Princess Cruises and children.

[The 7 Dwarfs]

For those who have cruised with this company with children, how did you find it?

 

We are looking at going on a cruise on the Sun Princess and have a fair few children aged between 3-11. All are thankfully out of nappies during the day at least.

[JimmyVWine]

For those who have cruised with this company with children, how did you find it?

 

We are looking at going on a cruise on the Sun Princess and have a fair few children aged between 3-11. All are thankfully out of nappies during the day at least.

Our situation is not quite like yours, as we have an "only" who is mature beyond her years and enjoys adult activities as well as the company of her parents. (Imagine that). But she does need a break from us from time to time and enjoys making new friends on board. We have found that Princess affords here the opportunity to meet up with other children her age and be independent. While she and her friends use the Teen Center as a central meeting place, they have never found the activities there to be so engaging as to stay very long. Mostly, they would go to pools, hot tubs, ping-pong tables, shuffleboard courts, the basketball court or lounges to hang out. Add in some orgainzed Teen Center parties and Movies Under The Stars, and she managed to fill her time when she was not with us. But if she was the type of child who wanted or needed to be "kid entertained" all day long without spending much time with us, the offerings on Princess would not be sufficient. If you or your children are looking for a cruise line that engages and entertains children from sun up to sun down with lots of fun and/or educational activities, I would look to Royal Caribbean or Disney before I sailed with Princess.

 

But in your situation, you have many more children, so odds are that they will keep each other company and entertain one another. If that is the case, it doesn't really matter what cruise line you select. Though it is worth noting that Princess (and perhaps this is true of all cruise lines) is very strict with its age cut-off at the various Children's Centers, so if you enroll your children in them and they choose to go there, they will be split up by age, even if that means separating siblings who are only one year apart.

[timetravler]

I have cruised two different times with the grandchildren, ages 6, 9, 13. All three LOVED cruising. The youngest did not want to leave the kids zone. What they said was great is the one on one attention because Princess ships do not have hundreds of kids on board. All of them made friends, were kept busy and never had a complaint. They all figured out real quick the first place to head once on board is for soft serve ice cream. After that they all were signed up in the kids zone. They give parents like a pager just in case. I would not hesitate to take kids on a Princess cruise.

[TupeloHoney]

We've had good experiences with our kids on Princess. We cruise every year so my son has been on 5 (?) cruises now, and my daughter 2. We travel with my nephew too, so he's been on like 11 cruises or so. It's always been good. My kids won't do the kidzone. They have issues, I don't know why. lol. Wish they would. But even though they won't we've had a really good time. My son is 5, daughter 2. My nephew is 15 and loves the kidzone. We hardly see him on the cruise! It is certainly not a relaxing vacation when you bring kids though, especially if they are youngish and won't do the kidzone. But it's still fun. Fortunately we travel with my inlaws, and while my dopey kids won't let them take care of them while we go do something relaxing, at least they are around to help distract and entertain during meals and such. That does help.

[ORbeachlover]

We have had a great experience on Princess with our son. He has been on 3 Princess cruises, one when he was 6, one when he was 8 and one when he was 9. Each time we were traveling with extended family so he had five cousins with him on the first and three on the other two cruises. He spent limited time in the kids' club mainly because we were on port intensive cruises but the time he did spend there he enjoyed. My nieces and nephews all felt the same way. What I think the kids loved the most though was being able to go to the shows, hang out in the piano bar, participate in trivia and karaoke and just generally take part in all the ship had to offer. There will be plenty for your kids to do onboard. I wouldn't hesitate to take them on Princess.

[Cruisin' Chick]

How busy the kids' program will be will depend on when you go. If it's at a time when many schools are out, there will be many kids and a full-fledged program, with many activities. There will also be some adult activities they might want to go to, depending on their interests, such as trivia and entertainment shows.

 

If your kids must have the water slides, rock climbing walls, that kind of thing, they might want to go on Royal or Carnival. But if not, and depending on the ship, they might find a lot of things to do on sea days.

 

After her first three cruises on Carnival, my daughter went on Princess cruises at age 5, 7, 8 ,13 and 15. The first one she was one of only three 5-year-olds as school was in session in probably most of the US that week in mid-February. So there were some activities, but not as many on the next cruise which was in the summer.

 

I haven't been on the Sun Princess, but I'm guessing it doesn't have some of the newer features that are on most of the Princess ships by now (the Movies Under the Stars screen, for example).

 

Princess does tend to be strict on the age groupings, as many other cruiselines are, but I think that's a good thing. I'm sure every cruise there's parents who insist their kids are "mature for their age," and I would be willing to guess that in a majority of those cases, that's not true. (based on my experience hearing parents talk about their kids in denial about their bullying, etc.).

[The 7 Dwarfs]

Thanks for your replies thus far. We've been on 2 P&O cruises in the past 12 months and the kids were happy to be in the kids club there for a few hours, but we made sure that they didn't spend all their time there either. Our holidays are something we make a priority as both me and my husband work full time and he is also a professional sportsman, so family time during the year is pretty limited, them being in the kids club every waking hour would defeat the purpose. But on the other hand we do want to have a bit of time with just the two of us, so a good kids club is handy. I've shown my kids the video clip from the website and one is pretty keen to do the cooking classes.

 

The other thing that would be important for us is a good fitness centre and a decent running track.

[CruzinisParadise]

My 5 year old has been on 3 cruises and my 12 year old has been on 6 cruises. They both LOVE the kids program. It took my son (5) until this year to really enjoy it. We were on the Ruby in March and he was in the kid zone every hour they were open with the exception of when we were off the ship. When there are less children onboard they seem to really cater to the children that show up. My daughter (12) has the best time making friends, doing crafts, & playing all the silly games they have in that room. She really enjoyed the Jr. Chef at Sea program. They also love the "kids only dinners" There are a lot of age appropriate activities so as my kids say, "We can't wait to go on OUR cruise!" Good Luck and enjoy :)

[cruisin with the kiddies]

Hi

 

We are also from Adelaide and my kids are 10,13 and 14. They have been on Diamond Princess x 3, Coral Princess x 1, Ruby Princess x 1, Pacific Jewel x 2 and have loved the kids clubs every time.

 

They have participated in the junior chef at sea decorating a cake that they were very proud of and wanted us to eat, endless planned activities, ice cream afternoons, kids dinners, movies under the stars, sport competitions, crafts, etc but I think what they enjoyed most was meeting kids their own age from all over the world. On our Med cruise last year my son met 3 boys who he became really good friends with - one from Whyalla South Australia, one from Sydney Australia and the other from Phoenix Arizona USA. They still talk via the wonderful social media.

 

I like that they can go in for the morning programs 9-12 then out for lunch and a swim with their siblings and family, back in at 2-5 for the afternoon, out for relaxation or family time or dinner then back in from 7-10 for movies or whatever events there is planned for night. The other advantage princess have is late night sitting if you require to have dinner and go to a show or attend an event 10-1 is $5 per child per hour.

 

The Sun Princess has recently been upgraded in most areas and now have a movies under the stars and i also think the kids club as been revamped too!

 

They are normally pretty strict on the age groups and it is usually 3-7, 8-12, 13-17 however this can also be broken up into smaller groups within these age groups.

 

Hope this helps and feel free to ask me more!

 

Cheers

Danni

[sharolynp]

I guess I am reading that Princess is strict on the age groups in their kids programs. My 7 year old will really find it disappointing to "hang" with the 3 year olds and most of her friends at home are 8-10 as she is in a higher grade than most other 7 year olds. Has anyone out there been able to get them to budge on this rule ? If so, your thoughts, concerns, advice ?

[Thrak]

I guess I am reading that Princess is strict on the age groups in their kids programs. My 7 year old will really find it disappointing to "hang" with the 3 year olds and most of her friends at home are 8-10 as she is in a higher grade than most other 7 year olds. Has anyone out there been able to get them to budge on this rule ? If so, your thoughts, concerns, advice ?

 

I would suggest contacting Princess directly with this question as it may have a pretty big effect on your daughter's cruise.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I guess I am reading that Princess is strict on the age groups in their kids programs. My 7 year old will really find it disappointing to "hang" with the 3 year olds and most of her friends at home are 8-10 as she is in a higher grade than most other 7 year olds. Has anyone out there been able to get them to budge on this rule ? If so, your thoughts, concerns, advice ?

 

From what I understand, there are some valid reasons for Princess standing firm with the age groupings. Insurance for one. Also, the staffing for each age group is determined by the number of kids assigned to each group. Undoubtedly there will be some kids who don't take part. But maybe that's pre-adjusted for.

 

And just think of how many parents plea, "my Susie is so mature for her age." Sorry, but many times (when helping out with school and activities over the years), when a parent is lauding their kid this way, most of the time the kid isn't as mature, isn't as talented, isn't as well-behaved, isn't as smart as the parent proclaims.

 

In addition, if a kid is moved because a parent gets their way, I would imagine that many other parents will be pressuring the staff to move their kids too. And just think of a 12-year-old, who probably doesn't isn't too thrilled about being grouped with 8 year olds. Now there's a 7-year-old hanging out with him/her?!

[Thrak]

You think you've got problems! On our last cruise my son ran up a $1,000 bar bill! Of course he's a "bit" older and he did pay for it himself... :rolleyes:

[24639]

I guess I am reading that Princess is strict on the age groups in their kids programs. My 7 year old will really find it disappointing to "hang" with the 3 year olds and most of her friends at home are 8-10 as she is in a higher grade than most other 7 year olds. Has anyone out there been able to get them to budge on this rule ? If so, your thoughts, concerns, advice ?

 

I am only relating to you MY experience with the Kids Club. I am sure there are plenty of people on here who will say I cannot possibly be correct.

My son is now 12 and has been on several cruises. Our last one was to Alaska in August. He is right on the edge of the age category but, he is way bigger than the kids in the 8-12 group and for that matter the 13-17 group, too. I brought him straight to the Kids club on embarkation day and met with the staff and reached a compromise. They let him hang out with the 13-17 group, but still had to adhere to the hours/rules for the 8-12's. I usually don't allow him to sign himself out,(one cruise there were some trouble makers in the group who ran wild on the ship) but after a couple of days when I was comfortable with the other kids I changed that so he could sign himself out. There were a couple of activities he could not join in on because of the liability issue, but he was happy because all he really wanted to do was hang out with the other kids and play video games.

 

Something I did not know the first time I brought him on a cruise was that the staff in the kids area does not share in the tip pool. I don't think this has changed since August, but something to keep in mind. I always regret not asking that first time.

 

I sincerely hope this helps. Just talk to the staff immediately after boarding. They want everyone to be happy.

[CruzinisParadise]

My experience has been that they will not move the children normally. My daughter is turning 13 on one of our upcoming cruises. I spoke with the counselors last cruise and asked if she could just start with the 13-17 year olds and they respectfully told me no. They say its a liability issue so she has to start in Shockwaves and then can go to Remix mid cruise. They may bend the rules on a case by case basis but the technical answer is no. Good Luck!:)

[CruzinisParadise]

You think you've got problems! On our last cruise my son ran up a $1,000 bar bill! Of course he's a "bit" older and he did pay for it himself... :rolleyes:

 

Wow!!!!! :eek: Our kids constantly amaze us!

[Blk_Amish]

I guess I am reading that Princess is strict on the age groups in their kids programs. My 7 year old will really find it disappointing to "hang" with the 3 year olds and most of her friends at home are 8-10 as she is in a higher grade than most other 7 year olds. Has anyone out there been able to get them to budge on this rule ? If so, your thoughts, concerns, advice ?

 

From what's posted and my experience Princess program is very inconsistent from ship to ship. I read wonderful things about the kids program but was sorely disappointed compared to others we have tried. My son loved it because he was a 13 years old boy hanging around much older teens. Most of the times I checked in they were mostly hanging around. My younger daughter did not care much for it because they mostly did crafts and a few times watched videos, in a pretty small room. Carnival was better the age grouping was a more compatible, so a 7 years old with a 3 years old, not a good match in this or would be in my DD case. I wouldn't let my 13 years old child hang out with 17 years old teens at home, so did not care for it on vacation.

 

Who knows what may happen on your ship and sailing, ask!.

[AJMissal]

I would suggest contacting Princess directly with this question as it may have a pretty big effect on your daughter's cruise.

 

 

Hi, on our last cruise my boys were 11 and 15. We normally travel with other families so they both had someone to "hang" with. In 2011 we traveled alone and the boys would have been in seperate age groups. I talked to the people in charge of the area right when we got on the ship and they agreed to let them both in the older age area. It was a fantastic vacation. Hope this helps.

[nattie]

My DS' upcoming cruise on Crown will be his third on Princess. Overall, if you kids do well cruising they will do well on any ship/line IMHO.

Last time we cruised Princess DS was just a month shy of his 3rd buirthday, so he wasn't allowed in the club, however we were allowed to use the facilities during free play (no club scheduled time) and were welcomed in kids only area on Princess keys. It seemed like the ratio of counselors to kids was superior to that on carnival and NCL (two other lines we used the clubs in), also the counselors themselves were very nice, welcoming, well educated (we chatted with most of them while on the island).

There were couple things my DS still remembers from his last Princess cruise (and asked for it on both Carnival and NCL ships :) without sucess) - trike racecourse near baby pool (bunch of trycicles and a winding path, but the memories!) and the string quartet playing near the Vines (he LOVED live music and the guys were gracious to play some dancey songs for him too).

[sharolynp]

Thanks everyone for the info for my 7 year old. I am sure she will enjoy her first cruise no matter which group she is with, IF we can get her in there. She really likes to be with us and her teenage sister. We were just trying to "pre-sell" the karaoke, talent contest, and Jr Chef activities.