Auqa Tots on RCCL

[vickihd]

I would love to hear some feed back on this program. We're thinking of booking on RCCL because of this program. Any information would be helpful.

Our son will be 2 1/2 yrs old when we plan on cruising.

 

Any info. regarding other "tot" programs on other cruise lines would be great.

 

Thank you

[crusinmama06]

It's a 45 min session daily. They divide the ages under 18 months, then 18-36 month.

 

The Freedom ships have an area for non-potty trained children.

 

I was just coming here to post a video that I found on the kid's programs on the Freedom ships. So I might as well put a link here too. ;)

 

Let me know if you are able to see this.

 

http://www.libertyoftheseasondemand.com/view_popQT.php?name=FamilyFun.mov

[SarahQ]

Hey Vicki,

 

We were on Liberty of the Seas in September with our 23-month-old and he went to Aqua Tots with my DH or myself (or both!) every day that it was offered and he really loved it.

 

He is not yet going to preschool or day care so he really liked interacting with the other kids, playing with the different toys etc. In fact, it made it easy to buy him a birthday present because he was so crazy over one particular toy (the Laugh n' Learn Home).

 

It really is just a play group though...I found that RCCL's info was a little misleading in that it seemed to suggest that there was some group activity that was lead by a counselor, but we didn't have that experience at all. They were just there to supervise the kids and did somewhat interact with them, but not in any structured way.

 

Still, we thought it was fun - but, it is only 45 minutes, so you'll definitely need to find some other things to keep your little darling occupied! :)

[vickihd]

Thanks for the information. Since we're on the West Coast we're just going to visit Hawaii until our son is potty trained and is at least 3 years old. Then we can finally take another cruise!!

[TropicalSnowflake]

I would not book a cruise on RCL solely because of the Aqua Tots program. As previous posters stated, it's only a 45 minute session once a day, and it's usually in the morning, like 9 am. Excursions are usually staring off at that time.

 

My son participated a couple years ago at 20 months old. The toys were all Fisher-Price (clear advertising here) and age appropriate, but he was not really interested. All he wanted to do was run around the lounge that it was held in and spin all the bar stools.

 

If he's a typical "run around and have fun" kind of boy, this is not a program for him. But, if he likes to sit quietly and can engage in playing with the same toys for 30 minutes or more...this is for you!

[PattyW]

My son participated in Aquatots on the Radiance of the Seas in May. We only went on sea days because the program was held at a time when we were in port on port days.

 

Our program was structured like a mommy & me playgroup. The "teacher/leader" led the children (and the parents) in a couple of songs first depending upon the theme of the day, then the kids colored a page that dealt with the theme (on the farm, home sweet home, etc) and then the teacher pulled out toys that fit the theme of the day. The teacher showed some things you could do with the toys and then it was basically free play for the last 20 minutes or so with the teacher interacting with each child in turn.

 

The toys were all Fisher Price (of course, since they sponsored it), but we didn't have any of them, so my son liked it a lot.

 

The best part for me was that I basically met all the parents with small kids on the ship. Many of the families also had children in my older daughter's age group in the kids club, and it worked out well - instant friends!

[vickihd]

Thank you again for the helpful information.

[xcarebearxoxo]

does anyone know if the Serenade of the Seas or the Rhapsody of the Seas has the tots program? we are doing a family trip to alaska and these are two rccl ships that do alaska. since daughter will be between two and three when we go, was hoping it was.

[PattyW]

does anyone know if the Serenade of the Seas or the Rhapsody of the Seas has the tots program? we are doing a family trip to alaska and these are two rccl ships that do alaska. since daughter will be between two and three when we go, was hoping it was.

 

The program is fleetwide, so although I don't have any personal experience, I'm going to say yes.

[leighuf]

I know the Radiance had the Aqua Tots, so I image all Radiance class ships would have the program (ie: Serenade).

 

Thanks to the previous posters for the info!

[hooked-on-travel]

We've done aquatots on Rhapsody...last May. It is as stated above. Nice, but not worth picking RCCL for. (Don't get me wrong...we pick RCCL for plenty of reasons, just not aquatots.) The member of AO staff that lead it was very nice. I gave a synopsis of aquatots program here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=622399