Need a change from Royal...advice please

[CruisingSarah]

We are planning our next cruise and think we need to try a different line this time. The reason is DS has done 4 cruises in AO Aquanauts now yet he will still be in that age bracket (just) at the time of the next cruise. The last cruise he seemed to not enjoy the club quite so much as previously and the activities were the same as he had done several times before. Now he has started in full time school too and I really think that he will be wanting a bit more than Aquanauts.

 

I know Royal do adhere to the age groups so I don't really fancy our chances of trying to get him into the 6-8s group or whatever it is (although that would be ideal).

 

So which other lines can CC members suggest to me please? I have seen that P&O do a 5-8 age group which would be perfect, I also like the idea of their ship Ventura, so any feedback/info on this option would be welcome. Unfortunately it looks like I can't get Ventura for the dates we want but have been offered Aurora instead. Now I am really not sure about Aurora, I don't get the feeling that it is a great family ship.

 

I also believe that Princess do a similar 5+ age group.

 

Anyone know anything of MSC's kids clubs? Specifically on sailings from the UK where I would guess there would be a lot more Brit therefore english speaking kids.

 

What would we enjoy after Royal? Any other suggestions?

 

We are in the UK. Summer sailings from the UK would be great but we will fly.

 

Thanks very much :)

[SunniLicious]

I recommend trying Carnival - I found RCL and CCL to be quite comparable and if you enjoy one, you are thus likely to enjoy the other.

[CruisingSarah]

I recommend trying Carnival - I found RCL and CCL to be quite comparable and if you enjoy one, you are thus likely to enjoy the other.

 

SunniLicious, thank you very much! I looked at Carnival and although it would at least be a change for us the Camp Carnival age groups are 'Toddlers 2-5 '. I really think we need a programme which is 5+ just now.

 

Any more suggestions welcome, thanks all.

[boulders]

I highly recommend Disney. A 5 year old can choose to go to the Club or Lab. Both accommodate children aged 3-10. Plus there is so much for them to do around the ship. This summer, Disney Magic is sailing from Dover to the Baltic and also Barcelona to the Mediterranean. Next summer, they are doing Mediterranean sailings from Barcelona only. The prices on these sailings have really come down. Those are the European cruises. They also have sailings from Port Canaveral, Florida and starting next year, from Los Angeles and Vancouver.

 

We did the 5/15 Mediterranean sailing and had a fabulous time. There was more for us to do on the ship than even RCCL. They really cater to families with kids 12 and under.

[CruisingSarah]

Boulders, great thank you very much, probably obvious but I didn't think of them! Off to check out Disney now :)

 

Have a couple of options with Princess who have a 3-7 age bracket which is better than 3-5 for us, but the P&O options I wanted are full unfortunately.

[krmlaw]

when we cruised a few years ago we asked the DS be put in the next one up - they said no problem (on grandeur).

[williamson_ja]

I highly recommend Disney. A 5 year old can choose to go to the Club or Lab. Both accommodate children aged 3-10. Plus there is so much for them to do around the ship. This summer, Disney Magic is sailing from Dover to the Baltic and also Barcelona to the Mediterranean. Next summer, they are doing Mediterranean sailings from Barcelona only. The prices on these sailings have really come down. Those are the European cruises. They also have sailings from Port Canaveral, Florida and starting next year, from Los Angeles and Vancouver.

 

We did the 5/15 Mediterranean sailing and had a fabulous time. There was more for us to do on the ship than even RCCL. They really cater to families with kids 12 and under.

 

Totally agree with this. Disney's clubs are just what you are looking for. They allow the kids to choose the activity and age group that suits them best... until they reach around 13- then it's off to the teen clubs. The younger kids have lots of options.

[CruisingSarah]

Thanks again! Have now looked at Disney and it does look very good I have got my TA checking out options for us. But can someone confirm whether a 5 year old can go to the Lab or not? I have seen info on the WDWinfo site on the cruise section which says that Lab is from 8 years :confused:

 

Also likely with the prices that if we do DCL we will have to go in an inside Cat 12 cabin. Any issues with that? It seems they are larger than most other lines cabins cabins anywya and it has a tub too. We usually have a balcony, have had JS too, but last year we got a really great deal on an inside on Royal and so we went for it, it was fine, and we didn't really miss the balcony. Although when we have it we love it.

 

Thanks again!

[Surfercisco]

We sailed on the Magic a year and a half ago when my son was five. He could not go into the Lab at that time.

 

We ended up becoming fast friends with a family who had taken 8 Disney cruises, and they related that the childcare staff during our sailing was rigid and frustrating.

 

However, our son had a great time in his assigned group. We were surprised that they had a "graduation" program for all participating children in the main theatre. They brought the children on stage and gave them mortar boards with Mickey ears. Very cute indeed. Also, if you are going to the Caribbean and stop at the Castaway Cay (DCL private island), they have a kid's "camp" where you can drop the children off while you go to the adult side of the island and have quality time with the adults in your party if you choose.

 

The staterooms were beautiful and very large. We had a cat 11 (?) stateroom (outside with porthole). The window was huge and our son enjoyed sitting on the sill watching the sea. We went up to a cat 9 with a veranda on our current reservation which is as big as junior suites on other lines.

 

DCL is great. Expensive, but we enjoyed it very much. For now we're sailing with RCCL because the price is right but plan to return to DCL in 2012.

[boulders]

They changed the age rules for the Club and Lab a few months ago. My 4 year old was able to enter either the Club or the Lab whenever he wanted last month on the Magic. The Wonder has the same rules.

 

We had booked a category 12 guaranty. We were upgraded all the way to a category 6. That is really rare. However, people are often upgraded from a 12 to an 11, 10 or 9, since there are very very few actual 12's. Our very large cruisemeet did a cabin crawl and I was able to see a variety of cabins, from an 11 to a 3. The difference in cabins from 11 to 4 was extremely minor. They all had the same amenities. Even the size difference for a category 4 wasn't really noticeable because they put extra furniture in it which essentially takes up all the additional room. I've never stayed in an inside cabin, and won't on RCCL, but given a huge price difference, I'll take one on Disney. In fact, I've got another category 12 gty booked over Christmas. On RCCL, I usually spend a fair bit of time in my cabin, but on Disney, we were truly only there to sleep.

[boulders]

Here's a link to the thread discussing the changes in the Club and Lab age requirements, along with a copy of the letter that was sent out: Disney Club and Lab changes

[CruisingSarah]

Surfercisco ,thanks!

 

Boulders, thanks very much for clearing up that query about the age groups for club and lab, and for the link to the other thread which I have read. That would suit us. I am ok about my 5yo mixing with kids up to age 10yo, he is in a very, very small village primary school here in England and it's normal there that the kids mix and play across this age group.

 

Thanks also for the reassurance on cabins. My only slight concern with the cat 12 guarantee is that we do get a very poor one with lots of noise which I have read about. Having said that for the absolutely huge price difference I am pretty sure we will take ear plugs and chance it ;)

 

Your upgrade sounds great, I guess that is very rare indeed. After the inside last year I am happy with that knowing we will be in the cabin just to sleep really, obviously we would love a balcony but not at Disney prices :eek:

 

One last question I have is that I have been reading lots of stuff about DCL on here and other sites and most of the info is related to the Disney cruises out of Port Canaveral. Is the cruise experience with Disney still the same in the Med or does anything change?

 

My travel agent is holding an option for us at the moment, we are just finalising plans and dates, fingers crossed it comes off for us.

 

Thanks again :)

[CruisingSarah]

Hi, just wanted to update all of you who were kind enough to reply to my post :)

 

We booked a great deal on a cat 12 GTY Disney Magic 11 day Med cruise for Aug 7th on Monday :D

 

Today I logged in and saw the cabin assignment....we have been assigned a cat 9 :D I am so pleased and so excited about this cruise, I am like a kid!!

 

Anyway may I say a big thanks to Boulders - THANKS! - as following that suggestion I went and looked at Disney and without it I wouldn't have even thought to do so, always thought they were way too pricey.

[boulders]

Fabulous! I so want to go back on the cruise. We had so much fun. We were able - dis - to meet so many people on the cruise meet before we went on our - boards- cruise. That made it extra special. See if you can join the fish extender group too. My ds4 loved it.

 

I haven't been on a cruise out of Port Canaveral, but our tablemates had many times. Everything seemed more or less the same, except there are no Mickey Bars (there are regular ice cream bars) or Mickey pasta.

[CruisingSarah]

Fabulous! I so want to go back on the cruise. We had so much fun. We were able - dis - to meet so many people on the cruise meet before we went on our - boards- cruise. That made it extra special. See if you can join the fish extender group too. My ds4 loved it.

 

I haven't been on a cruise out of Port Canaveral, but our tablemates had many times. Everything seemed more or less the same, except there are no Mickey Bars (there are regular ice cream bars) or Mickey pasta.

 

Great! Thanks again! I have found that Board any will see if I can join the fish extender group, it sounds fun! Shame about the Mickey ice cream bars but I just discovered I can buy them here in the supermarket! OK they are a little bit smaller than the ones in WDW but otherwise the same :)

[CruisingSarah]

Just back off the Magic, we had a blast :D

 

The club and lab and the whole load of other activities were just exactly what we were looking for this time, DS 5 had a fantastic time, he kept saying 'mummy this is the best cruise ever of all the other cruises' so it was a real hit with him.

 

We were really impressed with Disney and have booked to go with them to Alaska next summer :D:D. We will cruise with Royal again too I'm sure, but the Disney difference was great for us this time.

 

Thanks again to Boulders for the suggestion in the first place and to everyone who gave me such helpful advice :)

[Warm Breezes]

I think you will find you made a great choice. I would recommend to anyone with a child 4-7 that if you can afford it the Disney experience is priceless.