HAL advice

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LoriAnnM

Guest
We are planning a group July cruise to Alaska and we have two kids. We usually cruise RCI but HAL has great pre-booking deals that make them roughly the same price. Does HAL have good kids programs? Our kids are well behaved but my hubby thinks we'll get constant dirty looks from an older crowd (we're around 40), any advice would be helpful. thanks, Lori
 
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BSeabob

Guest
The HAL ships we have been on for Alaska and West Coast had quite a few kids and what looked to me to be a well controled active kids program. That's from someone aboard without kids though. Shorter (7dayers) HAL cruises seem to have a great mix of ages. We have not been on any "Old fogey" outings at all.
 
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Cruizer

Guest
HAL has a kids program during non school time. HAL would not have this program if HAL was not expecting kids.
 
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halfdome86

Guest
You don't mention the ages of the kids. My son was 9 on our Alaskan cruise on the Zaandam. The kids program was terrific. They have the kids sorted by age groups and they have activities based on the ages. It worked out really well from the little ones thru the teens. Kids could come and go depending on whether they were interested in a certain activity. Parents were needed to get the kids released once they'd signed in however.

As a rule the kids were very well behaved throughout the ship and fellow older passengers did not give any dirty looks. There of course is always a risk of running into kids that misbehave and parents that don't seem to care, whether you're on a ship or at the mall, right?

The kids will have a terrific time, as will you.
 
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LoriAnnM

Guest
Ok thanks, it's good to know HAL does have kids on their ships. I kinda thought they must in the summer time. One of my cruise magazines has a "top ten cruises you must do by the time you're 13" and Alaska is one of them! It sounds like the programs run the same as RCI and that's great because our kids like the picking and choosing. Our kids will be 6 and 8 by next July and my brother/sister in law will have a 3 yr old with them and they have never cruised before and are very reluctant to. I have a feeling that HAL will win them over.

Thanks, for all the advice now I just have to choose which ship because theirs the Oosterdam, Westerdam, and Zaandam. With such a strong fleet present in Alaska I guess they know what they're doing. Lori
 
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halfdome86

Guest
IMHO, if you have a choice....choose a ship that goes to Glacier Bay.

One nice thing about the kids programs, for the parents, is there should be a pizza/movie party for the kids which will allow the parents for some alone time with dinner.

Also available for the kids will be the pools of course (covered and heated), basketball, pingpong, shuffleboard, movies, and arcade. You'll hardly know they're with you! ; ^ )
 
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