freedom of the seas with 5 and 8 year old

[starfamily]

Hi there, my friend is going on her first cruise in January on the FOS. It will also be the first cruise for her husband and children (boy 8 girl 5) Although we have been on a lot of cruises never on RCCL so I don't know what advice to give her. When our son was young we took him on Disney and that worked out fine with the kids clubs etc. How do they work on RCCL? Will her children be able to stay together or will they be in different groupings? Is there a charge for the clubs or group sitting? Any tips or hints I can pass on to her about RCCL? I realize this is a brand new ship so no one has actually sailed her yet but I would think there is similar ones in the fleet. Thanks in advance for any help.

ps- they are in a balcony cabin, we have only sailed in suites and mini suites, will a balcony be large enough for four people? I assume that one of the kids beds would come from the ceiling and the other from the couch or do they both come from ceiling? Do the beds have rails to make sure the little one does not fall out? How about the verandas, are they covered or open? One thing I did not like in the mini suites on the star princess because of the tiered effect of the ship everyone above could look directly down onto your balcony. No privacy what so ever.

[BPWJR]

Basic info is at link below; will need Adobe to open, gives the answer to some of your questions. If friend can also log-in to here, just search Adventure Ocean as the topic, sure to get a lot more info.

 

BPWJR

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/pdf/Adventure_Ocean_Fact_Sheet.pdf

[crusinmama06]

We are going on the FOS in April 07 with my kids who will be 3 and 7 by the time of the cruise. We've been taking the kids on cruises since they were 7 months old. Maybe I can answer some questions....

 

The kids will be separated at the kids club. When my kids were on the edge of an age group (like the 5 year old will be), my kids preferred staying with the younger group (3-5), they did more fun things that appeal to that age group.

 

Bed Rail - we would throw our own bed rail folded up in the suitcase. Some fold VERY small and flat. The only place I've ever noticed bedrails were on the Disney Magic ship's top bunk. Maybe they would be on the FOS as well.

 

A Balcony room will be large enough for 2 adults/2 children. No problem. At that age, they won't want to be in the room much anyway.

 

You won't need "group sitting" for a child that age. They will simply go to the kids club. I think there are charges for the late night hours (after 10pm), but haven't seen specific fees yet.

 

The nice part about this ship is the new top side pool. It's like a mini water park. The kids will love it.

 

I'm sure your friend has seen this FOS interactive site before, is she hasn't, it's worth looking at...

http://www.freedomoftheseas.com/?sid=7