Crown Cruisers with 6 & 11 yr. old need opinions

[leenie29]

We are thinking about booking a cruise on the Crown for next year out of Philly to Bermuda. The end of April is their school break so it would be the first sailing out of Philly.

 

The NCL line has many advantages for our family over the the other lines to Bermuda - Freestyle dining being the major one.

 

Has any traveled on the Crown with kids? We were on the Dawn 6/20 and loved it. I know you can't compare the two ships but is there enough to do on the Crown when you are at sea for the kids and adults? I'm mostly interested in the 6-9 year kids program since the older one does his own thing. I heard the programs were the same on all ships including the times the programs run.

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Leenie

[redzilla]

Hello,

Let me preface this reply, I did not travel with children on the Crown. We cruised May 30 on the Crown to Bermuda. My worry would be the weather in April on the crossing. If it is rainy or chilly, I think the kids may have a hard time staying occupied. We had rain on our first full sea day, it rained all day. We did see families wandering and looking for things to do. There were families playing board games in the library and at additional tables near the library. At times during the rainy day, some of the ship's public spaces seemed small and a bit crowded. On our trips warm & sunny days, people were able to spread a bit to the outside decks. Just something to consider, the weather at the end of April on a cruise to Bermuda.

[leenie29]

You bring up a very good point about the weather. Fortunately or unfortunately my kids aren't public pool kids -friends or family pools they love, but many people in a pool freak them out. They didn't go into the Dawn pool once the entire week (6/20/04), it was way too crowded and noisy for them. They took one look at the areas around the pool and didn't go back the rest of the week.

 

Playing board games for hours on end with anyone would bore me to tears but my older son would be happy as a clam. My younger son was very happy on the Dawn with port play and he mostly colored and did whatever he wanted. I don't think I've ever heard him say the words "I'm bored", he's always been able to find something to keep him busy since he was a very young child.

 

Thanks again for your imput.

Leenie

[BOYNSEA]

We just came off the Crown this Sunday. I don't know about the 6-9 year olds but the 11 year old and the teen groups had a pretty busy schedule on the sea days. They looked like fun. I saw teens having water balloon fights and also a scavenger hunt. We were in a group of 44 and 3 of them were under 13. Because they had each other they did not take part in the club for kids but they would have enjoyed the events I am sure. Same went for the teens in our group (there were 6). They did not join but were on their own most of the time. Schedule very limited on days in Bermuda though.