Hello!
We found that, whilst the hours were greatly reduced, there was plenty of space onboard for the Play Zone (age 2-7) category. We did not find a way to register her for the club prior to departure. I must admit, I didn't even realise you could.
The Zone has set registration times for embarkation day. I believe it is 2-4pm and then 6-8pm. It is best to make it a priority to register them as it is on a first come, first served basis. We made it our first port of call, so to speak. We arrived onboard at approx. 2pm and went straight to the kids area to register our daughter. She was the first child to be registered. It was my understanding that her place was then guaranteed for the remainder of the crossing.
The lady informed us that there were 12 spaces available for this age range. Of course, spaces and hours were very limited due to their obvious staffing issues. I was chatting to the lady in charge and she said that the nanny agency Cunard use just did not have any staff members left on their "books" after Covid. So they were struggling to supply Cunard with the numbers of staff they needed. Many had opted for "land jobs" during Co-Vid 19 and not returned to cruise life.
If you go straight to your cabin, you will have received a daily list of activities (which is standard) and a kids welcome pack from the Play Zone. Both of these will list the times.
However, due to desperately wanting to secure a spot, we headed straight to Deck 6 to register and saw these info packs afterwards 😂.
On average, we were allocated two hours per day and a short evening session to allow us to quickly attend dinner but not any shows/evening entertainment.
I hope this helps! Fingers crossed they are back to full operating hours once you board.
I cannot finish without complimenting the staff and facilities onboard. My three year old adored the club and the staff were highly trained and exceptional. She constantly asked to go back to the "school", all day long!
Wishing you a lovely journey!
