Calling All Parents!! First Time Cruising with Kids!!

[CruisingCatherine]

My H and I will be taking our two children, boy 10 and girl 7, on the Sovereign in May. I have many questions about cruising with kids and Adventure Ocean. Can anyone help me out?

 

1. Do parents have some way of being reached by the staff of Adventure Ocean if the need develops?

2. Do you find that the kids are kept busy with Adventure Ocean and family time or do I need to bring coloring books, Gameboy, toys, ect..?

3. How do the kids do at dinner. 1 1/2-2 hours for dinner seems really long for them to sit quietly. What are the kids menus like in the Dining Room?

4. Is the computers in Adventure Ocean set up for games and activities or strictly for internet use? If internet, what is the charge for it?

5. Will my 10 year old be able to sign out if I do not want him to?

6. If my children want to stay together in a group, they are both shy, can they?

7. Are there Adventure Ocean activities on CocoCay?

 

I am sure I will have more questions develop but for now that is all I have.

Thanks in advance for your help.:)

[99florida]

1. beepers for small children (tot)

 

2. program is well organized and safe

 

3. 10 year old can not sign out if you do not wish him to have that choice.

 

4. cococay has programs for them on land.

 

5. my boys have had many opportunities to eat at fancy places therefore, sitting was not a problem for them.

 

6. take first seating as the program starts at 7PM

 

7. kids menu is just that but they can order off the main meue if they desire. mine always do. they love the shrimp cocktail/fillet migon, etc...

 

8. relax and have a ball

 

9. it's a nice older ship with great food, service, and lots of fun for everyone.

[cyndyt]

1. They only have beepers for the younder children, not the age of your children.

2. There are many activities so on the ship, no I don't think you need to bring anything.

3. My children have no trouble at dinner (except the 2 yr old). If you have early seating you can take them to Adventure Ocean whenthey are done eating and then enjoy dessert.

4. Have never asked my children this question so don't know.

5. You have to give your 10 year old permission to sign himself out. If you don't, he can't.

6. Age groups are usually 6-8 and 9-11, although I have found that most times these groups are kept together. Speak to manager if you have concerns.

7. Coco Cay has a separate area set aside for Adventure Ocean. It is open most of the day, but closed at lunchtime.

Your children will have a wonderful time. Occasionally I have had 1 or 2 of mine refuse to get off the ship in port as they want to stay in Adventure Ocean.

[ColeandAbby]

:p Can't add anything esle to the list. Will say that my 10 & 3 year old LOVED AO. They would ask to go the first thing in the morning!

[CruisingCatherine]

Thanks for all of your quick responses. I was really worried about dinner. I never thought to take them to Adventure Ocean after they were finished and then continue dinner with my H.

 

More questions:

1. Can the kids use their SeaPass to play arcade games. My son is a video game addict. I could see a $100 charge for arcade games in my future if allowed.

 

2. Is the area for Adventure Ocean on Cococay a place you can leave your kids with staff for a while. I would love to take my H out on the waverunners but the kids are too little to be passengers.

[It'sRC4ME]

Another option for dinner, if you think they'll really have a problem in the dining room, is to choose the late seating for dinner. Take the kids to the Windjammer for dinner early, take them to AO, and then go on to your own dinner.

[CruisingCatherine]

I had thought about taking them to the Windjammer or Johnny Rockets before dinner but my daughter changed my mind. She is the prissiest thing you have ever seen. She is more excited about getting dressed up for dinner and using china everynight than she is the cruise itself. We have many dinner parties and she eats it up. I will give my son the option of skipping maybe one dinner by himself. He is at the age where we really have to push family time in order to just see him.

[rclcruzer]

yes you or they can swipe the sea pass card for game token credits.

My kids (teens) had a limit that of course they succeeded but oh well, not by much!

question # 2 don't know.

happy cruising! ;)

[FunCruiser56]

Don't put charging privledges on your kids Seapass. They won't even relize they are spending money buying the arcade cards. Easier on the budget if you just buy them the cards. Beware the cards go fast as the games are expensive!. Lot's more fun things to do than play video games!

 

Bev

[wrinklesandme]

We've always used dinner as a chance for them to expand their "taste" horizons. Each night we have them order one new item and try it. Much cheaper in the long run.

 

DD, who is 11, now loves Escargot and Lobster. (big mistake on the lobster. That's all she wants now!:eek: )

 

I'd limit the seapass charges. Especially if you think your son will spend a lot of money in the arcade. It goes really fast.

 

To my knowlege, there is no internet in AO. Just kid games on the computers.

 

Your son will probably become very involved in GaGa Ball in AO. It's a modified Dodge Ball game that is the rage and there are tournaments at night. So, he might want to stay for the after hours games. That's when it becomes a charging event. It's $5/child per hour. We allowed our kids one night each of after hours. (We were exhausted and wanted to go to bed! In fact we did "rock, paper, scissors," to see who would stay up to get them.)

 

Enjoy!

[It'sRC4ME]

I had thought about taking them to the Windjammer or Johnny Rockets before dinner but my daughter changed my mind. She is the prissiest thing you have ever seen. She is more excited about getting dressed up for dinner and using china everynight than she is the cruise itself. We have many dinner parties and she eats it up. I will give my son the option of skipping maybe one dinner by himself. He is at the age where we really have to push family time in order to just see him.

 

She sounds like my kind of cruiser - I start planning my outfits as soon as I book a cruise!

[veryhotred]

My H and I will be taking our two children, boy 10 and girl 7, on the Sovereign in May. I have many questions about cruising with kids and Adventure Ocean. Can anyone help me out?

 

1. Do parents have some way of being reached by the staff of Adventure Ocean if the need develops?

2. Do you find that the kids are kept busy with Adventure Ocean and family time or do I need to bring coloring books, Gameboy, toys, ect..?

3. How do the kids do at dinner. 1 1/2-2 hours for dinner seems really long for them to sit quietly. What are the kids menus like in the Dining Room?

4. Is the computers in Adventure Ocean set up for games and activities or strictly for internet use? If internet, what is the charge for it?

5. Will my 10 year old be able to sign out if I do not want him to?

6. If my children want to stay together in a group, they are both shy, can they?

7. Are there Adventure Ocean activities on CocoCay?

 

I am sure I will have more questions develop but for now that is all I have.

Thanks in advance for your help.:)

 

Hey!!!!!!!!!! We are going on this cruise too and it will be our first family cruise too AND my daughter is also 7 years old!!!!!!!!!!! My son is 6 though. My daughter loves getting all dressed up too and is very much looking forward to eating in the dining room and wearing her dresses. We have the early seating. Perhaps if our daughters get to know one another they would feel better about going to Adventure Ocean? My daughter can be a little shy at first but then is fine and makes friends with everyone. I am worried about my son in that he gets a little nervous about going into large groups but the good thing is that the two of them will be together since their age is so close. Hopefully it will all work out!!! If you want too, email me and let's talk very_hot_red at yahoo dot com

[Inshape]

i did not see this answered so I will : You cannot mix the kids unless the older is willing to go with the younger. The age group for your son is 9-11. The arcade is a big rip off as my 10 yr old discovered very fast...thank goodness! The games are expensive and they last 30 seconds. he said it was not worth it and never cared about not using it after that time. There is just too many other things to do. You can always give your child a walkie talkie to call you on. Pagers are only for thevery little kids parents.

[StormGoddess]

Just off the Sovereign a few weeks ago...

1. If it is a real emergency, they will get a hold of you even if they need to page over the PA.

2. Kids are kept busy during Adventure Ocean. Things are scheduled in 15-30 minute increments to work with children's attention spans.

3. You can always ask your waiter to bring the children's food all at once, and between meals run them up. We do late seating and my son eats in the Windjammer. Remember that except for formal night, AO doesn't open till 7pm anyway. On formal, you can sign them up for dinner with the AO staff at 6.

4. I know they have Play station on the computers. But they also have the card swipe on them so if they are accessible to the internet it is still the same charge as any other...50cents per minute.

5. When you sign your kids into the AO, there is a section if you give them permission to sign themselves out.

6. 7 and 10 are in 2 different age groups. But on the Sovereign, they often combine activities with the 6-8 and 9-11. In May it might be different, but I don't think it will be. Talk to the counselors, they can answer it better. But I think your kids will get over the shy pretty quick here, at least once mom and dad walk away.

7. CocoCay is loaded with AO activities. There is a fenced off area on one side, in the sand, and they do all kinds of things. They will not take your kids in the ocean, but do have water activities, like water balloons and such. There is an hour that they shut for lunch that you have to sign your kids back out. Good time to enjoy your own lunch on the island.

 

[alliesma]

We took our first cruise last year with our then 11 yo daughter and 9 yo son. They didn't want to got to AO as they thought it was like "babysitting". We convinced them to just try it on the second night and they were hooked. They did fine in the dining room (early seating) and ordered off of the adult menu, but by dessert they wanted to run to the room to change to get to AO. They mainly went in the evening, but did participate in some of the day activies during "sea days". I don't believe that children their age should be wandering the ship alone, so we never let them have sign out priviledges and also didn't let them play scavanger hunts around the ship, and it was never a problem. We dropped them off and picked them up at the AO area. It was nice to have time to ourselves in the evenings. I think we picked them up around 9pm, at which point we were all ready to call it a night. Ours were in the same group last year, but won't be this year. I thought they might mind that but when I asked they both had such a good time last year, they seemed excited to participate again. And yes, gaga ball was all the craze. They both just loved it!!! I hope your children have fun, and know that we are very safety conscious and felt that the kids were safe when at AO.

[CruisingCatherine]

Thank you all sio much for your answers. It really helps me plan things.

 

How are the kids first introduced to Adventure Ocean? Are there activities the first evening for the whole family. My son doesn't handle new things all that well. I am hoping he can get used to the environment before we are ready to just "drop" them off.

 

How do you keep the kids from being able to charge on their SeaPass? Do I have to go to Guest Relations to sign something or is it done when we check in?

 

If the kids can't charge, what happens if their group goes to Johnny Rockets? Wouldn't want them to miss that.

[StormGoddess]

On the ships I have been on, the first night there is an AO get to know type of thing, where parents and kids go to the theatre or something. Kids get their nicknames and cool AO nametags. They don't open the AO till later on the first night, like around 830.

 

As for charging on the seapass, we set my son's up (he's 9) at check in so that he can't charge on it. But I HIGHLY recommend giving it a test run to make sure it's been set this way. Go to the shops and try purchasing some little item like a candy bar and make sure it doesn't charge. If it does,get to guest relations and have them change it quick.

[quiltingfool]

There was a "get to know the program" meeting the first day at sea...we never went as my daughter (age 10) showed no interest at all for the AO program when I went to sign her up. She never went to any activties instead she had fun with us!!!:) :D

[hog_wild]

We took our kids on the Sovereign for their first cruise back in December. They are 5 and 7. First I have to say that I LOVE The AO staff on this boat!!! My son (5) fell in LOVE with Brian the Bean! Each staff member has a cute name... I have never felt SO safe leaving my kids with strangers in my life!

1. Do parents have some way of being reached by the staff of Adventure Ocean if the need develops? We were given a beeper. It made me feel better at first. Then I got to know the staff, and I wasn't worried! And my son (5) is accident prone... he has a knack for getting little cuts and such. I think that is why I was so worried at first.

2. Do you find that the kids are kept busy with Adventure Ocean and family time or do I need to bring coloring books, Gameboy, toys, ect..?This is your personal choice. For us... we don't do gameboys anyway so they were not an option. I think that they will be as busy as you let them. Unless you decided to sit in your cabin to play with toys or color there is always something going on. Swimming, Adventure Ocean... seeing the ship... eating. There is always something to do!

3. How do the kids do at dinner. 1 1/2-2 hours for dinner seems really long for them to sit quietly. What are the kids menus like in the Dining Room?The menu is typical kid food. More times than not we would feed them in the Windjammer and take them to Adventure Ocean. Then we had a peaceful meal without the kids. I will say that the dinning room staff was amazing! They did all kind of fun things to entertain my kids.

4. Is the computers in Adventure Ocean set up for games and activities or strictly for internet use? If internet, what is the charge for it?We were given the option to allow our older child to use the computer and we said no. We didn't want her on the net. But I believe that the charge is the same as internet in the internet cafe.

5. Will my 10 year old be able to sign out if I do not want him to?No, I belive that is one of the safty features. You have the choice to allow him to sign out on his own or not. The younger one can not, and has to have a list of approved people to get him. Also they check your seapass so make sure you have it when you pick them up.

6. If my children want to stay together in a group, they are both shy, can they?I was told that the older can move down, but the younger can't move up. From what I remember there were quite a few activities that the oldest groups mingle together to do.

7. Are there Adventure Ocean activities on CocoCay?Yes there are activities. They do NOT take the kids near the water for swimming activites. Actually we didn't do the activities on CocoCay because we did family stuff.

 

 

As for being introduced there is a welcome meeting but it wasn't in Adventure Ocean. And you don't have to set up an account on their seapass cards. When you do the online check in you just choose to have the adults with charging ablility and not the kids. DH keeps threating to cut me off. (wink) but I'm the one who does the online check in so he really doens't have a say!

 

If you have any other questsions feel free to ask!! We loved this ship and her AO staff!! I am actully sad that we aren't sailing with them at spring break!

[efan82]

On our last cruise, my daughter went every day to the kids program. She was 13. My son never wanted to go. There were times when we took him but he never really liked it. He was 8. I think the problem was he didn't go the first night when none of the kids know anyone else and they get to know each other. My daughter did and even emailed some after the cruise. She had a blast. This time, all kids are going the first night. If they never want to go after that, it is up to them, but I think they will.