Several questions about kids on Princess...

[2preschoolers]

I've never sailed on Princess. I've been on 4 Carnival ships and one Celebrity. I wasn't overly thrilled with having kids on my last Carnival cruise. (long buffet lines, no kids pool, no chairs by the pools...)

 

So I'm wondering how is the kids club on Princess? (They will be 3 & 5). They loved Camp Carnival so I'm hoping Princess does as good of a job. Any advice?

 

Which ships (Caribbean - eastern or southern) have nice kid pools? I'm hoping for something with some splash area or only 3ft deep, etc)

 

Are fellow passengers accepting of kids? I don't want acruiseline where people feel put out by those of us who bring our well behaved kids.

 

Are there decent food choices for younger kids? (Fries, mac & cheese, hot dogs, etc)

 

Are the lines for the buffets at bkfst & lunch managable? (it took forever on the Liberty!)

 

thanks, in advance!!

[stoneharborlady]

Havent cruised since 2007, but did take my 3 year old nephew on the Caribbean Princess in July of that year. He loved the kids club.

They have a lovely pool with a very small slide for little ones. I dont think you could blame a cruise line for the one or two grumps who are always available to grouse about kids on shipboard. There is a kids menu available, though the kids can order from the regular menu too. Grilled cheese, chicken fingers and fries, hamburgers and hotdogs, the usual. Horizon Court buffet can be busy, but is worst on embarkation. Never found it to be unmanageable most other times.

 

Karen

 

 

 

 

I've never sailed on Princess. I've been on 4 Carnival ships and one Celebrity. I wasn't overly thrilled with having kids on my last Carnival cruise. (long buffet lines, no kids pool, no chairs by the pools...)

 

So I'm wondering how is the kids club on Princess? (They will be 3 & 5). They loved Camp Carnival so I'm hoping Princess does as good of a job. Any advice?

 

Which ships (Caribbean - eastern or southern) have nice kid pools? I'm hoping for something with some splash area or only 3ft deep, etc)

 

Are fellow passengers accepting of kids? I don't want acruiseline where people feel put out by those of us who bring our well behaved kids.

 

Are there decent food choices for younger kids? (Fries, mac & cheese, hot dogs, etc)

 

Are the lines for the buffets at bkfst & lunch managable? (it took forever on the Liberty!)

 

thanks, in advance!!

[Richie2pies]

There are usually not as many kids on Princess. Not that much for them to do and the kid's club doesn't usually have that many kids. Other lines are better for kids.

[katisdale]

My grandchildren have loved their cruises. If you go when school is out there will be plenty of kids on the 7 day cruises. Cruises of over 7 days will have noticeably fewer kids. The kids club is available (usually) from 9 AM to Noon, 2 PM to 5 PM and from 7 to 9 PM on the sea days. On port days your kids can go to the club if you notify them a day in advance. If the younger one is not yet completely potty trained she will not be allowed to stay without one of you also being present. Our kids preferred the big pools to the kids pool which is near the kids area and not where the action is. Ours loved the MUTS pool as they played kids movies during the day. One of our grands is a picky eater and eats mostly off the child's menu - chicken fingers - plus a soup or appetizer from the regular menu. Our other child loves the regular menu including escargot. That really surprised us. They both want to go to the children's area whenever it is open. We enjoy traveling with them and for us Princess seems to be a good match.

[jff50]

There are usually not as many kids on Princess. Not that much for them to do and the kid's club doesn't usually have that many kids. Other lines are better for kids.

I'm not sure this person has any personal experience with the Princess (or any other line's) kids programs. He doesn't seem to be a fan of kids on cruises.

 

We've taken our 9 YO on at least 15 cruises (over 10 with Princess). How many kids there are depends on when/where you are going. We've been on cruises with as few as 20-30 kids (Panama Canal cruise during the school year) and as many as several hundred (during our daughter's spring break--not all schools have spring break at the same time). Our daughter has enjoyed all of the Princess cruises she has been on.

 

I don't remember which (if any) Princess ships have splash pools--it's been a while since we've used one. I think that the passengers on Princess have been as accepting of kids as any other cruise line (although Princess does have its' share of curmudgeons). They have a variety of food options for kids (hamburger/hot dog grill, good pizza, free soft serve ice cream, good kids menu in the dining room). They have been doing anytime dining (which we think works better than traditional dining for kids) for longer than most cruise lines, and do a good job of it.

 

The one drawback is that Princess seems to charge more for the 3rd/4th passengers in a cabin than other cruise lines. On more than one occasion, that has caused us to look at other cruise lines when we would have preferred Princess. Given comparable pricing and itinerary, Princess would be our first choice for us and our daughter.

[potomaccruisers]

We are traveling to Alaska on the Golden Princess later this month. When we called, I was told they anticipate over 300 children on board. This seems pretty family friendly to me.:)

[notentirelynormal]

There are usually not as many kids on Princess. Not that much for them to do and the kid's club doesn't usually have that many kids. Other lines are better for kids.

 

That's not true at all. Some cruises have had over 500 kids on them. Not sure what you consider "not as many" but that seems like plenty to me. No, they don't have water slides, wall climbing etc but they do have an excellent kids program. I just watched the video from our last cruise and was really surprised at how many little ones there were on board. I never noticed them all. Our group included a 1-1/2, 2-1/2 and 5 year old. The 5 year old loves Princess.... he doesn't want to go on just a cruise, it has to be a Princess cruise. There weren't that many kids on the Australia/New Zealand cruise but he was good with that. He got personalized attention.

[Loonbeam]

Princess overall does not offer as many kid amenities as some other lines (the waterslides on Epic or huge arcade on Oasis come to mind), but there kids programs seem to get generally decent reviews (there has been at least one negative thread recently.)

 

At their ages, I think Princess would be a fine choice, I don't recommend them as much for teens.

[genevieve7000]

Princess has a great kid's program. Our kids have been in both the Princess Pelicans and Shockwaves programs. With only 70 kids under 18 on our early December '09 cruise, our kids still found several friends each in Shockwaves and couldn't wait to go back at every opportunity! The youth staff was great and really worked at getting the kids active and involved. Early in the week, the kids did icebreaker actiivities to get to know each other. Shockwaves activities ranged from making some pretty cool crafts (Princess is partnered with Klutz crafts), movie night, making ice cream sundaes to much more interactive things like karaoke, boys vs. girls games, giant Jenga (a favorite), a mini-golf tourney, and on and on. Yes, there are also video game and Wii, but tons of other fun things, too. Our daughter was in the Pelican club a few years back and loved Pirate's Night and Pajama night and made tons of friends! I wish I could remember more specifics about Pelicans, but it's been a while! Another perk is that your kids will run into their new friends by the pool, playing ping pong, on a tender, etc. We happened to meet one of my daughter's friends and her mom by the pool and we all met for tea later that afternoon. Our children would rather cruise Princess than take any other vacation!

[Pam in CA]

Are the lines for the buffets at bkfst & lunch managable? (it took forever on the Liberty!)

Princess doesn't have "line-up" buffets; there are stations for cold cuts, Hot food, salad bar, desserts, etc. where you get the type of food you want. It's a bit of organized chaos until you're familiar with it but there are few lines. Pizza, the grill (hot dogs and hamburgers), and ice cream are located near the pool, not in the buffet. This works very well if you want to get only a couple of things and not wait in line for 15 - 20 minutes (which I've experienced on other cruiselines.)

 

Here's a link to a thread with lots of photos of the buffet area showing the stations. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1229678

[Akheila]

our daughter was 5 on our cruise in November on the Emerald...she loved it, she come back from the club each day with tons of fun stories. Didn't want to hang out with us, and didn't even want to get off the ship to come with us for shore excursions. They gave us a pager that if she was bored or needed us they could contact us. We would take her out of the club almost kicking and screaming each time. The waitstaff was great with her, brought her a ton of desserts one night because she had eaten all of her dinner.

 

we have sailed on HAL with her and she liked it..but she loves this line. So much so that we are taking her to Alaska with us next month and we are doing another Caribbean with her in February.

[ssbeagle]

Our grandsons were 5 and 7 when we took them on a cruise. They have been on several Princess cruises since. We've been with them mostly during spring break time when there are lots of kids on board. We had over 600 on our Crown Princess cruise back in March. You will find lots of kids on board during the summer months, spring break time and Christmas when there is no school. Princess has a very good kids' program, but if you are wanting a better one I would have to suggest RCL. Our granddaughters loved their time in the kids' program on Voyager of the Seas and they didn't want to come back to the cabin to sleep. They had too much fun.

[geoherb]

We don't have kids. One of the great things about most Princess ships is there are lots of places without kids. The pool near the spa and the pool at the aft are adults only. We stick to them and don't have to worry. We eat all of our meals in the dining room and have never seen any unruly children in them. There is a kids' menu of chicken fingers, spaghetti, hot dogs, etc. The regular food portions aren't large, so your children may like to try some dishes from the regular menu.

[ShelbysMom]

I will second the suggestion to try the regular menu items. Princess does a nice job on chilled fruit soups that my son loved. He would have soup from the regular menu and either an entree from the regular menu (he loves fish) or from the kids menu.

 

He also loved the kids club and asked to go there at every opportunity.

[Kerry's Girls]

My five year old twins have been on five Princess cruises and have also sailed on Carnival and NCL. We all prefer Princess. The kids club is wonderful and we always find plenty to do. The kid menu is nice, though mine only order off it for lunch, and there is also the pizza and hamburger/hot dog grill. In the evening my girls are only allowed to order off the regular menu and there is always something they love (I think one of my girls could eat the fettucini alfredo for every meal).

 

Have a great time!

 

Best,

Mia

[Cruisin' Chick]

I could have sworn I posted on this thread yesterday to counter the post about Princess not having much for kids to do. I wish that non-parents wouldn't post such misleading comments as they do not truly know.

 

When you first get into your cabin, there will be a packet of info for each age group your kids fall into. A day by day listing of the activities that are awaiting your child. When there are fewer kids onboard (like a cruise when schools are in session), there may be a smaller program, with fewer age groupings and fewer activities. But when there's a decent number of kids onboard, there is certainly a full-fledged program.

 

My daughter had Princess cruises on both types (a February one in which she was only one of three 5-yr-olds and two others when there were plenty of kids). Princess has a partnership with the California Science Center to provide itinerary-based activities. Very popular is the squid dissection.

[Ando]

DD (now 8) has been on 5 Princess cruises and Princess is her favorite kids club by far. In fact on other lines (HAL & P&O) she didn't even go to the kids club because the facilities were so inferior compared to Diamond Princess! The counsellors have always been excellent, and on 1 cruise there were only 12 kids in total onboard & 7 counsellors for her age group. It was like having a personal nanny - she thoroughly enjoyed it. Other holiday cruises have had up to 150 kids or so and the experience was still great.

 

They do have the items you mention on a kids menu however from memory it is the same every day. However we always find items from the main menu that she loves - and yes, there is the always available delicious fettucine alfredo if nothing else seems suitable. The waiters are always very accommodating of requests for modified items from the menu, and our experience has been that they go out of their way to satisfy children...of course many of them have their own young children at home and they love making a fuss over them :) Whilst specific examples elude me, they have created some amazing "special" dishes for DD over the years.

 

As mentioned by others they do have a splash pool attached to the kids club although we have never used them as DD started swimming at a very young age and has always used the main pools.

 

We have always found the other passengers to be very accepting of well behaved children and on a few occasions complete strangers have given our daughter gifts that they purchased for her whilst ashore. As many Princess cruisers are grand-parents I think they generally enjoyed having well behaved children around. As for children that aren't well behaved.....I imagined they may feel less welcomed by other passengers....including myself....lol

 

We don't often visit the buffets but when we do there are generally no lines. Perhaps the excepetion would be around 9am at peak breakfast time, although it's more congestion than lines given the multiple food station set-up onboard. Occasionaly it can be a bit of a wait for burgers from the grill by the pool in the peak lunch period, but we're talking 5 to 10 minutes, and hey, we're relaxing on a cruise with no where else to go so it doesnt bother us...and the cheese burgers are well worth the wait :D

 

So my recommendation is give Princess a try...but beware - they may never go back to other lines after the experience :)