What’s on Allure for kids under 6?

[Kaibocan]

planning a cruise with friends with kids under 6. They are deciding between Allure and Disney. Allure’s prices are better for me but I can understand why they would want Disney with young kids. Are there characters etc on the Allure that would interest their kids?

[Clarea]

Dreamworks characters.

[BNBR]

planning a cruise with friends with kids under 6. They are deciding between Allure and Disney. Allure’s prices are better for me but I can understand why they would want Disney with young kids. Are there characters etc on the Allure that would interest their kids?

 

Can you specify the actual ages? It matters.

 

Generally speaking, Allure has a very large kids camp area. Science lab, Movie theater, etc. My kids LOVE it. My families kids love it. etc. Plus splash zone, pools, Dreamworks characters, etc. Even the boardwalk has a pretty big Carousel, among other things. The aquatheater and ice shows are very popular with the kids, too.

 

You will be fine on Allure vs. Disney. Though Disney does offer an outstanding product, I don't think you'll find Allure lacking in kids activities in any sense.

 

If you have a 2 year old, Carnival actually offers the best option for that age group if you like day camps.

[Kaibocan]

Can you specify the actual ages? It matters.

 

 

 

2 and 4

 

 

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[BNBR]

2 and 4

 

 

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If you want the daycare/camps... I'd HIGHLY suggest Carnival. They have the only full service, no-extra fee camp for 2 year olds. They'll change diapers, etc. And the 2 and 4 should be in the same group, too. If that's a big deal for you, Carnival is the best for 2 year olds, by far. Else you'll have the option of putting the 2 year old in the baby room at an extra charge with limited capacity on Royal Caribbean. Your 2 and 4 year old will not be together on Allure.

 

Disney also has separate babysitting for under 3. Carnival is really the best option, again, if day camps are a big deal for you. Our kids LOVE the camps, frees us up to do adult stuff... for us it's a big part of the experience so I wouldn't book Royal for a 2 year old...

 

If you don't plan on utilizing the camps and basic babysitting/nursery for the 2 year old is fine for minimal help watching them, then Allure will be more than enough. Just note that on Allure, the splash zone is NOT open to children with swim diapers. If pools and the splash zone are a big part of your vacation, you plan on using a splash zone and the 2 year old is in swim diapers, I would look at Harmony, which has an outstanding splash zone for children still in swim diapers.

Edited October 31, 2017 by BNBR

[Kaibocan]

If you want the daycare/camps... I'd HIGHLY suggest Carnival. They have the only full service, no-extra fee camp for 2 year olds. They'll change diapers, etc. And the 2 and 4 should be in the same group, too. If that's a big deal for you, Carnival is the best for 2 year olds, by far. Else you'll have the option of putting the 2 year old in the baby room at an extra charge with limited capacity on Royal Caribbean. Your 2 and 4 year old will not be together on Allure.

 

 

 

They will not be using daycare/camp for either child. They will not leave their kids with someone they don’t know & I don’t blame them

 

 

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[BNBR]

They will not be using daycare/camp for either child. They will not leave their kids with someone they don’t know & I don’t blame them

 

 

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That's unfortunate, as the camps provide such a fun experience for the children. But clearly "you don't blame them" - not sure if that's some sort of a shot at parents who allow their children to participate in activites or not....

[Kaibocan]

That's unfortunate, as the camps provide such a fun experience for the children. But clearly "you don't blame them" - not sure if that's some sort of a shot at parents who allow their children to participate in activites or not....

 

 

 

OF COURSE NOT!!! My point is that’s the personal choice of this particular couple. If that’s what they want to do, then I don’t blame them and we are happy to spend time with their kids. We have travelled with other friends who have used daycare & camps and their kids liked it. We have no problem either way. Just want to accommodate the friends we are traveling with. It is not my desire to use this or any other forum to take shots at anyone

 

 

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[dnewscruiser]

We just went on Oasis (obviously very similar to Allure) this month with our girls, who are 4 and 2. They LOVED it! We hit the splash pad/kid pool area almost every morning (both my girls are potty-trained so wasn't an issue). Disney's pool area seems very small compared to Oasis class. Just to note, there is a small splash pad on Oasis (guessing it's the same on Allure?) where swim-diapered kids can go. In fact, they wouldn't let my potty-trained 2-year-old in it; kids had to be in a swim diaper to use.

 

Every night after dinner, we'd hit the carousel, which was the highlight of my girls' day. We'd ride at least two times in a row. They also loved the food, shows, and ice skating. We didn't even do any character activities! We were too busy.

 

Other note: my 4-year-old LOVED Adventure Ocean and would've spent way more time there than she did. They also have a large family play area for kids 5 and under not in camp/nursery, and my 2-year-old loved that. Adventure Ocean also puts on family activities every day, where you can do things with your kids.

 

Oh, and how could I forget the boat, bus, car, and ship on the Boardwalk! My girls LOVED climbing and playing on those every single day.

 

 

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[mjkacmom]

Is the 2 year old potty trained? If not, choose a ship with a splash area for diapered kids. My kids didn’t start cruising until they were a little older (youngest 4), but they spend their days in the pools, on the Sports court, or in the clubs. If the 2 year old is still in diapers, I don’t know if there is much to do.

[BNBR]

Just to note, there is a small splash pad on Oasis (guessing it's the same on Allure?) where swim-diapered kids can go. In fact, they wouldn't let my potty-trained 2-year-old in it; kids had to be in a swim diaper to use.

 

Every night after dinner, we'd hit the carousel, which was the highlight of my girls' day. We'd ride at least two times in a row. They also loved the food, shows, and ice skating. We didn't even do any character activities! We were too busy.

 

Other note: my 4-year-old LOVED Adventure Ocean and would've spent way more time there than she did. They also have a large family play area for kids 5 and under not in camp/nursery, and my 2-year-old loved that. Adventure Ocean also puts on family activities every day, where you can do things with your kids.

 

Oh, and how could I forget the boat, bus, car, and ship on the Boardwalk! My girls LOVED climbing and playing on those every single day.

 

The upgraded splash pad for swim diapered children is great on Harmony. The tiny area on Allure/Oasis was just not good enough. Even the regular splash pad is an upgrade on Harmony. They did a good job with that section.

 

The Carousel. I've been on that thing more times than I can count. And I'm good at counting. Reading your comments sounds a lot like our trips! They just love the boardwalk, the ship/bus, etc. Harmony removed that and put a huge climbing wall in. It's really cool, too.

[LuCruise]

My daughter was 6 when we went on Allure (son 10) and she loved it! There of course is the pool (kids area, hot tub, and they even liked the beach pool), she spent a lot of time at the rock wall, mini golf, table tennis, we did some of the activities (line dancing, scavenger hunt), exploring, night time movie (ironically it was a Disney one...I forget the name offhand but it was current at the time), etc. The Boardwalk area is fun too with the carousel . There is skating too, but we didn't make it there.

 

The ship also has Dreamworks...How to Train your Dragon ice show, a daytime Dreamworks Aqua show, meet and greets, character breakfast, etc. Lots of fun.

 

She also enjoyed the other shows...loved Mamma Mia (the story went over her head), night time aqua show, acrobatic show (i forget the name offhand), and she even liked the headliner better than I did.

 

We did MTD so I could time dinner/show accordingly so we weren't always doing late shows. It worked out well.

 

I definitely recommend the Allure. It's amazing and such a family friendly ship.

Edited October 31, 2017 by LuCruise

[Gatordad815]

I will preface this with saying I have not been on either Disney or Royal Caribbean... so why am I responding, you ask? I have spent a LOT of time researching both lines to try to come to a decision about what the best vacation will be for my family, specifically comparing the Disney Fantasy to RCI's Oasis (essentially the same ship as Allure from what I have read). In fact, when I first decided to take a cruise with my wife and kids (who will be 3 and 5 on sail date), I originally booked the Disney Fantasy because I was so enamored with the ship, rooms, and Disney in general) without giving any thought to other cruise lines.

 

But several months after booking Disney, I randomly went to the RCI website to see what was available for the same week and stumbled upon the Oasis and was shocked to see that for about half the cost of our Disney Cruise, I could get a Jr. Suite on the Oasis. So the feverish research began...

 

And I have concluded, after watching 100's of you tube videos, reading dozens of trip reports specifically relating to kids, and reading thousands of threads on the DIS and Cruise Critic Forums that for my family (and my money), RCI is the option we are going with, so I cancelled the Disney cruise.

 

The Oasis class ships just seem to offer so much more for people of all ages for so much less money. Here are the things I think both the Oasis and Disney have for kids:

 

1. Kids club (which is not really a concern for your friends);

2. Pool area/splash pad (though Oasis has a much more expansive pool deck for people of all ages);

3. Characters (Disney wins on this - their characters are better, but my kids have Disney annual passes and have met all the characters. Kids that age also really don't like waiting in lines and from what I have read there are always lines on the Disney ships to meet characters).

4. Shows (my 5 year old daughter will love the ice skating and diving shows as much as or more than any Disney-themed show)

5. Family-themed events (Disney seems to have more of these, but Oasis also has a lot of activities geared for family time)

 

What are my kids going to be missing out on by not being on Disney?

 

1. Mickey Mouse, etc etc etc. Not a real consideration for me as I mentioned above we have Disney annual passes and have met every character multiple times and I refuse to stand in a long line on a cruise ship to do this. For your friends, however, this may be a deal-breaker. If this is the only Disney experience they will ever get, perhaps it will be better to be on a Disney ship. Worth $3000 extra for the family for a week?...I doubt it. But if they want the "Disney Magic" experience, there is only one place to get that.

 

That's all I can really think of to be honest. I can't see anything else my kids are going to miss out on being on RCI instead of Disney.

 

What will my kids get by being on RCI instead of Disney?

 

1. A carousel

2. Happy parents who can balance the family time a little better and who will have more options in the event we feel comfortable leaving the kids in the club (TBD, though I am hopeful this will be a good experience for all of us)

3. Another cruise, as I booked a second Oasis cruise with the savings :)

 

I am very excited about our Oasis cruises coming up next year and I know my kids are going to love it and I am not second-guessing the decision to cancel the Disney cruise at all. There is plenty on the Oasis for them to do and enjoy. The main difference, as I see it, is there is more on the Oasis for my wife and I to also enjoy and there is a significant cost savings.

 

I hope my research is correct (I am fairly certain for my family it will be). Best of luck to you and your friends in deciding, and have a great trip whatever you decide!

[BNBR]

I will preface this with saying I have not been on either Disney or Royal Caribbean... so why am I responding, you ask? I have spent a LOT of time researching both lines to try to come to a decision about what the best vacation will be for my family, specifically comparing the Disney Fantasy to RCI's Oasis (essentially the same ship as Allure from what I have read). In fact, when I first decided to take a cruise with my wife and kids (who will be 3 and 5 on sail date), I originally booked the Disney Fantasy because I was so enamored with the ship, rooms, and Disney in general) without giving any thought to other cruise lines.

 

But several months after booking Disney, I randomly went to the RCI website to see what was available for the same week and stumbled upon the Oasis and was shocked to see that for about half the cost of our Disney Cruise, I could get a Jr. Suite on the Oasis. So the feverish research began...

 

And I have concluded, after watching 100's of you tube videos, reading dozens of trip reports specifically relating to kids, and reading thousands of threads on the DIS and Cruise Critic Forums that for my family (and my money), RCI is the option we are going with, so I cancelled the Disney cruise.

 

The Oasis class ships just seem to offer so much more for people of all ages for so much less money. Here are the things I think both the Oasis and Disney have for kids:

 

1. Kids club (which is not really a concern for your friends);

2. Pool area/splash pad (though Oasis has a much more expansive pool deck for people of all ages);

3. Characters (Disney wins on this - their characters are better, but my kids have Disney annual passes and have met all the characters. Kids that age also really don't like waiting in lines and from what I have read there are always lines on the Disney ships to meet characters).

4. Shows (my 5 year old daughter will love the ice skating and diving shows as much as or more than any Disney-themed show)

5. Family-themed events (Disney seems to have more of these, but Oasis also has a lot of activities geared for family time)

 

What are my kids going to be missing out on by not being on Disney?

 

1. Mickey Mouse, etc etc etc. Not a real consideration for me as I mentioned above we have Disney annual passes and have met every character multiple times and I refuse to stand in a long line on a cruise ship to do this. For your friends, however, this may be a deal-breaker. If this is the only Disney experience they will ever get, perhaps it will be better to be on a Disney ship. Worth $3000 extra for the family for a week?...I doubt it. But if they want the "Disney Magic" experience, there is only one place to get that.

 

That's all I can really think of to be honest. I can't see anything else my kids are going to miss out on being on RCI instead of Disney.

 

What will my kids get by being on RCI instead of Disney?

 

1. A carousel

2. Happy parents who can balance the family time a little better and who will have more options in the event we feel comfortable leaving the kids in the club (TBD, though I am hopeful this will be a good experience for all of us)

3. Another cruise, as I booked a second Oasis cruise with the savings :)

 

I am very excited about our Oasis cruises coming up next year and I know my kids are going to love it and I am not second-guessing the decision to cancel the Disney cruise at all. There is plenty on the Oasis for them to do and enjoy. The main difference, as I see it, is there is more on the Oasis for my wife and I to also enjoy and there is a significant cost savings.

 

I hope my research is correct (I am fairly certain for my family it will be). Best of luck to you and your friends in deciding, and have a great trip whatever you decide!

 

Your research is definitely correct. I would never pay double for a Disney cruise. And their ships can't even compare with Oasis-class. You can book a Disney park vacation with the savings between the two cruises... Oasis is spectacular and you'll be thrilled with your decision.

[Smyles]

We LOVED allure last fall with our then 3.5yr old. A year later and she still talks about the cruise. It amazes me what she can remember on her own. We literally spent our days tracking down the Dreamworks Characters for photos. Our daughter rode the carousel with a few of the characters. We also spent our days riding the carousel! Our daughter had never seen any of the dreamworks movies but she still LOVED the characters.

 

The parades were awesome for her as well.

 

We didn't do off shore excursions we used that time to explore the near empty ship and swim. We did pop off the ship to see the port and the ship from the outside.

 

As great as disney is, the price difference doesn't make sense to us. Royal has the characters on it and plenty for children.

 

We did use the daycare program. We would drop her off for an hour here and there. She LOVED seeing the other kids. She LOVED when they did the little stage presentations for parents. We also made use of the dinner program where the kids get an expedited meal at 6pm while we have our appetizer then the daycare picks them up at 6:40 and we would finish our meal while she was off playing. While I totally understand not wanting to leave the kids in the hands of others, I was comfortable with the program they ran. They spoke english (when we tried our daughter in the daycare at our cuba resort they spoke next to NO english and it kind of freaked our young daughter out so now it is something I do look for). I think the kids really do enjoy a bit of social, kid time in the daycare as a break from busy days with adults.

 

I would definitely recommend the Allure for your trip, especially if you are not going with your own children. As there is a lot for all ages so it makes a good ship for your group.

 

We just booked another trip on Harmony with our daughter just before she turned 5. We first checked to ensure they have the dreamworks characters and carousel like Allure. Those 2 features definitely make the trip!

[gingersvp]

We are headed on to Oasis in just about a month with our 2 year old daughter. She also cruised this past summer on NCL's Pearl. We are of the 'unlikely to use the club' sort - but that's mainly because we are traveling with extended family and just won't really need it. She's a daycare kid, so vacation-time is my chance to be with her.

 

My experience in cruising with small children is that the staff go ABSOLUTELY BANANAS for the infants and toddlers. Most of the crew have children at home and miss them quite a bit. Even if you never use a kids club, all of the other staff will go so far and above in an effort to elicit smiles and giggles. At 20 months my daughter adored cruising and it was quite frankly due to all the attention she received, all the time.

[ubish00]

I did Disney cruises with my niece from ages 2 - 4. She did her first Royal/Allure cruise last year (age 5). We're doing the Allure again this year. She prefers Disney but had a great time on the Allure as well.

 

She loves the characters and thinks she can't cruise unless there are characters on board. She prefers the Disney characters but of course she loves the Trolls on Royal. She also loved the parades on Royal. Disney does not have that.

 

She says she likes Disney's kids club more but came back from Royal's kids club with things she had made almost all the time.

 

The kid pool on Disney is definitely smaller than Royal but the splash pad for kids in diapers is better on Disney.

 

Overall I definitely felt Disney wins hands down on service for young children. The CM's stop and play with the kids all the time. She loved her first cruise so much she cried up a storm when it was time to leave. The CMs really did make a difference.

 

Royal wins hand down for older kids. There is so much more for them to do.

 

I also loved the adult only areas on Disney however Royal does have more adult entertainment at night than Disney.

 

In my opinion, the food in the main dining room is way better on Disney. Last year we did one specialty restaurant on Allure and it was very good.

 

I have always booked ocean view with balcony cabins and much prefer them on Disney. The split bathroom with a bathtub makes a huge difference with little ones. I found the rooms overall a little bigger on Disney.

 

The shows on Disney and Royal are both good, however the shows on Disney are more kid friendly.

 

Having done both, I would recommend Disney for any family with very young kids.

 

We will continue to do both as she's asking to go back on Disney.