Which ship is more "fun" for young adults? Nieuw Am or Westerdam?

[serendipity1499]

Mary...Will this be during a college break?

 

I have a tendency to agree with those who believe HAL would be boring for your daughter on just a regular cruise..

 

However, if the cruise was a "Dancing with the Stars" theme aboard, perhaps that would be more exciting for her, & they might even have some young people on board..

 

TA poster listed the 2014 schedule of the "Dancing with the Stars" cruises on the Jason Venner thread..

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2077798

 

If you call Ship's services maybe they could tell you if HAL will have a "Dancing etc etc" cruise in January..

 

Good luck & hope you find a cruise that will be great for your both..

Edited July 29, 2014 by serendipity1499

[LMaxwell]

I would strongly consider RCI or one of NCL's larger ships for entertainment. MSC Divina offers outrageous entertainment from what I have heard as well.

 

The limited comedy and trivia on HAL will be far removed from anything a 19 year old may find relevant. Groups of similar age people, late night dancing; you can pretty much rule that out.

 

Not a slam, just an observation.

[eandj]

I have a twelve year old son who has been on HAL since he was nine. He has also been on Cunard, Carnival and NCL. He prefers the HAL kids' club. I have read others whose offspring share the same opinion.

 

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I think during the summer months and other school vacation times most cruiselines have lots to offer "kids". But in January for a nineteen year old, there are other lines more attractive to young adults. Unless that older teen enjoys time alone with a good book...which actually some do.;)

[jaguarstyper]

We went on a cruise on Westerdam in December '11. When we booked it, my gf and I were planning for it to be just the two of us. A couple months prior to the cruise, her 19 year old daughter decided she wanted to go along. Knowing HAL and her daughter pretty well, I advised against it. Of course, I got accused of not wanting her to go with us, which was not the case at all. I just did not feel she would enjoy the HAL experience. After a lot of discussion, we decided we would book a second cabin and she could bring along one of her good friends. Its a good thing we did that because she would have been bored to tears without her friend along to hang out with.

 

We booked Westerdam again for this December and when I asked her if she wanted to come along, she said no thanks, I think I'll pass this time.

 

My advice, if you want your daughter to have fun and enjoy herself, book another cruiseline.

Edited July 29, 2014 by jaguarstyper

[BeardieMom55]

I can't directly speak to the OP's original question but just wanted to add our experience. We took our 16 year old granddaughter with us on a HAL Alaska cruise a couple of years ago. She had a ball and so did we. There were a few kids on board but she chose to spend time with us (rather than Club HAL). We tried to choose shore excursions and activities that she would also enjoy. (Whale watching, tomcart, hikes and rafting). We played a hilarious game of ping pong on a very rocky day. The point of all this - in our granddaughter's case it was more important to her to spend time with us and for us we treasure that time we got to spend with her. (I will get off my soapbox now)

[maxie99]

More lively than average is what I wrote. Both ships will have BB King which played a fair amount of Maroon 5 and Bruno Mars, neither of whom performed with Benny Goodman or Elvis. :)

 

The last BB King show ends at 11:30-11:45pm. I won't lie and say that the ships was bumping after midnight, but ten o'clock is wrong.

 

I so agree, was on the eurodam last march, and the BB KING group was a blast, lots of young officers and staff where there having a great time into the wee hours-- :)

[serendipity1499]

I can't directly speak to the OP's original question but just wanted to add our experience. We took our 16 year old granddaughter with us on a HAL Alaska cruise a couple of years ago. She had a ball and so did we. There were a few kids on board but she chose to spend time with us (rather than Club HAL). We tried to choose shore excursions and activities that she would also enjoy. (Whale watching, tomcart, hikes and rafting). We played a hilarious game of ping pong on a very rocky day. The point of all this - in our granddaughter's case it was more important to her to spend time with us and for us we treasure that time we got to spend with her. (I will get off my soapbox now)

 

Sorry, but don't think you can't compare Alaska & the Caribbean.. There is also a big difference between age 16 & 19...This is a young adult who enjoys dancing & comedy & is cruising with her Mother who we have to assume she's with every day.. Doubt if there are many shore excursions such as whale watching, rafting etc. which would interest this young lady.. They may have zip lining in a few ports but the Caribbean is mostly beaches & shopping.. But if she likes to shop & very few sea days, that might be different..

[eandj]

I can't directly speak to the OP's original question but just wanted to add our experience. We took our 16 year old granddaughter with us on a HAL Alaska cruise a couple of years ago.

 

 

Alaska in the summer with grandparents...yep, you will find lots of that on HAL . I agree it could be fun bonding.

But ...in this case....

Edited July 29, 2014 by eandj

[BeardieMom55]

Sorry, but don't think you can't compare Alaska & the Caribbean.. There is also a big difference between age 16 & 19...This is a young adult who enjoys dancing & comedy & is cruising with her Mother who we have to assume she's with every day.. Doubt if there are many shore excursions such as whale watching, rafting etc. which would interest this young lady.. They may have zip lining in a few ports but the Caribbean is mostly beaches & shopping.. But if she likes to shop & very few sea days, that might be different..

 

Sorry, didn't mean to give the impression that I was equating the two. I just meant that there are plenty of active excursions that she might enjoy. In the Caribbean, there is snorkeling, dolphin encounters, ziplining, atv trips, etc. I assumed that at 19 she might be away at college and this trip was planned between quarters or semesters so she might just enjoy spending some time with her mom. Sorry for the confusion.

[eandj]

I agree with you. ;) Lots of fun things to do at Caribbean ports. Not the ship activities she wanted tho.

Edited July 29, 2014 by eandj

[mary_228]

This is indeed a college break, and although we will already have had two weeks together over the holidays, this would be a special mom-daughter-favorite aunt trip, so she will be perfectly content to spend time with us. She is value-conscious and the option of getting a veranda cabin on the Westerdam for $600 less than an OV on the Jewel of the Seas is not wasted on her. She is not a fan of sea days, however.

 

This real impetus for this trip is to treat my sister to a cruise, her first ever, so I want to choose wisely from that point of view. A port-intensive itinerary like the JOTS might be a bit much for a first timer but if we choose the Westerdam, I'd like to be sure it is not a dud from the "fun" standpoint. She is a professional chef/restauranteur and would enjoy the cooking lesson venue on HAL and would no doubt ace the food trivia games, if there are any. The computer lab/photo editing is also of interest.

 

I have only been on one HAL ship, the Amsterdam, which offered the above, plus a fun night of dancing with the ships officers (Black and White Ball?), a gala dinner with a set menu of chef-chosen foods served to everyone with flair, happy hours in every bar every day, spa treatment raffles, pool aerobics, deck games like quoits. This was a 14 day Alaska sailing, however.

 

I would hope there would be a steel drum band poolside. Perhaps I will read some reviews of this itinerary from last winter. The BB King group sounds good! Do they play in one of the lounges or is it a mainstage performance on only one or two nights? Are there any sing-a-long lounge performers? Our older daughter enjoyed that on Celebrity last winter and I think my sister would like it.

Edited July 31, 2014 by mary_228
spelling

[POA1]

I would hope there would be a steel drum band poolside. Perhaps I will read some reviews of this itinerary from last winter. The BB King group sounds good. Do they play in one of the lounges or is it a mainstage performance on only one or two nights? Are there any sing-a-long lounge performers?

 

The steel drums are pretty much a given on any Caribbean sailing. They convert the Queens Lounge into the BB King Blues Club each evening for performances. That's the band's primary venue. They may do a show in the main showroom one night. On our cruise, however, they did not.

 

Your daughter sounds like she had a good head on her shoulders. I doubt that she's expecting a nonstop, spring break rock-n-roll patio of fun.

Edited July 31, 2014 by POA1