Kid's Clubs - Grand Princess - very poor!!

[hazy123]

We were on the Grand Princess 27 June and can only say that the Kid's Club was very poor. We were bench-marking against P&O Oceana Kid's Club but also spoke to numerous families who had cruised with other cruise lines and there opinions were the same.

 

Obviously, Princess Cruises aren't too interested in negative comments as I complained at the Purser's desk and was asked to fill in a comments card. I asked if someone would come back to me to discuss this but nobody did. On return, I wrote to Princess but to date have had a letter saying my comments were being 'investigated'!

 

Our first experience of the Kid's Club was that the Pelicans Room 3-7 looked good, but the Shockwaves 8-12 had been moved to a conference room at the front of the ship. We were told this was due to being a 'high volume' kids cruise, but come on, what do Princess expect in the school summer holidays, they should be geared up for this! My son was pretty shocked that this would be 'his club' for the holiday, especially after seeing his wee brothers!

 

Our main gripe is too do with staffing of the club though. I don't know how many times my kids came out and said that they had just watched a movie. We were asked to sign our kids up for kids club the day before a port day so they had the staffing numbers right. Well, even after doing this we were told on signing them in that due to lack of staffing they would just be watching a movie. This happened almost every time. Now, I know it is our choice to use the kids club but better than this should be expected. It is a break from the hot sun for most kids but with all the facilities available there is no excuse. It was very disorganised.

 

Although a Kid's programme for the fortnight was published it was not often adhered to. Kids were told as there weren't many kids in they wouldn't run an activity, albeit a craft one when they could have. Very disappointing for the kids! Staff just didn't seem motivated!

 

Apart from the Kids Club poor experience we had a fantastic cruise. It does take the edge of the enjoyment factor though, especially as the P&O Kids Club had been fantastic! Our kids experienced hardly any of the things listed under Kids Club in the Princess Brochure!

 

It will be interesting to see what Princess will say, if they do eventually respond!

[seb530]

Was on the same cruise and certainly the teen club was poor with little flexibility and most teenagers thought "sod this" and went off and did their own thing.

 

The 8-11s was as bit hit and miss - sometimes my daughter went and some she didnt. Often this was based on whether her friends might be there rather than the content. Apparently they also didnt get to use teh Wii as promised either.

[Colo Cruiser]

How old are your children?

[hazy123]

Our kids are 2 boys 6 and 9. They were in different kids clubs and the younger one was certainly much better than the older one, he was the one stuck in a conference room with a TV some boxed games and not much more.

 

They just expected the kids club to be like previous they had experienced which did Treasure Hunts round the ship, Magic shows etc. This did virtually nothing and they were so disappointed!

[junglejane]

We were on the Crown Princess British Isles cruise on July 19. Our 8 year old went to the Kids Club most days. It was okay, but definitely not as good as in prior cruises on Princess and definitely not as good as our experience in the Mediterranean last summer on the Celebrity Summit. On the Crown Princess, it seems like they mostly colored, made bead projects and watched movies.

 

Last summer on the Summit they did more stuff that was "themed" around the cruise, like dressing up in togas in Greece. They led the kids out to the pool deck to dance while the band was playing for a poolside buffet. I think most of the passengers got a big kick out of it -- especially since the kiddos then marched right back to their Fun Factory. They also did more brief "road trips" on the ship -- at one point I saw them marching through the Photo Gallery dressed as pirates.

 

This time on the Crown, the Kids Club staff seemed to be mostly going through the motions. It was okay, but not something DD would beg for like she has in past cruises.

 

Also, on the Summit it was no big deal if couldn't get there by 10 pm to pick up your kid. You just automatically rolled over into the "pay" Slumber Party time and there would be a charge slip to sign when you got there. On the Crown, they wanted all reservations for after hours made 24 hours ahead of time. One night our dinner in the Crown Grill ran long. I called to let them know we would be about 10 minutes late to pick up DD. They scolded me in no uncertain terms and told me to make sure it didn't happen again. I don't mind at all paying for the after hours time, but the 24 hour reservation policy seemed too inflexible to me.

[mom2tcdx2]

When my kids sailed on Princess in 2006 they were 8 and 11 at the time. Neither was impressed with the kids club activities. I don't think they went more than twice the entire cruise. They of course had plenty of other activities they could do with the family.

 

They went with us each evening to see the comedians, and shows onboard. They liked the pools for a bit during the afternoons, etc. I have to say they were greatly entertained without using the kids club.

 

I am thinking they won't go very often either (to the kids clubs on Carnival) this coming December however they will be 11, 14 and will also have a 16 year old cousin along.

[DaveNottm]

My daughters (17 and 14) were looking forward to the teen club on Grand Princess (Med 1-15 August) following a fantastic time they had on P&O Oceana last year. On P&O the initial get-together session was in the theatre with all the kids and teen crew on stage, joking and mucking around and really selling what great activities there would be (and there was) - my two would often roll into their cabin at 2am long after my wife and I had got into our cabin!

 

This year on Grand Princess, you just dropped in to the (small) teen room and the first things that were said to the teens were "you can't go to the adult pools", "you can't go in the casino", "you can't go in the bars without adult accompaniment", "we only these hours", "you can't do this; you can't do that", etc, etc.. All quite true, but not the selling exercise that would have enthused them. Our two never went again, so I don't know how many teens did go.

[kooljamming]

My kids enjoyed the Princess kids program because they are outgoing and enjoy making new friends. If not for their personality they would have been on me like white on rice the entire week. One important rule is, I am not taking you on vacation to watch TV. Princess made sure I ate those words because they spent a lot of time watching TV in the kids club (8-12). My son had a fantastic time in the teen center and hanging out with his new buddies. The activities were dismal and uninspiring compared to Carnival. Carnival had a kick off kids dance then later parents were invited to join. They won ship on a stick (cheesy but cute) for dancing and other activities. On Princess they had a cute talent show at the end. Maybe cuter because my son's group had the best dance act:D

 

Recommendation- Plan more together time with you kids if you don't want them checking out and roaming the ship. The indoor was fun and different, afternoon tea was wonderful and even the gym. Get on roll call so you can introduce your kids to a buddy right off the bat. The Princess program was memorable for my kids because of who they met. Carnival was memorable for the activities they did. Comapring to other kids program, Princess came up short, but they had fun which is always good.

 

To Jen and Elizabeth from roll call - nice hanging out!

[hazy123]

It appears from reading everyone's comments and speaking to other families onboard that Princess do need to get their act together where the Kids Clubs are concerned as they are falling far short of other cruise lines.

 

Most kids find it fun to attend the Kids Club as it is 'their thing' on the holiday. We never treated it as a babysitter for us but more for something different for them to do, after being off at port, doing trips, playing in the pool and definitely a break from too much sun! Although it was nice for us to relax and read at the pool/visit the gym - it was our holiday too!

 

We noticed that there was no real person in charge at Princess. On P&O they seemed to have a dedicated children/youth officer. Maybe this is part of the problem as it did seem very disorganised and the staff very unmotivated.

 

Certainly, with more and more families choosing to cruise and prices being very competitive Princess will need to watch out as families will start to choose cruise lines where everyone in the family had the best holiday!

[kooljamming]

It appears from reading everyone's comments and speaking to other families onboard that Princess do need to get their act together where the Kids Clubs are concerned as they are falling far short of other cruise lines.

 

From our experience this was certainly the case. My biggest concern was the age difference in each category. I thought there would be a huge interest difference between a 8 and 12 years old or a 13 and a 17 yrs old. I knew my son 13 (almost 14) was having fun but I checked constantly because he was with kids who were almost 18. Most of the times they were horsing around but having fun. For the other group, I was concerned if they catered to the younger kids, the older ones might get bored. On Carnival the kids were divided within two yrs, 2 -5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17. I assume Princess has a stricter adherence to age limit, not because of the best interest of kids, but due to the huge gap in each category. Technically you could have a child barley 13 (so still kinda 12) with a youngster almost 18:eek: That could be intimidating for some kids and a big turn off to the enjoyment of the program.

 

I would take the kids on another Princess cruise. However I would go knowing if they didn't find a buddy we might be spending more time together, which is fine:D I was sad when our last port, Victoria, was canceled but happy that the kids could spend time in the program together for the last time. Once again all they did was watched TV, rubbish! I understand others who praised the program had a different experience on a different sailing and a different ship or loved TV viewing.

[wowsmom]

From our experience this was certainly the case. My biggest concern was the age difference in each category. I thought there would be a huge interest difference between a 8 and 12 years old or a 13 and a 17 yrs old. I knew my son 13 (almost 14) was having fun but I checked constantly because he was with kids who were almost 18. Most of the times they were horsing around but having fun. For the other group, I was concerned if they catered to the younger kids, the older ones might get bored. On Carnival the kids were divided within two yrs, 2 -5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17. I assume Princess has a stricter adherence to age limit, not because of the best interest of kids, but due to the huge gap in each category. Technically you could have a child barley 13 (so still kinda 12) with a youngster almost 18:eek: That could be intimidating for some kids and a big turn off to the enjoyment of the program.

 

I would take the kids on another Princess cruise. However I would go knowing if they didn't find a buddy we might be spending more time together, which is fine:D I was sad when our last port, Victoria, was canceled but happy that the kids could spend time in the program together for the last time. Once again all they did was watched TV.

 

When we were on the Sapphire, my DS11 (almost 12) was in a group that was 10-12 year olds. Don't know if they split things more based on how many kids were on board (there were about 300 in the 3-17 age range).

 

He says the only time he watched TV all week was when it was a Scooby Doo marathon. Otherwise, he was playing air hockey or foosball or playing cards with the other kids. They also played dodgeball a few times, went to cyber golf, had a movie night, and a number of other activities. Not sure how much TV my DS15 watched in his club...he hasn't mentioned it. I do know he played video games, did cyber golf, had a mock casino, sang karaoke, etc.

 

I'm sorry the OP (and others) had a bad experience with the kids' clubs on the Grand. My boys had a wonderful time in the clubs on Sapphire. Hope the Grand was just a fluke....and that the Sapphire wasn't just a fluke!

[hightownCO]

My daughter (Teen) and I have cruised on the Caribbean Princess, Crown and Grand. Grand teen facilities are VERY small and we were cruising around Easter and LARGE number of teens on board. There was no room. The location is different on Grand than the other newer ships and definately smaller. What jumped out at me on the Grand was the very large waste of space on grand around the arcade and cyperstore (whatever the heck that is). Would make a wonderful place for enlarged teen facilities.

 

Hopefully at her next dry dock, Grand will get updated teen/kid facilities. We cruise the Grand again in November but there will be very few kids due to the time of year.

[karatemom2]

We have been on 7 Princess cruises on three different ships (Golden, Diamond and Dawn) and have been uniformly pleased with the kids program, especially for my nine year old daughter. We have never found the age grouping to be a challenge, even when she is in groups with slightly older or younger kids. Princess does adjust the age groups based on the number of kids onboard so she has been in groups ranging from a two year to four year span. They do this to keep the group sizes manageable which I really appreciate.

 

Our experience on Disney, Carnival, NCL and RCI in regards to the kids club have been that less satisfactory, primarily because there are just too many kids with very large groups which my daughter finds really overwhelming. We have found the Princess club to be well managed, much more personal and definitely calmer and more structured. Perhaps others would see this as a bad thing because its not constant action, but I have always found that they keep the kids busy with fun and often educational activities. I have never witnessed using TV as a babysitter. In fact I asked my daughter and she said the only time they used the TV was to watch movies on the movie nights or for video games. I think perhaps they use it more for port day sitting as those days are less structured, but my kids never go to the clubs on port days.

 

Our experience is that Princess does a really great job with the kids both in and out of the clubs and that is one of the main reasons after trying many lines, it has become our cruise line of choice. It's too bad that the OP had a bad experience on the Grand, which may be more a reflection of the staff or youth leadership on that particular ship then a systemic problem with Princess. At least for the Princess ships we have been on, we have found the youth program to be excellent.

[bubbadog]

Oh well,next time,just plan to do more with your kids, or bring stuff for them to do, x-box,psp,games,or maybe let them stay home with grandma-grandpa:rolleyes:

[wowsmom]

We have been on 7 Princess cruises on three different ships (Golden, Diamond and Dawn) and have been uniformly pleased with the kids program, especially for my nine year old daughter. We have never found the age grouping to be a challenge, even when she is in groups with slightly older or younger kids. Princess does adjust the age groups based on the number of kids onboard so she has been in groups ranging from a two year to four year span. They do this to keep the group sizes manageable which I really appreciate.

 

Our experience on Disney, Carnival, NCL and RCI in regards to the kids club have been that less satisfactory, primarily because there are just too many kids with very large groups which my daughter finds really overwhelming. We have found the Princess club to be well managed, much more personal and definitely calmer and more structured. Perhaps others would see this as a bad thing because its not constant action, but I have always found that they keep the kids busy with fun and often educational activities. I have never witnessed using TV as a babysitter. In fact I asked my daughter and she said the only time they used the TV was to watch movies on the movie nights or for video games. I think perhaps they use it more for port day sitting as those days are less structured, but my kids never go to the clubs on port days.

 

Our experience is that Princess does a really great job with the kids both in and out of the clubs and that is one of the main reasons after trying many lines, it has become our cruise line of choice. It's too bad that the OP had a bad experience on the Grand, which may be more a reflection of the staff or youth leadership on that particular ship then a systemic problem with Princess. At least for the Princess ships we have been on, we have found the youth program to be excellent.

 

Glad to hear this, karatemom. My boys enjoyed the clubs so much, they'll be looking forward to them the next time we cruise. Now if we could just figure out our next cruise....:rolleyes:

[kooljamming]

JMOP.... It's wonderful to hear from posters who have actually USED the program recently. Good or bad it helps parents intending to use the program to adjust their expectation. A good program provides tremendous learning opportunities for kids. They get to meet and interact with others from similar and different background in their own way. They won't necessarily do this from hanging around mom and dad 24/7. Leaving them with grandma, though easier and cheaper, might only create yet another generation unable to exisit outside of their own comfort zone. Really, really, really, why do on vacation, for a week, what you can easily do at home for the rest of the year :-).

 

Here are some pics of the area on the Golden Princess. The Shockwaves (8-12) and Remix (13-17) share a the common game area.

 

[sha1955]

We were on the Grand 1-15 August

The teenage club is too small and the games etc out of date. We were 4 family groups and the 13-17 kids would not use the club.

We had been on the Ruby in April and that club is fantastic. Lots of fun and activities.

The Grand club was a waste of time. The kids did their own thing and the Horizon court became their meeting place!