Rhapsody of Seas Kids program for 6 year old ?

[pearl12970]

We are taking a cruise to Alaska on the Rhapsody of Seas in August 2013.I know that Royal Caribbean is very highly rated in the market for older teens & college goers, but I would like to know if their kids program for younger kids is as good ? My son will be 6.

 

Thank you in advance.

Pearl

[pearl12970]

Did I ask a stupid question to get zero replies ?:(

I read somewhere that RCI is more popular with teens & tweens while Disney is more geared towards the infants, toddlers & younger kids. Since I am currently booked on Rhapsody but have until May 26 to cancel or book elsewhere; I'd like to know if RCI kids program will keep my 6 year old entertained & happy. He likes a variety of activities & a good kids program is important for our cruise.

 

Thanks !

[RSLeesburg]

Maybe no one has been on that ship recently. I did see someone post the events in the kids club for Enchantment and Grandeur, and they are in the same class of ship as Rhapsody, so one would think that they has the same types of activities, even if they are not identical. And, I have heard mostly glowing reviews of the kids club on RCI.

 

We are taking our first trip on Grandeur, and will be using the kids club for our 4 y/o. :)

[RSLeesburg]

Here is the post. Look for the link at the bottom of one of the posters signatures - it is link to photobucket. She scanned in kids club events for several ships.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1827060

[pearl12970]

Thank you RSLeeseburg. I will check out the link.

Have heard good reviews about RCI kids program too but read a couple posts that its more popular with teens / tweens rather than the younger kids so I wanted to know opinion of parents with kids in my son's age group.

My question had 140 + views and no replies so I was wondering if I asked a silly question :)

Thanks again for the link !

[boulders]

Royal Caribbean has one of the best kids programs. My youngest has sailed on Royal when he was 2, 4 and 5. He had a very good time. He enjoyed every bit as much as his older brother and sister. Royal does all age groups well.

[NanciRDH]

I can't address your ship specifically, but the Adventure Ocean (AO) program fleet wide has been great for our family. We've been cruising for many years, and as a result we've run the entire age range from 3-17. I've got a college aged kid now, and she says the opposite of you, once you "age out" there really aren't the activities for the 18-20 yo group, and you're stuck hanging with mom. :eek: That aside, 6yo, your child will be in the 6-8 year program, I can't remember the names of each group, but that's the one my youngest is in now. You can do a search for AO compasses to get an idea of the daily activities. They may not follow it exactly, but it's usually fun. If given a choice between family time or AO, my girls would not pick me! Activities include crafts, science-y stuff, and a game called Gaga Ball that I'm not sure the rules of, but it must be fun because everyone wants to play it, and my oldest who's now been out of AO for 10 years still says it was fun, lol. They generally don't leave the camp area, with the exception of pirate night, when they do a walk around and take over the ship. Some nights you can sign them up for dinner, if you'd like some adult time. And depending on the ship, lunch may also be an option, but you have to pay for that and make arangements ahead of time so they have a correct count on the kids. Sea days are the exception if you're going ashore kid-less.

 

We've done Alaska twice, though on a different ship, it's a wonderful cruise! Different of couse than a Caribbean one, but special in its own way. Because we weren't swimming, the kids did spend more time in their activities than with us. I'm sure yours will have a great time too.

[RSLeesburg]

PS: the materials on that link are dated, but I would think that a lot of the activities are the same. :). What appeals to a toddler two years ago will still appeal to a toddler today.

[pearl12970]

Thank you Nanci ! It really helps to hear from someone who has first hand info on AO . Previously, I was wondering if i should look into Disney cruise instead but i noticed you have sailed on a Disney ship as well & since your children still like RCI's kids program inspite of sailing with Disney - I am sold on AO :)

I guess whoever wrote about RCI'S being more popular with teenagers & college going crowd had it all wrong !!

 

I can't address your ship specifically, but the Adventure Ocean (AO) program fleet wide has been great for our family. We've been cruising for many years, and as a result we've run the entire age range from 3-17. I've got a college aged kid now, and she says the opposite of you, once you "age out" there really aren't the activities for the 18-20 yo group, and you're stuck hanging with mom. :eek: That aside, 6yo, your child will be in the 6-8 year program, I can't remember the names of each group, but that's the one my youngest is in now. You can do a search for AO compasses to get an idea of the daily activities. They may not follow it exactly, but it's usually fun. If given a choice between family time or AO, my girls would not pick me! Activities include crafts, science-y stuff, and a game called Gaga Ball that I'm not sure the rules of, but it must be fun because everyone wants to play it, and my oldest who's now been out of AO for 10 years still says it was fun, lol. They generally don't leave the camp area, with the exception of pirate night, when they do a walk around and take over the ship. Some nights you can sign them up for dinner, if you'd like some adult time. And depending on the ship, lunch may also be an option, but you have to pay for that and make arangements ahead of time so they have a correct count on the kids. Sea days are the exception if you're going ashore kid-less.

 

We've done Alaska twice, though on a different ship, it's a wonderful cruise! Different of couse than a Caribbean one, but special in its own way. Because we weren't swimming, the kids did spend more time in their activities than with us. I'm sure yours will have a great time too.

[pearl12970]

Thank you ! I appreciate your reply. I am glad to hear your children had a good time on AO ! My son is a little shy. Hope he likes it just as much !

 

 

Thanks again ,

Pearl

 

Royal Caribbean has one of the best kids programs. My youngest has sailed on Royal when he was 2, 4 and 5. He had a very good time. He enjoyed every bit as much as his older brother and sister. Royal does all age groups well.

[pearl12970]

Thank you :)

 

PS: the materials on that link are dated, but I would think that a lot of the activities are the same. :). What appeals to a toddler two years ago will still appeal to a toddler today.

[NanciRDH]

Thank you Nanci ! It really helps to hear from someone who has first hand info on AO . Previously, I was wondering if i should look into Disney cruise instead but i noticed you have sailed on a Disney ship as well & since your children still like RCI's kids program inspite of sailing with Disney - I am sold on AO :)

I guess whoever wrote about RCI'S being more popular with teenagers & college going crowd had it all wrong !!

 

 

We've done the Disney Dream as a family, and weren't impressed at all with their kids program. The space is awesome, but not nearly as organized as AO. All the ages from 3-10 were together, and allowed to roam freely between the different play areas. Whenever we picked up our DD, there didn't seem to be any structured activities going on, though they were listed on their activity page. I could see one night there were 150 kids in there! DD was 6 then, and had been on 5 cruises previously, and she didn't care for it. She even said she wants to go back on Oasis, lol. The entire Disney concept as a whole was great, but we didn't get the adult time because the kids didn't like their stuff...even my middle DD who was 14 at the time was unimpressed.