Tell me about the kids programs on Carnival & RCCl? w/a 6 and 9 y/o!

[ssatterly]

Please tell me bout both! So i can pick!

[Cortesefam]

We've cruised on 3 Royal Caribbean ships with our two kids (now 8 & 11). They have consistently enjoyed the Adventure Ocean program--especially on our most recent (Aug. 2004) cruise on Legend of the Seas. We've also been on Disney Magic, NCL and Celebrity with the family, and definitely prefer the kids program on Royal Caribbean. We have always used the main seating for dinner--our kids could not make it until 8:15 for dinner!

 

THANKS

[born2crooz]

My children have been on 3 Carnival cruises. They loved Camp Carnival so much that we actually gave them a choice for 2005, Disney World or another cruise. They chose another cruise!

 

Carnival really does have one of the best children's programs afloat. The counselors are great and really keep the kids active. Most of the time we had to drag them out just to spend time with us.

 

They just started allowing the kids, on formal nights, to eat dinner with the counselors and their new friends. We were hesitant at first, as we love to dress up on formal night. Then it hit us, WE love to dress up, the kids don't. We caved and let them go on both formal nights. Again, they just loved it.

 

We also like the fact that after 10:00, we can drop them off in their pjs and have some time to ourselves. When we pick them up, we usually give them piggy backs back to the cabin. HINT: Cabin location is key.

[Onessa]

My DD (now aged 9) has been on four RCCI cruises with us. She loves the Adventure Ocean and the other fare on the ships.

 

AO has craft projects developed by Crayola that dovetail with the places we see. They have great games. The staff is particularly terrific - they have always picked up on my daughter's own quirks and have dealt with her in a very positive manner - she is very reserved and hates guessing games. They manage to keep all the kids included in all of the activities. They reserve special areas (sports court, skating rink, movie theatre) for family activities. They really emphasize family participation.

 

AO has several "dining" nights set aside, when the kids can eat with their friends and counslors - children's menus, at their pace, in their own dining room (or they reserve Johnny Rockets on ships so equipted).

 

Other nights, when she has accompanied us to the formal dining room, the staff has always really gone out of their way to accomodate her - paying special attention to her, making certain her food is just the way she wants it, getting her special desserts.

 

There is mini-golfing, kids' waterslide pools, the rock climbing wall, the sports court, ping-pong, and the regular pool. On Voyager class there is ice skating. There are generally a few "G" rated films in the theatre.

[julierika]

This is so true. We've taken our young child several times and absolutely loved the Adventure Ocean program on RCI. All that back and forth to drop her off and pick her up gets old, though, when you have to traipse across the entire ship to do so. We leave in a few days and this time we chose a room on the same side of the ship as Adventure Ocean. Looking forward to all those steps saved!

[dolphins76]

We have only been on 1 cruise and that was with RCCL and our kids were 5,6,9 at the time we sailed. They all loved AO they went every day , we had the hardest time getting them to spend time with us. They really liked the freedom!!! The counslors were great all had something planned for the kids. We had late seating and that worked out great, cause the kids were really not into the whole dining room scene, so we would order room service for them , or if it was a night they had dinner with the counslors they would do that. Then off to camp and mom and dad had time to get ready for dinner then off to meet the others for drinks. We have planned a cruise in Nov 2005 and my SIL who is a travel agent says that Carnival has one of the best kids programs afloat so we are doing Carnival this time and i can't wait it looks like such a great camp, computers, ps2's....just seems like a lot more things to do. I hope this helps .....Happy Cruisingggggggggg!!!!