Are we too young for HAL?

[Typhoon1]

HAL offers a very diverse cruising experience. You'll find cruiser of all ages. All ethnicities and all shapes and sizes.

[Appygirl]

During the summer to Alaska they'll be more younger people onboard but at least half the passengers will be 70+, many active seniors. The most wheelchairs, scooters, walkers I've seen on any cruise ship was on the Zaandam last year. The cruise director said 70% of the passengers were over 80 years old. I'm in my early 50's and the 2nd night onboard a woman in her 70's stopped me and said I was the youngest person she'd seen so far, I guess not counting the crew! But who knows, maybe the next sailing would have had more younger passengers. It was definitely 9pm bedtime on that ship. We'd walk around the promenade deck, go up to the Crow's Nest, and nobody was around. There were more musicians in the Hal Cats than the audience, seeing as how my husband and I were their entire audience once we showed up about halfway through their set! So far on Alaska cruises I've found the Zuiderdam to have more younger passengers and up and about much later but they're still not the majority. Enjoy your cruise!

[Linda&Vern]

During the summer to Alaska they'll be more younger people onboard but at least half the passengers will be 70+, many active seniors. The most wheelchairs, scooters, walkers I've seen on any cruise ship was on the Zaandam last year. The cruise director said 70% of the passengers were over 80 years old. I'm in my early 50's and the 2nd night onboard a woman in her 70's stopped me and said I was the youngest person she'd seen so far, I guess not counting the crew! But who knows, maybe the next sailing would have had more younger passengers. It was definitely 9pm bedtime on that ship. We'd walk around the promenade deck, go up to the Crow's Nest, and nobody was around. There were more musicians in the Hal Cats than the audience, seeing as how my husband and I were their entire audience once we showed up about halfway through their set! So far on Alaska cruises I've found the Zuiderdam to have more younger passengers and up and about much later but they're still not the majority. Enjoy your cruise!

Sorry - but you'll never get me to believe that.

[sail7seas]

Sorry - but you'll never get me to believe that.

 

 

Ditto.

 

:eek: I'm having a hard time with that statement also.

CD likely was exagerating more than a little.

[Linda&Vern]

On our March 14-day Westerdam cruise there were 4 scooters. (3 plus me.) During the second week of the cruise a smaller group was on the ship and they had many walkers/wheelchairs. I discovered that they were a Parkinson awareness group who had seminars during the day and dinner together at night. All of us should "think" before assuming a mobility device is for OLD people.

[tamsocal]

My husband and I are in our late 30s with a toddler aged child.

We've cruised on Star Clippers, Windstar, Carnival and are currently eyeing a Regent cruise.

However, next summer my husband would like to take a cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage. In looking at work schedules and whatnot, it appears our only option is HAL Stantendam(I'm sure I spelled that wrong).

 

As much as we love to cruise, and have no issue being around older people, we are concerned about HALs reputation as the retirement/scooter/cane cruise line.

Even when we were on Star Clippers(where we were the youngest couple by almost a decade) two older couples(1 much, much older) told us never to go on HAL and it was just for people who had 1 foot in the grave.

I don't want to spend my vacation feeling like I'm hanging out in a retirement home.

 

Also because we have a toddler we're concerned that people won't appreciate his being there. We don't want to encounter rude remarks or stares because we paid for our child to vacation with us.

 

So your opinions please, I'm aware everything I've written is based only on others observations and rumors. I'm posting on this board to get the real truth.

What would you say the age range is on a summer cruise to Alaska?

Is it true that 30-somethings and their children will be unwelcome on HAL?

 

Thanks for any information you can provide

 

We are 40, 10,5,5 years and were just on the Statendam. We had a wonderful time. How old will your child be? Since entry criteria for the kids programs vary if you are in the <3 yr old not potty trained group, I would look into the options that are important to you as the lines vary widely with the under threes.

 

I have included club HAL info for the 3-7 group in my review I am working on posting, it is 40% done.

The ship does become pretty quiet after 9pm vs some other lines but this makes no difference to us. We can't stay up that late and get up at 6 or 7am for 3 consecutive port days :)

[sail7seas]

Thanks for all the replies, you have all been very helpful unlike the HAL website.

Even on their page they only show that the kids' area is a tiny nook shoved off in some corner. And they don't bother to show any kids! I know for the professional website photos they use actors/models, but they couldn't find even the captain's grandchild to go pretend to have fun for a quick photo? It gives the impression that kids(and their parents) are not really appreciated.

 

The cruise we're looking at is 7 days, so it sounds like it won't be a problem. Looks like we're going to book!

 

 

 

A number of HAL Captains are too young to have grandchildren yet. :) ;)

[OCruisers]

You're picking a good cruise! HAL and Princess are the best for Alaska ... both have been doing Alaskan itineraries for a long time.

 

You have a young child so you won't care to be out late partying anyway.

 

Plan to have a wonderful cruise! :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[doublebzz]

A number of HAL Captains are too young to have grandchildren yet. :) ;)

 

But not mistresses.

[LocoLoco1]

We like HAL...even though we have been some of the youngest. My late-20's partying kids asked me if THEY would like HAL better than other lines. I said NO. They liked NCL and their Vids showed a totally different 'ambiance' than HAL's. Locomotiveman Tom

[billbunger]

Yes you're to young, we have cruised HAL 5 times and the youngest people on board have been in their 80's.

[sail7seas]

But not mistresses.

 

 

Where in the world did that come from? :rolleyes:

Those Captains have earned respect and deserve it, IMO

[JamesEM]

DW and I did a 10 day cruise on the Noordam in the Fall of last year and had a great time however, there was no night life after 10 O'clock, even the casino closed up around 11.

[HALrunner]

We are in our mid to late thirties and travel with our 3 & 5 year old a lot. So much that our 5 year old is a three star mariner! We love HAL for many reasons, one of which being there are so few children! We do travel on longer sailings and typically when school is in session, so often times there are only a couple other children on board. When we are at home, they typically only play with a couple other children at a time- they don't need/want Club HAL to be maxed out to have fun! Also, with only a few kid on-board, children are more of a novelty to other passengers than an annoyance! Our kids are very well behaved, and have never felt unwelcome on HAL.

 

On one sailing, the captain was young enough to have a daughter the same age as my youngest. He invited our family to all sorts of fun activities and seemed to enjoy spending time with the youngest passengers:)

[jtl513]

Well behaved small children are very welcome on HAL. Many passengers treat them as grandchildren and crew treat them as their own children, often making a big fuss over them.

 

I find that many of the comedians repertoires tend toward jokes about the foibles and problems of older folks. :)

 

Yes you're to young, we have cruised HAL 5 times and the youngest people on board have been in their 80's.

Odd - we've been on 15 HAL cruises at all times of the year and the majority of the people have been in the 50 to 70 range. I don't believe we've been on one that didn't have at least some ranging from 3 to 40.

[Daisyloo]

We have been on several HAL cruises and have never felt they were over-run with geriatrics like some would have you believe. Yes there were a fair number of seniors, lots in middle age, younger adults and a few kids. We hardly ever see walkers or scooters. We are in our mid 50's and have done the Caribbean cruises. Maybe on other itineraries it is different.

We have taken our 3 kids (young adults) on 2 cruises. The first was HAL and they all enjoyed it. Then we took them on a Princess cruise because we were under the impression that there might be more for them to do on Princess and therefore they would like it even better. Well, all 3 of them said that while they liked Princess, they preferred HAL.

[myheart53]

We have taken only one cruise and that was on Holland...first part of Sept. 2010. We don't remember seeing any children...of course I am sure they were there but must have been well behaved or I most certainly would recall that. On one of our excursions with whale watching...there was a baby maybe 18 months old who I am sure was just tired, but screamed most of the entire time. Needless to say, I was ready to get off. I have 7 grandchildren and one great grandchild and I really love all children, but it is the adults that make it hard to be around their children. It seems that today, a lot of the parents let the child make the rules, just so they can make the children "happy". We have been dining out and watched as parents let their children run around the table, screaming, and just being loud. Not once did the parents tell the children to stop or be quiet. I know children were acting like children but they have not been taught to behave when out in public. I guess I am behind the times because when mine were babies and we were out eating, if they started crying, one of us would get up and take them out till they quieted down. When they were older and we went out, they knew they better behave.

I know I am on a rant now....lol but I truly feel sorry for the children because they are not being given boundaries and when they are older, they will take full advantage of their parents who just want to make them "happy".

Most people will be delighted to have your children onboard...sure will be missing mine...as long as they are well behaved...you should have no problem at all. There will always be rude people...and I suppose there always will be children who their parents let them misbehave....this is sad.

Ok...I am through...:) By the way....we saw all age groups on our cruise...no scooter and only a few walkers.

[quack2]

Personally, I have no problems with the ages of folks on Holland - at least on my one week trips to Alaska. First, I am not taking a cruise to meet people, although sometimes that is a nice side benefit. I'm there to see Alaska, take a million pictures, eat well, read a couple of books in the comfortable reading areas on board the ship, and get my laps in on the promenade deck. I also liked hearing the Adagio Strings in the evening with a glass of wine, but it sounds like they've been replaced by something most people seem to not like as well.

 

Holland works for me pretty well. (BTW, I'm 54). The itineraries are good, I can usually get a decent deal on rates, I like the fact that the Holland ships I've been on all have the covered walking deck. I was a little surprised to be on Celebrity Millenium last year and to not have the covered walking deck. I guess I just came to take that as a given.

 

I haven't tried other cruise lines (other than HAL and Celebrity). Maybe I would like them better, but maybe not. For me, the age of cruisers is not going to be a serious consideration. Now, if I was on a 3 week cruise with lots of at-sea days, that might be different.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

No you are not,We think it is changing ..

 

 

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[WDCCruiser]

We started cruising with HAL when my daughter was 18 months old. She is 14 now, and loves HAL best because there are enough kids, but not too many . Granted, it was easier when she was old enough for club HAL. Just know your child's tolerance for long dinners, and plan to adjust to it. We have had many happy cruising days on HAL.

 

 

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[stillwaters]

We totally love HAL. We are always think we are the youngest on board. We are now in our mid 60s so maybe not on our next cruise.

We are very disappointed with the new wine limits. After 100 plus days we might not return.

[mtebor]

I came off the Zuiderdam a few weeks back and while the average age has to be 60+, they were mainly active. I only saw a few scooters and no wheelchairs.

 

While we have been sailing mainly rccl we are now considering sailing more with HAL. We are in our mid 40's and really liked the relax feeling on HAL. Not sure if it was the itinerary or if it is HAL itself.

[AlohaPride]

My husband and I are in our late 30s with a toddler aged child.

We've cruised on Star Clippers, Windstar, Carnival and are currently eyeing a Regent cruise.

However, next summer my husband would like to take a cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage. In looking at work schedules and whatnot, it appears our only option is HAL Stantendam(I'm sure I spelled that wrong).

 

As much as we love to cruise, and have no issue being around older people, we are concerned about HALs reputation as the retirement/scooter/cane cruise line.

Even when we were on Star Clippers(where we were the youngest couple by almost a decade) two older couples(1 much, much older) told us never to go on HAL and it was just for people who had 1 foot in the grave.

I don't want to spend my vacation feeling like I'm hanging out in a retirement home.

 

Also because we have a toddler we're concerned that people won't appreciate his being there. We don't want to encounter rude remarks or stares because we paid for our child to vacation with us.

 

So your opinions please, I'm aware everything I've written is based only on others observations and rumors. I'm posting on this board to get the real truth.

What would you say the age range is on a summer cruise to Alaska?

Is it true that 30-somethings and their children will be unwelcome on HAL?

 

Thanks for any information you can provide

 

Nope :) DH and I started with HAL (and only HAL) when we were 24 :) We now have three little ones and they will be cruising with us next year on HAL to Alaska (our Oldest - almost 6 - was on the Good Nuts cruise with us). We have made some friends on those DAM Ships who are closer to us than family. I don't know where we'd be without these people in our lives.

[Copper10-8]

A number of HAL Captains are too young to have grandchildren yet. :) ;)

 

Got that right! Lots of captain promotions of young staff captains in the last year and a half!

[SeagoingMom]

Of course you know you have posted this question on the wrong thread -- you will never get anybody who loves HAL tell you that you should not sail with them! :rolleyes:

 

We have only had one HAL cruise, but I can confirm that it is not a retirement hospital cruise line!!!

 

The observation that things quiet down relatively early on HAL is probably pretty accurate, but with a small child, I would not think that would be a problem for you...