll call. Also, have her go on HAL's website, click on "Zaandam" and that will give her a good idea of what lies ahead for her.

 

RuthC is leaving for Europe to embark on a cruise...with one of her "grandgirls", as she calls them...or I'm sure she'd have some sage advice for you.

 

Luckily your granddaughter is 19 and not a small child. That might be a bit worrisome with a grandmother who is "clueless!"

[DaveOKC]

Great idea about joining the Roll Call for your sailing! We had a Meet and Greet onboard last week and it was great meeting everyone. Plus that way she will have some new "friends" to help her out onboard if need be (and to help keep a watchful eye out for both of them).

 

DaveOKC

[WhansaMi]

Our 20 year old son is accompanying us on our Prinsendam cruise. Here are some random thoughts:

 

1. I've told him ahead of time that he is likely to be in the minority (although, as I understand it, the Alaska cruises seem to have a larger range of ages). While I hope I have instilled it already, I've done a refresher course on "courtesy with older folks" (i.e., offering your seat, pulling out chairs for ladies, waiting for slower passengers, rather than trying to barrel through, etc.). :-)

 

2. There are a couple of excursions he wanted to go on that DH and I weren't particularly interested in. We are sending him only on ship excursions alone.

 

3. Our son isn't particularly "night club" oriented, so he's not concerned about that. But, if your granddaughter likes that scene, she should check out the teen club. While she is at the upper end of the age range, she will probably find people her own age there.

 

4. I'd encourage her to write on her roll call as well. She'll feel most comfortable if she feels she already knows someone on the ship.

 

5. See if you can get ahold of the daily itinerary (can't remember what they call it now!) for the trip (can someone provide scanned ones?), so that she can look ahead and figure out some things she'd like to do. She and grandma can make some plans and have specific activities sketched out.

 

6. Maybe you can help her make her a portfolio of information. I have a small binder that I've divided into (1) "general information" (booking number, cabin number, downloaded and printed off deck plans with notes about the public areas, info about our meet and greet), (2) flight information and then one tab for each day of the cruise. As I've booked excursions and such I've run off that information and put it in the appropriate places. As I've done web research, I've made notes, or run off information. If you can get the scanned copies of the daily activities, those would go in there too, of course.

 

It both keeps me organized, and it really makes me excited when I can add new information! Also, if other grandma is a little clueless, it would probably be helpful to have all the information in one place.

 

I'm sure there is other stuff I'll think of, but this is off the top of my head!

[DaveOKC]

I hope the two get along fine now, as living together in a small room can take its toll with such a large age difference. You might want to discuss this with her before hand. Last year my 19 year old niece and her 85 year old grandmother roomed together and by the end of the week things got very tense to say the least. One liked to sleep in late while the other is an early riser. One is VERY messy, the other a neat freak. The granddaughter lost her room key and got a new one, without telling her grandmother who now could not get into the room - not a happy camper!

 

You get the picture.

 

DaveOKC

[Typhoon1]

The granddaughter lost her room key and got a new one, without telling her grandmother who now could not get into the room - not a happy camper!

 

DaveOKC

 

A lost key card is useless to anyone else, as long as you have notified the front desk. It doesn't have a cabin number and cant be used to make charges.

[askworldtraveler]

It's great that they are doing this together - some practical suggestions:

 

1. the two of them establish the 'ground' rules before going. Very important. On the ship - late evenings for a teen are fine - but a time to be back in the cabin or a note should be established so both can feel comfortable. There will be teen happenings -

 

2. What meals will they have together? When I travel with my children - I ask that we all have dinner together - and if we happen to have lunch or breakfast together - great.

 

3. Off the ship - establish same rules BEFORE the trip. I've made this trip several times - and what might interest one may not interest the other. Again on my trips I ask that the 'family' do one shore excursion together.

 

4. In the room: MP3 player and headphones a must for your daughter - and she should be prepared with ear plugs just in case someone in the cabin snores.... happens.

 

5. The advice to read these boards is excellent - and the roll call.

 

6. There should be a good number of people her age - that's a good thing.

[MisterBill99]

A lost key card is useless to anyone else, as long as you have notified the front desk. It doesn't have a cabin number and cant be used to make charges.

Presumably they reprogrammed the lock, which meant the person with the other card could not get into the room anymore, and presumably that person had not been told what was going on.

[catl331]

When I was in my early 20's I went on a cruise (3 in a room) with my mother and aunt to Bermuda. My only problem with them was my freedom. They thought they needed to know where I was every minute but I moved quicker than they did. HA! We did bingo, tea and the shows together. They were early to bed, early to rise but we all were considerate enough that we did not clash. We toured Bermuda together and had a great time. I wish I could do it again with them but....that was in the 60's. Just enjoy the moment.