Warning: parents with kids on Regal/Royal please read

[corkpopr]

school starts the day after labor day for most schools.

[capriccio]

school starts the day after labor day for most schools.

 

Maybe where you live but not throughout the country and European countries have different schedules.

Edited August 22, 2014 by capriccio

[Cruise Junky]

Maybe where you live but not throughout the country and European countries have different schedules.

 

I believe UK and Canada are first week of September.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We're with the second largest school district in the country and they only recently (a few years ago) went to a mid-August start (which is not so great around here since we often have three-digit temps through the end of September and even later, so the AC bill for the LAUSD must be very high). But yes, there are still schools that undoubtedly still start the day after Labor Day.

 

Plus the Pelicans start at age 3, so there always the chance for families with one or two kids not yet in school selecting cruises when the demand and prices go down (when older kids return to school).

 

The first time we were on Princess was in mid-February when there weren't too many kids on board, and our 5-year-old was one of only three 5-year-olds on that cruise. I don't remember the numbers for the other ages, but there was a recombination of groups. But not as bad as all the kids in one group. And certainly not the older kids in Pirateers (former name for Shockwaves) were sharing space with my daughter, except for the kids' dinner in the Horizon and maybe the mocktail party. The kids' rooms only closed so that the staff can have lunch and dinner. The port kidsitting was available (I remember our girl was there when we went into Mazatlan and perhaps Puerta Vallerta ; I was suffering from bad allergies by Cabo, so hubby and the girl went off the ship that day while I stayed in bed).

 

There wasn't a full slate of activities on that cruise (no science ones, but the kids still got a beanie bag animal).

 

Hopefully the OP, from personal work experience with Princess, will know to whom to address the matter after the cruise. But is hopefully taking names of those on the Passenger Services Desk, Captains Circle rep, and other staff who isn't going to bat for this family and others. If you can get other parents' names and email addresses, do a group letter and someone with Internet access can send that while you're on the ship.

 

This doesn't seem acceptable at all. Princess does know ahead of time how many kids and which ages so even if there's a small number between, say 3 and 7, then just assign a couple of counselors to that group and have them in the Pelicans room. But there shouldn't be any excuse for making the 3 year olds being in the same room every day with the 12 year olds (that's the maximum age for Shockwaves). And I would imagine the 12-year-olds aren't too happy with having 3-year-olds running around.

[Coral]

school starts the day after labor day for most schools.

 

I am in the midwest and schools started here August 12.

 

I am surprised that this issue is a big deal on this port intensive cruise. I would think parents and kids would be in port on port days.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Coral

[capriccio]

Maybe where you live but not throughout the country and European countries have different schedules.

 

Broward County Florida started this week; Washington, DC starts next Monday; and in Virginia most counties start after Labor Day but not all (one nearby county started this week and another starts next week).

 

If anyone is interested in European vacations for cruise planning, the EU publishes a general schedule by country: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/facts_and_figures/school_calendar_EN.pdf.

[rpcv77]

school starts the day after labor day for most schools.

 

When school starts, in the US, varies greatly. I live in Northern CA (Silicon Valley) and we started school this week, as did many districts in Santa Clara Co. A few even started last week. I have a friend who teaches in Arizona and she started almost 2 weeks ago. As someone else noted, other countries may have very different schedules too.

[Iamcruzin]

My Sister in Law had the same problem last year on the Royal. It was a 7 day Caribbean itinerary with only 3 ports of call. She also posted a thread about the situation when she returned home. Her experience and the OP's experience were almost word for word.

[Hoosier-Cruiser]

school starts the day after labor day for most schools.

 

My kids went back to school on August 6th. It keeps getting earlier and earlier each year. Thankfully, I only have a few more "first days" to worry about. At that point, my cruise schedule won't be tied to the schoool schedule.

[billco]

My kids went back to school on August 6th. It keeps getting earlier and earlier each year. Thankfully, I only have a few more "first days" to worry about. At that point, my cruise schedule won't be tied to the schoool schedule.

My cruise schedule is still tied to the school schedule. I go on cruises when kids are in school.

[Iamcruzin]

The few times when we took our kids on a cruise it was when school was in session. Three times in early May and once in Nov. I'm not buying the suggestion that there weren't enough kids to open all three groups. On one of our sailings there were only 20 kids total on the ship and 2 of them were mine. All three areas were open. This just seems to be an isolated incident on the new Royal and Regal.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Iamcruzin

[kendon]

OP, please don't take offense to this, but did you book this cruise with the intention of it being a couple's cruise or a family vacation?

 

???

 

No reason they couldn't have a little bit of both. Why not...Princess offers the service of kids clubs for that purpose, as well as the sanctuary. Something for everyone.

[Nebr.cruiser]

school starts the day after labor day for most schools.

 

I only wish. It started Aug. 14 here, and a few schools even earlier--very common in the Midwest.

 

We do get out around May 20, but IMO the middle of August is too early!

[Nebr.cruiser]

It's common practice to combine groups if there are very few kids on board; I do think the counselors should provide activities that will work for different ages. One Panama Canal cruise in early December we were on had 8 kids total, all ages, most of them pre-schoolers.

 

I would be upset if on sea days the clubs were not open except at night, which is what I thought the OP was stating.

[morriscats]

Napa Ca schools started Aug 13th. Way too soon. I remember having a full 3 months summer vacation.

[Pam in CA]

school starts the day after labor day for most schools.

Not true. That's the case in some parts of the country but there are many states/school districts that start much earlier.

 

Any cruise from mid-August on will have few kids. Not only do schools start to go back but most families are busy getting kids ready for school. I would never expect to have a full complement of kids on any cruise after mid-August. Whoever does hasn't done their homework (so to speak.)

[Cruise Junky]

Not true. That's the case in some parts of the country but there are many states/school districts that start much earlier.

 

Any cruise from mid-August on will have few kids. Not only do schools start to go back but most families are busy getting kids ready for school. I would never expect to have a full complement of kids on any cruise after mid-August. Whoever does hasn't done their homework (so to speak.)

 

 

But you're referencing the US which seems all over the board. As posted earlier Europe seems to have the majority going back after Labour Day as does Canada. So with the ship being in Europe, I would expect a more international passenger base

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DebJ14]

Not true. That's the case in some parts of the country but there are many states/school districts that start much earlier.

 

Any cruise from mid-August on will have few kids. Not only do schools start to go back but most families are busy getting kids ready for school. I would never expect to have a full complement of kids on any cruise after mid-August. Whoever does hasn't done their homework (so to speak.)

 

Agreed. My nieces and nephews in Florida went back to school last week. My grandkids in Texas start school on Monday Aug 25th, which is later than usual.

[karatemom2]

This post intrigued me so I decided to go the Princess web site and review the youth information section. They clearly delineate the age and group levels and list the activities for each and there is absolutely no disclaimer regarding the fact that on cruises with smaller numbers of children the age groups may be combined. So I think this is a policy that perhaps needs to be better communicated. If not in some sort of disclaimer on the main youth information page or registration pages, perhaps in a an email prior to the cruise so families traveling with children will know in advance what to expect.

If one was to rely just on what is being advertised by Princess in regards to their youth programs onboard, it would definitely come as a surprise to find that the dedicated Pelican program promised for young children was closed and that those kids were being grouped with the older youth. I can see why this would make someone unhappy if they had other expectations.

[xdudex]

Not true. That's the case in some parts of the country but there are many states/school districts that start much earlier.

 

Any cruise from mid-August on will have few kids. Not only do schools start to go back but most families are busy getting kids ready for school. I would never expect to have a full complement of kids on any cruise after mid-August. Whoever does hasn't done their homework (so to speak.)

 

That's the American perspective of course, but this is a European sailing, Uk schools don't return until the first week of September.

 

To give you an indication of international diversity, on a cruise out of Southampton uk, we would have expected British majority of 65%+ as you can appreciate a European cruise will be around that figure. I'd estimate this sailing to be 20% American.

 

Princess in L.A confirmed staff for the kids club on this sailing are at max as they were fully aware this was still summer holiday period in Europe. By not opening the normal full time hours (which again the LA office has said they expected for this cruise) princess are paying staff member they aren't using, I guess they're enjoying their extra days off ashore though ;)

[Cruisin' Chick]

That's the American perspective of course, but this is a European sailing, Uk schools don't return until the first week of September.

 

To give you an indication of international diversity, on a cruise out of Southampton uk, we would have expected British majority of 65%+ as you can appreciate a European cruise will be around that figure. I'd estimate this sailing to be 20% American.

 

Princess in L.A confirmed staff for the kids club on this sailing are at max as they were fully aware this was still summer holiday period in Europe. By not opening the normal full time hours (which again the LA office has said they expected for this cruise) princess are paying staff member they aren't using, I guess they're enjoying their extra days off ashore though ;)

 

And of course, they are basing their hires on how many kids that have booked. They do know the quantity of kids per age that have booked at final payment time and odds are, the numbers aren't going to drastically change from those levels.

 

As I said, they have just changed the school calendars for the Los Angeles school district (which according to their website is over 600,000 students) a few years ago...and many of parents weren't too happy especially in this area of LA where it's generally over 100 degrees til sometime in October. It's decisions like this that make me glad my child is graduating in June. This was the first week of school for her school since the administration there likes to be different (most schools started last week) and yesterday she said it was way too hot when she left her senior homeroom to go to her first class.

[CruisinFinsUp]

We sometimes cruise when most kids are in school and our kids have experienced low numbers in the kids clubs as well. In their experience, shockwaves closes and all the kids are in pelicans - needless to say our older kids were bored with the activities in pelicans so they did not attend the kids club very often. The combining does not surprise me. The choice of the older room over the younger I would guess depended on how many of each age group were registered.

 

They are strict about not mixing groups when they have more kids on board - can't let everyone switch so noone switches - but when numbers are low they often combine groups.

[xdudex]

The manager has given the explanation that the shaped of the Pelicans room (l-shape) means there is a blind spot within the room that prevents them seeing children at some times.

 

However as the layout of the room cannot be changed and has been designed this way, surely then we can expect that the pelicans room would rarely be used of this basis. If they're so concerned with a constant 360 view of the kids then why so they not extend this concern to to the shockwaves room which doesn't have padded support columns to prevent small kids from whacking their heads?

 

On this basis we can probably assume that the pelicans room will never be used because it's flawed in design, however the pursers desk said that the cruise before this one, the pelicans room was open as normal on port days.

 

Additionally, this ship does not have low numbers for kids, last night parents were during out the door to collect their kids, the distance from the door to the stair area is about 15 meters.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but royal and regal are not the only ship with non rectangular design, there are outside play areas/pools around a corner where this is a potential blind spot. So this explanation is simply and categorical a feeble attempt at making a business reason for not opening pelicans in peak season on a med cruise. No one here has a clue what they're doing at all.

 

I had a call from the deputy cruise director who despite the us office agreeing it should be open and the ship is fully staffed to open all clubs full time, still was contesting the situation. Any reasonable and valid point I raised (including the Los Angeles office attempts to open it) where met with no comment at all. I was advised a call later that evening and one was not delivered.

 

This is a total failure from princess, and it appears as long as this stands regal and royal will have these issues with catering for kids in the club they're meant to go in. Obviously during low season the club should mix to operate but not in august, not on a hot cruise packed with family and a full kids crew that can't be bothers to do the work. What are the staff doing that would normally be assigned to running pelicans in conjunction with shockwaves and remix? Extra shore leave? Paid to do nothing? The lack of answers from them suggests that's exactly what's happening and the us office has no power to stop this, the ship and office and almost two separate entities.

 

It needs to become well known that regal and royal all have this design flaw and will therefor never accommodate the simultaneous opening of all 3 clubs, but you can bet your dollars they won't tell you this before booking your kids onboard.

Edited August 24, 2014 by xdudex

[shredie]

The manager has given the explanation that the shaped of the Pelicans room (l-shape) means there is a blind spot within the room that prevents them seeing children at some times.

 

 

That is just plain dumb. Why did they design a room that couldn't be used as intended? Sounds like she pulled that explanation from somewhere other than than her head.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Somehow that explanation doesn't seem to ring true. As others have said, then they would never use that room. Can you get them to show you this so-called blind spot so you can see if it really exists? (have your camera ready to document it) I would definitely get everyone's names (be obvious about writing them down and say that since they disagree with headquarters in Santa Clarita...you'll want Corporate to know about them)

 

Keep us informed. Again, I don't think someone is being ingenuous.