Do kids clubs get oversubscribed (RCI)?

[zelda17]

We've just booked our first cruise going from Southampton in the summer with Royal Caribbean. I don't think our two boys (12 and 10 years old) will want to go to the kids clubs all day, every day, but I would like them to try it sometimes as they'll get chance to join in more activities. Do the kids clubs get oversubscribed? Do you have to wait every day to get a place?

 

As we're on holiday I don't plan to get up early every morning to join a queue but also don't want them to miss out. I hope that they'll want to spend some time with us too!

[reallyitsmema]

You won't have any issues with your kids going to the kids programs on their own schedule, they will not get locked out. Your 10 yr old will be in the 9-11 yr old group. You can give him permission to sign himself in and out or you can set it up so only authorized people can sign him in and out.

 

Your 12 yr old will be in the 12-14 yr old teen group. That group comes and goes as they please and are not signed in and out. Depending on numbers, the 12-14 yr olds will be combined with the 15-17 yr olds.

 

You will receive a kids compass in your stateroom that will detail all the activities on the ship. Just have them pick and choose what they like. Just make sure you tell them that sometimes activities get cancelled or rescheduled.

[boulders]

The only time there may be a queue will be the first day when people are filling out forms. You can avoid this by filling out the forms the first evening at the open house. Checkin is usually very fast at all other times.

[cb at sea]

They have a place for ALL the kids! No worries!

[Onessa]

The ships have an advantange of knowing how many pax, and the age of each of those pax prior to sailing. I have been on cruises with unusually large numbers of kids, and the kid's clubs have been able to plan for larger numbers of attendees.

 

If a ship knows that there will be a larger than normal number of kids on a sailing, they may switch personnel or add personnel.

• We had a very large number of kids on one AK sailing (it was a "reward" cruise for Pampered Chef reps and it appeared everyone brought their kids). At the time it was the most kids under 12YO ever for the Radiance of the Sea. They had brought on two "floater" counselors, plus the head counselor was scheduled to work more shifts than he normally would have and the regular counslors had the opportunity to work "overtime shifts"
  
• We did a Hawaiian cruise over US Thanksgiving one year and they brought on additional counselors
  

They may also reserve alternative locations so that the club facilities are not too crowded. On the HI cruise in particular I remember they had a couple of "tours" that sounded cool -- Bridge, Galley, Backstage. Presumably to get some of the kids "out" of the facility for a period of time :)

Edited February 20, 2014 by Onessa

[chica]

I have taken my son on many European cruises. There are never a lot of kids on board and they will have plenty of space. We are going out of Southampton on May 30th....any chance you are on that one? I have a four year old going along with my 17 year old.

[zelda17]

No, we're going on 3 Aug as that is when UK schools are on holiday. Thanks for all the replies - good news! :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

As far as most cruiselines go, as someone said above, they will know how many kids will be on board and what ages (remember you have to provide everyone's DOB's in your family). Additional staff will be hired based on that number (when we went on holiday cruises, many of the kids' staff were teachers who wanted to make a little extra money during their break).

 

There should be a packet of info (at least on our Princess cruises there was) about your kid's program. You'll go the first night to official register your kids, meet the staff, and the kids will meet the other kids.

 

From then on, the kids can be taken (or the older ones who have sign in/out privileges can show up) at any time the program is open. There's no requirement that kids need to show up every day and every session. Some kids always want to go and do everything. Some of the programs even have kids' dinners at the buffet so that parents could enjoy an adults dinner. There may be "kidsitting" after hours -- that kind of info can often be found on the cruiseline's website and would definitely be in the info you'll get the first night.