Question about kids' club on HAL

[melissagrf]

How old must children be on HAL (specifically Westerdam) to sign themselves in and out of the kids'club? I know it's 10 on Celebrity, for instance, but we're sailing on HAL for the first time in June, and am hoping someone out there knows. Thanks!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

This is what is on the HAL site:

What Childcare & Youth Programs Are Available?

 

 

Club Hal® Youth Program

Holland America Line has a youth program for guests ages 3-17*. Each ship is staffed with a professional Club HAL Director dedicated to making sure children have a great time. Some of the fun-filled activities include bingo for prizes, arts & crafts, special parties and much more. Each participant also receives a Club HAL t-shirt. An activity schedule for each age group will be delivered to your stateroom each evening.

Activities are offered for kids (ages 3-7), 'tweens (8-12) and teens (13-17). The program has an open door policy, which means participants may come and go as they please. All activities are supervised; however, the Club HAL Director is not responsible for any child if he/she chooses to leave the activity.

*On the Prinsendam, youth activities are offered for ages 5-17. All other ships offer youth activities for ages 3-17.

 

Hopefully others will come along and tell you what their experiences gave been.

[1of4]

On the day you board Club Hal will have an open House, times posted in the On Location left in your stateroom. This is the time to sign children into the program, meet the club HAL staff, and fill out the forms.

 

From my memory, ages 3 to 7 have to be signed in and out. There is no option for them to sign themselves out. You specify on the forms who has permission for sign in/out.

 

Ages 8-12, I think, have the option to sign themselves out but only if you ticked that box and signed consent on the form. We never have so that is why my memory is not clear.

 

Ages 13-17 are in The Loft and there is no sign in our out.

[melissagrf]

Thanks. My DS will be 10, so if the answer to my question is "8" then, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

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[Crew News]

Welcome to HAL and the Westerdam.

 

Here are examples of the Kids Activities on HAL:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/travel-2/holland-america-lines-kids-activities-examples/

 

Since you will be on the Westerdam, here is a link to my photographic tour of the ship (2014) to get you oriented:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/travel-2/ms-westerdam-tour/

 

There is a Chocolate Seduction Cafe located just forward of the Shops on Deck 3 that serves chocolate items as well as fruit smoothies and worth a stop.

 

Feel free to ask lots of questions on the HAL Forum to help in your cruise planning.

[melissagrf]

Thank you so much. That's really helpful! :)

[dakrewser]

I know 9 YOs can't sign themselves in and out, but 12 YOs can. I believe 12 is the minimum age, but can't swear to that.

[melissagrf]

Dang. Thanks.

 

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[1of4]

8 to 12 year olds are a group. What one can do they all can do. So that means it is up to you as the parent/guardian to say what you want regarding sign out privileges for your son. He will have to be signed in, so they have the record, but you can allow him to sign himself out.

 

3 to 12 year olds wear a bracelet with their lifeboat number. If they have a bracelet then they have to be signed in each time they are at the club. This is so they have a record of who is in the club in case of emergency.

 

Once your son signs himself out, for lunch let's say, he will have to be signed in again by an adult or someone not wearing a bracelet.

[melissagrf]

Thank you!

 

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[dakrewser]

8 to 12 year olds are a group. What one can do they all can do. So that means it is up to you as the parent/guardian to say what you want regarding sign out privileges for your son. He will have to be signed in, so they have the record, but you can allow him to sign himself out.

 

Not true. As I said, my 9YO granddaughter was not allowed to sign herself out, but my 12YO grandson was.

[TheCalicoCat]

This is what is on the HAL site:

 

Activities are offered for kids (ages 3-7), 'tweens (8-12) and teens (13-17). The program has an open door policy, which means participants may come and go as they please. All activities are supervised; however, the Club HAL Director is not responsible for any child if he/she chooses to leave the activity.

 

 

Hopefully others will come along and tell you what their experiences gave been.

 

With that said, My son was not allowed to leave on his own when he was 3.5. (The staff asked where we would be so that they could find us if necessary & did just that when he had an accident.)

[cruz chic]

With that said, My son was not allowed to leave on his own when he was 3.5. (The staff asked where we would be so that they could find us if necessary & did just that when he had an accident.)

 

Is that a bad thing? I'd be horrified if I had a kid that young that was allowed to roam the ship.

[TalkingTravel]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but there is a 'new policy' whereby children have to be 13 to sign themselves in and out of the Kids Club. We discussed this with the staff and they confirmed it was fleet wide. Our high school age son who is taller than his Mom was not impressed.

[HALrunner]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but there is a 'new policy' whereby children have to be 13 to sign themselves in and out of the Kids Club. We discussed this with the staff and they confirmed it was fleet wide. Our high school age son who is taller than his Mom was not impressed.

 

Wow! That is a big change!

 

In November we were surprised by the new policy of having to sign the emergency procedure every single time we signed the kids in. Seriously, we were doing it three times a day x2 kids!

 

Given that change and this increased age to sign themselves in/out, I wonder if there was an unfortunate event that led to these new policies? Or maybe just part of a safety audit by the legal department?

Edited February 8, 2016 by HALrunner

[melissagrf]

Oy. Thanks everyone. We have been looking forward to "10" on all of our previous cruises. This was to be his first one where he qualified. Oh well. I know he'll have a great time anyway.

 

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[GYMIL]

How much do you tip the HAL CLUB staff over and above the standard cruise tip?

[melissagrf]

That is up to you. They are paid a "regular wage"--that is, they don't live off their tips like stewards and wait staff. If you find exemplary service, and we have on several cruises, you have to find your own envelope and take care of it yourself. There is no set amount. There will be quite a few staff members involved in your grandchild's care, so I have given anywhere from $20-$40 to the kids center, in hopes that they split it appropriately. None of this advice is HAL specific, as this is our first time on this line.

 

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[cheggy]

How strict are they about age groups staying in their age group? We are going on Veendam in June and granddaughters want to be in same club. Their ages are 8 and 4.

[RuthC]

How strict are they about age groups staying in their age group? We are going on Veendam in June and granddaughters want to be in same club. Their ages are 8 and 4.

The younger one cannot move up to be with the older group. The older child can move down to the younger group, though.

The question is, would she want to?

 

They could go to separate groups once in a while, then spend time together with the family.

[cheggy]

The younger one cannot move up to be with the older group. The older child can move down to the younger group, though.

The question is, would she want to?

 

They could go to separate groups once in a while, then spend time together with the family.

 

Thank you so much. Actually the older one loves to do crafts that are done in the younger classes. The older kids get a little too rough for her and this will be 1st time youngest has gone to club. Royal Caribbean allowed the moving to younger group and it was fantastic. Hoping they both fall in love with the kid's clubs.

[ski ww]

Lots of good info here We're taking our 7 year old great grand daughter on the Eurodam New Years cruise, so always looking for facts about Club HAL. There are photos & facts about Club HAL if you Google HAL facts, one word.

Allan

[CGYCruisingFamily]

I will say the double sign in process (having to sign the waiver every time) was a real pain in the you know what at Christmas. I don't understand why they just didn't keep the form at the beginning of the cruise the way it was.

 

I also noticed a couple of days ago they have shifted the age groups slightly since our Christmas cruise. At Christmas, it was 3-7, 8-12 but the website now says 3-6,7-12. I for one am happy because our 7 year old was in with 3 year olds at Christmas, now he will be in with his brother. There's a HUGE difference between this ages and the change seems like a good one .

 

As for shift around of groups the won't shift up. I also don't know if they will allow shifting down if it's busy. Having said that we are taking a cruise next week that I know currently has 2 other kids on it (that's all on this segment which my parents are on), and not sure how many will be on ours other than my 2 and the other 2. I can see them running the program together then if there's only 4 kids on board.

[RGBFamily]

How strict are they about age groups staying in their age group? We are going on Veendam in June and granddaughters want to be in same club. Their ages are 8 and 4.

 

This depends on the numbers if they group together or not. On the Amsterdam at Christmas I would say that 90% of the time the 3-12's were all together in the bigger room. They only seemed to use the 3-7 room at night if they had little ones they were reading stories too rather than doing loud activities (frequent in the bigger room) or if they had too many that they wanted to split.

 

I can only think of 2 occasions in 18 nights that my 3 yo and 9 yo were not in the same room. In our case it worked out well for the kids to be together.

[cheggy]

Thank you , that's what I wanted to hear.