RCL Kids Club for 3-5yos - Tell me about it please

[OnlyMe]

Hi,

We are sailing on Indy in a few weeks time with our 3.5yo son. Last couple of times we sailed were with NCL and he didn't take to the kids club at all but that was more because it was story reading and colouring in a little room which he wasn't in to and also he was younger.

I'm hoping this time on RCL he will do better but if he doesn't its not the end of the world but ... I'm wondering what we can expect for how it works for his age group? Activities? What kind of room they are in? (On NCL the bigger kids had a room with soft mats and a ball pond / play area but nothing in the other rooms) - can anyone fill me in on what to expect please?

Thanks so much

[ashmac8]

when we went on the Enchanctment of the Seas. He wasnt a big fan of the kids club. When we went for orientation he was all about the wii and bigger kids area. Once he was left in the "babyish room" he was not feeling it at all. He isnt a coloring storytime kind of guy.

 

But, others that we met on board had kids who would throw a fit when their folks pulled them out. So you never know.

 

We could have left him but he would have been bored so he only spent about 2 hours the whole week in the kids club.

[OnlyMe]

when we went on the Enchanctment of the Seas. He wasnt a big fan of the kids club. When we went for orientation he was all about the wii and bigger kids area. Once he was left in the "babyish room" he was not feeling it at all. He isnt a coloring storytime kind of guy.

 

But, others that we met on board had kids who would throw a fit when their folks pulled them out. So you never know.

 

We could have left him but he would have been bored so he only spent about 2 hours the whole week in the kids club.

 

Our DS may well be the same was as your DS, he could refuse to go ... or he could love it - can I ask what the rooms were like on Enchantment?

[ashmac8]

the kids club was set up nicely. It was clean and organized. But they wanted him to play duck duck goose and color. If there had been more rambunctious activities with some older boys I think he would have been all over it. It was over labor day and about 250 kids on board.

 

I think the issue for us was most of the kids were 3 and my son was 4. He thought it was kind of babyish and in his words "lame". He didnt refuse to go but in our planning we had only planned to use the club if he was having a good time.

 

We are taking a celebrity cruise in April and have the same attitude. If he likes it and wants to go a few hours a day great. If not, we are perfectly happy having him with us. He will be 5 1/2 on this trip. It wont be long before he is "too cool" to hang out with us so we are going to enjoy the time now when he enjoys our company. :D

[OnlyMe]

the kids club was set up nicely. It was clean and organized. But they wanted him to play duck duck goose and color. If there had been more rambunctious activities with some older boys I think he would have been all over it. It was over labor day and about 250 kids on board.

 

I think the issue for us was most of the kids were 3 and my son was 4. He thought it was kind of babyish and in his words "lame". He didnt refuse to go but in our planning we had only planned to use the club if he was having a good time.

 

We are taking a celebrity cruise in April and have the same attitude. If he likes it and wants to go a few hours a day great. If not, we are perfectly happy having him with us. He will be 5 1/2 on this trip. It wont be long before he is "too cool" to hang out with us so we are going to enjoy the time now when he enjoys our company. :D

 

Thanks so much for the information. DS sounds the same a your DS - much prefers to play with older boys and is pretty active - not really into sitting and colouring for very long.

We have the same attitude towards this upcoming cruise - if he likes the kids club great but if not then he will be happy with us

[shellys6]

We were on Allure for Spring Break '11 (and going again this year) with my 3 sons (ages 9,6,3yr-last year). They LOVED the club. There was a lot of singing, dancing, play/puppet-watching in the Imagineers Room (think that's what it's called), and the art room. My 3yr old would go for a couple hours in the am and then after dinner with the MY FAMILY TIME DINING-which the club picks them up from dinner at 6:45pm. They all loved not having to sit through a long boring 2+hour dinner and would go to the club and run around all night. There was plenty of free time and structured activities. The compass listed what was going on for each age group and at what time/so they would go when they liked the theme/activities. They all surely went more than I had anticipated. Plus it helped that it was Spring Break and there were 800+ kids on boat (500 of which were registered and using AO). Good luck!!

[sharktums]

The 3-5 year old club is a little bigger on Independence than on the smaller RCL ships so it's not a 'little' room at all. It has a play ship with a little slide if I remember correctly as well as a ton of games and play things.

 

There's not a 'ton' of active play, but it's certainly not just sitting and coloring or reading the whole time. Also, depending on when you're going and who's running the clubs we had one experience on Freedom where they kept bringing the Aquanauts (3-5 age group) all over the ship doing random fun things! They played hide and seek in one of the dance clubs, got to check out the cupcake place, Ice Cream by the pool, all kids of fun!

[OnlyMe]

Thank you for your posts and apologies for the late reply - I have been internetless for almost a week:eek:.

Only 3 weeks until we go now. I haven't been saying much to our DS yet about the kids club or the cruise as he will want to go "now" .... hopefully there will be a good team onboard that will do fun active things ... we will go with the flow either way though:)

[cammyjo]

We went on Freedom in September when our son was 3. he loved the aquanauts. He has an attention deficit which I informed them about. Lots of times when we went to collect him, he wasn't playing with the rest of the children but he was quite happy and the staff were great with him. As someone said before, they took him for ice cream to the Windjammer Cafe. He also took part in the Talent Show with the rest of the Aquanauts at the end of the cruise and they all got medals which was a nice touch.

 

We are going on Independence in May so will be eager to hear how you get on. Have fun

[OnlyMe]

Sounds like your son had a fabulous time! I'm really glad to hear that they are flexible in the club. DS will get bored if there aren't some 'active' activities but will see how it goes

[bmccarthy]

We were on the Mariner last week. Our 3 year-old daughter loved Adventure Ocean. There weren't too many kids onboard, but she made friends. They played, did arts & crafts, watched cartoons & movies, went for walks around the ship, etc. She even fell asleep one afternoon and they let her nap until she woke up. One night they did a pirate night. She had so much fun, she cried when we signed her out the last night.

 

Beth

[OnlyMe]

We were on the Mariner last week. Our 3 year-old daughter loved Adventure Ocean. There weren't too many kids onboard, but she made friends. They played, did arts & crafts, watched cartoons & movies, went for walks around the ship, etc. She even fell asleep one afternoon and they let her nap until she woke up. One night they did a pirate night. She had so much fun, she cried when we signed her out the last night.

 

Beth

 

Aw, she sounds like she had an absolute ball! If AO on Indy in 2 weeks time is anything like it was ion Mariner for your LO I think DS will absolutely LOVE it - especially if they take them out around the ship ... oh and he loves pirates! ... Keeping fingers and toes crossed he will take to it - he can be a bit clingy with new situations without Mammy or Daddy but hopefully he will pluck up the courage to give it a go.

[bmccarthy]

Aw, she sounds like she had an absolute ball! If AO on Indy in 2 weeks time is anything like it was ion Mariner for your LO I think DS will absolutely LOVE it - especially if they take them out around the ship ... oh and he loves pirates! ... Keeping fingers and toes crossed he will take to it - he can be a bit clingy with new situations without Mammy or Daddy but hopefully he will pluck up the courage to give it a go.

 

Our daughter really wanted to go on Sunday and it wasn't open on embarkation day. Monday we took her up there and she refused to go. Tuesday morning she wouldn't go, so we started to think she wouldn't go the rest of the week. She started saying she would go on Friday, so we said it was Friday. She saw in the elevator the day of the week and knew it wasn't Friday. She had met a girl in the hot tub with the same name, so we bribed her and said that she might be in the kids club, so then she wanted to go. We took her that afternoon and she went everyday for 2-4 sessions a day. Once she got over her initial fears, she loved it.

 

If you son is fearful initially, don't give up! I am glad we were persistent. It paid off in our favor.

 

Beth

[OnlyMe]

Thanks so much for the advice Beth!

I have a feeling he will want to go but will want Mammy or Daddy there with him - thats his usual when hes unsure of something new. I'm hoping that there will be more kids his age on the ship that he will meet and like your DD will go to AO with them. I think if he tries it he will like it ... fingers and toes crossed!

[guk]

We've been on 3 times 2 of which my DD was in that age group, we originally planned to let her go for the evening session each day but we couldn't get her out, she loved it. The night before you will get a compass for the next day showing you the activities they have lined up all day for the kids in 20-30 min slots so you will be able to to have a look beforehand and see if there anything there they might fancy. Each session had a theme and the activities are all based around that theme.

[OnlyMe]

We've been on 3 times 2 of which my DD was in that age group, we originally planned to let her go for the evening session each day but we couldn't get her out, she loved it. The night before you will get a compass for the next day showing you the activities they have lined up all day for the kids in 20-30 min slots so you will be able to to have a look beforehand and see if there anything there they might fancy. Each session had a theme and the activities are all based around that theme.

 

Thats a great idea! If we time it to coincide with something he loves doing the firts time it might just do the trick