RCCL in evening for 5yo: Kids Club vs. babysitter?

[mmcruise]

We are going on our second cruise on RCCL this September with DS who will be 5yo then (just, 2 weeks before). Last time, he was 2 1/2 and the first thing I did when I boarded the Jewel was to march right up to the desk and request a babysitter every night from 8p-1a (our friends who we travel with like late seating). He loved it, loved the sitter, it was a great experience.

 

This time (whee!) he will be eligible for the kids club, which we definitely plan to use a bit on sea days and maybe on the beach at Labadee. I may even actually bring a book with me this time, since I might have an hour to myself.

 

It's nighttime that I can't decide about. Do I:

a) Take him to the kids club until 10pm when they close, then hire a babysitter for a couple of hours after.

b) Take him to the kids club until 10pm, skip dessert and turn in early.

c) Take him to the kids club until 10pm, then have one parent pick him up and either go back to the stateroom or use the late night zone for an hour or so (seems like a lot for a 5 year old, but I'd love to hear everyone's experiences).

d) Skip the kids club entirely at night, hire a babysitter starting at 8 each night again, and make an attempt to preserve his 8:08pm bedtime (borrowed from one of his favorite TV characters - usually really between 8-8:30pm).

 

Experiences with similar/younger kids would be great! My husband laughs at me for thinking so specifically this far out but life is pretty boring when it's just snowed on the east coast, so I plan vacations. Everyone needs a hobby.

 

Thank you!

[crusinmama06]

I typed out this whole response and then got the WSOD (white screen on death :eek: )

 

So to recap....

 

I can NEVER drag my kids out of the clubs earlier than 11pm. And they normally go to bed at 7pm (they are 2 and 7).

 

There are just too many activities going on at night.

 

Now...if you want to stay out till 1am...then maybe a babysitter would be better. But every child is different. Have you talked to him about it...I bet he has an opinion where he wants to be. ;) :D

[kittycat_26]

When we were on Grandeur last November, Adventure Ocean was free until 10pm. You could then leave the kids there until 1am for an additional $5 per hour. That might be an option if you don't mind him staying up so late. My son just sort of crashes when he is tired and doesn't care what is going on around him so it worked well for us.

[crusinmama06]

When we were on Grandeur last November, Adventure Ocean was free until 10pm. You could then leave the kids there until 1am for an additional $5 per hour. That might be an option if you don't mind him staying up so late. My son just sort of crashes when he is tired and doesn't care what is going on around him so it worked well for us.

 

Yes, that is exactly what we do. But my kids never crash. ;)

[FunCruiser56]

A 5 yr old will be having so much fun in the AO he will never want to leave. He will enjoy the group activities much more than stuck in the cabin with a sitter.

When ours was 5 he just loved the kids clubs, we almost felt guilty he was there so much!

 

Bev

[SleepingUgly]

We are cruising on Celebrity in one week and I'm dealing with the same issue re: my two daughters, ages 7 and 4. I'm thinking that I will send them in the Kids Club each night for a couple of hours after dinner (we have early seating), but if we are going to be touring an island the next morning, I will definitely pick them up by 10 pm, if not sooner, so they will be able to get enough sleep. If the next day is an "at-sea" day, then they can stay until 11 pm-midnight or so since they can sleep in the next morning.

 

But I really don't see them lasting much later than that. :D We were at Disney last year and after one full day of rides and touring, the girls crashed every night by 10 pm. And they were up by 7:30 am the next morning -- ready to go!

 

Linda

[rebeccalouise]

When my son was small enough to fit in a stroller, I would leave him at the kids club late into the night. He fell asleep there once they put the movie on at 10PM. I would roll him back to the cabin and put him in bed, without waking him.

Last year, when he was 5 1/2 I went to retrieve him and rouse him around midnight. Poor kid cried all the way back to the room (disoriented and tired) and I felt horrible for him and the people trying to sleep. So now I go there to get him before they put the bedtime movie on. I still get a few hours to myself in the evening. So it is a real vacation to me!

[mmcruise]

DH even read your replies; so helpful. I am definitely going to ask him what he prefers (I know it will be other kids!), but I think I will try keeping him at the kids club until we're done with dinner the first night and play it by ear from there. He's generally a pretty agreeable kid, but in a strange situation, unpredictable behavior is a given. I am a little bit concerned that we will have your experience, rebeccalouise, but I will keep my fingers crossed. The stroller was our magic weapon on the first cruise, too. I have a ton of pictures of us in cool places, with him sleeping away in the stroller.

 

Thank you all for sharing your experiences!

[shayelle]

We are going on our second cruise on RCCL this September with DS who will be 5yo then (just, 2 weeks before). Last time, he was 2 1/2 and the first thing I did when I boarded the Jewel was to march right up to the desk and request a babysitter every night from 8p-1a (our friends who we travel with like late seating). He loved it, loved the sitter, it was a great experience.

 

This time (whee!) he will be eligible for the kids club, which we definitely plan to use a bit on sea days and maybe on the beach at Labadee. I may even actually bring a book with me this time, since I might have an hour to myself.

 

It's nighttime that I can't decide about. Do I:

a) Take him to the kids club until 10pm when they close, then hire a babysitter for a couple of hours after.

b) Take him to the kids club until 10pm, skip dessert and turn in early.

c) Take him to the kids club until 10pm, then have one parent pick him up and either go back to the stateroom or use the late night zone for an hour or so (seems like a lot for a 5 year old, but I'd love to hear everyone's experiences).

d) Skip the kids club entirely at night, hire a babysitter starting at 8 each night again, and make an attempt to preserve his 8:08pm bedtime (borrowed from one of his favorite TV characters - usually really between 8-8:30pm).

 

Experiences with similar/younger kids would be great! My husband laughs at me for thinking so specifically this far out but life is pretty boring when it's just snowed on the east coast, so I plan vacations. Everyone needs a hobby.

 

Thank you!

 

We sailed in August with a 3 1/2 yo and a 5 yo (we are cruising this Saturday and they are now 4 and 6). They loved Adventure Ocean. We let them stay at the late night zone a few nights. They normally go to bed at 7:30 but they probably weren't asleep before midnight on the cruise! We did end up hiring an in room sitter a couple nights only because we wanted them to go to bed earlier. My kids are sleepers so if they went to bed at midnight they weren't waking up until about 11:00am the next day! We couldn't get an early start for anything! So for the days we wanted them up at a normal time we got a sitter the night before. Otherwise they were at AO at least until 10:00pm and a few nights until midnight - 1:00am. They did fine and LOVED every minute of it!

 

Have fun!

Shannon

[mmcruise]

I like the "babysitter sometimes" idea too. Did you decide based on what was in the evening or more based on what port you were stopping at?

 

Also, one more question for all of you who have used AO: do they take the kids to the late night zone or do you have to pick them up and transfer them somehow? I'm new at this.

 

Thanks again-this is fun!