Looking for actual onboard Kids Program experience?

[pettygirl]

Can anyone offer insight to your experience of the onboard kids programs?  We sail in April 2023 on Discovery and while the Princess FAQ is helpful, with hours and ages and such, I'm looking for what actually happens on ship, what we need to know in advance, and any tips or practical experience.  The few boards I've found on CC are limited with testimonial info, and usually just repeat the Princess FAQ, which we already are familiar with.

 

We have two boys age 6, super well-adjusted, already socialized, cool little kids - and we plan to use Camp Discovery, and hopefully the drop-in babysitting hours over the dinner/late night hours at some point.  We already plan to go to the kids area ASAP for signups when we board the ship.

 

Any and all info or descriptions of experience is appreciated!   

Edited January 18, 2023 by pettygirl

[lindsaygal]

Hi Pettygirl, 

My kids have been cruising with us for year and love the kids clubs. I have a 13 year old and 7 year old currently but they both started going to "Boat School" as they dubbed it when they were 4. For the 6 year old age group, go to the kids areas right away and get them on the list (as you said) you should also sign the waiver on the cruise presonalizer to get them preregistered. They will put a kids patter in your room the first day with events/parties/dinners ect. for the whole cruise. You will also get to decide if the kids can check them self into and out of the kids club. We have never used the afterhours babysitting but they do usually have 2 nights per cruise where they have a dinner/dance/pj party during dinner time to give the parents a way to enjoy formal nights. They will have themed days/nights with games, crafts and video game tournaments. My kids also love to go to the t-shirt making and stuffed animal making events each cruise. When we were in Alaska they even brought a naturalist onboard to talk to the kids about Alaska and the different animals and climate. Let me know if you have any questions, i'd be more them happy to answer whatever. As my kids have gotten older they seem to use the kids clubs more and more often. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

52 minutes ago, lindsaygal said:

You will also get to decide if the kids can check them self into and out of the kids club.

at 6???? On Enchanted it was for 8-12 year olds (see below).

 

Here is a program from our Thanksgiving 2022 Enchanted cruise:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[akeasley]

Thank you for sharing the kids info....answered my question about pre-registration!

Edited January 18, 2023 by akeasley

[SuzieQ521]

Hello:

 

I was taking a look at your post and was wondering if you knew what the procedure was like if the staff needed to reach you about your child...do they give pagers, is there a messaging system, etc.? We are doing Royal to Alaska in May with a 4 year old.

(I'm asking because we just got off a NCL cruise last month where we had to tell them what deck we planned to be on and they had no way of communicating with the parents otherwise; once I even got a voicemail on our stateroom phone which we did not see until well after we had picked up our son). 

 

Thanks!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

17 hours ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Hello:

 

I was taking a look at your post and was wondering if you knew what the procedure was like if the staff needed to reach you about your child...do they give pagers, is there a messaging system, etc.? We are doing Royal to Alaska in May with a 4 year old.

(I'm asking because we just got off a NCL cruise last month where we had to tell them what deck we planned to be on and they had no way of communicating with the parents otherwise; once I even got a voicemail on our stateroom phone which we did not see until well after we had picked up our son). 

 

Thanks!

I don't know because my kid refuses to do kid's club, however, on a medallion cruise, I am sure they can get a hold of you much easier - they will know exactly where you are on the ship. They maybe could even text you on the app.

 

Years ago on his very first cruise (RCI) we were given a pager. DS lasted 20 minutes after which they notified us to come get him.

[arizonaperson]

Pettygirl-

 if you need more information ,you might want to post your question or look under the family board section of cruise critic .might be lots more information there if you didn’t already know about that section of Cruise critic. 

posting of the kids program and or Patter ( kids newsletter)by another member looked to be great information .

[flhokie]

On 1/18/2023 at 3:47 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

at 6???? On Enchanted it was for 8-12 year olds (see below).

 

Here is a program from our Thanksgiving 2022 Enchanted cruise:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did they put 3-12 year olds together (the schedule says 3-12)? Just asking because daughter will be 12 1/2 this summer. She's done the teen program on Royal Caribbean. If the won't let her age up to teen on Princess, I was thinking she might be ok with kids if it was 8-12 like it said on the website, but if she'd be with much younger kids I doubt she'll go. Just want to be prepared. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

10 hours ago, flhokie said:

Did they put 3-12 year olds together

I don't know, but I highly doubt it. My friends' kids were never in the same group, they have a 3 year age difference. They love Princess kid's club and they've been doing it for years.

[cjpj]

10 hours ago, flhokie said:

Did they put 3-12 year olds together (the schedule says 3-12)? Just asking because daughter will be 12 1/2 this summer. She's done the teen program on Royal Caribbean. If the won't let her age up to teen on Princess, I was thinking she might be ok with kids if it was 8-12 like it said on the website, but if she'd be with much younger kids I doubt she'll go. Just want to be prepared. 

They have different age groups and are very strict about it.