Club Hal Advice needed

[tleab75]

Hey there, I saw this great thread and I thank all of you that have sent children to Club HAL and wrote great remarks.

 

I worked aboard the ms. Zaandam Summer of 2006 and it was the most fun experience I've ever had. The kids were great, the fellow Club HAL crew was great, we definitely had the most fun of any department on the ship and I think that the kids and parents picked up on that vibe :)

 

The vibe of the week has a lot to do with the personalities of the kids that attend and the number of kids that attend. My personal favorite weeks consisted of either smaller kid counts (5-10 per room) or larger counts of 20+ per room. Each has a unique flavor. Small numbers do equal more personalized attention, the schedule may be tweaked due to not enough numbers to do certain activities, but the kids may also have some say in what activities they end up doing. Larger numbers equal lots of group activities like scavenger hunts, contests, group games, etc.

 

I found that if the child came in with a desire to meet the other kids and participate they had fun regardless of the size of the group or the age break-down. It is true that on smaller kid count cruises that the 3-7 year olds may even be combined with the 8-12 year olds, but last summer we did combined activities (at night for themes and sometimes during crafts, ice cream socials and such in the daytime) even with larger number of kids and they NEVER seemed to mind it.

 

Putting your 8 year old in the 3-7 room is a good plan if you want your child to have more supervision. Your child will truly have a blast at that age either way and sometimes even more so in the younger room unless they have cousins and siblings that are older. Like the comment about younger and older teens 8 year olds are a world apart from 12 year olds. I had positive experiences with this age being in either room, whichever was best for that particular child.

 

Teens love the Loft if they give it a chance. Attitude of course is everything. The schedule is usually 11-12:30pm, 2-5pm, 9-12am. They start later because depending on the number of cruisers in that age group may be kept active even until 1am. There are Karaoke nights, Amazing Race type scavenger hunt activities, socializing time, Group Scene-it competitions, Formal dinner with just teens, etc. types of activities (at least in Alaska!) as well as chill activities like Apples to Apples, ping pong tournaments, etc. Most of the schedule for Teens was suggested and if the group decided to do something different the schedule was altered to accommodate the interests.

 

I loved working in Club HAL and will actually be working aboard the ms. Zaandam again for a second summer on the Vancouver-Vancouver summer run June-August.

 

Any other Club HAL questions feel free to ask away and I'll do my best to answer them! :)

 

My personal motto was: "If the kids are coming to a floating hotel catered highly for the retirement crowd I'm going to do EVERYTHING in my power to make it the BEST vacation they've ever had!"

[Old As Dirt Mom]

tleab:

 

Thanks so much for posting here! If you worked on the Zaandam last summer with the youngest group, then you were my daughter's Club HAL counselor. Thanks for your hard work and dedication; you all did a terrific job!

 

Enjoy your second summer aboard the Zaandam.:) I don't wish to take away from your privacy at all, but does your first name end with an "a"? If so, then I think I may know who you are:)

 

Thanks again for stopping by. It's so great to hear first hand from the Club HAL staff, especially one as enthusiastic as you!

 

Middle-Aged Mom

[tleab75]

Hello Middle-age Mom

 

My name DOES end in "a", though there were two of us with T.....a names :) I worked primarily in the Tweens room until August and then worked in the Kids room for two weeks with a girl named Nicole and my final week on board I ran the Loft.

 

Regardless of what room I was in though, Tweens or Kids I would have gotten to know your kids. :)

 

Thanks again for the kind words. I truly did love my job and look forward to going back this summer. The Vancouver route this summer for Zaandam is just Inside Passage, so it'll be different having low numbers each week as this itinerary doesn't attract as many families as Seattle Inside Passage-all the better to get to know the kids :)

[adler223]

We will be doing the Vancouver round trip on the Zaandam July 4th. My 11 year old son will be doing Club Hal. Thanks for the reassurance, TLEAB 75, that he will have a good time. Some of the posts on this board gave me concerns. Told there will be about 40 kids in his age group.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Tleab: Yes, you and Nicole worked with the 3-7 year olds when my daughter was in your group.

 

Those are some lucky kids who will have you for a Club HAL counselor on the Zaandam this summer. :) Have a great Alaska season!!

 

Karin