Unsure??? Would the Kids like Holland America ... Maasdam??

[jenne]

We sailed on the Veendam in 2003 when our son was 6. He had a good time but the children's program was pretty sparse, just 1 1/2 hr in the morning and the same in the afternoon. There were only 12 children on board that sailing, so I do understand HAL's limitation.

Since then we have sailed on Royal and have been blown away with the kids activities. The best part was when our then 3 year old could stay on board, while we enjoyed snorkeling - something we just wouldn't have been able to do with him along. (something HAL did not offer in 2003)

We really want to book with HAL again, but I'm worried that the kids program is just not there. We are looking at sailing just before & during spring break, I hope this will have more kids on board. I tried to ask our TA about it, but she claimed she couldn't give me any facts of whether they would have children's activities or not. I'm really concerned about the possibility of there being limited activities.

If you've sailed recently on HAL in Caribbean or the Maasdam please respond. Also how can I get better info from Holland America?

Jenne

[lfgaynor]

We sailed on HAL last summer (2007) and my 6 and 14 year old (then) loved it! Read the article on the homepage of the family section here on "Holland America gets family friendly" for more details.

HAL made HUGE changes to its youth and teen programming over the past few years since you cruised aboard. The youth program then only started at age 5 and now it starts at age 3. The new ships have great youth and teen facilities too. I think your family will really enjoy the Massdam or any other HAL ship.

And you can't beat the service -- thought the food was very good too!

Let me know what you decide.

Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey
Family Cruise Editor

[mgt]

I am wondering the same thing - we are doing the Eurodam for Spring Break and I really hope there will be kids. And in the past on Disney and Carnival - we were able to leave the kids on board while we did things on shore. I have heard things are better and I am hopefull, I will watch this tread!

[Svenja66]

We have the same problems. We are thinking about the cruise with masdam on 25th July 2009. There might be not many children on this cruise. My children loves the child clubs on each ship. I hope they are open, if there are only few kids. On grand princess we were 6 children and they were open all regulary times.
Svenja, Germany

[lfgaynor]

There will be plenty of kids on the Maasdam on your July, 2009 sailing -- that is peak family cruising season for U.S. families.

Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey
Family Cruise Editor