Tell me about the RCI kids program

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

I have found a group cruise I am interested in on RCI. I will be sailing with my parents (in their 60's) and my kids that would them be 3 and 5. Do the kids who participate have to be potty trained? I am concerned with the in room babysitting. I may be paranoid but I worry about a stranger being alone with my kids. IS this line good for all ages? Sorry if these are silly questions but I just came across this cruise and no NOTHING about this line.

[dolphins76]

We used Rccl's kids program last Feb...our kids were 5,6,9.....they loved the program....they went to every session while at see and even stayed on board on our last port day....Yes the kids must be potty trained...and can not have any accidents....if they do have one they are not allowed back. We did not use the in room babysitting so I am unable to answer your questions about that. We did use the after hours Kids camp.."The late night Party" is what they called it and the kids loved it, they did so many diff. projects, played games, had talent shows. We are going on our 2nd cruise now and we are doing Carnival...my SIL who is a travel agent says Carnival has the best kids program...so we hope she is right. Good Luck and Happy Cruising

[cruzinrn]

We used Rccl's kids program last Feb...our kids were 5,6,9.....they loved the program....they went to every session while at see and even stayed on board on our last port day....Yes the kids must be potty trained...and can not have any accidents....if they do have one they are not allowed back. We did not use the in room babysitting so I am unable to answer your questions about that. We did use the after hours Kids camp.."The late night Party" is what they called it and the kids loved it, they did so many diff. projects, played games, had talent shows. We are going on our 2nd cruise now and we are doing Carnival...my SIL who is a travel agent says Carnival has the best kids program...so we hope she is right. Good Luck and Happy Cruising

 

I'm not sure if this will help because it could be due to many reasons why children may prefer one children's program to another. My children absolutely loved Camp Carnival all three times we've sailed with them. The sensation, Victory and Glory. We have also sailed the NCL Dawn only with my 2 older children. My son had no preference but my daughter enjoyed Camp Carnival. She did seem to meet many girls her same age while on Carnival and developed frienships. There were also a few counselors she felt went out of their way to make them happy. While on Carnival they had a scav. hunt and the 9 year olds along with their group were given permission to go about the boat themselves, which I did not find out until after the fact. She liked the idea of having a little more freedom at nine compared to the Dawn. I did not like that they were able to do so. I did sign a paper at the initial meeting stating that even though she was nine and could sign themselves in and out, she was NOT to do so. They did abide by my wishes except for the hunt.

My daughter also thought that Carnival did many more activities than NCL.

As for my younger one, he loved the tunnels ball pits aboard NCL Dawn which kept him occupied for hours along with other young ones on board with us.

The other thing they appreciated was the childrens pool which has two small slides and fresh water as opposed to salt water. Any more questions please feel free to ask.

PS. If you have a small one that is afraid of characters (and there were a few) you should be aware of Funship Freddie, a character that plays along with the kids at various times. You will meet him at the welcome aboard dance party, he has quite the moves.

Sharon

[Onessa]

DD (now 9) has accompanied us on several cruises over the years. She likes RCL Adventure Oceans the best, but also liked the program on Princess and Celebrity.

 

AO has a wide variety of activities and are open good hours. The programs are really geared to the age groups of the kids. They have a number of opportunities each cruise to dine with the program in the evening (and thus avoid sitting through a long adult dinner in the dining room). I like the fact that the program stages specific events when the adults can join the kids in activities (bingo, scavengar hunt, dance, skating, talent show) - it allowed me to get to know the kids that she was playing with.

 

DD also liked the water slides on the Radiance and the Voyager, and thought that skating on the Voyager was "way cool"

[dianelevene]

We were on RII's Splendour of the Seas a little over a week ago with my daughters who are 4 and 5 years old. It was their second cruise. They absolutely loved Adventure Ocean. They enjoyed all the activities and were sad each time we came to pick them up. We never used the "Late Night Party" because DH and I are not really night owls but we heard from other families that kids loved that too. My older daughter was so sad on the last night of the cruise that she cried when she left Adventure Ocean. Kids did have to be potty trained and they gave us a beeper to wear just in case one of our kids was having some seperation anxiety (which mine never did.) My kids did one of the nights where they eat with Adventure Ocean which gave me some time alone with my hubby. The kids' menu in the dining room has all the traditional kid items on it. Some nights my kids ate things off the kids' menu but more frequently they ordered off of the adult menu, which was always fine. The waiter and the assistant always made a big fuss over my daughters which made them feel like princesses. We were very happy with the RCI children's program and would certainly recommend it to other families.

[synewton]

We have just returned from the Mariner of the Seas. My 5 yo son has previously cruised Princess with us and loved their Fun Zone but did not care for RCI's Adventure Ocean. I attributed this to the fact that Adventure Ocean has a very structured program with children changing activities every 15 to 20 minutes. It doesn't (at least that sailing) allow for "free" play except for the first 15 minutes of each session when they were signing in the children. If some got involved with the ball-pit, legos, pretending with each other, or the computer , they would be forced to stop and move along with the planned schedule of the day. Princess on the other hand tailored the activities to the children present. There were always scheduled activities (similar to Adventure Ocean) but if a child got involved in something, they wouldn't force them to move on to the scheduled group activity. I suspect that Adventure Ocean has to keep all of the children doing the same activity because they have alot of children present and only a few staff members to supervise. Princess on the other hand had a very low children: staff ratio.

 

I think that Adventure Ocean offers a very good program but just something to consider if your 3 and 5 year old do not transition that well.

 

Sonia