How are the RCCL Young Adventurers Programs?

[abba_dabba_doo]

We are sailing Mariner in July with our 2 DD's (4 & 7), as well as w/my sister and her 4 DD's (3, 5, 12 & 14). As you can see the 3, 4 & 5 yr olds will be in the same group. My 7 yr old will be by herself (but she enjoys meeting new kids and is excited about doing stuff w/out us :eek: ) and then the 12 & 14 yr olds would be together. We'd love to get some input as to how you (and of course your kids) like the programs.....here are some questions:

 

1. Do your kids enjoy the activities?

 

2. How is the staff?

 

3. Do any of the groups take the kids swimming?

 

4. Have you sent your younger children to the program from 7-10 PM? And if so, what do they do with them then?

 

5. Have your children chosen to stay, rather than go on shore excursions? If so, how do you feel about leaving your kids there that long?

 

6. Are there usually enough other kids there to play with?

 

I know I have so many questions, but this is all new to me, our only other cruise was on our honeymoon and no kids then ;)

[shellgoodman]

We are going on the Mariner 11/11/07 with our 2 girls, 9 & 7. While we haven't been on this ship with the kids, I can tell you about our past experiences on two other lines with them.

 

My kids will be split up in two different age groups which they don't love but they deal with it. They end up making new friends and are sad on the last night of the cruise that they have to go home. Mom and dad are sad too!

 

They absolutely love the kids clubs and when we go to pick them up at night when we are exhausted, they don't want to leave the kids clubs. We end up killing a couple of more hours and letting them stay while we are passing out from exhaustion! The kids clubs have arts and crafts, shows, make your own sundaes, movie nights, and the so called "sleepover" where they can wear their pjs but not really sleepover. I can't remember about the swimming but we take our own kids swimming.

Staff has always been great on Disney and Carnival and I am sure that RCI will be great also.

 

We don't leave the kids on the ship while we go off on an island and I don't think many parents do. If something were to happen to us, I would be in a panic to get back to them. Plus, they enjoy island activities too.

 

We do a good amount of traveling with our kids and I would say that this is the best vacation for us as there is something for everyone.

 

I will post when I come back but because this will be the largest ship that we ever have been on, I bet it will be awesome because of what the ship has to offer.

 

BTW, we are originally from CT and now live in Texas. It is even more exciting to cruise when you are from up north because of the long winter!

[abba_dabba_doo]

Where in CT did you live? We are in the Hartford area. I wish we could cruise in the winter, but it was too difficult to coordinate everyone's schedules (school, work, etc), so my mom decided we'd just go in the summer. We are so excited; this is my sister's first cruise ever and only our second.

 

In the kids program, I'm actually hoping they don't bring the 3-5 yr olds swimming; I'd worry too much about that. And I do want to bring my kids on the shore excursions, I want them to experience the islands too, but I'll definitely pick excursions that are kid friendly and do things my kids will enjoy too. Plus they can always go back to the ship w/DH while my sis and I go back out shopping :D

[Dawniepoo]

1. Do your kids enjoy the activities? My then 4 year old LOVED Adventure Ocean on the Navigator. I couldn't get him out. On his other cruise on the Granduer, he was 3 and didn't not want to be left there. We didn't push him.

 

2. How is the staff? They are the reason I couldn't get him out. They gave him plenty of attention and played with him.

 

3. Do any of the groups take the kids swimming? I did see some of the older kids with staff members, but not the ones my son's age.

 

4. Have you sent your younger children to the program from 7-10 PM? And if so, what do they do with them then? He went there every night after we fed him dinner in the Windjammer. We were able to have dinner with adults while he had his own fun. On the nights he didn't stay for the late night party zone my dh picked him up at 10 and brought him to the dining room in time to have dessert with us. Our waiter had a brownie waiting for him every night.

 

5. Have your children chosen to stay, rather than go on shore excursions? If so, how do you feel about leaving your kids there that long? We didn't do any excusrsions.

 

6. Are there usually enough other kids there to play with? There are plenty of other kids to play with.

[crusinmama06]

 

1. Do your kids enjoy the activities?

 

2. How is the staff?

 

3. Do any of the groups take the kids swimming?

 

4. Have you sent your younger children to the program from 7-10 PM? And if so, what do they do with them then?

 

5. Have your children chosen to stay, rather than go on shore excursions? If so, how do you feel about leaving your kids there that long?

 

6. Are there usually enough other kids there to play with?

 

I know I have so many questions, but this is all new to me, our only other cruise was on our honeymoon and no kids then ;)

 

First of all, I wanted to make sure that you get a chance to see the scheduled activities for each age group. I have them posted here...

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Royal%20Caribean%20AO%20Compass/

 

And to answer your questions...

1. Yes, my kids love it so much that my 7 year old traded in a Disney trip to go on Liberty of the Seas and get back into AO

 

2. The staff generally is caring. I ran into a DICTATOR on our April cruise (Freedom). It was her 2nd week and she wanted my 3 year old to act like a 30 year old. I was told that this counselor was removed from the younger children's room.

 

3. I can't remember if the older kids go swimming. I know the 8 and under crowd do not.

 

4. Yes the kids beg the whole way through dinner to go to AO. So at 7pm I drop them off and pick them up at 10pm. They did fine.

 

5. I want my kids with me on excursions and I would never leave them on the ship. Just my personal preference after my youngest had a medical emergency on a ship and had to be medically evacuated. :(

 

6. On cruiselines like RCCL and Carnival, there are generally always kids on the Caribbean sailings of 7 days and less. It's the longer itineraries and the more exotic itineraries that have less kids.

[abba_dabba_doo]

Wow! They certainly do a lot w/them. Thanks so much for posting the schedules :)

[C cruzer]

Thanks for all the info, I have sailed on carnival before and they offer group babysitting til 3am.(for a fee). I have never stayed that late but would like to stay out after 10 pm sometmes. Also they offered a 9-11y/o party on one night that went til late and my dd loved it! Does RCCL anything like that?

 

THANKS

[crusinmama06]

Thanks for all the info, I have sailed on carnival before and they offer group babysitting til 3am.(for a fee). I have never stayed that late but would like to stay out after 10 pm sometmes. Also they offered a 9-11y/o party on one night that went til late and my dd loved it! Does RCCL anything like that?

 

THANKS

 

Yep, same thing. If you click the link in my signature, you can see all of the kid's clubs schedules for different cruiselines. RCCL has the same After Hours party that Carnival does. And at 10pm, you start to pay for it.

[Dawniepoo]

Thanks for all the info, I have sailed on carnival before and they offer group babysitting til 3am.(for a fee). I have never stayed that late but would like to stay out after 10 pm sometmes. Also they offered a 9-11y/o party on one night that went til late and my dd loved it! Does RCCL anything like that?

 

THANKS

 

Also, the last time we were on the Mariner, they offered in-room babysitting. That was a plus.

[Rachel4daughters]

Hello my sister (original poster)! ;)

 

I clicked this link w/o realizing it was you! Thanks everyone for your great responses! I can't wait to find time to check out everything!

 

It's great to hear that the programs are so good and that babysitting in the cabins worked out well.

 

Is there a best time of day to hang out at the pools? (Particularly with little ones?) I'm assuming my then 3 year old might need an afternoon nap. The then 4 & 5 yr olds might need naps some days too...

 

Also, do any of you have teens/pre-teens? My older girls will be 12 and 14 by next July. Did you let them roam the ship?

[abba_dabba_doo]

Hello my sister (original poster)! ;)

 

Also, do any of you have teens/pre-teens? My older girls will be 12 and 14 by next July. Did you let them roam the ship?

 

 

 

Hi! I think you should start a different post w/this question, would probably get seen better :)

[crusinmama06]

Hello my sister (original poster)! ;)

 

I clicked this link w/o realizing it was you! Thanks everyone for your great responses! I can't wait to find time to check out everything!

 

It's great to hear that the programs are so good and that babysitting in the cabins worked out well.

 

Is there a best time of day to hang out at the pools? (Particularly with little ones?) I'm assuming my then 3 year old might need an afternoon nap. The then 4 & 5 yr olds might need naps some days too...

 

Also, do any of you have teens/pre-teens? My older girls will be 12 and 14 by next July. Did you let them roam the ship?

 

Nope, my husband barely wants ME to roam the ship...lol. I guess it's all safety in numbers. If they stick together, then I might allow it.

[ispooks]

we just came back from grandeur in late august... i had one son in 9-11 group and one son in 12-14 group. both of them LOVED the kids programs. the 9-11 year olds did NOT go swimming with the kids club, the 12-14 group did a swim/hot tub party one nite with the staff.

 

a ton of kids were left on the ship while in port... i took my kids on the excursions as we did canada/new england, and i wanted them to see the ports, but MANY kids were left in adventure ocean while their parents did the tours.

 

the staff was great and as soon as we got back on the ship on port days, i dropped my son at the kids club...

 

as far as wandering the ship - lol... this was a tough one for me - by the last few days of the cruise, the 12-14 year olds were hanging together the ENTIRE day, met for breakfast, went to an activity, hung out in a lounge, had lunch, went to an activity, etc.... etc... i barely saw my son - and the kids were fine and he had a blast! as they get older, it is tough not to let them wander - but he was in the room every nite by 12:30, when the last activity ended... mostly they hung in a lounge or the arcade or by the food...:rolleyes:

[TwoWeebles]

Okay, I have to butt in here and tell y'all about my experience a week ago. We were on the Grandeur to Bermuda. I have a three year old, who is mostly potty trained (pee), but still will poo in his underwear. The first day we took him to AO he pooed after like 30 minutes. They paged us to come get him and told us that it was "strike one" and that they only allow two strikes and the child can not come back. I am not sure what they told my son before we got there to pick him up, but he was a bit upset and it upset me that they have this ridiculous rule for three year olds. There are many many three year olds who are not FULLY potty trained. I was so upset with this that I did not take him back there for the whole trip, so the trip was NOT FUN for any of us. Son did not want to do things us adults wanted to do and we tried to keep him occupied which was difficult. I was really upset that there was no program for three year olds who are not fully potty trained. I spent $5000 on this trip to have a miserable time. I also tried to take son to the pool one day and the baby pool is like 6-12 inches deep, which was not deep enough for him, but the regular part was 5'6" deep which is over my head!! So there was not even a pool he could enjoy. Big disappointment! :(

[MariTenor1]

I'm sorry you were disappointed. However, the rules for AO specifically state that your child has to be FULLY potty trained. I'm sure that a little research would have provided you with this answer ahead of time. I think only Disney takes children into their program without being fully potty trained.

 

And don't even go into not being able to use the pool. I'm sure you'll get lots of flaming responses for trying to take a child who is not fully potty trained into the pool. Only the special kiddy area on the Freedom class are equipped for this.

[crusinmama06]

Okay, I have to butt in here and tell y'all about my experience a week ago. We were on the Grandeur to Bermuda. I have a three year old, who is mostly potty trained (pee), but still will poo in his underwear. The first day we took him to AO he pooed after like 30 minutes. They paged us to come get him and told us that it was "strike one" and that they only allow two strikes and the child can not come back. I am not sure what they told my son before we got there to pick him up, but he was a bit upset and it upset me that they have this ridiculous rule for three year olds. There are many many three year olds who are not FULLY potty trained. I was so upset with this that I did not take him back there for the whole trip, so the trip was NOT FUN for any of us. Son did not want to do things us adults wanted to do and we tried to keep him occupied which was difficult. I was really upset that there was no program for three year olds who are not fully potty trained. I spent $5000 on this trip to have a miserable time. I also tried to take son to the pool one day and the baby pool is like 6-12 inches deep, which was not deep enough for him, but the regular part was 5'6" deep which is over my head!! So there was not even a pool he could enjoy. Big disappointment!

 

 

Ohhhhhhh we had alot of experience with the THREE STRIKE system on Freedom of the Seas but it wasn't for potty training (my youngest is fully potty trained) it was for "behavior". Believe it or not, MY 3 year old didn't want to get off the slides when it was time to do a craft. :eek: AND, during marker time, she put marker on the table when she was coloring. :eek:

 

That was STRIKE ONE AND TWO.

 

Yes, needless to say I was LIVID at their treatment of my daughter. I went to the head of AO who said Gab had NO strikes, the counselor was new and she was just being ridiculous. :rolleyes:

 

I even came here to CC and had a live thread going on from the ship. So my problem was rectified during the cruise. But it still didn't help me to relax at all during the cruise. I was worried that the counselor was going to retatliate against my daughter.

 

RCCL is VERY strict about potty training. There are no exceptions. But I would be interested to know what they said that upset your child so much. My daughter seemed to come back from AO upset as well. She never does this when she comes back from Camp Carnival.

 

We are trying RCCL Liberty next year. I am hoping for a better experience for my youngest.

 

For your next cruise, I would suggest going on NCL or Carnival until your child is fully potty trained. They change diapers on Carnival...and they page the parents on NCL.

[TwoWeebles]

I'm sorry you were disappointed. However, the rules for AO specifically state that your child has to be FULLY potty trained. I'm sure that a little research would have provided you with this answer ahead of time. I think only Disney takes children into their program without being fully potty trained.

 

And don't even go into not being able to use the pool. I'm sure you'll get lots of flaming responses for trying to take a child who is not fully potty trained into the pool. Only the special kiddy area on the Freedom class are equipped for this.

 

I am aware of what the rules are. I am just stating that the rules are ridiculous. Not all three year olds are fully potty trained and they should not make this NATURAL thing into something shameful. The issue I had was that there was nothing for my child to do onboard because of this rule. What is the big deal of calling the parent to change/clean the child instead of making it into something bad like the kid did something wrong?

 

And I also know the pool rule too, which is also ridiculous. At every pool in America you can take your "not fully trained" child swimming with a swim diaper on. So why the rules here? The health department for every other pool in America says swim diapers are fine, so what is the big deal?

 

Basically my problem is that I spent a LOT of money on this FAMILY vacation for my family not to feel welcomed!! :mad::mad:

[crusinmama06]

 

And I also know the pool rule too, which is also ridiculous. At every pool in America you can take your "not fully trained" child swimming with a swim diaper on. So why the rules here? The health department for every other pool in America says swim diapers are fine, so what is the big deal?

 

 

The "pool rule" is a cruiseline industry wide rule for EVERY cruiseline. It's not just RCCL.

 

It has to do with pools on land are chlorinated to remove the bacteria from the water. The cruiseship pools are salt water, not chlorinated and they are filled and emptied using ocean water.

 

Believe me, I have seen every argument in the book for this one. It's not going to change.

 

What is changing though is the cruiselines making non potty trained areas. Disney started it. Then I yelled and screamed here at CC for RCCL to follow suit and they FINALLY did with the introduction of the "Baby Zone" on Freedom Class ships.

 

That's what CC is all about. Using this source as research before you pay alot of money for a cruise that you won't be happy with. :)

[Onessa]

I am aware of what the rules are. I am just stating that the rules are ridiculous. Not all three year olds are fully potty trained and they should not make this NATURAL thing into something shameful. The issue I had was that there was nothing for my child to do onboard because of this rule. What is the big deal of calling the parent to change/clean the child instead of making it into something bad like the kid did something wrong?

 

And I also know the pool rule too, which is also ridiculous. At every pool in America you can take your "not fully trained" child swimming with a swim diaper on. So why the rules here? The health department for every other pool in America says swim diapers are fine, so what is the big deal?

 

Basically my problem is that I spent a LOT of money on this FAMILY vacation for my family not to feel welcomed!! :mad::mad:

 

The rules are not "ridiculous" -- RCCI has strict regulations to which they must adhere. In order to take children who are not fully potty trained, they would need to install diaper changing facilities in all AO centers. The clean up for an "accident" is considerable - in this day of norovirus and everything else communicable, a little accident is not little. It is not appropriate if the counselors in any way berated your son for his accident - but is is appropriate that they take appropriate action (strike one) and let you know the consequences. (BTW I know MANY 3YO who are fully trained - my DD was NOT one of them - and can't see making these 3YO "suffer" by making the age limit higher so as to eliminate those who are not fully trained - which is REALLY the only solution for the cruise line)

 

The pool rules are also not "riduculous" -- in "any pool in America" where swimmies are allowed, the pools are treated with chlorine and other chemicals. On a cruise ship the pools are not treated with these chemicals because the water is ocean water will go back to the ocean -- it will damage the marine life if treated like a hotel or municiple pool! For those few ships with areas for non-trained children, they pool area on the ship is specially designed to segregate all of the water from that pool. The lines must off-load that water so that it goes through a regular water treatment facility.

 

I'm sorry if you did not have a good time on your cruise - and that you didn't enjoy the company of your son. The rules are the rules, the lines set them for reasons - it is your responsibility to follow them.

[Onessa]

Back to the OP and her sister's interim question

 

AO program is very nice. It is a good balance between free play and organized activities. It does tend to be pretty high energy. Since most of the kids don't know any of the other kids, we've never had a problem with our DD not making some friends and/or feeling included. The 7-10PM program is most popular - with the younger ones, I'd at least stop by around 8:30-9:00 to see if anyone wants to leave, but if they are anything like the kids I've taken with - they won't).

 

We've only left once while DD is on board for an excursion. I was a bit uncomfortable, but everything worked out fine. I'd limit any such excursion to one booked through the ship -- they are much more likely to be able to get ahold of you if there is a problem, and the ship will wait if the tour is detained past debarkation time.

 

DD will be 12YO on our next cruise (November). She will not be allowed to be on her own. She will be with at least one us or with the kid's club activities. Now if we were not traveling alone (if her 12YO cousin was with us for example), I might cut them some slack -- with plenty of rules (they must always be together, I must know what their plans are, no deviation from the plans without finding DH or me and revising the plans, no going to ANYONE else's cabin and/or no one else in our cabin). 12YO is still pretty young (but on the up side they still listen to me!)

[C cruzer]

Okay, I have to butt in here and tell y'all about my experience a week ago. We were on the Grandeur to Bermuda. I have a three year old, who is mostly potty trained (pee), but still will poo in his underwear. The first day we took him to AO he pooed after like 30 minutes. They paged us to come get him and told us that it was "strike one" and that they only allow two strikes and the child can not come back. I am not sure what they told my son before we got there to pick him up, but he was a bit upset and it upset me that they have this ridiculous rule for three year olds. There are many many three year olds who are not FULLY potty trained. I was so upset with this that I did not take him back there for the whole trip, so the trip was NOT FUN for any of us. Son did not want to do things us adults wanted to do and we tried to keep him occupied which was difficult. I was really upset that there was no program for three year olds who are not fully potty trained. I spent $5000 on this trip to have a miserable time. I also tried to take son to the pool one day and the baby pool is like 6-12 inches deep, which was not deep enough for him, but the regular part was 5'6" deep which is over my head!! So there was not even a pool he could enjoy. Big disappointment! :(

Carnival changes diapers w/o any problem( if it has not changed since my dd was little) They take any child over two any no potty training needed! Sorry your experience was bad. I fear this info is too little, too late but may-be it can help some other parents/cruisers. But I do know they wont take anyone under two before 10PM. We met some folks that their dd was 1mo short of two and she couldn't participate in Camp Carnival. They had to wait until 10PM when babby-sitting started before they could drop her off! :(