Plea to STAR PRINCESS cruises this summer -- need info on kids program!

[Kaylas Mom]

I just wanted to ask any of you headed on a Baltic Cruise this summer on the Star Princess to have a look and come back with your general impressions of the kids program. I am sailing the Star, but not until July 2006 and I would love to get my little girl more excited about the cruise by telling her about the activities they have for her. She's 10 and she loves arts & crafts, games, science experiments, theme nights, etc. If anyone could get the Kids Patters or even just the gist of the activities and remember them after the cruise, I would be FOREVER grateful. THANKS and happy cruises....

[yhcruise]

I just wanted to ask any of you headed on a Baltic Cruise this summer on the Star Princess to have a look and come back with your general impressions of the kids program. I am sailing the Star, but not until July 2006 and I would love to get my little girl more excited about the cruise by telling her about the activities they have for her. She's 10 and she loves arts & crafts, games, science experiments, theme nights, etc. If anyone could get the Kids Patters or even just the gist of the activities and remember them after the cruise, I would be FOREVER grateful. THANKS and happy cruises....

 

Well, we are bringing our 10-year old daughter to the July 4th Star Princess this year. Coincidentally, she loves arts and painting too. If I remember to come back to this board after we get back, I will share some experience.

[Kaylas Mom]

YHCruise,

 

That is so kind of you. Wish we were going with you this July 4th. Have a great cruise and I am very grateful for anything you can tell me on return.

 

Cathy

[Artemis]

Hi, y'all. We're doing the Baltics on HAL with our kids this summer, so haven't been following Princess "scoop." But we've been on the Star Princess--she's a beautiful ship, and the kids program facilities are nice! Just thought I'd mention that in our experience over 11 cruises, the activities featured in the kids program are fairly similar across ships within a line. So if you could find some Princess or better Star kids activity cards posted online from a winter sailing here in the states, you'd have a pretty good idea of what your children can expect. Then, while in a destination, there are usually some activities tailored to that destination, e.g., perhaps the kids will learn a local dance or have a "White Nights" party--you get the idea.

 

Note, also, that in the Med last summer on a Celebrity ship, because the kids meet so irregularly on a port-intensive cruise, and because there were fewer kids than on your usual Carib cruise, and frequently different kids showed up each time, the activities didn't always flow as per the printed schedule. The counselors and kids spontaneously decided to do something else several times, e.g., skip the afternoon castle-drawing activity. There was a lot more unstructured free play (with supervision, of course). **This might not be the case at all on your Star Princess Baltics cruise,** but I just wanted you, as parent, to have that tidbit of knowledge in advance, as you might not want your children to get too emotionally committed to the idea that at 9:30, 10, 10:30, 11, 11:30, etc., there will be ABCDE activities, and then, if things are different, be disappointed. I will say that a port-intensive cruise does make kids tired, and ours were definitely ready to just "hang out" with other kids vs. sitting down and working through a structured craft activity. On the other hand, note that the kids counselors have been awesome on every cruise we've taken, so I imagine if your child does have a special desire to do a certain activity, they will do their best to make that happen!

 

Have a great trip.

[cruisemom42]

We're just back from Star Princess 5/25 sailing. My 13-year-old son enjoyed the cruise immensely -- not because of all the walking and touring (ha ha), but because of the other kids on board. He was in the teen group, so the activities were pretty loose and mostly "by request" (e.g., the group requested a casino night, where they were taught how to play various games like black jack, poker, and roulette). However, when I was signing him up, I did have a look at some of the activities for the younger group, and they looked a lot more organized. I seem to recall that they had a couple of scavenger hunts, various types of tournaments (like ping pong), karaoke, arts & crafts, talent contest, and mini golf among other things. There were not a LOT of kids onboard given that this was such an early sailing, but there were enough to have fun. The schedule may have been modified or changed from what I saw, but I think she should have a blast! If I can answer any other questions, just ask.

[Kaylas Mom]

Thanks -- that's REALLY helpful. My daughter loves crusing so she's excitred but the more I can tell her about HER KIND OF FUN, the better.

 

Thanks again.

[yhcruise]

Well, we are bringing our 10-year old daughter to the July 4th Star Princess this year. Coincidentally, she loves arts and painting too. If I remember to come back to this board after we get back, I will share some experience.

 

Okay, now we just got back.

 

Our daughter only went to the kids program for one afternoon. And she was fine with it. She was with us on shore excursions otherwise. There was not really much time on the ship. Unlike the Alaska cruise when you have to stay on the ship most of the time, the Baltic cruise is about shore excursions. So, the kids program does not make much difference for the Baltic cruise.

[Lattemom]

When is your ont cruise date? I have an 11 year old dauther who will be on the July 14th cruise with us.

[Kaylas Mom]

Thanks everyone!!!

 

We're July 4, 2006. Very excited about it still. We just came back from our first Princess cruise (Alaska) and my daughter MUCH preferred it to NCL and even RCCI. She especially loved Princess Pizza. It was good!

 

Happy Cruising!

Cathy