Children's programs on RCCL

[Libba]

My family and I have been frequent cruisers on Carnival but are now making the jump to RCCL. We are booked for a summer cruise on Explorer of the Seas. Our two boys are 10 and 3. Can anyone tell me about the Children's programs? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Robin G]

We took Explorer of the Seas for our first cruise and it was so wonderful, we have never been the same since. At that time, our daughter was five years old. She absolutely loved it and still does. We just got back two weeks ago from another wonderful adventure. We take a cruise every year and her favorite part of the entire cruise is the Adventure Ocean Club. Yes, she does love the pools (even though she would prefer them to NOT be salt water) and she does love exploring the different ports and she even loves getting dressed up for dinner. But, if she had her way, she'd spend a lot more time at the Adventure Ocean Club.

 

They have Pajama Night, Pirate Night with a really cool parade down the Promanade and through the dining room during the second seating, they have tons of crafts to do, they have Nutty Nicknames, they have a Talent Show, they have a treasure hunt -- all kinds of stuff.

 

Before we booked our cruise the next year, we again asked her if she wanted to go back to Disney World or do another cruise -- the cruise beats out Disney World every time! That says it all.

 

Any other questions, just ask.

[PAGA]

Our kids' first cruise (then ages 5 & 13) was on the Explorer in October '03. We've since sailed with them on the Mariner and Navigator and will be back on the Explorer in May as soon as school gets out.

 

Some additional information about Adventure Ocean:

 

You will have the option to allow your 10 year old to sign themselves in/out of the program. Check-out the sign-in sheet the first time you are in the Adventure ocean room - you will see a check box indicating whether or not you want a parent to have to sign the child out.

 

As for your 3 year old, I assume you know the child must be fuly potty-trained (no pull-ups) to participate in Adventure Ocean...our son wasn't fully trained until age 4 so this would have been an issue for us... Also, in the 3-5 year-old room all parents are given a pager in case your child needs you. (They only use the pagers in the 3-5 year-old room)

 

On port days, the programs for 3-5 and 6-8 year olds are open the entire time the ship is in port - they will even take the kids to lunch at the Promenade cafe and for an afternoon ice cream snack in the Windjammer, so you can book an "adult" excursion. (I am not sure about the 9-11 room as we've not had a child in this age group; I know there are not activities for the 12-14 year olds while the ship is in port).

 

On Sea days, is open in the morning around 9am, then closes for about 2 hours for lunchtime, and re-opens until 4 or 5-ish.

 

Every night the program runs from 7pm - 10pm. You can pay for "late night party zone" at $5/hour from 10pm - 1am. On our first cruise when our son was 5 we usually picked him up around midnight and he was usually the only child there. On our other 2 cruises (one in the 3-5 room and 1 in the 6-8 room) there were lots of kids still there past 12:30am!!

 

My kids both love the Adventure Ocean program and prefer cruising to any other vacation option we give them !!

 

One more thought -- the Explorer (and Voyager & Adventure) have Adventure beach located on the deck behind the Adventure Ocean facilities. Your 3 year old will be able to enjoy the shallow splash pool and your 10 year old should be the right height to enjoy the water slide -- parent supervision is required and you'll have to watch the daily programs to see when the water slide is open (usually during hours that the Adventure Ocean facility is closed).

 

I keep editing this because I keep thinking of more great things about Adventure ocean -- there is also the option a few times per week to have your kids have dinner with the Adventure Ocean staff -- The 3-5 year olds take over Johnny Rockets about 3 dinners/week (free, but you do need to sign-up and space is limited) and the older kids eat in the Windjammer.

 

- PAGA

[Guest OBAYbee]

What does the ship charge for having your child in the 3-5 Adventure Ocean program during the day? Must you reserve a place before your cruise?

[happysinglemom]

As far as I know, the only charge is when you want to let your kids stay after 10. You can let them stay until 1 am, but you will be charged $5 an hour ( I think that is the amount). My son was 11, and did not really want to do Adventure Ocean, he figured there were better things to do on the ship at night with me. But since I had planned to vist the gym at least twice in the evening, I told him he would have to at least try it. Well, once he did, that was all she wrote. It was all I could do to get him there as quickly as possible after we finished dining (we had early seating). And each night he wanted to stay till 1!! Of course I could not do that except on the night before sea day - we had early excursions most days - and I'm not one to stay on the ship once in port!! I did NOT let him check himself in and out however, I am a pretty conservative parent that way.

[Guest OBAYbee]

Thanks for the fast response! That is good news that there isn't an hourly charge during the day.

[luv2trek]

Oh, I am really excited to hear the positive reviews about Adventure Ocean. That was one the reasons why I booked with RCI.

 

We will be on our first cruise this coming November (on the Serenade) and we will be traveling with our 3 and 7 year old girls. Do you know of any other types of activities they offer? (i.e. educational stuff, crafts, music, theater). Also, during the evening when the "grown-ups" are dining, where do the kids eat? Is it typically kids food - pizza, dogs, burgers?

 

Thanks!

[happysinglemom]

They don't provide dinner each night for the kids - only an occasional outing. For our week, there were two nights where my son could have had dinner with the AO crew at Johnny Rockets. But we did not do that - I wanted him in the dining room with me - (learning experience and all that!). In fact - he loved the dining room dinners - we were blessed with terrific table mates and they, and the dining room staff, spoiled my son to death since he was the only kid at oiur table. Another thing - you must pick your kids up at 5 each day. And then it reopens at 6 or 7, depending on the age group.

 

You can find out more about the activities offered here:

 

http://www.royalcarib.com/programs/youth_program.html