HAL with Kids for Dummies - Our family cruise aboard Niew Statendam

[sevenseasnomad]

Did I mention that I only cruise with HAL because of the well-behaved children?  I don't believe I made that clear.  Having been on other lines, I know what they have to offer, especially with noisy, out-of-control kids.  No, thank you.  I'll stick with HAL where I'm almost guaranteed a quiet, relaxing cruise as you discovered.

 

Whoa!  Your photos alone would advise me to steer clear of those other cruise lines.  Thank you for your advice, though, especially about Europe.

[*Miss G*]

OMG WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!!!  😲 😭 😱

[Tapi]

40 minutes ago, sevenseasnomad said:

No, thank you.  I'll stick with HAL where I'm almost guaranteed a quiet, relaxing cruise as you discovered.

 

Whoa!  Your photos alone would advise me to steer clear of those other cruise lines.  Thank you for your advice, though, especially about Europe.

One thing my wife asked me was what other ships are like the Niew Statendam because she’d loved to sail on them as well. So I’ll be researching Koningsdam and the new Ryndam when her schedules are announced.

 

About cruising in Europe, we did so in November over Thanksgiving which is considered low season there. We were a bit worried about the colder temperatures and shorter days, but the weather turned out to be perfect for sightseeing in the Med. Just a light jacket and a sweater most of the time. And much less crowded at popular points of interest. 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Tapi

[Tapi]

10 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

OMG WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!!!  😲 😭 😱

😂 It was a Dr. Seuss inspired French toast. That’s supposed to be a little hat on the left. 🤣

Edited March 1, 2020 by Tapi

[*Miss G*]

11 minutes ago, Tapi said:

😂 It was a Dr. Seuss inspired French toast. That’s supposed to be a little hat on the left. 🤣

 

🤮

[rfnc07]

Great review!
 

My wife and I are going to be first timers departing on NS on 4/12 with our 3 kids (14/9/7), along with our sister-in-law and their cousin (9), who’ve been on several cruises (all on Carnival).

It sounds like Club HAL (and the pool) will be right up their alley!

 

[Tapi]

53 minutes ago, rfnc07 said:

Great review!
 

My wife and I are going to be first timers departing on NS on 4/12 with our 3 kids (14/9/7), along with our sister-in-law and their cousin (9), who’ve been on several cruises (all on Carnival).

It sounds like Club HAL (and the pool) will be right up their alley!

 

Thank you! Hope that my review is helpful, and that you have an absolutely wonderful cruise vacation! 

[RGBFamily]

Excellent review!!!  
We cruised the Koningsdam in early January and most of what you say is the exact same for the sister ship.  We enjoyed the modern art and spent time looking around at it on multiple occasions.

I am the oddball that likes the BBC World productions and the live musicians that come with it!  On our sailing (Southern Caribbean)  a I overheard a number of people say they didn't enjoy it!  I loved it in Alaska too!

 

The Club HAL wasn't amazing (it was on our previous HAL sailings) but that was minor.  My teen hung with kids from that club and they tended to meet and then go hang out elsewhere - only staying in the club a few times.

I agree with the calmer comment - parties and characters are fun, but so is the rectangle pool when you make friends and just swim!  Did your kids have a chance to swim at night?  On a few occasions my kids wanted to skip dinner and swim - so we did! We split up and sent 1/2 the kids to eat with their grandparents and one of us stayed with the kids that swam.  Why not, it is their vacation too!

 

I am glad to see that the Grand Turk wave rider was fixed.  My kids were super bummed that it was broken down when we were there.  We only stayed at Maragritaville for a short bit before the kids wanted to go to the beach - so we moved.  I had debated a cabana and I am glad to read it was good.  In the end because their were only a couple other ships in port we found a beach spot quite easily.

[mkkao924]

Great review! Thank you so much as we will be sailing with HAL in June.

 

I am wondering if you see young kids, like 3 - 4 year old, in the kid's club?

 

We have an 8 year old and 3 year old, and I am wondering how the 3 year old will do in the kid's club.

[Tapi]

19 minutes ago, mkkao924 said:

I am wondering if you see young kids, like 3 - 4 year old, in the kid's club?

 

We have an 8 year old and 3 year old, and I am wondering how the 3 year old will do in the kid's club.

I saw a few kids in the 3-6 age group but less than the number kids in the 7-12 age group. Since the total number of kids wasn’t high, it seemed to me like both groups were consolidated in the same room. Every time I’d go get my kids, all the kids were gathered in the one room just behind the check in desk. There are circular windows and you can take a peek and see what the kids are up to. 

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, RGBFamily said:

I am the oddball that likes the BBC World productions and the live musicians that come with it! 

 

Did your kids have a chance to swim at night?  On a few occasions my kids wanted to skip dinner and swim - so we did!

I had read about the BBC movies accompanied by the live musicians, and I was really

looking forward to it, but on our sailing, they didn’t have live musicians, just the recorded soundtrack. That was a bummer. 
 

We didn’t swim at night, but it surely looked inviting. In retrospect we should’ve, specially on those nights when he had a casual dinner at the NY Deli & Pizza.

[Kona921]

My 10year daughter loves club HAL.  She has been cruising HAL since she was 3. 😀

[kaiiak]

On 2/28/2020 at 1:45 PM, Tapi said:

We didn’t try Tamarind, but we walked through it twice at night (we got a bit lost going from the aft elevators to the kids club. We had to walk through Tamarind to reach the glass doors leading to the outdoor decks to then walk forward, but I digress). Anyway, Tamarind looked amazing, and it did make me envy a bit those having dinner there. The ambiance alone would’ve been worth it. It’s not where I would’ve taken the kids though. That would’ve definitely been a mommy and daddy night for sure! 😂

 

 

 

Oh you'd be surprised, that was my 10 year old's favorite dinner on our trip on the NS last spring break.  He still talks about the duck he ordered. Next sailing you for sure need to try it out! We also really enjoyed the NS with our child and he loved the food, ambiance, and enjoyed the few visits to Club HAL he had. Glad you had such a great time.

[mkkao924]

Sorry one more question on Club HAL. Do you know if they allow water in the club?

 

I read from another review that they don't allow any drinks, including water, in the club. Do you know if this is still the case (the review was from 2015)?

[weacat]

We have been on 2 different cruises with HAL with our daughter. Our first cruise was when she was 4 and we went on the Rotterdam from Boston to Montreal. It was just after school started and there’s were only about 5 kids on board. She had a wonderful time in Club HAL. This was a very port intensive cruise and we spent a lot of time in port.

 

Our second cruise was this past Thanksgiving to the Panama Canal on the Zuiderdam. Since it was during Thanksgiving, there were many more children on board but not overloaded. She is 6 now and made many friends. Even has a pen pal after this cruise. The Club Hal staff was wonderful and she truly had a wonderful time. She is a great traveler for her age and loves cruising.  We have been on several different cruise lines but HAL is our favorite.  We will be considering HAL for all of our next cruises. 

[Tapi]

6 hours ago, mkkao924 said:

Sorry one more question on Club HAL. Do you know if they allow water in the club?

 

I read from another review that they don't allow any drinks, including water, in the club. Do you know if this is still the case (the review was from 2015)?

They do allow drinks, at least water. In fact, a couple of times they took the kids to the sports court as part of the afternoon activities, and the counselors asked parents to bring a bottle of water for each kid. I purchased a couple of bottles of water from the bars (now sold in aluminum bottles) and the counselors wrote my kids names on them. 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Tapi

[Tapi]

18 hours ago, kaiiak said:

 

Oh you'd be surprised, that was my 10 year old's favorite dinner on our trip on the NS last spring break.  He still talks about the duck he ordered. Next sailing you for sure need to try it out! We also really enjoyed the NS with our child and he loved the food, ambiance, and enjoyed the few visits to Club HAL he had. Glad you had such a great time.

My 2 kids couldn’t be more different when it comes to food. My 10 year old son is all about ordering from the adult menu and trying things that I wouldn’t even order myself 🤣 while my 8 year old daughter is set on her kid menu ways. There’s no way to make her steer away from the same items over and over. Its not because of the age difference. Both kids have been the way they are their entire lives. 
 

If it were just my son, I know we’d have a very enjoyable night at Tamarind. But with my daughter in tow, we’d hear a lot of “how much loooonger?” 😂
 

 

[erewhon]

Thank you for your detailed review and sharing your photos.

[jimbo5544]

Outstanding review, thanks for doing it, loved the pics as well.  Where have you been hiding this review talent.  
 

[Tapi]

On 3/6/2020 at 7:38 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Outstanding review, thanks for doing it, loved the pics as well.  Where have you been hiding this review talent.  
 

Thanks Jimbo! I hope that the review is helpful!  I've developed my skills by reading far more talented reviews on Cruise Critic! 😃

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Tapi said:

Thanks Jimbo! I hope that the review is helpful!  I've developed my skills by reading far more talented reviews on Cruise Critic! 😃

Well you learned well. Nice job.  

[jimbo5544]

Sailing HAL is on our bucket list, your steakhouse review moved it up a couple of notches.  We have friends we met when sailing the med on Azamara who LOVE HAL and been trying to lure us over.   So many things to do,  so not so much money to do them.

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Sailing HAL is on our bucket list, your steakhouse review moved it up a couple of notches.  

To give credit where credit is due, I've truly enjoyed the steakhouse experience on Carnival. It's definitely something where they excel, in my humble opinion. But the Pinnacle Grill on HAL was a phenomenal experience for us in terms of ambiance and cuisine. I would recommend it to anybody who is a steak lover. 

 

Do keep in mind that there's no hairy chest contest on HAL. That may be a deal breaker for you. LOL.

[Jefflaw77]

My family and I are on the 4/12 NS sailing.  We are very excited.  We chose this ship because it was new and our kids loved the Nieuv Amsterdam a few years ago especially Club Hal. 
 

we are in the predicament that many are in now with this virus.  We aren't sure if we do the FCC they are offering or gamble a bit and just go and hope all works out... 

 

decisions decisions...

[jimbo5544]

44 minutes ago, Tapi said:

To give credit where credit is due, I've truly enjoyed the steakhouse experience on Carnival. It's definitely something where they excel, in my humble opinion. But the Pinnacle Grill on HAL was a phenomenal experience for us in terms of ambiance and cuisine. I would recommend it to anybody who is a steak lover. 

 

Do keep in mind that there's no hairy chest contest on HAL. That may be a deal breaker for you. LOL.

I am a more laid back cruiser since entering my “golden years”😇