Adventure Ocean questions

[annimal]

I will be taking my 3 yr old son to the Adventure Ocean club for the first time on our upcoming cruise in May. Just wanted to get some info down in preparation. If I understand the AO compasses that have been posted by CruisinMama06, it appears that the program consists of multiple sessions each day. I assume we only need to officially register once for the program rather than each time we plan to have my son attend. Do I need to sign-up my son for each session he may attend (like a sign-in sheet, not the full registration process)? Do the kids have to be there for the entire duration (from start to finish) of a session? For example, if my son would still like to have dinner with the rest of our group (early seating at 6:30pm) in the main dining room, would it be okay for him to join the ongoing AO session (which would probably be the evening session that runs from 7 - 10pm) after dinner which is about halfway through, like from 8:30 to 10pm? Trying to figure out if the program is more like a daycare where you drop kids off (provided there's a session available) whenever you want to or if it's more like school where they need to attend a session from beginning to end (assuming my son wants to stay). Also, is it customary for parents to send their little ones (3 - 5 yr olds) to the Late Night Party Zone (10pm - 2am) if the parents need some adult time or to catch a late show that doesn't end until 11pm? Or is that more for older kids? I assume during the Late Night Zone, the kids are actively up rather than a sleepover/slumber party type thing I have read for other programs. Is it more customary with young kids to just sign up for an in-cabin sitter?

 

I should mention that we'll be going on Liberty of the Seas, which may have a nusery by the time our May trip comes around. If that is the case and if my understanding from some recent posts is correct, then there may no longer be in-cabin babysitting and might just end up being a group sitting thing at the nursery. If this is the case, are the kids encouraged to sleep or is it still treated like a little party?

[Babyberger]

I will be taking my 3 yr old son to the Adventure Ocean club for the first time on our upcoming cruise in May. Just wanted to get some info down in preparation. If I understand the AO compasses that have been posted by CruisinMama06, it appears that the program consists of multiple sessions each day. I assume we only need to officially register once for the program rather than each time we plan to have my son attend. Do I need to sign-up my son for each session he may attend (like a sign-in sheet, not the full registration process)? Do the kids have to be there for the entire duration (from start to finish) of a session? For example, if my son would still like to have dinner with the rest of our group (early seating at 6:30pm) in the main dining room, would it be okay for him to join the ongoing AO session (which would probably be the evening session that runs from 7 - 10pm) after dinner which is about halfway through, like from 8:30 to 10pm? Trying to figure out if the program is more like a daycare where you drop kids off (provided there's a session available) whenever you want to or if it's more like school where they need to attend a session from beginning to end (assuming my son wants to stay). Also, is it customary for parents to send their little ones (3 - 5 yr olds) to the Late Night Party Zone (10pm - 2am) if the parents need some adult time or to catch a late show that doesn't end until 11pm? Or is that more for older kids? I assume during the Late Night Zone, the kids are actively up rather than a sleepover/slumber party type thing I have read for other programs. Is it more customary with young kids to just sign up for an in-cabin sitter?

 

I should mention that we'll be going on Liberty of the Seas, which may have a nusery by the time our May trip comes around. If that is the case and if my understanding from some recent posts is correct, then there may no longer be in-cabin babysitting and might just end up being a group sitting thing at the nursery. If this is the case, are the kids encouraged to sleep or is it still treated like a little party?

 

 

Let me try to answer some of your questions the best I can. We have sailed twice now with RCI. The first time my little ones were 4 & 5, this past time 5 & 7, so we have a had some experience with the 3-5 AO group.

 

You register once....I found it less hectic to register when we first got on board then when they have open registration on the first night. Once you have registered you can drop off and pick up whenever you want. Although you should check the daily compasses to make sure the group isnt on a "field trip", sometimes they parade around the ship....very cute! Our kids always ate dinner with us and just went to AO when they were done, no problems. There some mornings afternoons they wanted to participate and others we chose to go to the pool or spend family time together.

 

From what we experienced with the late night zone, the younger kids seem to be much quieter and many of them actually fall asleep. We used it more on Freedom (as we had problems with the in-stateroom sitter) but on Oasis we had great in-stateroom sitters for the late night so our kids really didnt stay past 10pm in AO, but we wouldnt have hesitated to do it again if we couldnt get sitters or if they just didnt work out.

 

Sorry if I missed anything. Feel free to ask more! And most important....ENJOY YOUR CRUISE :D

[annimal]

Thanks Babyberger!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We're just off the Navigator, with grandkids. After the initial registration process, which you can do at any time, but works best the first day, you have to sign them in for each session on a brief form, then sign them out. You'll need the kids sea pass to sign them in and yours to sign them out.

 

You can sign them in and out at any time; say, sign in at 7:30, sign out at 9:30. The only time they wouldn't encourage that is if there are only a few minutes left in a session.

[Babyberger]

We're just off the Navigator, with grandkids. After the initial registration process, which you can do at any time, but works best the first day, you have to sign them in for each session on a brief form, then sign them out. You'll need the kids sea pass to sign them in and yours to sign them out.

 

You can sign them in and out at any time; say, sign in at 7:30, sign out at 9:30. The only time they wouldn't encourage that is if there are only a few minutes left in a session.

 

Yes, I forgot to mention that the child's seapass card will be scanned when you sign them in, and they your (a parent's) sea pass card is needed when you pick them up.

[deniuh]

AO is very flexible. Like everyone said make sure you sign up the first day during open registration. That was the first thing we did on the ship after we dropped our bags off in the room. I recommend reading the AO compasses religiously before you go to bed so that you will know how to time your drop offs. Recently we sailed Allure and I misread the compass - tried to drop my daughter off before heading to a specialty restaurant, but they were already heading to the Windjammer for dinner. Luckily one of the staff members was nice enough to turn around and sign in my DD - of course the rest of the group had already left so I followed him to the Windjammer until they had caught up with the rest of the group. (Can't be too careful!)