Details on the Kids' Programs, Please

[QTMichele]

Hello everyone! My husband and I cruised for the very first time a few weeks ago and LOVED it! Now we want to take our 7 year old and 3 year old girls. We will probably book the Freedom of the Seas because of the amenities they have for kids of all ages, but we have not committed yet.

 

What I would like to know is the details about the kids programs on RCCL, Carnival, NCL, Princess, Disney (basically the major cruiselines). What kind of activities do they offer? Is it FUN? Are the programs weak, strong or somewhere in between? What were your experiences - good and bad? Anything else can you tell me about the programs?

 

Lots of questions, I know, but I really appreciate your time and effort to help me sort it all out. THANKS so much!!!!!

 

PS I recently learned that there was a family board - how great is that?! :)

[crusinmama06]

Hey Michele! Welcome! :D

 

There are many posts here outlining the strength and weaknesses of all the cruise lines kid's area.

 

Let me see if I can give you the run down on each:

 

RCCL - I'll have an update for ya in April after Freedom. But from everything I have seen, it will be awesome. RCCL is implementing some NEW programs that haven't been seen yet. They are adding kids cooking classes, DJ Scratch class and Broadway Theatre classes. The first ship to have these will be Liberty. Adventure Ocean is looking to be the most impressive yet.

 

Disney - I have a 7 and (almost) 3 year old girls. The 7 year old was turning 5 on Disney (so she had a choice of which age group she wanted to be in). She LOVED the kids club for the younger crowd. But she didn't like to go to the older club. The younger club had slides. Lots of character interaction. They colored pillow cases to sleep on at night. Lots of games and crafts. And at the end they had Disney Graduation on the main stage. The older group did science experiments and had computers in the Buzz Lightyear station. There is no additional charge at night for the club. The theatre shows are out of this world. But no Casino and very little shopping on board for the adults. I got a little bored at night. :o And of course, Disney is the most expensive.

 

Carnival - club starts at age 2. You get pagers with the younger kids. They have slumber parties that last till 3am...but you pay $6 per first child and $4 for the second child AFTER 10pm. They have a kids formal on the Lido deck. They have a wall of TV's where they play movies for the slumber parties. At 10pm, they bring in milk and cookies for the kids. They have a Build A Buddy program that is like Build A Bear...but the Bear wears a Camp Carnival T-Shirt. The kids also get cookies on their pillows the first night instead of chocolates. The hours seem to be limited though, they close during lunch and dinner on sea days. So that may throw your plans off.

 

NCL - we were on a MUCH older ship, so I won't comment too much on the kids club. I hear it has changed. I was not happy with our expeience in that club but I understand that it is different now.

 

I think if you can afford it, then Freedom/Liberty is going to be the BEST kid/adult experience out there. With the H20 Zone, there is no comparison. As long as your child is potty trained. ;) lol

[QTMichele]

Michele, THANKS so much for the wonderful summary! :) I really appreciate the time you took to answer as I'm sure there are many responses if I did a search. BUT... the search I tried pulled up so many different kinds of responses that I thought I'd just start a new thread. Lazy of me, YES! But I love the "live" help. :D

 

It's good to know that the cruiselines are doing such a great job with the kids programs. I am very interested in learning more about RCCL since that's been our one and only cruise experience. My husband would prefer to continue on RCCL since he knows he likes their product, but we are open to others if we see a big advantage.

 

Now, would you hurry up and go on the Freedom so we can get a good review? :D THANKS again from one Michele with one L to another. ;)

[MellowMel]

We love RCCL's Adventure Ocean! It's our only kids program experience, but it was a really good one. It's so great, we're doing it again at Easter!

 

There are three time frames where they have activities: 9 a.m. until noon; 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. Each period is themed so that the books, physical games, science activity, crafts, etc. all correlate to the theme.

 

The kids will get their own Compass each night that will list the activities for the next day. I was very impressed with the AO staff and how friendly they were and how quickly they came to know my children. My 3-year-old only went twice at the beginning of the cruise, but they always greeted him by name when we saw them around the ship.

 

You can sign them up for dinners too on some nights. I always felt like they were safe and I like how secure their check out system is. I forgot my card one night picking up my daughter and eventhough she was glad to see me and calling me Mom and eventhough I dropped her off every day and they knew it was me, they wouldn't let me take her until I went back and got my card. A little inconvenient for me, but I'm glad they enforce the rules and I'd rather be inconvenienced a little than them be lax.

[QTMichele]

Mel, Thanks for sharing your experience with me! The AO sounds like a great program. I especially like the security aspect of it. I can't wait to see how my girls like their first cruise!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Michele:

 

We haven't been on RCCL so can't comment on their kids' programs, but we've been on Carnival a few times so I can tell you our experiences with them. DD has participated in Camp Carnival and absolutely loves it. The counselors have been great on every one of our cruises--they even dubbed her their "junior counselor" when she was the only child in her age group who had previously been in Camp Carnival and gave her a medal for being so helpful.

 

She gets her own Carnival Capers that lists the activities. She wakes up each morning asking if she can go to camp! One of the things I've really enjoyed are the family days where I get to do some organized activities with her--she and I have won the family scavenger hunt on two different sailings, and she's so proud of her ship-on-a-stick trophies. :D

 

Our upcoming cruise will be a different experience for her-it's the first time she's been old enough to check herself out. But, another Cruise Critic member posted capers for her age group (different destination and different ship, but it gave her an idea of what to expect), and after reading them she told us that this would be her "best cruise ever!"

 

Our experience with Camp Carnival has been great. The kids club counselors can make or break your child's vacation, and the Camp Carnival counselors have made our DD's vacation memorable every time. :D In second grade her teacher gave the class an assignment to write about their favorite place. Her essay started with "There's a ship called the Carnival Spirit with a place called Camp Carnival..." When she wrote that it had been more than a year since we'd sailed on the Spirit!

 

From what I've read, most of the cruise lines do a good job with their kids' programs. I'll bet our kids will have a great time no matter which line you choose. :)

 

Cheers,

Jayne

[crusinmama06]

There are three time frames where they have activities: 9 a.m. until noon; 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. Each period is themed so that the books, physical games, science activity, crafts, etc. all correlate to the theme.

 

Are sea day hours different from Port Days? And the club closes down at 10am?

 

That will be a different experience for my kids cause I always had to drag them out of the camps at 11pm so I could get some sleep. ;) So I guess I won't have to do that on RCCL?

[MellowMel]

Are sea day hours different from Port Days? And the club closes down at 10am?

 

That will be a different experience for my kids cause I always had to drag them out of the camps at 11pm so I could get some sleep. ;) So I guess I won't have to do that on RCCL?

 

Those times were for Sea Days. I think they have activities all day long on port days, but I'm not positive because my kids didn't go there on Port Days.

 

The "free" AO activities end at 10 p.m., but RCCL also offers group sitting in the AO area from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. They call it "Late Night Party." You pay $5 per hour per child, but I think there is a little price break for more than one child. DD stayed there one hour one evening because she had been begging to stay for the "Late Night Party!"

[crusinmama06]

Those times were for Sea Days. I think they have activities all day long on port days, but I'm not positive because my kids didn't go there on Port Days.

 

The "free" AO activities end at 10 p.m., but RCCL also offers group sitting in the AO area from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. They call it "Late Night Party." You pay $5 per hour per child, but I think there is a little price break for more than one child. DD stayed there one hour one evening because she had been begging to stay for the "Late Night Party!"

 

PERFECT THANKS! :D

 

I am asking about Port Days cause I think I am going to skip Jamaica and spend the day on the ship. And if the kids wanted to go to the club then I get to go to the spa...YIPPPEEEEE! :p

 

And thanks for the info on the Late Night Party. That is exactly how Carnival does it...they call it the "Slumber Party"

 

So I am sure my kids will be attending the late night party. Wild hoses couldnt drag them away.

[MellowMel]

Michele, the spa sounds like a great thing to do while the kids are at AO! I have found that RCCL still plans lots of activities on the ship even on port days. My family stayed on board when we were in Cozumel and we participated in Family Shufflegolf, Family Boat Building, enjoyed the pool (practically to ourselves), etc.

 

Have a great time!

[crusinmama06]

Michele, the spa sounds like a great thing to do while the kids are at AO! I have found that RCCL still plans lots of activities on the ship even on port days. My family stayed on board when we were in Cozumel and we participated in Family Shufflegolf, Family Boat Building, enjoyed the pool (practically to ourselves), etc.

 

Have a great time!

 

I see you are going back to Cozumel for Easter....are you getting off of the ship this time? lol :D

 

I'm sure we'll have a great time too!

[Cruisin' Chick]

My daughter was on Carnival at 23 months (1 month short of being able to be in Camp Carnival), 3 years and 4 years, but I would hate to comment on how it is now as that last cruise was in 2002.

 

She has also sailed on Princess at age 5, 7 and 8, the last one in Dec. 2005. Princess is pretty similar to Carnival with a kids dinner or two (on Princess, one side of the casual buffet gets shut down for a "private party") and late night kid-sitting for a reasonable price, even though my daughter would prefer not doing that anymore at her age.

 

Princess also has in-port kidsitting, free of charge, as long as you sign up a day ahead. They do shut down at meal times so you would need to be back on the ship to pick up your child.

 

When you first get to your cabin on the first day, there will be a packet of info on the kids' program, with info on the mandatory registration and also a day-by-day listing of activities. Princess also has a partnership with the California Science Center with activities related to your destination (they made glaciers on the Alaskan cruise, for example). One of the most popular of these activities is the squid dissection. As my daughter is in a science magnet school, she loves these activities.

 

One thing to know about the programs on probably any ship, any cruiseline, is that if you're going on a cruise with few children onboard, the program will be pared down. If you're going when there's lots of kids, there will be more action and activities.

[MellowMel]

I see you are going back to Cozumel for Easter....are you getting off of the ship this time? lol :D

 

I'm sure we'll have a great time too!

 

Hee, hee . . . yes, Michele, we're getting off the ship this time!

[napls2]

We traveled on the Sapphire Princess when our daughter was 3 and twins were 9 and both loved every minute of it. We just got back from the Royal Carribean Rhapsody and the older ones enjoyed it although many of the activities that were on the schedule were either postponed or cancelled altogether. I personally liked the Princess better for my younger daughter because I saw what she did. If the schedule said they were being pirates that day, I could ask her and see a pirate color sheet or paper sword. She came out of the room every day telling me something she did and usually had something in her hand to show me. And you could see the room she was in. On Royal Caribbean you stopped at the door to sign the kids out and her room was around the corner, so you could never peek in on her. She doesn't like any type of face painting and they did face painting several times. If she didn't do the face painting, she seemed to be excluded from being a "super hero" or "pirate". I did not get much out of her room as far as coloring sheets or anything to show what they did during the day. I would ask her from the schedule if they did something and she would say no. Also, the teachers were kindof all over the kids rooms. The one thing I didn't like on RC was that they played dodgeball alot. Every time we'd pick up the kids, they were playing dodgeball in the 6-8 and 9-11 year old rooms. We are going on Princess again and hope to get the same service as our first cruise with the kids.

[cruisin with the kiddies]

Hi

 

We were on the diamond princess dec 05/jan 06 and my boys were 5 & 7 so they were in the same kids club. it was broken down into 3-7, 8-12, 13-17 year age groups

 

They had a fantastic time and were never bored. They had discos, olympics, crafts, talent quests, movie nights, ice cream, etc etc

 

They had a ball!

 

The kids were allowed to be in there from 9-12, 2-5 and then 7-10 and for a small fee they would have the kids until 1am but we only did this on New Years Eve until 11:45pm.

 

It is great that they offer lots of variety and as we were on a 19 night cruise they were never bored but sometimes just wanted to hang out by the pool with us. We would then only have them in their in the afternoon session and then at night so we could enjoy dinner.

 

We also had a 2.5yr old which made it difficult as he could only go in their to play but had to leave (much to his disgust)

 

He is now older over 3 and potty trained so he will be able to attend all of the kids club sessions. His older brother will be in the older group but he will have his 2nd older brother (6) to keep him company. We are sailing on the Diamond to Mexico for 7 nights in one months time!

 

Highly recommend it and yes they will extend their hours during port days with lunch included at no extra costs involved.

 

Cheers and if you have any more questions please ask!

 

Danni

[crusinmama06]

The one thing I didn't like on RC was that they played dodgeball alot. Every time we'd pick up the kids, they were playing dodgeball in the 6-8 and 9-11 year old rooms.

 

DODGEBALL????? :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Oh yeah, there will be no contact sports for my 7 year old daughter. I will freak out if she gets hit in the face with a ball. :eek:

[rebeccalouise]

I have sailed on NCL. Carnival, Disney, Princess and Celebrity in recent years (all with my son- now 6). He loved Disney but my favorite kids program was on Celebrity. The Fun Factory is open from 9AM-10PM without interruption. All but the first night kids can dine with the other children in the buffet (for $6 fee). That way the adults can eat in peace. My son loves the Fun Factory on Celebrity. He has used it on Galaxy, Millenium and Constellation.

 

My favorite ship is the Constellation.. with Millenium a close second.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[abitaturbodog]

After reading all of the posts on this thread, I think the OP can rest assured that all of the cruise lines have great kid's programs! My children have always had a wonderful time on Carnival.

 

I think that you should choose the cruise that you are most interested in for yourself and hubby and the kids will have a blast no matter what you choose!

 

Good luck and let us know which one you picked~

[QTMichele]

Thanks again for all the replies! :) It sounds like the cruise lines have done a great job with the kids' programs - a great thing! I can't wait for my kids to experience it.

[mom and wife]

Hey Michele! Welcome! :D

 

There are many posts here outlining the strength and weaknesses of all the cruise lines kid's area.

 

Let me see if I can give you the run down on each:

 

RCCL - I'll have an update for ya in April after Freedom. But from everything I have seen, it will be awesome. RCCL is implementing some NEW programs that haven't been seen yet. They are adding kids cooking classes, DJ Scratch class and Broadway Theatre classes. The first ship to have these will be Liberty. Adventure Ocean is looking to be the most impressive yet.

 

Disney - I have a 7 and (almost) 3 year old girls. The 7 year old was turning 5 on Disney (so she had a choice of which age group she wanted to be in). She LOVED the kids club for the younger crowd. But she didn't like to go to the older club. The younger club had slides. Lots of character interaction. They colored pillow cases to sleep on at night. Lots of games and crafts. And at the end they had Disney Graduation on the main stage. The older group did science experiments and had computers in the Buzz Lightyear station. There is no additional charge at night for the club. The theatre shows are out of this world. But no Casino and very little shopping on board for the adults. I got a little bored at night. :o And of course, Disney is the most expensive.

 

Carnival - club starts at age 2. You get pagers with the younger kids. They have slumber parties that last till 3am...but you pay $6 per first child and $4 for the second child AFTER 10pm. They have a kids formal on the Lido deck. They have a wall of TV's where they play movies for the slumber parties. At 10pm, they bring in milk and cookies for the kids. They have a Build A Buddy program that is like Build A Bear...but the Bear wears a Camp Carnival T-Shirt. The kids also get cookies on their pillows the first night instead of chocolates. The hours seem to be limited though, they close during lunch and dinner on sea days. So that may throw your plans off.

 

NCL - we were on a MUCH older ship, so I won't comment too much on the kids club. I hear it has changed. I was not happy with our expeience in that club but I understand that it is different now.

 

I think if you can afford it, then Freedom/Liberty is going to be the BEST kid/adult experience out there. With the H20 Zone, there is no comparison. As long as your child is potty trained. ;) lol

 

YOu seem to know alot about cruise ships are you a TA? Have you ever been on the Costa Magica? I was wondering if they do any of the cool stuff you were talking about on the Carnival ship. I like the build a bear and things and nice little things you talked about. I can not complain if not got a still. ($298.00 for the four of us) But do not want the kids to miss the big cool things.

 

Or has any one taken there kids on Costa Magica and have so great memories of things.

 

Oh My kids are 5 and 7 years old.

[Ga_Cruising]

We've cruised on HAL (10+ times) and Celebrity. Two years ago our kids (then 5 and 7) had a terrific time at the Celebrity Fun Factory on Infinity. They didn't want port days and to go to the beach because they loved it so much. The facilities were really great, fun activities, excellent staff. They took the kids down for dinner, too, so we could enjoy our formal dinners and the kids didn't have to be bored. The kids cried when we took them out of the kids' area.

 

On HAL (Veendam), it was not good. Kids area was mediocure at best, fewer activities, just not fun (and we were cruising over New Years, so there were a fair number of kids on board). Hours were limited, no trips to dinner for the kids. Our kids simply didn't want to go to Club HAL. Staff were pretty good, though.

 

The thing that REALLY annoyed us on HAL, though, was that they had music videos with a big music video screen and the kids could pick the songs. When we came in, a hip-hop song was playing where the singer was describing the circumstances under which she would perform oral sex for men. When we complained, one of the staff members basically said "hey, the front office picks the selections and the kids pick the songs -- not our problem". Another staff member was more responsive and turned the machine off. But it kept being turned on again.

 

Also, there were video game machines using up much of the space in the kids area which were "owned by the casino". That meant, according to the kids staff, THAT ANYONE WHO WANTED TO COULD COME INTO THE "SECURE" KIDS AREA WHENEVER THEY WANTED TO PLAY GAMES!!!

 

We were REALLY unhappy with the whole situation. We're considering Celebrity, RCCL and Princess for next year.

[Olwyn]

Tell me more please about Princess and their kids activities...especially the 3-7 year olds! My neice will be 4 next February, and I want to explore the kids programs on the Crown. Apparently it is similar to the Caribbean Princess. Are they safe onboard if we go ashore? Sort of a scary concept!

Thanks everyone!

Olwyn :)

[crusinmama06]

YOu seem to know alot about cruise ships are you a TA? Have you ever been on the Costa Magica? I was wondering if they do any of the cool stuff you were talking about on the Carnival ship. I like the build a bear and things and nice little things you talked about. I can not complain if not got a still. ($298.00 for the four of us) But do not want the kids to miss the big cool things.

 

Or has any one taken there kids on Costa Magica and have so great memories of things.

 

Oh My kids are 5 and 7 years old.

 

Nope, I am not a TA...lol...just someone who is obsessed with cruising and especially family cruising. :D

 

I did a search of the Costa Magica in regards to kids cruising and this is the review from expedia...

 

Family

The Squok Club facility, located on Deck 12, is bright and cheerful with several computer stations and play areas. There is only one room for all ages, but the kids don't seem to mind. Their "counselors" run them all over the ship in any event; the groups of children, from age 3 to 12, can be seen as pirates or chefs or in dance or art classes. Costa also allows parents to go on shore excursions while their children are in the club at no extra charge. A separate teen club provides various activities for the 13–17 crowd.

[cruisin with the kiddies]

Hey Olwyn

 

Did you see my post about Princess kids club on page one??

 

Have a read and if you have any other queries please let me know!

 

It was great!

 

Cheers

Danni

[sunnydreams]

I am still a bit confused about RCCL's club. I realize that they list activities for certain times, but are they open straight through the day or do they close during those 2-3 times per day? What about port days? We are sailing the Splendor to Greece and Turkey, so I am curious how their kid's club will be on the smaller ship. My kids will be 9 and 5 and my nieces will be 10 and 8. Thanks!!