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Ocncerns about Club HAL on Alaskan cruise


adler223

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Going on the July 4 Vandeem cruise to Alaska. After reading some of the comments on the board I'm a little worried about the quality of Club HAL. Reading about lack of activities and not enough supervision. Should I be concerned about this?

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Our family was not happy with Club HAL. The worst thing was when they decided to close the club one day in port because the staff wished to take the day off. Because we had signed our dd up the day prior, they made arrangements for her to stay in the club with one of the male entertainers who let her play on the computer.

 

My husband and I were planning on spending the day at the pool and dd was looking forward to the activities. She stayed at the club for awhile with the entertainer and dh. I was just happy that we had not planned an excursion thinking that she would be left in the "safety" of the staff while we were gone. Would any of us leave a female child alone with one male in a kids club?

 

Overall we are much happier with the kids program aboard Celebrity. I do not know if I would cancel a booked cruise on HAL because of the feedback on the kids program. It would probably depend on how much time we thought the child would be at the club instead of touring. For us with a 10 yo some tours are just too long. Part of the reason we have not done Alaska, Hawaii or Europe.

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I hope someone with recent HAL experience can address your concerns (perhaps on the HAL board, if not here).

 

We did a Caribbean Cruise on HAL about 5 years ago. The cruise was wonderful, except for the children's program. What HAL advertised and what was available were not even close. Reckless and irresponsible were words I used with no response from HAL management. Hopefully, that has changed.

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I hope someone with recent HAL experience can address your concerns (perhaps on the HAL board, if not here).

 

We did a Caribbean Cruise on HAL about 5 years ago. The cruise was wonderful, except for the children's program. What HAL advertised and what was available were not even close. Reckless and irresponsible were words I used with no response from HAL management. Hopefully, that has changed.

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Definitely try the HAL board - We went on the Oosterdam 2 years ago - it was packed with kids. Like the above poster mentioned, the kids' program would just close on a whim and left many parents trying to figure out what to do with their little ones.

 

We didn't have kids with us, but we spoke to many upset families. Good luck to you. Alaska is beautiful

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Like the above poster mentioned, the kids' program would just close on a whim and left many parents trying to figure out what to do with their little ones.
So it was not just an "isolated" incident? Too bad really, HAL could give Celebrity some good competition but it seems they still want to cater to the over 70 crowd. :(
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Going on the July 4 Vandeem cruise to Alaska. After reading some of the comments on the board I'm a little worried about the quality of Club HAL. Reading about lack of activities and not enough supervision. Should I be concerned about this?

 

My family had a wonderful Western Caribbean cruise on the Veendam last April. It was our only cruise so far, so we obviously don't know what we were missing by not cruising on the Ecstasy Princess of the Sea. But you may want to check out detailed reviews I wrote about Club HAL (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=334361)and our overall experience (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=334390). In sum, we found Club HAL to be safe, professional, and friendly, but certainly not capable of being the highlight of anyone's cruise.

 

Now it seems to me that two things are likely true:

1. Larger and newer ships have children's facilities/programs that are markedly superior to the Veendam's

2. You wouldn't be considering this cruise if those differences were crucial decision factors

 

Veendam is relatively small, so its children's club facilities are very modest compared to those of Carnival, RCL, Princess, and NCL. As I'm sure you know by now, HAL ships tend to have a higher average passenger age than do the ships of Celebrity or any of the other major lines that go to Alaska. So HAL has less incentive to put resources into children's programs.

 

BUT: If you're planning an Alaska cruise, you've already resigned yourself to a more sedate experience than a Caribbean cruise, let alone a vacation at the beach or at Disney World. If you're considering Holland America, you've already allowed for the possibility that your children can have a good time on a cruise line that emphasizes tradition more and active stimulation less that the alternatives.

 

Your family can have a great time on the Veendam, but that will only happen if the Club HAL experience matters far less to you than do things like the above-average size of Veendam's standard cabins or the doting service of the Indonesian/Filipino crew members or the diversity of outstanding offerings in her eateries or the fact that she feels more like a classic ship than do the floating resorts that are your alternatives.

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the Veendam. Sorry I didn't see your post earlier, but I'm slowly getting back into CC as we plan for our July Inside Passage cruise on the Zaandam.

 

Lee

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Just got back from 2/17-2/24 Oosterdam cruise. My 8 year old couldn't wait to get to Club HAL. ( A far cry from a carnival cruise we took several years ago ). When we embarked, the club HAL people greeted us and told us of the "get to know" meeting that first evening. We received a detailed schedule of activities, and when the Club would be open. There were no surprises. They were not opened in port in the afternoons (noon-8pm), but we planned to take the kids on our excursions anyway. They seemed to have a balanced set of activities...30 min video games, then outside activities in the basketball court, scavanger hunts, crafts. Like I said, my son was always ready to go to Club HAL. We felt it was run very well.

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