Princess Pelicans review (Emerald)

We got off the Emerald on Sunday and had a wonderful time. I wanted to post a reivew of the kids program since I have seen mixed reviews depending on the ship. I can only speak for the Pelicans as my daughter is 3. She ended up spending a good chunk of her time in the playroom while we were on the sailing. She would ask to go up and play, and was disappointed when it was closed. Only once did she not want to stay there - it was a port day and the only kids there were older (6-7) and were playing kind of rough.

The Pelicans room has multiple play areas - TV, jungle gym, game/play tables, and some video consoles. My DD spent a lot of her time in the jungle gym. Or at least, that was where she beelined upon arrival. They did have the TV on in the background, but the only time I really saw the kids planted in front of it was later in the evening (say between 9-10pm). Most of the time, they were playing games or making crafts. Each time I picked my DD up, she would have some sort of craft or prize. On one port day they gave all of the kids there a stuffed dinosaur. On another, the theme was pirates, and the kids got "treasure" (bead necklaces), temporary pirate tattoes, and they made pirate hats.

When the children arrive, the first thing they do is take off their shoes and then wash their hands. They were big on making sure the kids washed their hands.

They also gave parents a beeper. I was beeped several times, so they are very concientious about calling parents if the child is ready to leave, or if they get hurt (our injury was a scraped elbow).

If you have any other questions regarding the Pelicans program, I will try to answer. I don't have older children, so I can't speak for the other programs onboard.

Thanks for taking time to post this. Many times people have questions about the kids programs so this is great info for them.

Hi thanks for your review. We are cruising with our three year old and I am not sure how she will go in the kids club. I am curious as to what the little ones do at night? Our little girl is usually in bed by 7:30pm so if we leave her in the kids club and try and have a dinner to ourselves in the evening is there somewhere the little ones can sleep if they need to?

Thanks

Thanks for the review on this, there have been a few questions recently. :)

Thank you for this review! My DS is 4 (with be 1 month shy of his 5th birthday when we cruise on the Emerald Nov 15th). We've cruised one other time on NCL and he absolutely loved the kids club. He's very excited about this cruise and I'm so happy to hear about your positive experience. I do have a few questions. I've read that on Princess Cays they have a play area that you can drop the kids off at. Did you use that, or see the area? Were there any dinner events that your DD participated in?

Thanks again!

Thank you so much...we too are sailing the Emerald Nov 15, our DD is 5. we have sailed with her on HAL and she loves playing with other kids, so we feel left out, she likes to go to the kids club and dismisses us. The only way to keep her out of the kids club is to take her to the pool.:rolleyes:

did find it had enough staff? and how was it leaving her for a port day? Ours hates shopping and I will likely take on day to do a little.

Hi thanks for your review. We are cruising with our three year old and I am not sure how she will go in the kids club. I am curious as to what the little ones do at night? Our little girl is usually in bed by 7:30pm so if we leave her in the kids club and try and have a dinner to ourselves in the evening is there somewhere the little ones can sleep if they need to?

 

Thanks

Regular bedtimes and naps kind of went out the window on the cruise for us. :) There weren't any designated sleeping areas in the room that I saw. When I'd take DD up there in the evening, she either did puzzles or played on the jungle gym. As more kids arrived (I assume) they put on a movie and the kids sat/laid down on the floor to watch. It was much calmer in the evening.

It's been awhile since my kids napped regularly, but on Princess it seems to be hit or miss if they let the kids nap. On our first Princess cruise with kids, they paged me to get my son, because he was sleeping (he was 3). On other Princess cruises, they have just let him sleep if he wanted to, and not called me. Later at night, they're more inclined to let the kids crash if they need to. So IME, it depends on the counsellors and time of day.

On other cruise lines they have other policies. Disney seems to be most 'pro nap' and RCL the most 'anti-nap', but that's just my personal experience. I don't know if there's an official policy or anything.

That being said, yeah, regular sleep times go out the window, especially if you let the kids stay in the Kids club until 10 pm (which is easy to do if you're trying to catch the end of the show in the theatre).

I have another recommendation if you are doing the Kids Club with a very young one. The day you board, go check out the club. Get them used to it. Most importantly, show them where the potties are, and make sure they know where to go when the need arises. You don't want any potty emergencies on your pager!

FWIW, we've cruised with our kids on Princess three times, and our fourth is coming up in December. This one in December will be the first Princess cruise where my DD (about to turn 9) isn't in the Pelicans. My son is about to turn 7, so I'm guessing he'll still be there. But they have always enjoyed the Kids Club, no matter which ship they've been on, which part of the world they've been in, or how many other kids are participating.

Another two thumbs up for Princess Pelicans!

Thank you for this review! My DS is 4 (with be 1 month shy of his 5th birthday when we cruise on the Emerald Nov 15th). We've cruised one other time on NCL and he absolutely loved the kids club. He's very excited about this cruise and I'm so happy to hear about your positive experience. I do have a few questions. I've read that on Princess Cays they have a play area that you can drop the kids off at. Did you use that, or see the area? Were there any dinner events that your DD participated in?

 

Thanks again!

I had this typed and the computer did something funky!

We did go to the play area on Princess Cays. DD couldn't say good-bye fast enough. It's essentially a giant sandbox with various toys for digging and building. A good chunk of it is covered, and a very large jungle gym is under the covered area. They do have a small wading pool, but parents must accompany their child if they want to swim. A lifeguard was on duty. There are also bathrooms within the play area.

You cannot open the gate to the area from the outside. When you arrive, one of the employees will open it for you. There were 2 on duty while DD played, but I think there were only about 6 unaccompanied children. There were more, but they had a parent with them. You sign your child in/out. Make sure you have a photo ID.

DD didn't participate in any of the dinners they had for the kids b/c they were only held on formal night. DD likes to get dressed up and would have been upset to miss that opportunity. :) On formal nights, they take the kids to the Horizon Court at 7pm for dinner (the center is closed from 5-7pm).

Thank you so much...we too are sailing the Emerald Nov 15, our DD is 5. we have sailed with her on HAL and she loves playing with other kids, so we feel left out, she likes to go to the kids club and dismisses us. The only way to keep her out of the kids club is to take her to the pool.:rolleyes:

 

did find it had enough staff? and how was it leaving her for a port day? Ours hates shopping and I will likely take on day to do a little.

For staff, mostly there were 2 employees, sometimes 3. I never saw more than 10-12 kids in there at any given time. They never seemed harried or overwhelmed.

For port days, she was only in there in the afternoon (we did morning excursions). I felt slightly guilty, but she liked being around kids her own age. Our sailing was heavy on 3-4 yr olds for some reason. A pregnant mother and a grandmother aren't always the greatest play companions. If you plan on leaving the ship, you just sign them in. If you're going to stay onboard, let them know so they can give you a beeper.

On the day of embarkation, after we ate lunch, we headed up there to check it out. There was only one other family there and we were able to get her registered. Bring a photo ID with you, that way they can copy it and keep it on file so you won't have to bring it each time. We ended up staying longer than expected b/c DD didn't want to leave the jungle gym.

One thing that was nice, on the first day, they had a breakdown of how many boys and girls of each age were on the sailing.

We have two grandchildren 10 & 8 will they be in the same group? We are going to Alaska with them.

Thank's

Betty

Hi Betty, yes your Grandchildren will be together. I think Princess has a WONDERFUL kids program. Our last Cruise my daughter (7yrs old at the time) had dinner with us 1 time. She wanted to go to the Kids Club and really didn't want to stay with us. She even stayed on the ship while we went in Port. On Port days they take them to eat in the Buffet so you don't have to worry about them not eating. We will be on the Emerald 11/22 and she is so excited so I have a feeling she doesn't want to stay with us once again. HAPPY CRUSING :)