Princess, RCCL or Carnival for 4-year-olds?

[beckyjohns]

We have sailed many times on Carnival with our boys who are 4. They've liked Camp Carnival (although they are scared to death of Freddy and run crying from him) and I've been happy with the times it is open for them. Always open on port days before the ship docks and until the ship departs. They also always have dinner for the kids if they want (although we take the kids to the dining room with us unless we are going to a specialty restaurant). And they offer group babysitting after 10PM.

 

We are considering a cruise over Thanksgiving this year and are looking at Carnival, RCCL or Princess. I'm curious how their kids programs compare? Are they as conveniently open as on Carnival? Do either RCCL or Princess offer in-room babysitting at night?

[cruisingwith4]

We traveled on Princess last summer with our children (then 3 and 1). Our oldest enjoyed the Fun Zone and still talks about it. But from what I can remember, they don't offer group babysitting, although there are a couple nights where they have Pizza and Pajama Parties. They do not offer in-room babysitting at all.

 

The Fun Zone is open from 9AM (I believe) to 12PM, then they reopen at 2 or 3 for a few hours.

 

I don't think Princess really focuses on kids as the demographic tends to be older.

 

With that said, we are cruising on the Crown Princess in a few weeks because our experience overall was fantastic. Our children found just being on the ship exciting, along with having a few of their own toys and games, that was enough.

[Colorado Kat]

For kids, I think Carnival is the best. (Unless you want the extremely high prices of Disney). Their kids' clubs can't be beat.

 

Have you sailed on a ship with the Waterworks? That is wonderful for 4 year olds.

[ShelbysMom]

Princess does offer group babysitting after 10 pm, with a $5/child/hour charge. The small ships (Pacific and Ocean) do not offer this.

 

The Princess kids club on our recent Island cruise was open more than listed on their website. The website says 9 am-noon, 2 pm-5 pm and 7 pm - 10 pm on sea days. They were actually open from 9 am - noon, 1 pm - 5 pm and 6 pm - 10 pm. I recall reading here where this was the case on another Princess ship recently.

 

Our 5 year old son loves the Princess clubs. This was his second cruise going to it and he wanted to be there whenever it was open. This was on a cruise with very few kids, but the other one was a spring break Caribbean. The staff on both of these was excellent, really providing a great environment for the kids.

[cruisingwith4]

Princess does offer group babysitting after 10 pm, with a $5/child/hour charge. The small ships (Pacific and Ocean) do not offer this.

 

Thanks! I did not remember seeing this last summer. It was our first time cruising as a family and I'm sure there was a lot I missed. :D

[Keith1010]

In my humble opinion, after Disney, Princess offers the best children's program.

 

Keith

[rebeccalouiseagain]

My take on the cruise lines

 

NCL too many kids during holidays. Overwhelming for kids IMO.

 

Carnival was good but again seemed very crowded at times.

 

Royal is good and we did an Easter cruise and it was not terribly crowded. They seem to do a good job with the kids.

 

Princess: My son loves the program. We've sailed them 3x's.

 

Celebrity is my absolute favorite cruise line and the kids program is awesome for ages 3-12. Older kids will be bored I think.

 

Holland America was good with the little ones and does offer the "Loft" area and a teens only area with Hammocks. One of the teens on Celebrity said she preferred Holland because of this aspect.

 

Cunard: Small childcare area but lots to do on the ship- planetarium, indoor heated pool and hot tubs, outdoor areas to play. The kids do have fun but they are not overly stimulated. There is no arcade, which I was happy about.

 

Quite frankly I think they get more one-on-one with Princess and Celebrity than any of the other lines I've cruised.

[Kerry's Girls]

We did a 14 day to Hawaii and back on Princess when my twins were 4 and they loved it. The ships don't have the fun pools/slides though - but the kid program was great and they never wanted to leave.

 

We did NCL last time and they also had a great time and loved the slides, but I found that in order to enjoy a meal, we needed to eat at one of the pay restaurants. So I just think of NCL as more a la carte - if you want better food, you can pay for it or if you're fine with their main dining room, that's available too. NCL was my least favorite, but I would absolutely sail them again if the price/itinerary was right. And I think the kids are going to have a great time no matter what.

 

The funny thing is that at the ripe old age of 5, my girls are already traditionalists as far as cruising goes - they prefer the same time/same table kind of cruising where they look forward to seeing their waiters and the dining room fun that goes on with traditional dining.

 

Best,

Mia

[junglejane]

Princess definitely does not offer in room babysitting. My kids are now 14 and 10, but honestly I doubt that a 4 year old can tell the difference between the Princess or Royal Caribbean kids programs.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

My vote would go for Carnival or RCI. I have never sailed with RCI but I know they are teamed up with Dreamworks which has been a hit for families! And they also have great kids' programs. I have sailed on Carnival and they have a fantastic kids program that has great hours and babysitting for a nominal fee. I would also recommend a ship from the Dream class (Dream or Magic) seeing that they are fairly new & have everything Carnival has to offer (Water Works, mini golf, skycourse and such!).

[briscogun]

I've only sailed RCI, but they do have in-room babysitting. I can't remember the pricing though. The Adventure Ocean program can watch the kids after 10:00PM for an hourly fee (I want to say it was $5 or $6 per hour). I think it would stay open until about 1:00AM?

 

We're tyring the Freedom of the Seas with the Dreamworks characters this summer, so we're hoping that will add an extra layer of fun and excitement for the kids.

 

I think as adults we spend more time fretting this stuff than the kids do. They just want a place to play! ;)

[beckyjohns]

Thanks for all the input! We had a change of plans and decided to go in early October instead of Thanksgiving, which means Princess is out! As much as I know my kids would love RCCL, we opted for the Carnival Dream becuase we just couldn't justify the price difference for the 4 of us.

[Queen of Oakville]

My vote? Holland America.

 

When we cruised Carnival DREAM; DD was 4 and DS was 2.5. My son did not want ANY part of Camp Carnival. He hated it. I was not at all impressed with the counsellors. They certainly didn't make the kids feel wanted or welcome. My daughter went a few times, but she could have taken it or left it. They enjoyed the MDR, the pool, the waterslides, and the mini-golf.

 

When we sailed HAL Eurodam this spring break; my DD was 5 and my sun was 3.5. Club HAL was AMAZING! The counsellors were all excellent. It's a much smaller population of kids. On our sailing there were about 140 kids, and only 30 or so actually made it to CLub HAL. The kids checked in on Day 1 just before the muster. When they returned after dinner, they were each greated by name, on that visit and everyone thereafter. Club Hal was well-ogranized with lots of activities for the kids. Everyday they had a new schedule for what was going to take place. [Camp Carnival was more a free-for-all with babysitters in a big toy room]. They did a ton of arts and crafts. Each kid left at the week with a nylon sports bag filled with goodies and all of their craft projects from the week. One night they took over the Culinary Arts centre, made chocolate chip cookies and watched CLoudy with a Chance of Meetballs. Every night, the had a "theme" night after dinner, which included Spy Night, Alien Night, etc. and did theme-related crafts and games.

 

What i also liked about HAL, was that they had "FAMILY" activitites. Other ships have activities for the kids and activities for the adults. Everyday there was at least one activity for families such as Family Karaoke, Family wii tournament, Family Trivia, Family Scavenger Hunt etc. On one of hte formal nights, CLub HAL took over the disco and we had family disco night. THAT WAS A BLAST!

 

After every game/activity, the kids always left with tons of prizes, like Rubik's cubes, trophies, Magic 8 balls etc. Many of the items were "promo" items but still were great.

 

Now, Eurodam, although one of the newer ships, is not a "show" ship like DREAM, or OASIS. There is no minigolf or waterslide. But we still had a blast. I would highly recommend Eurodam for young families.

 

 

Finally, do your kids like the Dreamworks characters? HAve you considered the Kung Fu Panda package? We're sailign on FOTS this summer and can't wait to meet all the characters.