Child Population over Christmas?

[americandream]

I'm looking for an idea of how many minors we might expect on HAL on a Caribbean itinerary over Christmas. We are considering a 7 day or a 14 day. I'm assuming the 14 day will have far fewer children, but I have no experience with HAL. Any insights on either are appreciated.

 

Our travel group is considering HAL for the first time for Christmas 2020. We are longtime Celebrity and Royal cruisers who generally avoid cruising over school breaks because we prefer not to vacation where there are a lot of kids.

 

Thanks in advance!

[RuthC]

If it is a true 14-day cruise, then there will be a lot fewer children than would be on each of 2 7-day cruises back to back/collector's cruises. 
Over the holidays there will be more children than normally, but not as many as on some lines. 

[Tapi]

It’s been discussed on another thread, but apparently HAL is in the process of introducing a new concept called High Score. It’s currently on Oosterdam. It’s still uncertain wether this is a fleet wide change and/or if it’s a total replacement to Club HAL, their kids program. If it’s indeed a replacement, kids between the ages of 7-17 will not have a supervised kids club to attend while their parents enjoy some adult time. If that’s the case, I foresee a drastic reduction of families traveling with children. Just food for thought.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Tapi

[americandream]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

If it is a true 14-day cruise, then there will be a lot fewer children than would be on each of 2 7-day cruises back to back/collector's cruises. 
Over the holidays there will be more children than normally, but not as many as on some lines. 

Thanks Ruth. That’s good information and about what I expected.

 

59 minutes ago, Tapi said:

It’s been discussed on another thread, but apparently HAL is in the process of introducing a new concept called High Score. It’s currently on Oosterdam. It’s still uncertain wether this is a fleet wide change and/or if it’s a total replacement to Club HAL, their kids program. If it’s indeed a replacement, kids between the ages of 7-17 will not have a supervised kids club to attend while their parents enjoy some adult time. If that’s the case, I foresee a drastic reduction of families traveling with children. Just food for thought.

 

I did see that thread. Lots of angry rants going on in there. 

[Alberta Quilter]

On our only Christmas cruise, about 13 years ago, there were 300 children onboard. Because most were kept busy with Club HAL, we never believed there were that many until we watched them get their gifts from Santa.  

[sevenseasnomad]

Except for one Christmas (2016), we've spent all the other Christmas vacations aboard a HAL ship since 2010.  On several of those cruise, especially the one to the Panama Canal, we never saw a child until the last several days.  The others drew families with children, but the kids were so well-behaved (and mostly out of sight in Club Hal) that we rarely noticed the little ones. 

 

Last Christmas, aboard Nieuw Statendam, kids tended to congregate around the Lido main pool.  I only noticed them because I'd sit and read beside the pool.  Usually, I park on the Promenade Deck, but on the Pinnacle Class ships, this deck is so narrow it's impossible to have deck chairs.  The children made enough noise that I finally retreated to my balcony.  This was a seven-day cruise, however.  

 

If HAL truly plans to implement this new High Score concept across the fleet, the lack of supervised well-crafted, age-appropriate activities will affect every passengers' cruise.  You might want to stay tuned and see how this decision impacts passengers before you make final payment, which should be September 2020.

[Wehwalt]

From HAL's point of view, Club HAL must be expensive to provide and, as far as I know, produces no direct revenue. If High Score goes fleetwide, I suppose the effect on other people's cruises depends on whether families who like the perk of free child care, albeit for limited hours, choose to stay with HAL and let their kids run wild, or decamp for one of the water slide cruise lines. 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Wehwalt

[Tapi]

2 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

From HAL's point of view, Club HAL must be expensive to provide and, as far as I know, produces no direct revenue.

For our upcoming HAL Cruise, I had planned on purchasing a dinner package, as well as a week spa pass to be enjoyed by my wife and I while the kids attend Club HAL. Without Club HAL, these are things that I will NOT be purchasing, and it will also mean that we will not be sailing on HAL again, at least until our kids are 18.

Club HAL may not produce direct revenue, but it does provide plenty of indirect revenue. That’s why many cruise lines invest heavily in kids programs which they then offer complimentarily. They know that the parents will generate more revenue for the cruise line if their kids are entertained. Maybe the executives at Holland America know something that others don’t. 

[we3peas]

On our Christmas cruise last year most of the children were employees kids. If the ship isn't full then HAL seems to offer a good rate for family members to be able to spend the holidays with the workers. We met so many nice families from Mamas from the Philippines to wives and kids from The Netherlands. All of them were great, loved seeing the officers all dressed up escorting their families around.

[lazey1]

Not speaking to Christmas cruises but on the Oosterdam Thanksgiving cruise there were 500 minors under the age of 18.  There was no Club Hal but they did have High Score plus some type of program or entertainment for the young children. The kids were all over the indoor pool and Jacuzzi's on the Lido Deck constantly.

[RGBFamily]

18 night Panama Canal crossing on the Amsterdam over Christmas 2015 - aprox 120 kids 0-18

10 night Caribbean Dec 27, 2016 - aprox 250-300 kids (if my memory serves me right)

10 night January 2020 - estimated 220 kids booked as of earlier this week number may fluctuate - some agents will give a ballpark and some will not.  I got a great agent this week who was happy to give a ballpark, however many months out the figure would not be anywhere near accurate.

Our non HAL cruises over Christmas have had a million more kids. 😉 

 

I agree with the above poster - if it is a 7 night you will see more kids than on a 14 (no back to backs).  Given the distance we travel I don't find 7 is long enough to justify the flight cost/travel time so usually choose 10 nights or longer.  Unfortunately, the pickings are slim on longer sailings (I require a kids club - not only for the kids to hang out and have a break in and meet friends, but for me to have a break!)  A kids club gives a welcoming to the kids. 

 

I always find that kids tend to congregate in the Lido pool since they aren't supposed to be a the SeaView one on some ships.  Sea days are the busiest, whereas port days they are few and far between.  Club HAL closes for lunch and supper so you will see them lots around that point.  I love kids ... and bring my own, but sometimes it is crazy busy at the pool and I also retreat to my balcony!! 

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, lazey1 said:

Not speaking to Christmas cruises but on the Oosterdam Thanksgiving cruise there were 500 minors under the age of 18.  There was no Club Hal but they did have High Score plus some type of program or entertainment for the young children. The kids were all over the indoor pool and Jacuzzi's on the Lido Deck constantly.

 

What's Christmas without children?  I have none of my own and I do enjoy seeing the children visiting Santa during the Christmas morning program.  Sailing on Prinsendam for a Chrismas/New Year's Cruise, I was surprised at the number of kids that were aboard.  Not 500 certainly, but more than I expected.  There was even a Club Hal for them on that cruise and they caused guests no issues of which I was aware.  

 

If in fact Club Hal is being discontinued, that is another serious error that Seattle management is making, in my opinion.  As we more senior Mariners are aging, HAL needs to attract younger future Mariners.  And, many of those have kids!  And, I am sure, as many of these folks love their children, going on a vacation where one could "escape" the kids for awhile has to be an attractive selling point for booking a cruise.