Kids on Allure post cruise feedback

[moesyk4]

Hello everyone, I am planning on posting a more extensive review of our recently finished cruise but wanted to post a few separate thoughts about cruising with a 9, 5, and 4 year old. It certainly isn't extensive, but it was just a few things that weren't what we expected for better or worse based on our research and worth sharing.

 

1. DreamWorks left the cruise line at the beginning of April. Many have asked on these boards what has replaced it. We did not sail with DreamWorks, but my impression was there was nothing in place of it...there was no specific parade, meet and greet, kid's shows, etc. It may be in the works, but certainly wasn't this one. We had plenty to do, but it was worth noting.

 

2. We sailed in a regular balcony stateroom with 5. I would do it again easily for the price! My middle son has some sleep issues and I was a little worried, but it worked out fine. I will do a separate post.

 

3. We have sailed Carnival, Norwegian, and now Royal and found Adventure Ocean to be by far the least impressive. Just about every time we came to get the kids, they were sitting in a circle doing a really boring looking game. All the kids looked bored. Our middle son is very active and I wish there was an option for them to just run off steam as opposed to constantly being forced to participate in the games.

They never had a positive thing to say about him at pick up or any of the other boys in class when they were getting picked up, and it was always little things like he said the word booty at the dinner table. Of course he shouldn't say it and we reminded him of that, but if he is there 3 hours and the first thing you say at pick up is how awful he is and that is the only thing you say when I ask why, I am not impressed (I work with kids for a living). He is 5 and not 15, and I think they were frustrated with a large group of active boys in the class. I shouldn't get a list of minor complaints at pick up, as a fellow child care worker reminding a kid to put a marker lid back on isn't a reportable offense at pick up, and relay soured us to the program.

None of our kids chose to go after the first day although we had some specialty dining planned and they went about 4 times total.

 

4. I posted separately about this, but my impression is there may have been some dining time changes. We were planning to utilize My Family Time Dining where the kids leave after about 40 minutes and the AO staff picks them up outside the dining room. We booked early traditional specifically for this which starts at 5:15, but when we got on board the pick up wasn't until 6:40? I asked both dining and kid's club staff about this and it was in the Compass as well. We were done with dinner by 6:40 most nights and MTD didn't start until 6:30, so I am not sure about the benefit? We were fine not using it, but something to note.

 

Overall, we had a fabulous cruise...the kids loved the shows, the ship had tons to do, the ice skates 3 times, and the staff was top notch.

[Sotermarler]

We weren’t happy with The kids club last fall on the Oasis. It was maxed out each day and the counselors also seemed liked they were bothered to do their jobs. Each time we came by one of the counselors was sitting on the couch with a microphone barking orders and not interacting. I was thinking this was just because it was busy, interesting to hear it was similar on the Allure.

On NCL it was a completely different experience where the counselors always had smiles and seemed to love their jobs and all the kids. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Sotermarler

[moesyk4]

5 minutes ago, Sotermarler said:

We weren’t happy with The kids club last fall on the Oasis. It was maxed out each day and the counselors also seemed liked they were bothered to do their jobs. Each time we came by one of the counselors was sitting on the couch with a microphone barking orders and not interacting. I was thinking this was just because it was busy, interesting to hear it was similar on the Allure.

On NCL it was a completely different experience where the counselors always had smiles and seemed to love their jobs and all the kids. 

Yes, literally 80% of the time we picked up the kids were sitting in a circle while the adults were giving them orders through a microphone. They had no choice but to participate. I was disappointed as I had hoped it would be a really positive part of their experience instead of a place we "stuck" them when we needed to.

[Sotermarler]

1 minute ago, moesyk4 said:

Yes, literally 80% of the time we picked up the kids were sitting in a circle while the adults were giving them orders through a microphone. They had no choice but to participate. I was disappointed as I had hoped it would be a really positive part of their experience instead of a place we "stuck" them when we needed to.

I agree, I was disappointed with the club.  In the marketing ads there was a science lab on the Oasis for experiments and such, but we were told there were too many kids to use the labs.  So it didn’t get used all week.

the only positive thing about the experience was that check in was easier than on NCL. 

[molsonschooner]

maybe a difference in ships but my now 5 year old granddaughter has been on Harmony twice in the last year and a half and she loved AO

[Hammergirl]

We went on Oasis in 2016 and our 7 year old at the time LOVED the kids club. We literally could not get her out of there. We loved all the staff in her room. Our son was 13 and he thought it was OK. He met some friends and hung out with them quite a bit.

 

Fast forward to 2018 and we went on the Harmony. We were really excited because we thought the kids would again like spending time in their rooms and we could have some alone time. They both HATED their time in the kids club. My son never went back after the first night and did not meet any kids he wanted to hang out with. My daughter went 2 more times, just to see if she would like it better, and she didn't. The staff in both the kids rooms were indifferent and not very friendly at all. 

 

I really think it is a crap shoot with what you get as far as counselors and kids in the room.

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, moesyk4 said:

We booked early traditional specifically for this which starts at 5:15, but when we got on board the pick up wasn't until 6:40? I asked both dining and kid's club staff about this and it was in the Compass as well. We were done with dinner by 6:40 most nights and MTD didn't start until 6:30, so I am not sure about the benefit? We were fine not using it, but something to note.

I'm confused... I've never been on a ship where My Time Dining didn't start at the same time as Traditional Early Seating.  (And I've never seen the early seating at 5:15 -- earliest I've seen is 5:30?)

 

[Clarea]

16 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I'm confused... I've never been on a ship where My Time Dining didn't start at the same time as Traditional Early Seating.  (And I've never seen the early seating at 5:15 -- earliest I've seen is 5:30?)

 

 

We have seen the start time for MTD later than traditional early dining several times now.

[brillohead]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

We have seen the start time for MTD later than traditional early dining several times now.

That just seems weird.... odd that they're doing it on some ships and not others, too.  

Maybe trying to stagger things so there are "three seatings" so the kitchen is spread out more?  One group eating at 5, another at 6:30, and another at 8?

Weird.

[moesyk4]

19 hours ago, brillohead said:

That just seems weird.... odd that they're doing it on some ships and not others, too.  

Maybe trying to stagger things so there are "three seatings" so the kitchen is spread out more?  One group eating at 5, another at 6:30, and another at 8?

Weird.

That was exactly our thought too...try to fit 3 groups in an evening at a table.

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, moesyk4 said:

That was exactly our thought too...try to fit 3 groups in an evening at a table.

That wouldn't work for three seatings at a table, b/c MTD uses a different dining room than traditional seating.  

It would only make a third "seating" for the kitchen staff, who would have the bulk of the meals starting at three different start times.  

[Irule7]

I can't comment on RCI's kids club.  We went on a Princess Cruise with our kids the first week of March in 2016 and they loved it.  There were less than 200 kids on the ship, so our kids got so spoiled!  Each day had a theme and they had crafts and activities that the staff were really involved with.  One evening they went to the adults only bar after it had closed and all the kids got to make their own mocktail.  At the end of the cruise they had a bag filled with crafts and stuffed animals.  Princess doesn't have the waterslides or the other fancy stuff that RCI does, but my kids had a great time.  

[moesyk4]

16 hours ago, brillohead said:

That wouldn't work for three seatings at a table, b/c MTD uses a different dining room than traditional seating.  

It would only make a third "seating" for the kitchen staff, who would have the bulk of the meals starting at three different start times.  

 

MTD was actually not on a different floor for our sailing...we were in American Icon for traditional first and there were lines out the door for MTD as we were leaving. I can't speak for late traditional as we were not back there at that time. It was the same on all 3 "restaurants" for our sailing.

[moesyk4]

15 hours ago, Irule7 said:

I can't comment on RCI's kids club.  We went on a Princess Cruise with our kids the first week of March in 2016 and they loved it.  There were less than 200 kids on the ship, so our kids got so spoiled!  Each day had a theme and they had crafts and activities that the staff were really involved with.  One evening they went to the adults only bar after it had closed and all the kids got to make their own mocktail.  At the end of the cruise they had a bag filled with crafts and stuffed animals.  Princess doesn't have the waterslides or the other fancy stuff that RCI does, but my kids had a great time.  

 

That sounds wonderful!

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, moesyk4 said:

 

MTD was actually not on a different floor for our sailing...we were in American Icon for traditional first and there were lines out the door for MTD as we were leaving. I can't speak for late traditional as we were not back there at that time. It was the same on all 3 "restaurants" for our sailing.

Wow, I've been on Oasis, Harmony and Symphony -- not Allure, though -- and MTD was not in all dining rooms.  

That makes a lot more sense, then, because they truly can get three turns on each table, and also make use of all the tables that are empty due to people going to specialty dining.  Thanks for the info!

Royal Caribbean... consistently inconsistent!  LOL

 

[moesyk4]

On 4/16/2019 at 7:23 PM, brillohead said:

Wow, I've been on Oasis, Harmony and Symphony -- not Allure, though -- and MTD was not in all dining rooms.  

That makes a lot more sense, then, because they truly can get three turns on each table, and also make use of all the tables that are empty due to people going to specialty dining.  Thanks for the info!

Royal Caribbean... consistently inconsistent!  LOL

 

 

I wish it had been...I thought I was crazy! I had never heard of MTD not starting until 6:30 either.