NCL or RCCL kids program

[jam82]

I'm deciding between NCL Jade, NCL Epic or RCCL Liberty for a Med sailing next June. I like the itinerary of the Jade the best, but the ship the least. The Epic and the Liberty have similar itineraries.

 

I've cruised both lines in the past, but not with my son so I have no experience with the kids program. We have cruised Carnival, HAL and Princess with him and liked both the Princess and Carnival programs. We were very disappointed with the HAL kids program. Although on the whole HAL was nice, we won't sail them again anytime soon due to their lack of age appropriate activities and a staff with attitude.

 

I'm interested in the differences between NCL and RCCL in regards to the kids programs and how they compare to Carnival and Princess.

 

DH is will be 4 and he doesn't need a lot of extras, just a good program with a caring staff and flexible hours.

 

All opinions are welcome.

[fisherhum]

I think it really depends on who the staff are on the ships. We have sailed on RCCL, NCL and HAL with the kids (soon to go on Oasis). My kids loved RCCL and HAL. Both times they had wonderful staff and they really did fun things. On the NCL cruise I don't know if it was because it was end of season or what but the staff were very disengaged and didn't do anything really fun. My kids found that the staff never followed what was in the schedule for the day and as a result were often disappointed when we made the effort to head up to the kids program for a specific thing only to find out that the program is just a "guideline " and they don't really follow it.

 

Having said that the actual kids area was really great on NCL as they had a climbing area (like in a fast food place) as well as lots of space to play.

 

Hope that helps.

[jam82]

Yes, that helps. Thank you. I totally agree that we may have had a different experience on HAL if we had sailed a different week or on a different ship. It's not fair to judge the whole program by a 7 day cruise, but our experience on with the kids program on HAL was SO bad that we're not willing to chance them again. I think we're going to give the Epic a try.

 

Anyone have experience with the kids program on the Epic?

[luvlktahoe]

We just returned from the NCL Jade, 12 nights to the Eastern Med. and Egypt. No experience with the Epic, but the kids program on the NCL Jade was fantastic!

 

We have sailed on RCI, in Europe, as well. Our family experience has been that the food and overall service are much better with RCI/RCL. However, the kids program was much better on NCL. NCL kids program also charged $6 per hour for the 1st child and $4 per hour for each additional child, for days in port(if you leave the kids on the ship). RCI does not charge extra for the days in port. My kids reported the kids club on RCI was "okay" and they had fun, but kids club on NCL was "awesome"(including a 13 year old). I do agree that it is also related to personalities of the staff, because the staff seemed more dynamic on this last cruise.

[Peace2U]

I liked RCCL much better. I was annoyed that you have to pay $6 an hour when your kids stay in the kids' area. I think RCCL compares to Princess more than NCL does.

[Warmer Climes]

My daughter has done both and they are both good. She has enjoyed NCL more because they take the kids to the shows but you would be pleased with either.

 

And...$6/hour on NCL???? I guess they charge after hours but they are open like from 9 AM to 10 PM except on shore days. And I think RCCL charges after hours, too.

 

Barb

[victoriasmommy]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1318931

 

my review aobve.....

3 year old had a great time! The staff was very attentive. DD is very shy & I told them to please ask her in an hour if she needed to potty b/c she might not speak up. They also gave me a phone and encouraged me to call and check on her instead of worrying.

[Peace2U]

And...$6/hour on NCL???? I guess they charge after hours but they are open like from 9 AM to 10 PM except on shore days. And I think RCCL charges after hours, too.

 

Barb

 

They charged us $6 an hour during the day! On the day we were at the private island, they only had activities on the island, and my son didn't have the option of staying on ship in the kids' area. Seemed odd to me.

[jam82]

Thanks for the review. Tell me more about the facial recognition.