Is HAL suitable for 3 generations cruising together?

[barryn]

We are planning a Jan 2010 7 day Caribbean family cruise for participants ranging from 86yo grandfather to his 18 and 20yo granddaughters. All family members have cruised before. Grandparents have expressed a preference for HAL, while granddaughters have enjoyed the flowrider and other attractions of RCL.

 

Figuring that granddaughters will have many opportunities in the future to select their own ship/itinerary, I would like to bend toward the wishes of their grandfather. Will the girls be able to find activities that interest people of their age group on HAL?

[NoWhiners]

we went to the Caribbean in 2005 on HAL. I saw mostly younger folks. Maybe not teenagers but still twenty-somethings. Seems like we saw lots of HS age youngsters too. My experience is they all seem to find each other and have a good time. Finding some fun half day excursions for them would probably help too. i agree, let granpa decide--he may not do it again soon!!

 

No matter what, everone seemed to have a great time.

 

good luck

mary lynn

[vegasgirl00]

We did a HAL cruise in December that was 3 generations. Although, our oldest was 63, we all had a fabulous time. On our last cruise on the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago, there was quite a good age range. Right from babies, teenagers (who seemed to be enjoying themselves) to people in their 80s.

 

True, they don't have all the "young" amenities other ships do but there is certainly no shortage of things going on. The pool games are hillarious and the pool party is a total blast. Plus, they can enjoy the disco as well. You will all love it, I am sure.

 

Have fun! :)

[Beowulfpk]

I suppose it depends how much they want to whine about it. The Caribbean tends to have most of HAL's youngest cruisers. They can always go to the pool, sunbath, or fitness center etc. The advantage is those ammenities tend to be less crowded than other lines. The activities are fun, but they will have to participate with older passenegers, which may or may not be an issue for them. I would just tell them to suck it up and enjoy it :).

[Mjasp]

We did a HAL cruise in December that was 3 generations. Although, our oldest was 63, we all had a fabulous time. On our last cruise on the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago, there was quite a good age range. Right from babies, teenagers (who seemed to be enjoying themselves) to people in their 80s.

 

True, they don't have all the "young" amenities other ships do but there is certainly no shortage of things going on. The pool games are hillarious and the pool party is a total blast. Plus, they can enjoy the disco as well. You will all love it, I am sure.

 

Have fun! :)

 

Glad to hear this as I am booking tomorrow with our friends and we all have teenagers.

Let the FUN begin. Did you sail during a school break?

[Clemsonfan15]

I'm in the same age as the daughters and I really like Holland America, more than NCL (just got off the Pearl today).

 

If the daughters want to party and drink a lot they will be disappointed, but if they just wish to meet up with others their age then I believe they will not have any problems.

 

I would not hesitate to sail with Holland America.

[longtimecruiser]

My family cruised with three generations for years on Hal. My daughter (now 27) grew up cruising on Hal with her grandmother and me. She loves Hal and is not interested in going on RCL to be entertained. My daughter finds plenty to do on Hal. I'm sure your family will too.

[jbhcw]

We cruised on the Zuiderdam last year with three generations and it was one of our best cruises. 16 year old grandson played a lot of basketball and mostly hung out with us but he enjoyed the cruise and we, the grandparents, both sides, were estatic to all be together and cruising.

 

We had a cabana at HMC, so that made the day special and parents took all the kids to the beach in St Thomas.

 

HAL does not have all the bells and whistles that RCI and Carnival have but as someone else said it's not near as crowded, and the girls will be able to find a deck chair:D and our older grandson, and the 8 year old enjoyed doing the DAM Dollar things.

 

Hope you have a great family cruise:)

[Mjasp]

JB...WAIT!!! You have NO problem getting a chair by the pool if you go down at 10 or 11 in the morning?

 

Also what is the Dollar Dam things?

[jbhcw]

We actually did not have a problem getting deck chairs, now that's at the aft pool. We are not Lido pool people- too crowded and too many in a small space:eek:

 

The Dam Dollars thingies are activities that you show up for and you receive Dam Dollars for participating and at the end of the cruise you can pick a gift according to how many Dollars you have.

 

On our Zuiderdam cruise there was a lot of golf putting which we both did and several basketball shoots. We pooled our Dolllars and let the kids pick out what they wanted. It was fun, especially the golf putting.

[Mjasp]

Sorry one other question...The aft pool is that an adult only pool?

[49holding]

I would say to go for a HAL cruise, there is bound to be some young adults ( month long college xmas break??) and they will likely find each other and bond. At your parents age, you are right it more important to find a ship/cruiseline for them..

[knitlady037]

I would say go with HAL. The girls will find something to do. A smaller ship with less people is much more comfortable. My 2 girls (ages 32 & 35) just lost their grandfather (my Father) and would love to be able to vacation with him again. Don't lose this chance. Go with his choice. The girls will have plenty of other vacations when they can find people their own age.

[louben]

We have just sailed on the Zuiderdam; my husband, father (73 years) and my kids (12 & 9 years) and we all had the best time! There were other teenagers/kids onboard, enough for kids to make friends, but not too many - I think its quality over quantity! I noticed all ages in both lido and aft pools. It was a lovely and relaxed atmosphere, where you were able to find a sunbed near the pool when you wanted too. However there were lots of activities if you wanted to participate! Pool games,basketball, tabletennis, chess, trivia, Karaoke contest, bar crawl (5 cocktails in one hour in five different bars), great shows, fantastic piano bar and nightclub! Also, we found everyone so friendly, this was our fifth cruise and I spoke to more people on this one than I have on the other four put together! We felt that there was something for everyone - without doubt our favourite cruise so far!

[Mjasp]

Sounds like you had a great time. I'm looking forward to our cruise. I just hope there are enough of kids on our ship also.

[timothy998]

On Westerdam, aft pool was adults-only. That said, there are plenty of other locations to sunbathe if you wish, and besides, on our 3/22-29 cruise, the pools had whitecaps due to the rough seas!

 

As other posters have noted, there are plenty of activities and they can do the karaoke competition if they desire, or many other things...not just drinking. And HMC was our favorite stop (DW, myself, and kids 3, 7, 10).

 

Go for it...you'll all enjoy it.

[iceman93]

I suppose it depends how much they want to whine about it.

 

And this is really the rub. If the teenagers get pouty about it and convince themselves they're not going to have a good time, then amazingly enough they're not going to have a good time. Barring that, I can't think of too many other vacations MORE suitable for three generations than a HAL cruise!