4 year old on Princess

[blueh20]

Has anyone ever taken their four year old on a princess cruise? This is our first time taking our son on a cruise and we were wondering what to expect. He is in daycare now at a wonderful school so I know he will do well in the kids club, I was wondering about activities and such. What do they do and are they entertained well? We will be sailing on the Golden on Sept 12th.

[serene56]

Your best bet is to ask this on the Princess boards. I do know that on Royal and carnival the camps are awesome. The kids are very entertained with most not wanting to leave the place. Your son will have the time of his life

[merela]

if your child is used to daycare environment, he'll do well at kids' club on the Princess.

They have all the board games (candyland, chute 'n ladder, etc...) in new unopened boxes. New Playdoh and Legos and puzzles.

They have organized group activities such as ice cream party, movie nights, pizza party, and pajama party.

They do tons of arts and crafts. I saw they award kids for different activities. They give away prizes all the time to different kids.

I think your child will not be bored.

Princess' kid's zone is clean and colorful.

I was travelling with my almost 4YO DD at the time, but she was never in a preschool environment, so she didn't want to leave my side. Yet, I would spend about 2 hours a day in the kid's zone with her playing different games. She really enjoy that. Other little girls joined us in the games too.

I would suggest that you show your child a floor diagram of the ship before you board and prepare him with what to expect on a cruise (as much as you can). Explore the ship with your child as soon as you can once you board.

I pretended that we are like Dora the Explorer exploring the ships looking for clues (like Blue's Clues). I took the ship's floor plan and went through every floor, so the child doesn't feel so unsure of what is going to happen next.

Tell him about the meal options (in dining rooms and buffet). What you don't know about the ship, you can probably find out about it on the Princess board.

Tell him about embarkation and disembarkation and the different ports of call you'll be going to. You'll be surprised on how much your child can absorb at this age.

In hindsight, I should have prepared my DD better, but since I didn't know what to expect myself (it was our first cruise), I was as clueless as she was.



HTH.

[j&b'smommy]

I have taken several cruises with my young children and they really loved the children's program on Princess (grand and golden). I had a good experience with the staff and they knew the kids by name in a day or two. The kids get some gifts if they attend the kids' club. My daughter always looked forward to going to the club. Princess has a nice children's area on their private island. I do not think you will be disappointed!

Also, Princess has a really good children's menu in the dining room and the 24 hour buffet was nice and convenient for the kids. Make sure you use the children's pool. It is almost always empty!

YOu will get a schedule of the kids' activities in your cabin. On our cruises they always gave us the whole week's worth of children's activities. Not like the adults' schedule that you get the night before.

One night they took the kids up to Skywalkers disco. If you get the chance, go watch the kids up there. It was so cute seeing all of them on the dance floor!

[serene56]

On Carnival and ROyal parents were not allowed to stay in the playroom playing games with their kids. Staff said it was bad to do that because of other kids dont have theirparents. Nice that Princess does that- not all kids are used to that kindof enviroment.

[ghgeckos]

My youngest son was 4 when he took his first cruise a couple of years ago. we were on the Star Princess and he loved the kids program. He one a contest the first day, who could yell their name the loudest. They make a point of making the children feel welcome and keep thm just busy enough. He never wanted to leave the center.