Grand princess Tips with kids

[josephml1]

Hi

 

Please let me know your inside tips for the Grand  Princess with kids 

 

Please share your favorite: spot, food, restaurant, inside tips, bar, favorite place, pool, secret place, etc

 

also tips traveling with children 

 

All tips are welcome.

Edited May 12, 2019 by josephml1
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[Stikman]

How old are your kids? We just did the RT Alaska from Los Angeles (Apr 23-May 5) on the Ruby with our kids aged 5, 8, and almost 11. I'm assuming you're doing RT Alaska from SF? We've never sailed on the Grand, but it looks pretty similar to the Ruby, so I can only speak generally. The pools were heated for us, which the kids loved and used a lot! In terms of getting energy out, they would go play basketball or tennis on the sport court. They ate with us in the MDR for dinner, but it was great during the day being able to get pizza and buffet munchies and chill on deck. The International Cafe is great for round the clock snacks. During the day, most bars and lounges are open for general use with no age minimum, unless scheduled activity.

 

For in-cabin stuff, each kid brought a backpack with a book, couple small activities, and stuffed animals to sleep with. We also brought a digital clock that also stayed on as a nightlight, which helped them immensely (we had inside rooms). 

[Dani24]

On 5/12/2019 at 11:24 AM, josephml1 said:

Hi

 

Please let me know your inside tips for the Grand  Princess with kids 

 

Please share your favorite: spot, food, restaurant, inside tips, bar, favorite place, pool, secret place, etc

 

also tips traveling with children 

 

All tips are welcome.

 

Not so sure about a favorite “bar” for kids... 😛

 

But we’ll be on the Grand in July with our daughter. There’s a covered pool which will be nice for swimming. They also have a mini golf course and a giant chess board on deck. There may be some games onboard you can borrow (on prior cruises we’ve found board games in the library or once in the casino on a smaller ship). And there will also be movies playing up on deck, and there should be at least one or two kids movies.

 

If you eat in the MDR your kids can order off the kids menu, or off the adult menu if they desire.

 

Check out prior Alaska patters to get an idea of what other activities they have onboard. There may be fun activities like an “egg drop” contest, paper airplane contest, Puppies in the Piazza (in Skagway), naturalist talks about Alaska, etc.. Here are Patters from 2 years ago on the Grand to Alaska. Some things may be different, but it should give you a good sense of what’s available. http://www.cruisetipstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Grand-Princess-Patters.pdf

[Linsifer]

We just got off a 15 day cruise on the Grand to Hawaii and the pools were NOT heated.  I was so disappointed because on my previous four Princess cruises the pools have always been heated.   I used to lounge in the shallow water on the inner tile deck, as well as splash around in the pool, itself.  Not this time. They were ice cold on the Grand.  Maybe they heat them for an Alaskan voyage, though? 

[cabin4three]

What age are your kids? We have taken ours on cruises from about 11 months, eldest is now 12. Things we have taken with us has changed as they have aged. 

When they were toddlers we took reins/harness as there are so many dangers on a ship for a fast adventurous toddler!  We registered them in the kids club, but didn't always use it. Princess isn't the best for under 4 in our opinion.  

We would take our toddlers to the enclosed sports court to just run around and tire themselves out.

Depending on their ages and where you are going, we used Google maps to find play areas close to each port, it's surprising how many there are! We saw areas of ports we hadn't seen before despite numerous previous visits.

Again depending on the kids age, take more clothes, or laundry detergent, ours are messy!

And a bit comb!! Second cruise with our 16 month and he got nits in the kids club 😐 not what you want!

[Dani24]

 

 

 

2

9 hours ago, cabin4three said:

And a bit comb!! Second cruise with our 16 month and he got nits in the kids club 😐 not what you want!

 

😦!

 

How did the ship handle that? Do they close down the kids club and deep clean/treat the space? Do they quarantine the kids at all, or provide any amenities (even if for a fee) to help get rid of them? 

[cabin4three]

46 minutes ago, Dani24 said:

 

😦

How did the ship handle that? Do they close down the kids club and deep clean/treat the space? Do they quarantine the kids at all, or provide any amenities (even if for a fee) to help get rid of them? 

 

As far as we are aware they didnt do anything.  I dont know if they had a quick look at other kids heads  and then a quiet word with the family - thankfully our child had very little and very fine hair at the time so  easy to comb through every day for a couple of weeks. 😞   

[karatemom2]

7 minutes ago, cabin4three said:

 

As far as we are aware they didnt do anything.  I dont know if they had a quick look at other kids heads  and then a quiet word with the family - thankfully our child had very little and very fine hair at the time so  easy to comb through every day for a couple of weeks. 😞   

 

I'm assuming that wasn't on a Princess ship as they don't take kids that young in the Kids Club - just curious what ship you were on? 

Edited May 14, 2019 by karatemom2

[cabin4three]

4 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

 

I'm assuming that wasn't on a Princess ship as they don't take kids that young in the Kids Club - just curious what ship you were on? 

It was a Princess cruise, there weren't many kids on the cruise so we were allowed to take our toddler to the club and they could use the soft play area and do some drawing etc.  We had to stay with them at all time,  we didnt leave them in the club, but there were a couple of under 5's who had "play time" together, staff did do a book at bedtime session and things like that.  They adapted the activities very well to suit the children on board.    

 

[tlovesdis]

We were on the Grand with my 12 year old niece last July.  She had no interest in the kids club.  She also slept til 11 or so each day we weren't going into a port!  LOL  The pools were cold so she never swam, but we did play games that we borrowed from the library.  We sat on the deck quite a bit looking for whales.  She ate off the adult menu in the MDR and we did Crown Grill (she loves steak) and Sabatini's.  She had the soda package so she enjoyed several fruity non alcoholic drinks!  She went to the theater to watch The Greatest Showman with her mom one afternoon.  She played trivia with us almost every afternoon.  She said she had a great time and she can't wait to go again in February! 

 

There is a lot to do on board for the kids.  One afternoon on a sea day they had the piazza all set up for kids to do activities, there was face painting, and other stuff (I wasn't paying attention 100%).  But the kids were having a blast.

[josephml1]

On 5/14/2019 at 12:19 AM, Dani24 said:

 

Not so sure about a favorite “bar” for kids... 😛

 

But we’ll be on the Grand in July with our daughter. There’s a covered pool which will be nice for swimming. They also have a mini golf course and a giant chess board on deck. There may be some games onboard you can borrow (on prior cruises we’ve found board games in the library or once in the casino on a smaller ship). And there will also be movies playing up on deck, and there should be at least one or two kids movies.

 

If you eat in the MDR your kids can order off the kids menu, or off the adult menu if they desire.

 

Check out prior Alaska patters to get an idea of what other activities they have onboard. There may be fun activities like an “egg drop” contest, paper airplane contest, Puppies in the Piazza (in Skagway), naturalist talks about Alaska, etc.. Here are Patters from 2 years ago on the Grand to Alaska. Some things may be different, but it should give you a good sense of what’s available. http://www.cruisetipstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Grand-Princess-Patters.pdf

Great advice thank you very much 

[josephml1]

On 5/14/2019 at 2:17 AM, cabin4three said:

What age are your kids? We have taken ours on cruises from about 11 months, eldest is now 12. Things we have taken with us has changed as they have aged. 

When they were toddlers we took reins/harness as there are so many dangers on a ship for a fast adventurous toddler!  We registered them in the kids club, but didn't always use it. Princess isn't the best for under 4 in our opinion.  

We would take our toddlers to the enclosed sports court to just run around and tire themselves out.

Depending on their ages and where you are going, we used Google maps to find play areas close to each port, it's surprising how many there are! We saw areas of ports we hadn't seen before despite numerous previous visits.

Again depending on the kids age, take more clothes, or laundry detergent, ours are messy!

And a bit comb!! Second cruise with our 16 month and he got nits in the kids club 😐 not what you want!

 

They are 5, 4 and 2 years old. 

We are going to cruise to Hawaii in New Year’s Eve. 

[josephml1]

On 5/14/2019 at 5:55 PM, tlovesdis said:

We were on the Grand with my 12 year old niece last July.  She had no interest in the kids club.  She also slept til 11 or so each day we weren't going into a port!  LOL  The pools were cold so she never swam, but we did play games that we borrowed from the library.  We sat on the deck quite a bit looking for whales.  She ate off the adult menu in the MDR and we did Crown Grill (she loves steak) and Sabatini's.  She had the soda package so she enjoyed several fruity non alcoholic drinks!  She went to the theater to watch The Greatest Showman with her mom one afternoon.  She played trivia with us almost every afternoon.  She said she had a great time and she can't wait to go again in February! 

 

There is a lot to do on board for the kids.  One afternoon on a sea day they had the piazza all set up for kids to do activities, there was face painting, and other stuff (I wasn't paying attention 100%).  But the kids were having a blast.

Sound great thanks for sharing