Questions re Kids CLub

[RysMom]

I have an 8yo & 11yo, and the 8yo is not into trying out the Kids Club at all. I understand that there are age groupings, but will they be separated within the room and doing structured activities? If he could go and hang out playing video games with his brother, I think it might appeal to him, but not being confined to a group doing activities and crafts. Can anyone give me an idea of what sort of activities they do? We've been on several NCL cruises, but they have never wanted to attend the kids club. I also think I read that the 11yo would be able to check himself out, but he would not be able to take the 8yo with him - is this correct?

 

Thanks for the help

[#1TravelMom]

The activities are really geared to the specific age ranges. I believe a family vacation is to be spent with the family. But my little girl(6), just begs to go to kids club. So, we allow a few hours most days. They sing, dance, make crafts, color bandanas, backpacks, and tshirts, play games etc.

 

The nice thing is, they can be checked in and out anytime. We look at the schedule and let her choose one or two activities that sound especially fun - if she likes it, she stays. We check on her quite often, if she isn't having fun, we just check her out. 99% of the time, she is pleading to stay longer.

 

Another tip, if they are good on the computer. You may want to check your roll call and see if anyone has children, same ages, and let them email back and forth. That way, by sail date, they can feel like they already have a friend.

 

I have found that the more you foster the idea that they will not have fun if they are not together, the more likely it is to become reality. IMHO, I encourage my kids to be "bigs girls" and have fun and try to make new friends from different parts of the country or world.

[CanadianTwosome]

I can only assume that kids three years apart are not in the same class at school, and have completely different sets of friends. Perhaps if they're worried about not being together in the Kid's Crew, they might be reminded of this... :)

 

Whenever I read about kids who are reluctant to even try Kid's Crew (or whatever the club is called on whichever line), my advice is the same: go on the first night and meet everyone. On the first night, the majority of kids who are going to go will be there, and it's the best opportunity to meet and potentially make some friends. From what I read in the Epic dailies that were posted, they also have a family party on the first evening, which I haven't seen before, but I think is a great idea. This way even shy kids will be able to check out the group while still having their family there for support.

 

One of the other important things to remember is that when you register, you are given the schedule for the entire week. We always take a highlighter and go over the list on the first night to see what might or might not be interesting. Our daughter chooses the activities that she wants to attend and we make sure she's there when they're scheduled. Like TravelMom, we check on her often, and if she ever expresses a desire to leave, we just sign her out.

 

In regard to sign-out priviledges, our daughter has been old enough to sign herself out on our past two cruises, but we've declined. It's possible that if we had more than one we'd feel differently, but for us, one little girl alone on a big ship with thousands of strangers is not something we're comfortable with. As far as I know, cruise lines don't do criminal background checks when people book, so I'd rather err on the side of caution and just take the time to drop by and check once in a while. I just can't help but think about the gap of time that could elapse between a child signing themselves out and when a parent goes looking for them at the kids' club... Am I paranoid? No, I don't think so. It's not that I believe something bad is going to happen, I just think that if the odds of my kid running into a dangerous person are more than zero, that's too high a risk when it's a simple task to just drop by regularly to make myself available for sign out.

[RysMom]

Thanks for the input. I wasn't aware that they gave out a schedule of activities. We did do some of the family kids club activities on our last cruise, but that was on the Spirit and that kids area was quite small and didn't really appeal to them. It doesn't really matter to me one way or the other whether they go. We usually can find enough activities as a family to keep us busy, but if I hear "I'm Bored" on the Epic, I may be tempted to throw them overboard.:)

[CanadianTwosome]

Ha ha ha ha No kidding!! Just tell them what I tell mine - if she finds it 'boring' to be on a cruise ship, she doesn't have to come along next time. It's pretty much the same for every holiday, actually, and so far I've never heard the phrase or any like it; I think she just agrees with her parents, though - just being away from home during the cold of winter is exciting!!

 

The Kid's Crew schedules are wonderful things. I think most kids can find at least one or two things they're interested in, but it's really all about the kid themselves. Some like it and some don't. If you do a search for Eastern dailies, you should be able to find a thread from a while back where they were posted, and the Tween Club schedule was part of it. It will give you an idea of what kinds of activities to expect. :)

[ascatsob]

My 9 year old boy went into the kids club on the Epic. They do have open play time and that is the only time they can play with the video games, etc. The age groups are 6-9, and 10-12. They will not bend the rules about age groups. My son was 1 week shy of 10 and they refused (even when I pleaded) to let him move into the 10-12 group. He went on the first night and met a few of the kids. He did go back 2 more times and had fun but unfortunately not all of the activities kept his attention. They were more geared toward to younger kids in his grouping. He preferred going during the open group time so he could socialize with the 10-12 year olds and play the video games. My best advice is to have him go the first night. This is the time when they have introductory games so that they can meet each other. If he finds someone he's interested in he might want to go.