weird ? for disboard--anybody been on HAL?

[maps]

i know this seems like a strange question for this board but i do have a 7 day land/sea booked for 3/04!

here goes--i'm attending a medical conference on a HAL ship in nov. since my employer pays for it, i'm taking my family with me (hubby, 3 & 4yrold)
i realize HAL is for older folks but i didn't realize how snobby it was until i went onto cruisecritic.com. they are having actual discussions about "bubbas" being on board and ruing their trip!
my kids aren't perfect but i will ensure that they are not disruptive to anyone.

my question: has anyone on these boards (a much NICER board, i might add) been on a HAL cruise and what can you tell me about it? thanks so much

 

[ga9497]

Don't worry about it. HAL is been targeting families a lot more and the "snobs" don't like it. Well too bad.

Which ship will you be sailing on?

One thing you may want to keep in mind is that their children's programs is for ages 5-12. Nothing for the under 5's.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. My daughter has been cruising since she was one (now is 8) and she has always been treated great and very welcomed.

If you stay in an S suite they have a dvd or vcr player (depending on the ship) and you get access to their video library for free.

 

[floridaminnie]

My parents are going on HAL to Alaska in June. Just them and my grandmother. No little kids going though.

 

[Moosysmom]

What cruise line is HAL???, I've been looking at Alaska Cruises for my 50th coming up well in 4 more years. Of course, I can always hope Disney will go there.

 

[floridaminnie]

HAL = Holland American.

My parents decided to go with it b/c it is who DVC goes through for the Alaskan cruise. They aren't using DVC points, but they have also heard good things about them.

 

[wdw1972]

We've got our 4th cruise on HAL booked for this June. My son's first cruise was on HAL when he was 10, then we did another on HAL when he was 12. We did DCL when he was 13 and he asked that his future cruises please be on HAL - we both like HAL much better than DCL.

There will be far fewer kids, which I see as a good thing. For the kids, it's easier sometimes to make friends if there's a smaller # of kids (not hundreds....approaching a thousand). For the adults, it's nice to have dinner and not be surrounded by kids if you're traveling kid-less. My son was always made to feel welcome by other HAL passengers, and from my experience they don't hate kids - unless they're doing something they're not supposed to be doing. At dinner since you've got small kids, they'll try to match you with another family, unless you want your own table. I would not worry about your HAL cruise at all - I wish my employer would send me to *work* on a cruise ship, lol!

For young kids I do think DCL is a better choice, but HAL is a nicer cruise experience overall (my subjective opinion).

 

[maps]

thanks so much for all your replies. my children have always gone everywhere with us and i know they would enjoy this as well. i was just worried that the ship would be crawling with people giving me dirty looks just for bringing young kids let alone if they made any kind of noise.
thanks again

looking forward to my DCL cruise 3/04 too!

 

[somall]

We cruised DCL 9/00, loved it! Hubby and I are in our 40's with a daughter away at college. Disney has such a phenomenal customer service oriented business plan we knew we couldn't go wrong. Had trip to Italy planned for 10/01 but cancelled it after 9/11 (hubby is FDNY, I'm medicine & Italy had a travellers advisory warning, need I say more). Was able to get a fantastic rate on a verandah suite on HAL at last minute. Knew HAL had a reputation but really couldn't beat the price. The ship was beautiful but definetly geared towards a more "mature" clientele. Our room was smaller than on DCL and had signs of wear and creaked a lot. Food was good. Our table mates were in their late 60's. I wanted to switch after the first night but hubby felt it would be impolite as we were only a table of 4. Conversation was pleasant but definetly not as enjoyable as when we did DCL nor was the entertainment. Excursions were very similiar. There was a car dealership convention on board when we sailed which did lead to some boisterous audience interaction at some of the shows. We noticed very few children on HAL, ALL well behaved and enjoying themselves. BUT, that being said, we were amazed at the number of children that were on DCL. We went to the show the kids put on and couldn't believe there were that many children (~500) on board! Talk about well behaved children! All in all our HAL trip was what it needed to be, a break from reality and some R&R. We had a good time but will avoid probably avoid HAL until our "golden years". We're booked on the 5/10 DCL western cruise and can't wait to return to the Magic.

 

[jlawall]

Yes! My DH and I went on our first cruise on HAL. It was a great experience. We sailed to Bermuda. I'm sure you will have a wonderful experience. I remember that the food was really good.