Costa Atlantica - Squok Club, kids program

[Gaynors]

We just returned from the Costa Atlantica Christmas sailing with our 9 and 6 year old children. The Squok Club which is the name of the kids program is for kids 3-12. They were broken down into two groups the Mini Club (3-6) and the Maxi Club (7-12). We received the Squok Club programs for the whole week at the dock near the checkin area. Two of the Squok Club counselors were greeting the children and giving them the program guides. The Squok Club was open from 9am - 11:30 pm.

 

With that as a basis, our kids were disappointed in the Squok Club. Most of the activities didn't interest them very much. However, my 9 year old loved the Fooseball tournament, the Olympics, and the other outside activities. The 6 year old could give or take she didn't really want to go to the Squok Club.

 

The kids did love the waterslide, which was open 10-4 almost every day.

 

Costa also did not allow children under 12 in any of the hot tubs on the ship. This policy was enforced at times and not at others. This is the first time I've ever encountered this rule either on Costa or any other line. The kids were a little disappointed with this, but did enjoy playing and swimming in the pools.

 

Overall, it was a great family vacation. Maybe a little more work for the parents since our kids didn't really spend much time at the Squok club, but we all enjoyed ourselves.

 

How could you lose... kids sailed for only $199 and there is no tipping for kids under 12 on Costa :eek:.

 

Since it was Christmas week and kids were so cheap the ship was packed with them. I did find for the most part that they were well behaved. Only once did we run into two kids playing in the elevators pushing all the buttons and on the last day there were more kids running the halls than we had seen all week. Overall, it was much better than the unruly kids we had seen on our Thanksgiving cruise on the Independence of the Seas last year (being a much smaller ship probably helped ;))

 

If you have any other questions, just ask!

[minnieiowa]

 

 

How could you lose... kids sailed for only $199 and there is no tipping for kids under 12 on Costa :eek:.

 

 

There is no tipping for kids under 12? I thought they were 1/2 price of an adult tip?

[Gaynors]

There is no tipping for kids under 12? I thought they were 1/2 price of an adult tip?

 

For under 12 there were no tips. I understand (but didn't experience it personally) that kids 12-17 are 1/2 price.

[alwaysfrantic]

I was told my teens would be 1/2 price the standard gratuity charge. But not sure about the younger ones.

[guxu]

Can older kids sign in and off by themselves?

[minnieiowa]

For under 12 there were no tips. I understand (but didn't experience it personally) that kids 12-17 are 1/2 price.

 

wow - that makes it an even better deal. I didnt realize that. I have one over 12 & one under. :D

[MalNZ]

Were your children in different groups?

 

We are on the 3 April sailing with our 7 and 8 year old grand daughters. They will be together on this cruise but we are also cruising HAL and they could be put in separate groups.

 

This will be there second cruise, we were on the Veendam on an Alaskian cruise last May. They loved kids club and did not really want to go ashore. There were only 5 kids on board, so they had a lot of one on one. Hope they will not be too disappointed.

 

How did you find the Club Counsellors?

 

Did your children have any of their meals with the Kids Programme, as apparently they have a couple of nights where you can have dinner by yourselves. Did they enjoy the food?

 

What cabin were you in? We are in an obstructive view cabin on Roma Deck, but always hoping for an upgrade:)

 

What excursions did you children like? We will be going to Barbardos, St Lucia, St Maarten, Martinique, Bahamas and St Thomas.

 

Sorry the above is HAL Noordam's itinerary, the Costa Cruise we are doing is to Keywest, Georgetown,Hondoras and Cozumel.

 

Thanks for you input.

 

Mal NZ

[Gaynors]

We had one child in each group. I guess we could of asked if the 6 year old could join the older group but she was fine with the younger kids.

 

They had plenty of counselors since it was a holiday cruise and there were A LOT of kids. The counselors seemed very energenic and enthusiastic.

 

One thing we have found on both Costa cruises is that since they draw such an international crowd many of the children speak different languages. This is not a problem for the counselors since they also speak many different languages but it is difficult for the kids themselves to communicate amongst one another.

 

Our kids did not go to the dinners scheduled with the club. Invitations were sent to the room on both occasions inviting them to eat with the Squok Club.

 

We were in room 7295 a Cat B9 balcony. It is kind of unique cabin since it was behind the elevators it was shaped different than other cabins. It was an excellent location. We were originally in 7189 but for only $20 more opted to move up one category to the bigger balcony. Well worth it :D.

 

We went eastern (St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk) so don't have any of the same ports, but we didn't do any excursions.

 

I believe they let kids sign themselves out starting at age 8... ONLY with the parents permission on the registration form. We choose not to allow our 9 year old to sign himself in and out.

 

Questions??? Keep them coming...:D

[Gaynors]

wow - that makes it an even better deal. I didnt realize that. I have one over 12 & one under. :D

 

Exactly!! It's pretty hard to go wrong with a deal that good. :)

[MalNZ]

What did you do in St Thomas, as we will be going there with HAL?

 

How did you get the upgrade, was it offered by your TA?

 

On our cruise, I think the only 4 berth cabins left are the balcony and suites, so I it would be great to have an upgrade, the price for theses are twice as dear as what we paid.

 

Great value cruise, as our girls cruise free except for port charges etc.

 

Since it is winter there, did you use the pools? Were they warm?

 

I would definitely not let our girls sign themselves out of kids club.

 

Would there be many kids on our cruise, being the 3 April - is this your Spring Break? Our other cruise is on the 24 April, maybe this cruise will not have many kids on.

 

Thanks Again.

 

Mal NZ

[LUVTRAVEL6]

Hi Gaynors,

 

I have been reading your comments! They have all been so helpful. We are considering booking the Easter cruise on the Atlantica. We have previously been on Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean (Freedom of the Seas). I see that you were also on RC Independence of the Seas. How did you think the food compared? How about your experience overall? It seems like such a great deal...hard not to be interested.

 

I saw another reviewer post something about smoking in the hallways near the cabins..did you experience that? As non-smokers, that would not be a good thing for us. Do they allow people to smoke in the staterooms?

Thanks for all the information!

 

Linda

[Gaynors]

LUVTRAVEL6-

 

The food on Costa is definitely different than on RCI, if you enjoy a more European type cuisine you are in luck. We enjoyed the food on Costa, maybe not as much on RCI but we don't cruise for the food alone.

 

If it was the same price I'd probably go on RCI (maybe because we're only 2 credits away from diamond member too ;)) because the kids program is so much better and our kids love the rock climbing wall, golf, skating, etc... Costa didn't have any of that. My son did love the fooseball tables, the sports court and shuffleboard.

 

Costa for us was such a better deal for the money. Kids were only $199 a piece on a Christmas cruise :eek::eek:! and on Costa there are no tips for kids under 12.

 

The kids liked the waterslide on Costa better than the ones on the Voyager Class, Independence didn't have a slide at all.

 

Smoking... well there is definitely more smoking on Costa. We noticed it in the hallways down on the lower decks (no balconies) but on our deck (7) I never noticed smoke in the halls or in the room. However, we had smokers on both sides of us and sometimes on the balcony the smell was terrible. This was the first time I ever experienced this. Maybe it was just bad luck. There were still plenty of times we were on the balcony and it was smelly or smoky at all. Never had any problem on deck or the lounges.

 

Costa is a great value for the money.