Adventure Ocean

[calakerfan00]

How long does it take to check in child into Adventure Ocean around dinner time.

[topnole]

2 minutes ago, calakerfan00 said:

How long does it take to check in child into Adventure Ocean around dinner time.

Just off Allure.  FYI, they were closed from 5-7 pm every day.  So there was no drop off at dinner time.  We were more than surprised at the situation.  

[smokeybandit]

22 minutes ago, topnole said:

Just off Allure.  FYI, they were closed from 5-7 pm every day.  So there was no drop off at dinner time.  We were more than surprised at the situation.  

It's always been like that. Pre-covid they would pick up the kids from the MDR during the early seating at like 6:45, but that hasn't yet returned.

Edited May 16, 2022 by smokeybandit

[ONECRUISER]

13 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

It's always been like that. Pre-covid they would pick up the kids from the MDR during the early seating at like 6:45, but that hasn't yet returned.

Agree, and nothing new. 20+ yrs ago Family Dining 6pm and would drop them off at AO at 7pm

Edited May 16, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[topnole]

3 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Agree, and nothing new. 20+ yrs ago Family Dining 6pm and would drop them off at AO at 7pm

 

17 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

It's always been like that. Pre-covid they would pick up the kids from the MDR during the early seating at like 6:45, but that hasn't yet returned.

Tnx for that info.  Never used to use them.   How does this compare to other cruise lines?  
 

Not having a nursery from 5-7 pretty much means you are not getting dinner alone.  Our 4 and 6 year old would’ve been fine starting at 7.  Our youngest, not gonna happen.  

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, topnole said:

 

Tnx for that info.  Never used to use them.   How does this compare to other cruise lines?  
 

Not having a nursery from 5-7 pretty much means you are not getting dinner alone.  Our 4 and 6 year old would’ve been fine starting at 7.  Our youngest, not gonna happen.  

You could do a late seating or later My Time Dining if you wanted that.

[topnole]

8 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

You could do a late seating or later My Time Dining if you wanted that.

Yeah.  With 4 and 6,

no problems.  With a 1 year old.  It just didn’t work.  We tried at 7 and it was just to close to bed time for the little guy.  

[vandals04]

5 minutes ago, topnole said:

Yeah.  With 4 and 6,

no problems.  With a 1 year old.  It just didn’t work.  We tried at 7 and it was just to close to bed time for the little guy.  

 

Our 3 kids are close to the same ages as yours and I'm really hoping our youngest sleeps in the stroller.

[topnole]

1 hour ago, vandals04 said:

 

Our 3 kids are close to the same ages as yours and I'm really hoping our youngest sleeps in the stroller.

I hope it works for you.  It was just too much stimulation for our little guy and he wouldn’t go down.   

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

Yeah.  With 4 and 6,

no problems.  With a 1 year old.  It just didn’t work.  We tried at 7 and it was just to close to bed time for the little guy.  

When ours were that ages we used the windjammer a lot and early times in speciality restaurants.  

[topnole]

26 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

When ours were that ages we used the windjammer a lot and early times in speciality restaurants.  

We did a couple dinners on the balcony since we were Star class.  That was fun with sail away and a show starting soon after in the aqua theater.  We just wished we could do one dinner without the kids.  But not possible for us with it being closed from 5-7.  

[Billy Baltic]

1 minute ago, topnole said:

We did a couple dinners on the balcony since we were Star class.  That was fun with sail away and a show starting soon after in the aqua theater.  We just wished we could do one dinner without the kids.  But not possible for us with it being closed from 5-7.  

We also found bringing grandparents helped 😎

[topnole]

17 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

We also found bringing grandparents helped 😎

Yeah.  We’ve done that plenty of times too.  

[rimmit]

They used to have adventure time dining on select nights precovid.  It would bridge the 5-7 gap.  Had to presign them up and they’d go to the WJ to get pizza.   They also used to have My family time dining where they’d get the kids like 30-40 minutes i to dinner or something like that and bring them to AO.

 

AO has never been open from 5-7 and that is standard across all cruiselines except disney.  Disney has a continously operatinf kids club all day and a kids dinner.  NCL does not have any kids dinner at all.  X has a kids dinner every night.  I am not sure of HAL or PCL as I have not been on them since we have had kids so not sure of the current dining situation there. 

[brevardcruiser]

Generally traveling off peak times maybe 10 minutes at 7pm.  One year during summer when over 1k kids on board,  it took a while with long lines.  They haven’t started the pick up at dinner to my knowledge.

 

 

[broadwaybaby123]

4 hours ago, topnole said:

 

Tnx for that info.  Never used to use them.   How does this compare to other cruise lines?  
 

Not having a nursery from 5-7 pretty much means you are not getting dinner alone.  Our 4 and 6 year old would’ve been fine starting at 7.  Our youngest, not gonna happen.  

I'm an alumni of many kids programs from across the industry.  From what I remember, almost every cruise line the kids club didn't even start until after 6 at a minimum.  The kids were expected to have dinner with their families,

[honeymooner16]

If you are in port during dinner hours, sometimes the AO stays open and feeds the kids, but that requires you to sign up ahead of time. On Allure, pre-covid our little was able to eat with the kids club for dinner. Hoping it comes back soon. 

[twinmommy08]

When my kids were little the evening program started around 7 pm. WJ typically opened around 6-6:30 so we would take them to eat at WJ and then drop them off before our dinner. We would pick them up after dinner/show and then put them to bed. It was a great getting a date night every night! 
 

AO is typically closed during lunch on sea days too. AM session opened at 9 am (ish) closed around noon and reopened around 2 pm until 5 pm.
 

Port days seemed to be open early and the kids could stay until all aboard time. Not sure if they are doing that now. Sometimes the kids would stay for AO dinner where the staff took them to WJ for pizza, hot dogs, and etc. We had to sign up for the dinner when we dropped them off for afternoon session. 

 

Our routine on seas days was breakfast, AO drop off, AO pick up, lunch and naps, dinner for kids, AO drop off and then dinner/show for us. Finally AO pick up and then bed. We kept the kids with us on port days until the evening session. 

I’m sure a lot has changed since COVID but the policies were not unreasonable. It’s not meant to be an 18 hour daycare facility. 

[myacuna]

Will you baby sleep in the nursery? We’ve always just dropped off at 7 with a bottle and they would put our son down. This is our first cruise with our daughter so we will see how she does. 

[gerif]

One way or another, you are going to have to arrange nursery hours for the little one as s/he is too young for AO in any event. If you want dinner alone you can feed the kids in the windjammer then drop the baby off at the nursery (assuming you can get the time you want) and the older two at AO - then have a late dinner together. 

[calakerfan00]

I was looking to drop my 6 year old at 7pm since they are open from 7pm-10pm. I wanted to know if the process goes quick since I scheduled all my dining times at 730pm