kids clubs: RCI vs. Disney

[bus man]

We're looking at taking a family cruise in a couple of years, when the kids will be 7 and 5. Our top choices would be either Disney Dream/Fantasy, or RCI Oasis/Allure. (We're also open to RCI Freedom.) I must admit that I've been surprised at some of the negative comments I've been reading about the Disney kids club: how they lump all kids below tween age into the same room; how they don't do much besides video games; how the staffers are not friendly; etc. On the other hand, everyone seems to rave about RCI's Adventure Ocean. And I definitely like the idea of breaking out the kids into different age groups.

 

I love RCI, but I've always wanted to try Disney. My question is, what are the two kids programs really like? For those of you who have had kids in both programs, I would really love your feedback -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Thanks a bunch!

[boulders]

DS5 has been in Adventure Ocean on Radiance of the Seas, and Explorer of the Seas as well as the Magic for 11 days last May. He loves both of them. However, the reason he really liked the Magic is because of the video games available. :o He also very much liked AO, but the room for the 3-5 age group was quite small on EOS.

 

The Disney clubs are more convenient - they have longer hours, they don't stop for lunch or dinner. If the kids are there at mealtime, they'll feed them automatically.

 

For me, as an adult, I found the Disney ship more to my taste. There were no hairy leg contests or emphasis on drinking. On RCCL ships, there are bars everywhere, which is great for a drink, but not necessary for me. The Windjammer on RCCL is much better than the buffet on Disney. Bingo is better on RCCL. :D There is no casino on Disney. The entertainment is better on Disney.

 

Overall, I would say you should do DCL at least once. If your two kids are girls, they would especially love the character meets, which are ALL the time.

[ryansmom]

My son has never been in a kids club on RCI...only Disney. When he was 9.

 

He absolutely loved it and we hardly saw him. He even didn't want dessert at dinner because he was in a hurry to get back to the kids club.

 

There was a lot of things to do, plus 'free time' too.

 

I agree...you should do a Disney cruise at least once....and, if your kids are young, even better.

 

[Jennerbean]

We just got off of the Disney Wonder with two 5yr olds, one 4yr old and one 2yr old (2 families). I have to disagree with all of the negatives you've read about. We all had a fabulous time and LOVED the kids clubs.

 

Disney offers 2 different areas for kids 3-12yr. Our kids loved the Oceaneer Club (it seemed to be geared towards the younger end of the range). The Oceaneer Lab offered activities geared towards the upper end of the age group. However, the kids can go back and forth between the rooms. The activities were never ending. Yes, the kids could play computer games, but there were also crafts and physical activities available. I would be happy to list some of the activities from our personal navigator (if you're interested).

 

We also found the staff members to be very friendly. We really liked them, and our kids really liked them.

 

We had so much fun that I'm in the process of researching our next cruise. I'm not sure if we want to try Disney again or check out some of the other lines. But I would definitely recommend Disney. Disney has drawbacks, but the kids club wasn't one of them...

[mizzoumarist]

We took a Disney cruise ages ago and the characters were fun, but my son disliked the kids club. All he did was color pages copied from a coloring book and he knew no crewmembers by name. It was like a hotel babysitting service. If you're kids are used to that, cool. On our next cruise, Carnival, we were amazed with the attention he got from all the pretty Australian girls who worked at the kidsclub and all the fun guys who knew all the kids by name. He made fun craft projects, gifts for mom, me!, and dressed up for parties and toured the ship a lot in a group of kids (usually dressed up and acting silly). He loved traveling around without us and was eager even to have meals with his counselors.

Having said that, if you ask my son, now 16, he'll say he had a great time on Disney (we combined the cruise with a park stay) and he loved hearing the "wish upon a star" theme played on the ship horn. Have to admit, that is magical. Sooo, if you have friends with kids going to hang out with the little ones, Disney is great. If not, let your kids be pampered with attention on RCL or Carnival. Hope this helps!

[firstprincesscruise]

We were on the Disney Wonder in November and my dd 8 at the time loved it so much. She never wanted to leave there. We would have to force her to leave at 10 at night and she wanted to go right back as soon as she woke up in the morning. They do experiments, cooking schools, characters come in to do things with them. I found the staff very friendly and very attentive to the kids needs. They fed them if they were there at meal times and did not want to leave. It was great. Disney was also great for the adults because if you were in the middle of doing something you did not have to worry to run back and pickup your child because the kids club was closing for lunch/dinner. We really liked it and would love to go on one of the new ships. We chose NCL for our next trip stricly for convenience of leaving out of New York which is our home port.

[southt00]

Hi:

 

Our DD is quite shy so we didn't bank on her enjoying the kids club on RCCL. She loved them and we actually got quite a bit of adult time. The fact that she enjoyed them allowed us to book another cruise. We have cruised the Independence of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas. We have the Freedom booked for the fall.

 

We are doing the Disney Dream in a few weeks. I do have the same concerns about the ages mingling since she is easily intimidated. We'll see how it goes.

 

In the meantime, here are some pics of RCI's kids club.

 

http://travel.southpol.ca/2010/09/royal-caribbeans-ocean-adventure-club.html

 

PS: The splash pad on the RCI ships are AMAZING! There is tons of room and you can enjoy a cocktail and watch your kids run around from the luxury of a lounge chair. Way less stress than managing them at a crowded pool. Let me know if you want H2O zone photos.

 

Tracey

[sjmarante]

The Royal CAribbean kids club is SOOOOO Much fun, the councelors are fantastic, and its a ton of fun, never been on Disney, but I know somebody who has (11 years) and loves it,i personnaly LOVE RCI

[Onessa]

We've been on one Disney and six RCCI cruises with our DD. She is now 15YO :eek:! but when she was still a kid, she seemed to prefer RCCI -- it was a bit more "active". DD is not into video games, was never into the costumed characters (they are "freaky") and is really more into the social scene. For DD who she met and hung with on a cruise was more important than the kid's club activies.

 

RCCI counselors are good at getting kids to mingle and to participate. On our only Disney cruise, the counselors were pretty hands-off and a lot of the kids were just doing there own thing.