Kids Club

Laker1 · August 28, 2005

We have two kids who will be travelling with us on thier first cruise early in 2006. Eastern Caribbean on the Caribbean Princess. I have the links to the Princess site and can see that there is a Kid Club and I can see some information. Can someone give me first hand information on the activities, duration, do's and don'ts etc.

Ethel5 · August 28, 2005

On Princess the kids have to be 3 years old and potty trained. They are very strict about this. But if you have a younger child, they will allow you to stay in the club with your child. The hours are usually 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10. They have different age groupings. the activities are pretty cool. In Alaska they had arts and crafts, whale watching, a naturalist talk, computer time, scavenger hunts and stuff for the 10 year old group. I traveled with my grandson when he was 7 and then again at age 10. With the younger kids you have to sign them in and out but with the older ones (I think over age 8) they make you sign a paper allowing them to come and go on their own.

mpdahmer · August 28, 2005

1) We have a group cruise booked on the Caribbean Princess and have about 7 children within the ages of 8-12 going. The kids have all seen what is available at Princess' website but have never cruised before. If anyone can enlighten them with personal experiences they (I) would greatly appreciate it.

2) My sister in law is bringing her down syndrome 12 year old boy on our group trip. She called Princess and they told her that he would be accepted in the kids program as long as he was able to go to the bathroom on his own. Has anyone had experience with this.

Thanks,

woodofpine · August 29, 2005

Princess Kids Club is well run. A particular cruise is dependent on the ship having a good counselor mix that isn't too overwhelmed by that week's kid numbers. We've had good experiences generally.

Princess seems to be more disabled friendly than most lines so I suspect they will go the extra yard to accomodate a downs syndrome youngster - particularly given advance notice (good idea).

It's a good idea to go to the weekly sign up on the first afternoon pre-muster. You can sign on at a later time, but it gives the staff an opportunity to do their group introduction schtick which is designed to give the kids a favorable first impression of who the staff are, and what the game plan is... 'Teens and 'tweens are often trickier to handle than younger kids (but you're a parent so you already know that :)).

Typical is games, crafts, ice cream and disco parties, computers, slumber parties on formal nights. Hours as I recollect, 9-12 AM (lunch with staff can be arranged) 2-5, 7-10 PM (12 midnight, I think on formal nights).

It certainly gives parents an opportunity to get away on their own knowing that their kids are well supervised and age appropriate active. Very often - not always - things really click and younger kids especially can't get enough of it!

Cruisin' Chick · August 29, 2005

My daughter has been on two Princess cruises so far (age 5, 7) with Carnival before that.

1. Be sure to be early for the orientation meeting. On our first Princess cruise, the door was locked when we got there (we thought on-time) with a sign that said to come back for the next meeting (which wasn't convenient for us as it was during our dinner seating). Someone else on CC had that happened to them.

2. If you want to take advantage of in-port kid sitting or post-10 pm kid sitting, you need to sign up 24 hrs. ahead. The second is $5/hr, very reasonable (unless things have changed or it's different on some ships, the kids area closes down at 10pm every night, except for kids signed in for the sitting service). They'll watch movies or play video games or make crafts at night.

3. If you go off the ship at a port and leave kids in the kids zone, make sure you're back in time so you don't miss the ship (I know: obvious but it bears repeating). If you go on an excursion that's booked thru the ship, it may be more expensive, but if there's a mechanical problem with the bus or there's a massive traffic jam, the ship will wait for you.

4. When you first get to your cabin, there will be a copy of the first day's Patters and a copy of the schedule for the kids' activities for your child's group. If not, you can get a copy at the kids' zone, but make sure you find out what times the required orientation will be held first thing (see #1).

5. The assignment of age groups will be based on how many kids on the cruise. More ages will be grouped together if there are few kids. Many parents will ask if their child can be placed with a different age, but I heard most of the time that won't happen.

ppeckham · August 29, 2005

My son and I may be going on the Grand Princess in March. He'll be three weeks shy of 16 at that time. Are there any programs for teenagers?

cjh · August 29, 2005

ppeckham your son can go to the off limits teen area for 13-17 year olds from 9am-1am

merela · August 30, 2005

The 3-5 age group is more like a pre-school setting where activities are scheduled in 1/2 hour segments. It really depends on your children and how out going they are (and how fast they make friends) or how much craft they like to do.

I have posted information on the kid's club before, including the general activities they will have in each age group. The main theme will be different depending on your destinations. Just search "merela" posts. The Eastern Caribbean sailings will have a nautical theme. We did Eastern Caribbean on Star in January and my kids did a lot of ocean-related crafts. For our Alaskan cruise on the Diamond, the kids did a lot of ice-berg (and Alaska) related activities.

I've also posted Kid's menu items before, so you can search on that too.

The Family cruising board also has tons of information about Princess cruises and kids.

I would recommend umbrella stroller if your child can't walk long stretches. Some regular strollers are difficult to manuver along the corridors in front of your cabins.

Bring a portable DVD player or something your child enjoy doing (reading or drawing if your child is older) during dinner time. There is a stretch of time between reading menu, ordering, and arrival of dishes that can take more time than a young child can tolerate. Also children eat faster, so if you have something for them to do while waiting for the adults to finish, it'll make your dining experience that much more enjoyable.

I usually download some printables from Nickjr.com and bring some crayons in a ziploc bag with me when we go to every meal.

I'm sure there are more things I can tell you about Princess, but if you have questions, please feel free to post.

merela · August 30, 2005