This was the first cruise for my wife and I in 20 years. Our last cruise was our honeymoon onboard the SS Emerald Seas. Boy have cruise ships changed! This time we were with our 2 boys age 11 and 14.
The Zaandam is a beautiful ship and immaculate inside and out. Someone in another review said the ship was older but in fact this ship sailed for the first time in 2000. Although my wife and I were among the younger couples onboard (both in our early 40's) never did we feel out of place. There was no problem finding people our age. Our boys loved the Club HAL group - Tig, Jen and Ryan the Sports Director were all great with the kids. The only negative on the Club Hal group was that they scheduled the Tweens (9-12) main activity at night during the early show. Our children looked as forward to the shows as we did.
I would recommend that anyone traveling with teens bring walkie talkies. Ours had no problem working in any spot on the ship.