6 year olds on 7 day cruises

[snorkelman]

My wife and I have twin daughters and we have taken them on one cruise (RCl 3 day on Majesty). Things worked smoothly. The 4 of us will be on the Oasis for a 7 day cruise in less than 2 months. What should we look forward to that is different from a shorter cruise? When we sail, our girls will have just turned 6 years old, so I understand that they will not be in aquanauts (or whatever the program was called for the younger kids).

 

I think that on the Oasis we may be able to drop them off at the camp every night for dinner (3 day cruise did not allow that every night, only certain nights). We are planning on using that program mainly for dinner time, but also some day time stuff too. We anticipate that we will spend some time with the kids by the pool play area and ice-skating and rock-wall.

 

Our kids did fine on the 3 day cruise and enjoyed the kids program. My wife and I have been on many cruises (stopped counting at 20 cruises) but we just recently started paying attention to the things the kids would focus on.

 

Thanks in advance for those of you who give advice based on 7 day cruises on the bigger, more recent ships.

 

I assume there is no need for a stroller, but let me know if I should bring umbrella strollers. We will be at Labadee (beach day and I KNOW no stroller is needed for my kids that day) and Costa Maya and Cozumel. Costa Maya we are planning an AI at the Nohoch Kay Beach Club, and Coz we are planning Dolphin Swim at Chankanaab National Park. All of these days are NOT ship excursions, but I don't anticipate any lengthy walking that a 6 year old cannot handle.

[cb at sea]

6 year olds should not need strollers....

You can come and go from Labadee as needed...if anyone needs some "down" time, take them back to the ship.

Your kids will have a blast...it's not that much different from you last cruise, but the kids will enjoy it more!

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

My six year old still has a stroller - it's used very rarely these days, but if we are doing a lot of walking, we'll bring it along...so it's up to you...I can't think of anything at the ports that would require that much walking though. Maybe try a beach day or something like that.

 

As far as kids activities...we haven't taken our kids yet, but I hear kids love the kids clubs...so you may find your kids will want to be there even more than you plan to have them there. There is a member here who has copies of the kids club activities. I'll see if I can find the link and post it here for you.

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

This is from CruisinMama06:

 

Kids club schedules and children's menus including RCCL Adventure Ocean, Camp Carnival, Disney, NCL, Princess, HAL and Celebrity posted here....

http://photobucket.com/cruisekidpages

 

 

If there aren't club schedules for your specific ship, you can probably still get a general idea from what she has posted.

[snorkelman]

thanks, yeah, my kids really loved the RCL kids club on the last 3 day cruise and we are pretty sure that the one on the Oasis probably has to be top notch. It has been my wife and my experience that 3 day cruise and 7 day cruises are very different in terms of relaxation...it is much easier to fully relax on a 7 day cruise but I didn't know how that impacted the kids (overly tired = cranky or intense excitement = sound sleeping due to exhaustion).

[NanciRDH]

We did Oasis on her Inaugural last December, and though that's not too recent, I will tell you it was hands down my kids' fav cruise. AO is HUGE, and had so many activities, my youngest, then 4, begged to go to camp, or stay there when we were ready to pick her up! I figured out the hours one day, and if I was willing to pay for lunchtime, and the Late Night Party Zone, she could have been dropped off at 9am and picked back up again at 2am:eek: And she would have been happy to do so, lol! No, we didn't do it, she came in for lunch and had a nap, and only stayed late one night.

 

We didn't bring the stroller for her at all on this trip, even as large as the ship is, she didn't need it. The short walks to whatever transport for excursions you're on, and even a little shopping weren't a problem.