Princess Family Cruisers, I need advice!

[helenb]

We are taking our 2 kids on their first cruise on the Sapphire Princess (Mexican Riviera) in January 2006. The kids will be 3 and 5 when we cruise.

 

I was wondering what the kid programs were like on Princess: what do they do, how many kids to a counsellor, do they feed them, if so what/how, etc.

 

Also, what are the kid menus like on Princess? Are they the same every night? What is on them? Obviously I'm going to try and get my kids to eat new foods but I would like to have 'backup' just in case.

 

Is milk still free or do you pay for it?

 

We booked traditional, main dining. Is this the right choice? I figured a waiter who knew us could better serve the family (eg: bring the kids' food quickly, have milk waiting for them, etc.).

 

Thanks for any help!

[cjh]

There shouldn't be that many kids in January because they will all be back in school. I took my kids out of school the week before their mid winter break this year and there was about 8 kids in the 3-7 year old group there were 3 adults.

 

My kids love the princess programs I have one in the teens and one that will be moving up to the 8-12 group on our next cruise.

 

I like PC dining because I don't have to have the kids ready at a specific time. Another reason I like PC is we get a table with just us and don't have to share with someone that might not even like kids.

 

The menu is hotdogs, hamburgers, spagetti, fish sticks macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets and ice cream. Milk is still free and available at all meals.

[Cruisin' Chick]

If it's the first week of January, there may be some kids. I know that the Los Angeles USD is still on winter break then. Maybe other school districts also take off that week.

 

We have always gone with traditional dining and a good waiter will remember your likes and dislikes, which is handy with kids.

 

The Sapphire has a pizza station during the day so if your kids want pizza (other than the dining room), make sure you get there way before the 6pm closing. There'll be a point when they will make the last pizza of the day and that's it. Ice Cream (other than the dining room) is available for a short time in the Horizon court around 3pm. There's also a place by the pool where you can buy ice cream during the day.

 

My girl loves the kids' program. Her first few cruises were on Carnival. She was 5 on the Star (during the school year so there were few kids and just the bare bones in terms of activities). Last summer, at 7, there were a lot more kids on the Sapphire and more activities. The number of kids determines the age group breakdown. I think they have recently changed the ratio of counselors to kids so I can't answer that.

 

One thing: if you want to take advantage of post-10pm babysitting ($5/hr) or the in-port program (free; if you and spouse want to go off the ship and leave the kids behind), you must sign up ahead of time.

[packerpatriot]

Our last princess cruise with the kids was on the Royal and our kids were 1, 4 and 13 at the time. The 1 yr old was too young to attend the kids club so she stayed with us. This was a Mediterranean cruise without a formal kids club but they ran one when there was 20 or more kids in the relevant age groups on board. My older kids both loved it! They had 2 counselors for the 4 to 12 age group and on average 10 kids a day. They did scavenger hunts and crafts and board games and a disco night where my 4 year old won a prize in the dance contest. They never wanted to leave the club to spend time with us. But we made them :)

 

The teens had their own counselor and they spent time with discos, hot tub parties, scavenger hunts and art contests.

 

As for the restaurants....they were great with out kids and remembered their preferences. Everytime we would show up in the main dining room, they'd already have the little one's high chair ready and bring her milk right away. The kid's menu was the same every night but it had a large variety of choices for both entrees and desserts and they were also free to order off of the main menu which my kids did a few times.

 

Cristin

[AliceJ]

We are taking our 2 kids on their first cruise on the Sapphire Princess (Mexican Riviera) in January 2006. The kids will be 3 and 5 when we cruise.

 

I was wondering what the kid programs were like on Princess: what do they do, how many kids to a counsellor, do they feed them, if so what/how, etc.

 

Also, what are the kid menus like on Princess? Are they the same every night? What is on them? Obviously I'm going to try and get my kids to eat new foods but I would like to have 'backup' just in case.

 

Is milk still free or do you pay for it?

 

We booked traditional, main dining. Is this the right choice? I figured a waiter who knew us could better serve the family (eg: bring the kids' food quickly, have milk waiting for them, etc.).

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Helen:

 

We're just back from the Caribean Princess, but from what I understand the kids' program functions in the same way on most ships.

 

To add to what other posters have written, my daughter (she's 5) LOVED the kids' club. It was hard to pry her out of it.

 

The do not feed the kids at the kids club, with the exception of ice cream some afternoons. We took our daughter to the buffet before and after the evening kids' club so she'd have plenty to eat, then DH and I had our meal while she was playing.

 

The late night babysitting (10 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.) and the port day babysitting are just that, babysitting. The rest of the time the kids' club is activity based and broken down by ages, but for these time kids ages 3 to 12 are put in the same room and it is pretty much just playing video games, watching movies, etc. We didn't participate in either.

 

I'm sure you all will have a great time. Happy cruising!

 

Alice