Anyones kids get bored of kids club?

[guk]

Hi just wondering if anyones kid ever got bored of the kids clubs (specifically adventure ocean) before the cruise was over? We are going on a transatlantic with our 3 Yr old DD and was planning on letting her go to AO every night to coincide with our late dining however we also wanted her to go to some sesssions during the day at the start of the hol when the weather is not so good, but I'm worried about her overdoing them and her getting bored of them since she has never been to kids clubs on hols before and would love to hear of other people experiances and thoughts. She is used to going to pre school which she loves and is a very social child.

[boulders]

Nope! We were on a cruise on the Radiance last week. DS4 was always eager to go to the kids club at all times of day. Given the choice of eating lunch or dinner with mom or the kids club, he always chose the kids club. After the cruise, dd11 asked if in the future, we could just have a cruise without any ports so that she could just hang around with her new friends and enjoy the kids program and the ship.

 

If you have a social child, you should have no problems. My ds13 is not social at all and has no interest in the teens club, but he makes his own fun (arcade, shore excursions, hanging around with mom).

[sbhdmh]

I agree. I have a VERY social 4 year old and she could not get enough of kids club. We were on MSC and even with a range of ages and languages in the room she was in heaven. On sea days I never got to see her. She couldn't wait to get there after breakfast, ate lunch with them and was not very happy when I picked her up at 5 pm. I would stop in periodically throughout the day just to be sure but she never once wanted to leave. About half way through the cruise they started doing dinner parties at 7 or 7:30. She could barely stand to sit with us for an hour during first seating of dinner before begging to go upstairs to join them for hot dogs, pizza or whatever the party food was that night. Then she attended the show with them and again wanted to stay with them to go dancing after the show. I was lucky if I could get her to leave with me before the 10:30 closing time. Did I mention she was only 4? Once home it took a few nights to catch up on all the sleep she missed but she was very cooperative in some not-very-kid-friendly ports so I let her have all the fun she wanted on board. And no, she never got bored...

[Onessa]

Within one cruise most kids will not get bored -- they have a variety of activites and nightly themes.

 

We do at least one cruise a year and our DD (currently nearly 14YO) was generally ready to be "bumped up" to the next age category after two or three cruises within an age group. From one cruise to the next, from one year to the next, the activies within a age group do not change much.

 

Most lines have pretty good counslors running these programs. A good counslor will adapt the standard activities to the group.

[cb at sea]

With most kids, you have to actually PULL them out of there! And, when you do, they go "kicking and screaming"---they really enjoy it, until they hit the mid-teen years...then, there seems to be less to interest them....(Teens aren't interested in much of anything, except the opposite sex!)

[sunnyshine]

This will be my sons first cruise (age 10) and he absolutely does NOT want to go to the kids programs. He has no idea what it's like though. Has anyone else had problems getting their kids to try the kids programs?

[Warm Breezes]

This will be my sons first cruise (age 10) and he absolutely does NOT want to go to the kids programs. He has no idea what it's like though. Has anyone else had problems getting their kids to try the kids programs?

 

On the Disney cruises my kids went to more activities, but they were younger. When we went on our first two Carnival cruises they tried the kids clubs but were not very impressed and only went to a couple of activities. On our last Carnival and NCL cruises I couldn't even talk them into signing up. They would rather hang out with each other (DS is 15 and DD is 12) or with us. I didn't mind since they had each other to hang out with when they wanted to do their own thing and I enjoyed spending time with them.

[Onessa]

This will be my sons first cruise (age 10) and he absolutely does NOT want to go to the kids programs. He has no idea what it's like though. Has anyone else had problems getting their kids to try the kids programs?

 

Check Michelle's (Cruisnmama) posts with the ships schedules for the kid's programming and find activities the ship you will be travelling on has that interest your son -- and talk those up.

 

Be certain to sign him up and have him stop in for a few hours the first night. Let him know you'll stop in and if he wants to leave after the first hour or so, you'll let him. If he meets some kids his own age, he'll most likely be fine and will want to stay. If you don't kind of "force" him the first night, it will just be harder for him to fit in later -- that first night is key.

[sunnyshine]

Thank you both. I don't want to force him at all. There are 4 other kids going in our group, one other boy his age so I'm hoping if they go together they'll be okay. The adults just want to be able to go to the casino together, so we're all hoping the kids will tolorate AO for a little while at least. Thanks again!

[Warm Breezes]

Thank you both. I don't want to force him at all. There are 4 other kids going in our group, one other boy his age so I'm hoping if they go together they'll be okay. The adults just want to be able to go to the casino together, so we're all hoping the kids will tolorate AO for a little while at least. Thanks again!

 

If there is another child his age going with you then I would just let them hang together (or maybe the other boy could talk him into going to the club). There is a lot they could do together - basketball, mini - golf, arcade, ping pong, etc. I'm sure you will be able to find some time to get to the casino. We sent ours to the arcade when we went.

[sunnyshine]

I'm just one of those over paranoid mothers who won't let him stay anywhere by himself. I trust him, he's responsible, I just don't trust everyone else. Maybe if we have walkie talkies that work very well then maybe I'll let them stay in the arcade while we go. I'm sure it'll work out. Thanks for all the advice.

[dijid]

I guess I'll be the first one to post that my kids didn't always want to go to Camp Carnival. They went the first morning of our cruise. It was raining and there really wasn't anything else to do. They did not want to go back in the afternoon. They were picky about what activities they wanted to participate in. They weren't exactly bored, but they weren't exactly *thrilled* either.

[Empressa]

great info! i will be taking my 4 and 10 yr olds on our next cruise and i was concerned as well (although i was pumping it up for the oldest one). ha ha

[ottawa_traveler]

I guess I'll be the first one to post that my kids didn't always want to go to Camp Carnival. They went the first morning of our cruise. It was raining and there really wasn't anything else to do. They did not want to go back in the afternoon. They were picky about what activities they wanted to participate in. They weren't exactly bored, but they weren't exactly *thrilled* either.

 

Our boys (6 and 8) went to check out Club HAL on sea days. They found it a bit boring--too many crafts and sitting around, not enough active stuff. The only camps they have been to have been outdoorsy/sporty, so Club HAL was a bit sedate for them. They did enjoy the bridge tour, and the X-box time (we don't have a gaming system at home), and would participate in game time on the Sports Deck. The visit by a Glacier Bay park ranger was also good.

 

My older son (in the 8-12 yr old group) complained that most kids were "out of control" and not listening to the leaders. I find this is typical for vacation camps--the leaders are often quite young, and seem reluctant to enforce any behavioural standards with the kids as then the kids will complain to their parents.

[emelvee]

Our daughter has never been bored. Last cruise, we had to make her get off the ship with us at a couple of ports. She's 8 now, and has been on all four of our cruises with us, with one coming up next month. She was ecstatic when she found out we were going on this next cruise.

[chipmaster]

Hi just wondering if anyones kid ever got bored of the kids clubs (specifically adventure ocean) before the cruise was over? We are going on a transatlantic with our 3 Yr old DD and was planning on letting her go to AO every night to coincide with our late dining however we also wanted her to go to some sesssions during the day at the start of the hol when the weather is not so good, but I'm worried about her overdoing them and her getting bored of them since she has never been to kids clubs on hols before and would love to hear of other people experiances and thoughts. She is used to going to pre school which she loves and is a very social child.

 

I think everything hinges on the child. My youungest has always loved the kids club on all the ships. My boys were fine when they were young, and like another poster found them "boring" as they got older ( ~ 8 ). My visits always saw what I thought was reasonably age appropriate activities even for the teen clubs. Clearly the amenities offered, computers, activiites, arts/crafts, video games etc. can make or break it too.

 

Frankly we've been lucky that cruising has been more about family time and we've used less of the Kids club then we thought we would, and mostly for port if at all. We've trained our kids well to enjoy the 3 sitdown meals and tea :D