Which has more for Kids ages 7 & 9

[PG13]

Who other than Disney cater to kids? DH and I have traveled with several cruise line and know what we like, but we are going to take the Grandsons with us for the first time.  It looks like maybe Royal Caribbean has a lot more stuff for young kids to do, especially on their Oases class ships, particularly the latest 2 that join the fleet.  I prefer a smaller quieter sailing, but this trip is about the boys and I want a lot of thing for the boys to do this trip. Also, which of the activities are for a fee. I assume the miniature golf, water slides and water park are free, but there looks to be many other things. I'm hoping others that have sailed recently can help me out. We haven't been on Royal in a few years.  Princess doesn't seem to have many kid luring activities. I'd rather not go with Disney. I did scan back 3 pages and didn't see a post like this recently. Thanks for your help. Pat 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

definitely RCI ships. You don't even have to have the latest ships. Look at Independence and newer.

Pretty much everything on RCI ships is free (rock climbing, ice skating, Flowrider surf sim, iFly, bumper cars, carousel, water slides, the Abyss dry slide, all the shows, zipline (min weight is 75# I think), etc.), but if you want private sessions, for example, for surf simulator or iFly - you pay more.

The Allure doesn't have any slides, though.

 

You can look through my reviews in the signature for any mentioning of what my then 8 yo liked on the Allure in 2019 and what he liked on the Harmony at 10. He didn't like water slides because he wasn't allowed to use goggles and nose clip. He loved everything else.

 

The Arcade is not free.

 

P.S. Princess doesn't have anything for kids. We cruise on it for food and occasionally - an itinerary. DS loves cruising no matter what, but he is a very chill kid and he doesn't do kid's club anyway.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[MamatoJack]

My son preferred Carnival's kids club to Royal's. He is happy as long as there are water slides and ropes course or rock wall on the ship so any will do. We did enjoy Freedom of the Seas before it was "amped" but I think he'd enjoy it more now with the water slides. We went on Carnival Magic after and he really enjoyed the ship, and the kids club. He went only a couple times on Royal and refused to go back. 

[oyme]

NCL getaway was amazing but our son was little. Besides the kids program the ship itself would be perfect for your age group. Some of NCL's newer ships have similar if not the same facilities as the Getaway. Princess and Carnival also have awesome kids programming but we noticed that NCL and Princess had the kids making more take-home projects when we sailed. On Carnival he really didn't have any projects to take home. That may have been his choice, maybe they offered for him to do crafts and such. We're about to sail Carnival Panorama and the ship itself looks like fun for all ages. Check out ship tours, it looks even better than NCL Getaway. We have 3 tweens and a 2 year old going, the tweens are SO excited! I realized, I should add Carnival Panorama, Horizon, and Vista all have the Family Harbor lounge. We booked Family Harbor rooms (they're affordable but are an upcharge from standard rooms) and the lounge looks very cool.

Edited May 13, 2022 by oyme

[willoL]

On 4/24/2022 at 2:26 PM, PG13 said:

Who other than Disney cater to kids? DH and I have traveled with several cruise line and know what we like, but we are going to take the Grandsons with us for the first time.  ...  I prefer a smaller quieter sailing, but this trip is about the boys and I want a lot of thing for the boys to do this trip. Also, which of the activities are for a fee. I assume the miniature golf, water slides and water park are free, but there looks to be many other things...

Are these grandsons you see often, or rarely? I'd check in with them (or their parents if this is a surprise) and find out what excites them about a cruise.

 

Honestly, my kids preferred HAL to Carnival when they were quite young. They were never particularly outgoing, and the Kid's Club was so noisy the first day (Carnival Glory), my little guy wouldn't even go back. Instead, we swam in the pool, played shuffleboard, played board games in the library, and just hung out together. My kids liked a smaller, quieter ship better just like their mom. (To be fair, we are a family of mostly introverted types: a professor/scientist married to an engineer.) 🤓

 

When we took them on Crystal, they were around 11 and 14, and some people said "don't do it, your kids will be bored." They weren't. 🤷‍♀️ My youngest loved to dress up every evening and join me in the piano lounge where the performer came to greet him every night with a special song; that kid still loves a good mocktail and asked for a velvet smoking jacket for our next voyage. The eldest hung out in the library, at a favorite cafe with his handheld video game, or he challenged passing adults to games of chess in the card room.

 

So if *your* grandsons are athletic, evaluate the sport courts and such. If they are only happy around friends, definitely consider the size of the kids' programs (also whether your grandsons' ages put them together or apart, or if right at the cusp of the next age group, if one might feel he was with "babies" or be overwhelmed without the sibling.) But maybe they are keen to visit the ports or learn about the mechanics of a ship, or who knows what?

[Skippy]

It’s been awhile, but we’ve done carnival (kids were 5 & 7), royal liberty of the seas (6 & 8 ) and Allure of the Seas (7 & 9). They loved the allure of the seas ship. So cool to wander around. Plus the diving show was really neat to watch. They did the flow rider, rock climbing, and ice skating. They weren’t huge fans of the shows. They could care less about the kids club on royal. They preferred the carnival kids club better. They spent most of their free time there including having dinner with the kids club. They also preferred some of the shows on carnival. The cruise director was definitely more outgoing. They had the hasbro game show and my dd was picked from the audience to participate and she won $100 gift card. It’s one of her favorite memories. 
anyway, whichever ship you go on, make the best of it. Go visit the different ports and have fun making memories. 

[seasidemama]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:47 PM, oyme said:

NCL getaway was amazing but our son was little. Besides the kids program the ship itself would be perfect for your age group. Some of NCL's newer ships have similar if not the same facilities as the Getaway. Princess and Carnival also have awesome kids programming but we noticed that NCL and Princess had the kids making more take-home projects when we sailed. On Carnival he really didn't have any projects to take home. That may have been his choice, maybe they offered for him to do crafts and such. We're about to sail Carnival Panorama and the ship itself looks like fun for all ages. Check out ship tours, it looks even better than NCL Getaway. We have 3 tweens and a 2 year old going, the tweens are SO excited! I realized, I should add Carnival Panorama, Horizon, and Vista all have the Family Harbor lounge. We booked Family Harbor rooms (they're affordable but are an upcharge from standard rooms) and the lounge looks very cool.

 

I've read contradicting info on NCL Getaway specifically and NCL generally. People come back saying kids club was either closed or limited hours available. Can you tell me if your positive experience was before or post covid? Thinking about trying NCL - the getaway or Prima for spring break 2023 and if the kids club won't be operational for late night I will be booking RCI (they are back to normal on their ships). During the day we do all activities together but the kids like to go hang out and do late night after dinner/show which gives the grown ups a few hours alone.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

16 hours ago, seasidemama said:

 

I've read contradicting info on NCL Getaway specifically and NCL generally. People come back saying kids club was either closed or limited hours available. Can you tell me if your positive experience was before or post covid? Thinking about trying NCL - the getaway or Prima for spring break 2023.

my experience was from 2018...

 

Who knows what's going to happen in 2023. It looks like everything cruise related is going back to pre-pandemic times right this moment.

 

My kid at that age just watched cartoons or movies on his tablet during dinner (with headphones, of course). Now that he is 11, he chose to talk to us during MDR dinners which pleasantly surprised us. He doesn't do kid's club, though.

[seasidemama]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

my experience was from 2018...

 

Who knows what's going to happen in 2023. It looks like everything cruise related is going back to pre-pandemic times right this moment.

 

My kid at that age just watched cartoons or movies on his tablet during dinner (with headphones, of course). Now that he is 11, he chose to talk to us during MDR dinners which pleasantly surprised us. He doesn't do kid's club, though.

 

Gotcha. Yeah all kids are different. On RCI kids club has been back to normal at least since summer. I wish NCL was clearer as to what will be the norm moving forward at this point now that restrictions are pretty much gone.

[oyme]

On 9/28/2022 at 5:02 PM, seasidemama said:

 

I've read contradicting info on NCL Getaway specifically and NCL generally. People come back saying kids club was either closed or limited hours available. Can you tell me if your positive experience was before or post covid? Thinking about trying NCL - the getaway or Prima for spring break 2023 and if the kids club won't be operational for late night I will be booking RCI (they are back to normal on their ships). During the day we do all activities together but the kids like to go hang out and do late night after dinner/show which gives the grown ups a few hours alone.

 

Prior to COVID, I have been reading the same things lately. Sad, the program had been so good.