HAL vs NCL / Kids / Cuba

[UpAndDown]

Hi,

I'm considering the HAL ms Veendam 14 day cruise to Cuba and the Caribbean in June with my 2 daughters, ages 13 and 10. We took the NCL Boston to Bermuda 2 years ago and they enjoyed it. I'm looking for first hand opinions from previous travelers on HAL as to how kid friendly the ship is, if there is usually mostly a very elder crowd as I have read online, the quality of the ship given its age as compared to the Dawn, how the HAL dining works compared to the NCL Freestyle that they know from the previous cruise as well as any other suggestions, comments and/or observations that anyone feels they would like to add. All responses are welcomed and appreciated and I thank you in advance for any replies.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The kids would be happier on NCL

 

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[134traveler]

I agree NCL has more options for kids and families.

[UpAndDown]

Thanks for the replies so far. Yes, I understand that NCL is geared more towards the kids. What I am wondering is just how kid friendly HAL is. Because of a very narrow vacation window, if we do not do the HAL Cuba cruise, our only other option is the same Bermuda cruise that we took 2 years ago. Just trying to get some first hand information as to what we can expect if we choose the HAL cruise. Thanks again

[ETinCA]

HAL is very friendly towards kids. There are less kids therefore more attention in Club Hal. Our kids now 17/14 are 4 Star with HAL and their first cruise with them was in 2009. Don't be afraid to give it a go

[sail7seas]

There have been many posts hee r about how much children enjoy Club HAL. They hvae a good program with welll liked 'counselors'.

[ithaca gal]

Club HAL is very popular with kids and parents both. We did the Veendam cruise to Cuba in April and there were five kids onboard (school still in session) but the older crowd seemed even older on this cruise (we are certainly not kids ourselves!).

 

We loved this itinerary and would love to do it again!

[Mamascott]

I have four kids, ages 9-16. They are 2 stars on HAL, and stinking LOVE IT. I was hesitant on our first trip. We were going with my mom and she said, are you sure you want HAL? Its geared more towards older folks. I happen to work with kids, so a trip with few kids was right up my alley!:')We did a 7 day to Alaska in june, and there were about 200 kids on board. The kids club was small, and with not a ton of kids. My youngest has anxiety, so the smaller numbers, smaller ship all that was great for him. My kids were thrilled to be able to eat all the ice cream they wanted, swim, watch movies, see shows.. This summer they were incredibly upset we werent going on another cruise. But we couldnt go a summer without it, so they might be missing the first few days of school in the fall. ;pTry it. I hope you love it as much as we do.

 

Oh, and dining. Ive never sailed NCL, but honestly.. the dining on HAL isnt that great for me. We mostly eat at the buffet now that my kids are older. the MDR is fine, but meals are smallish and my boys can eat. We do one meal at the Cannaleto each trip, and my mom and i get rid of the kids for the night and do the Pinnacle. But as far as the kids go, they prefer the buffet.

[MsMolly]

We have 4 children who have sailed on Holland America twice. They love it. We travel for family time so we weren't too concerned with Club Hal. Our daughter who is very shy ended up loving the kids club. There were usually only a few kids there and the workers were great. Our teenage boys enjoyed watching a movie, playing ping pong, we played many board games from the large assortment we found Hal had in their library area. They definitely found enough to keep busy. Their favourite thing was the sports court. They had basketball, soccer, tennis...we often had the sports area to ourselves and spent hours up there. Our family tends to eat most of our meals in the buffet on Hal. We do go to the dining room once or twice each cruise but the kids enjoy the variety of the buffet and they can eat a lot! We all also love the tamarind and usually go there at least once or twice.

[PoolSlider]

I've sailed on the Dawn and it is not an example of one of NCL's floating amusement parks. It's actually a smaller low-key ship for them. I've never sailed on the Veendam but I imagine you all will be fine. HAL feels a lot quieter than NCL because most people are older and there is less overall entertainment. For example, I still remember "Dingo Dave" was the cruise director on our NCL sailing. He was always "on." There is nothing like that silly party/party/drink/drink/drink vibe on HAL. So if you expect a Carib cruise without the pier side dancing and frantic vibe then you'll be fine. You will be left to your own devices/means to entertain yourself and your kids. My teens were fine with that.

[Pash81]

Hi all, we are contemplating the same thing at the moment (HAL VS NCL with our children, ages 6 and 8 and we have an infant). We have done both cruise lines before, and I think the NCL definitely beats out HAL in the kids club department. That being said, for a Haven suite its almost $5000 more than a very similar HAL cruise. Has anyone done the Jewels of the Baltic cruise with their children? If so, were there quite a few other kids on board?

[DLUT]

Our son is 12. I think we've done 4 NCL and will be going on our 3rd HAL cruise shortly. There are definitely fewer kids on HAL so the counselors truly know the kids by the end of the cruise. I think my son actually preferred the HAL kids area a little more than NCL. NCL tends to structure their days for the 12 and younger kids more than HAL and always made the kids practice for the circus show. My son wanted no part of the circus so he opted out of many days on NCL. My husband and I personally like NCL's entertainment much better than HAL, but one of our best cruises was a HAL one in which we hooked up with other couples on the Boards who all had kids around the same ages. When we got on the ship, we all met in the Crow's Nest for a meet and greet. By the end of the cruise, the kids were all best friends and we had a big party group of adults that hung out. For the kids and adults alike, nothing compares to Disney if you can find a reasonably priced one (not lately!). We traveled mostly on Disney until the price difference stopped making sense.

 

My son and I slightly preferred the NCL food at the buffet better than HAL, but there isn't much of a difference with the buffets or MDRs on HAL and NCL. I cannot recall which cruise line it is that has the same food from the MDR also on the buffet each night.

 

Yes, the average age on HAL is higher so the entertainment level is lacking for us personally. I think your children will be happy though. We don't mind the lack of adult entertainment because we are usually traveling on HAL for port intensive cruises so we aren't on the ship much anyway.

 

Have a great cruise!

[DLUT]

Hi all, we are contemplating the same thing at the moment (HAL VS NCL with our children, ages 6 and 8 and we have an infant). We have done both cruise lines before, and I think the NCL definitely beats out HAL in the kids club department. That being said, for a Haven suite its almost $5000 more than a very similar HAL cruise. Has anyone done the Jewels of the Baltic cruise with their children? If so, were there quite a few other kids on board?

I forgot to say in my last post that it was a Baltic cruise where all the kids of the same age met at a meet and greet organized on the Boards. It was even during May so I was surprised that all of the kids were taken out of school, but the schools don't mind when the kids are that young. There were about 15 kids in total in the kids area during the May cruise, but there weren't many more than that during our June cruises either.

[richstowe]

I've sailed the Veendam twice in July and the ship had a good amount of kids having a great time . There seemed to be a lot of multi-generational family groups . I'm not sure if school is out when you are planning on cruising in June . Like all cruiselines , summer vacation means more kids although less on Holland .