How's Princess Cruises for Kids?

[erinzma]

Hi Everyone - I'm new to Cruise Critic, but have looked around and am finding the information great! I'm planning a cruise for my husand, my daughter and I in February 2010 hopefully. I was planning on picking RCCL because it is my favorite line, however Princess lately is offering some pretty good deals. Has anyone out there ever brought a kid on Princess, and would you recommend it? Their ships look beautiful, but I have an 8 year old and don't want her bored to tears - she seems to always get stuck hanging out with adults anyway since she's an only child, I'd like this to be different. Thanks for any suggestions!!

[lmg1230]

We've had our two daughters on Princess twice - once to Alaska and once to the Baltics - and they loved it both times. The first time they were 10 and almost 4 when we went to Alaska on the Diamond Princess. We went to the Baltics this past summer on the Emerald Princess when they were 12 and 6. They both enjoyed the kids club and made lots of friends. Neither were ever bored. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have.

Lisa

[onthelake]

We are also fans of Princess and my son is an only child. We have been on some of the longer cruises (30 days) and he always had a great time and made wonderful friends that he is still in touch with. Don't worry, Princess does a great job for all ages.

[mammel123]

We took our daughter on Crown Princess last March, when she was 4. We didn't expect her to go to the kids' club, and she loved it. We thought she might not be well enough behaved for formal night dinners, and she LOVED it. She'd be waiting to go to the kids' club, and was dissappointed when we wanted her to be with us:eek:

 

So, we're going again on Princess in 4 weeks, and she has informed us we're not to cruise without her again!

 

I'm sure your daughter will enjoy it.

 

Sue

[brenderlou]

We took our daughter on Crown Princess last March, when she was 4. We didn't expect her to go to the kids' club, and she loved it. We thought she might not be well enough behaved for formal night dinners, and she LOVED it. She'd be waiting to go to the kids' club, and was dissappointed when we wanted her to be with us:eek:

 

So, we're going again on Princess in 4 weeks, and she has informed us we're not to cruise without her again!

 

I'm sure your daughter will enjoy it.

 

Sue

 

Our daughter is exactly the same.....we barely see her when the kids club is open and feel guilty we're not spending time together. I told my husbad it's her vacation as well and thats where she wants to be and it gives us some very unexpected down time which is nice.

We leave in 10 days for our Thanksgiving cruise and she has already told us she wants to eat in the buffet area and then go to the kids club, skipping dinner in the MDR w/ us....this at the ripe old age of 5 :)

We chose Princess over RCCL because of the price....RCCL wasn't even close to Princess prices and it allowed us a balcony cabin.

[helenb]

We love the Princess Kids' Program. It's pretty similar to RCCL, but they're not so concerned with sticking to the 'rules'. For example, on RCCL, if they have an activity planned and one of the kids doesn't want to do it, too bad. The parents get a notice that their child wasn't 'cooperating' at pickup. On Princess, if the kids aren't interested, they have other things they can do. If a lot of kids aren't interested, they'll often scrap the activity altogether and do something else. on Princess, they remember that their job is to please the kids. Okay, can you tell I've had bad experiences with RCCL Adventure Ocean? ;)

 

Seriously though, your child should have a great time on Princess. It's a very family-friendly line.

[notentirelynormal]

Also, they are teaching them about science as well. On one of our trips my 3 YO GS came back with a "galaxy" made of clay. They are fabulous with the kids. There were very few kids on the above cruise but and they felt like stars themselves. He even brought home a present for his birthday.

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/activities/youth_teen/fun/index.html

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/activities/youth_teen/edutainment/index.html

[jenonacruise]

My son was 8 in 2008 and we went on the Coral for B2B cruise. There were 11 kids on board and he loved every minute of it. The kids club gave him all the attention an only child could want and he came back with lots of projects that we still have.

 

We gave our son the choice of going to Disney World or going on another cruise and of course he picked the cruise. He will be 10 next year when we go on the Ruby and he keeps asking me how long till we go.

[Mack2]

Princess has a great kids program... I was aboard the Grand Princess 3 years ago, my kids were around 8, 5, and 2.5-ish. They absolutely loved the "camp" aboard.

 

 

I did have an unfortunate experience with another passenger. My eldest son is legally blind, back then his visual acuity was 20/200. He has a juvenile form of macular degeneration.

 

The policy aboard Princess in the theater is that children under the age of 12 not be seated within 5 or 6 rows of the front of the stage.

Given that my son is blind, Princess allowed us to sit in the "restricted" area... but an older passenger loudly objected to my sons presence before the show even started... Basically telling my wife that he knew other people with macular degeneration and that we should teach my son to "deal with it".

 

That's the only thing that kind've put a damper on that particular trip... had nothing to do with Princess itself... just some crappy old man... but it left me with an opinion.

[A&Emom]

We cruised on the Princess Sapphire to Alaska this past summer with our 2yo & 6yo. Our 6yo had a ball even though she only visited the kids club on the "Glacier days". It was great because they brought a ranger on to talk to the kids, did a craft and when they left each child was allowed to take a stuffed eagle.

 

The rest of the week she made a point of visiting the pool as often as possible, playing air hockey in the gameroom and strolling her baby doll around deck. My 2yo also loved the gameroom. A few minutes there dancing to the music & lights was our pre-bedtime ritual.

 

We had dinner in the main diningroom everynight. My 6yo sat with her 4 cousins 7-10yo. Their waiter always had fruit & smoothies waiting for them. They usually finished dinner in a hour and played around outside the dinigroom entrance or on the deck just above. We had late seating so by the time the adults finished the kids were ready to head for the show.

 

My daughter has recently advised me that all the cousins agree that we should plan another family cruise for next year. This time they would like to go to Australia. We'll see...

[toonye]

I have an 8 year old and don't want her bored to tears - she seems to always get stuck hanging out with adults anyway since she's an only child, I'd like this to be different

 

I've exactly the same concerns :confused:

 

We usually choose RCCL but next summer, we'll be on the Star Princess for a 10-day cruise in the Baltics

 

Is the Princess kids club also open at port days like Adventure Ocean so that you can go on tours without the children?

 

Our cruise will be very port intensive, involving much walking and our daughter would be happy to stay at the club :p

[helenb]

The Princess Kids' Club is open on port days, but you have to reserve a spot in advance, There is no extra charge; they just need to know how many kids will attend.

[tmitchell82]

We just go off the Crown Princess with our DD who is 5. She had a great time at the clubs. They constantly keep her occupied and had various activities even when there were only a few kids in the kids club. DW is a director of a day care and she was impressed with how well it was run, the procedures they follow, etc. There were not a lot of kids on the ship when we went and I do not think you will find a ton of kids in Feb. More over the summer and school breaks. That said, the smaller group of kids worked out very well.

[madjohn]

Princess has a great kids program... I was aboard the Grand Princess 3 years ago, my kids were around 8, 5, and 2.5-ish. They absolutely loved the "camp" aboard.

 

 

I did have an unfortunate experience with another passenger. My eldest son is legally blind, back then his visual acuity was 20/200. He has a juvenile form of macular degeneration.

 

The policy aboard Princess in the theater is that children under the age of 12 not be seated within 5 or 6 rows of the front of the stage.

Given that my son is blind, Princess allowed us to sit in the "restricted" area... but an older passenger loudly objected to my sons presence before the show even started... Basically telling my wife that he knew other people with macular degeneration and that we should teach my son to "deal with it".

 

That's the only thing that kind've put a damper on that particular trip... had nothing to do with Princess itself... just some crappy old man... but it left me with an opinion.

 

 

off topic sorry, but you did not say how you handled this situation. As a father, I regret to say, I would not have handled that well. As many have said before, its just not the kids on the ship that misbehave.

 

John

[pg.]

Princess has a great kids program... I was aboard the Grand Princess 3 years ago, my kids were around 8, 5, and 2.5-ish. They absolutely loved the "camp" aboard.

 

 

I did have an unfortunate experience with another passenger. My eldest son is legally blind, back then his visual acuity was 20/200. He has a juvenile form of macular degeneration.

 

The policy aboard Princess in the theater is that children under the age of 12 not be seated within 5 or 6 rows of the front of the stage.

Given that my son is blind, Princess allowed us to sit in the "restricted" area... but an older passenger loudly objected to my sons presence before the show even started... Basically telling my wife that he knew other people with macular degeneration and that we should teach my son to "deal with it".

 

That's the only thing that kind've put a damper on that particular trip... had nothing to do with Princess itself... just some crappy old man... but it left me with an opinion.

 

What a nasty old turd that man was,, really ,, what a way to go through life,, being miserabe and making others miserable.

 

 

OP,, We finally took our kids on a cruise almost 2 years ago. We had gone by ourselves all other cruises. We went on Princess, 7 days on the Caribbean Princess.

Kids were 10, 14, and 16. Middle boy has adhd ,, does not do puzzles, or play video games, or watch movies( basically ,, does not sit still ,, ever). We thought he might get bored. Ha, he loved the cruise. He did not attend the teen club,, but would pop in there and meet people and walk around a bit with( going to the buffet seemed to be a fun activity for them.LOL)

 

My 10 yr daughter loved the kids club,, the leaders were nice ladies/girls,, and they did fun crafts etc. She made friends with another little girl on first day and that was that..

 

They have said that a cruise is the most fun they have ever had on vacation.. and they have been to Europe, Hawaii, Disney, rvingi in Rockies, skiing trips ,, etc etc..

 

Cruising is fun .

[Wilda]

We just go off the Crown Princess with our DD who is 5. She had a great time at the clubs. They constantly keep her occupied and had various activities even when there were only a few kids in the kids club. DW is a director of a day care and she was impressed with how well it was run, the procedures they follow, etc. There were not a lot of kids on the ship when we went and I do not think you will find a ton of kids in Feb. More over the summer and school breaks. That said, the smaller group of kids worked out very well.

 

 

February school calendar in the northeast has the kids on vacation the second and third week of that month. My guess is there will be lots of kids on any sailing you select:D