NCL v Disney kids club for 3 year old

[reporterjen]

We've been on four NCL cruises and one with Regent Seven Seas as adults, always traveling sans children.

 

Now that we will have our son (a 3-year-old boy) in tow, we're considering what is the best option for an August sailing, likely just the Caribbean. He'll be 3 3/4 old at the time.

 

We're big fans of NCL, including for its value. You do, of course, pay a premium to ride on Disney -- in general, fares are about double for what we'd pay on NCL.

 

The more flexible evening dining is an advantage for NCL. The opportunity for a kid to dine quickly and then head to kids club while parents go at a more leisurely pace is an advantage for Disney.

 

Money is an object, but ultimately, we want to get on the cruise where our son is going to be SO in love with the kids club he never wants to leave. Truly, that is the objective. Which kids club is going to keep him the happiest, the most engaged, the most eager to return to?

 

Background: We are not Disney people, per se, and our son hasn't gotten to watch a ton of TV yet so frankly doesn't know any of the Disney characters. He might know Dora, but otherwise, it's the same story with the characters that might be on or part of the theme in the NCL kids club.

 

Does anyone have any advice or personal experience regarding a head to head matchup of NCL and Disney kids clubs for a 3 (almost 4) year old boy who hasn't gotten a lot of exposure to animated characters?

 

Thanks,

Jen.

[lahens]

We have sailed both Disney and NCL with kids. My youngest child (now 6) loved both clubs. She enjoyed Disney more but always asked to go on NCL as well.

 

The BIGGEST difference (and the most annoying) is that NCL closes the kids club on sea days for lunch and dinner - I believe it is 12-2 and 5-7pm that they close down. It is so annoying to continuously have to go pick them up and take them back to the club. Many days after a late night, my little one would sleep in - by the time she got up and ate it was close to 11am - hardly worth the effort to head to the club.

 

While the entertainment in the club is fine, the inconvenience of the hours is worth considering.

 

We do continue to cruise NCL - especially in Europe, where there is a HUGE price difference between Disney and NCL - but if I were choosing a cruise to relax, I would go with Disney over NCL.

 

Lauri

[denas]

Just so you know, the opportunity for the kids to go to the kids club while parents eat is ONLY for second seating (8:30). And you have to leave your meal and go wait in the line at the entrance to the restaurant to sign them in. We sailed last August (our 3d) and tried the second seating for the first time thinking we would use this option but it just didn't work out like we thought. The first night I think it took me 20 minutes of waiting in line at the entrance to the dining room to get my daughter signed in and returned to the table to find everyone else had finished eating.

 

A few other considerations. Disney no longer separates kids into smaller age groups. Your child will be in an open environment with kids up to 11 in a free-for-all. There are planned activities but they will not find your child in the club to bring them to the activities. So you may have dropped your child off thinking he was making slime but instead he spent the entire time playing video games or couldn't find the slime making because there are several different areas inside the club and will be frustrated when he misses it! If your child is shy, the open environment may be really hard for them. In august there will be hundreds of kids in the club at one time!! Disney does offer open play times in where you can go into the club with your child. THis is actually kind of nice because not many people take advantage. We went to one thing with my 4-year-old and there were only 5 kids there and he got to play with Goofy, Pluto and Mickey for 30 minutes. That was fun.

[darwinsrule]

Hours are one of the issues. The 7 pm line on Getaway last August was huge (took 20 min to check the kids in). We have 5 DCL cruises completed (just got back from the Wonder a couple of weeks ago), have been on 2 NCL cruises to date (however 2 more booked including another trip on Getaway this summer).

 

The big difference for us is the format. NCL is a lot like daycare/school. There are set activities and that IS what they are doing. Our younger daughter is fine with it, our older daughter can't stand it. She is much more introverted and likes to do her own thing. On DCL there are set activities, however if the kids want to keep playing and doing whatever it is they are doing (on their own or with new friends) then they are free to keep at it. No pressure, no fuss, no worry. The result is we can't get older daughter in to the clubs on NCL, and on DCL she doesn't generally want to leave.

 

Does that make DCL freestyle??? :confused:

[reporterjen]

Thanks so much for all of these great insights!

 

I guess we're looking at crowds of kids in the clubs in both cases, but that is something I really hadn't thought through.

 

Also, denas, thanks for the real-life experience from the dine and dash option. I knew it was only the second seating but probably would have gone for it without your experience, which I think makes clear it won't be a big help for us.

 

In doing my early research -- even searching the boards here -- I found lots of references to Oceaneer Club still being divided by age, with a few free play times where ages mix, but the Disney site sure doesn't indicate that's the case, so I very much appreciate you flagging that. (http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/onboard-activities/youth-clubs/)

 

3-12 is a very big age group to lump together in a room, particularly when it will be crowded, and particularly when kids aren't overly directed toward activities.

 

Lahens referenced the closing times during sea day mealtimes, something I did not know. Thank you. In case it helps others and is new, NCL also charges a port meal fee when kids are in the club during mealtimes and the ship is in port.

 

Anyway, please feel free to keep comments and insights coming. I'm still not sure what works best for us even after all of this great insight.

 

Thank you,

Jen.

[reporterjen]

Denas, how did your 4 year old handle that open environment with kids aged 3-11? I can see little preschoolers getting shoved around a bit even by lovely older kiddos.

 

Our son is in a preschool setting one day a week, but only with other 3 year olds, and if he doesn't want to participate in the activity, he can play elsewhere in the room, so he may have some expectation of that freedom, even if (and I) would welcome a little direction too.

 

And while he's a pretty average kid -- not too shy, not incredibly outgoing, about average -- I can see almost any preschooler getting overwhelmed by a crowd of much, much older kids. Maybe I'm not giving these kiddos enough credit.

[bfamily4]

We've done 3 dcl cruises, and always 2nd seating. We never waited more than 5 min to check them in for the dine and play. mind you we always cruise in feb, so that may have something to do with it.

[karl_nj]

Denas, how did your 4 year old handle that open environment with kids aged 3-11? I can see little preschoolers getting shoved around a bit even by lovely older kiddos.

 

I'm not Denas, but my 4 year old daughter has been in the kids club on Disney. She also was there when she just turned 3.

 

She enjoyed it very much, and it worked out well, but her older brother was also there. So the combined age groups was an advantage for us.

 

When she was three there were a few times that her brother didn't want to go to the kids club, and she was fine.

 

My kids have never sailed on NCL, however I have toured the kids club on the Breakway and it looked great. Got good vibes from the staff too.

 

Assuming you are going to cruise again in a couple of years, maybe it would be better to do NCL this time, and do Disney when he's 6?

 

My son prefers the unstructured chaos on Disney, but he is 9. He feels the other lines kids clubs are too much like "school". My daughter prefers the more structured programs on other lines, since she is younger.

[aquarianne11]

My daughter love both NCL and DCL. Her first (and only) cruise on DCL was when she was 5 yrs old and she loved every minute.

 

She loved the kids club, the shows and the meet and greets. Your son is probably too young to enjoy all those activities, he will appreciate more if you wait a few more years.

 

DCL prices are more than double for similar itineraries. I just can't find a good deal right now, but we hope we can cruise DCL again.

 

 

 

 

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[denas]

There is a big difference in crowds between Feb and August. We did second seating last August and the ship was VERY full of kids which could explain the wait.

 

When my daughter was 4 she did fine with the big age groups. It is one space but there are multiple spaces within. My eight year old hated it because he hates all of the little kids tagging along. Disney tries to identify activities geared towards specific ages, but enforces no age rules. My 8 year old hated that since often the younger kids couldn't do the activities well and it changed the dynamic

 

Last time my daughter was 8, oldest son was 12. My youngest son was 4. He has some disabilities and could not be accommodated well in the club so we didn't try any of the drop off times with him

 

Just remember in August there will be several thousand kids on Disney!! Jury is still out on if we will try that one again. We are doing RCCL this summer to Bermuda.

[denas]

Another thing. Disney does not have any buffet or even hamburger or hot dog options for dinner. The only option is MDR or a sandwich from room service. With NCL if dinner on your own is the motivating decision, you can always take your son to the buffet at his regular dinner time, drop him off at the kids club at 7 and eat on your own. With Disney, you would either need to have them signed into the club before the scheduled dinner, order them room service or take them with you to the MDR.

 

Just something to think about!! We hadn't considered that when we did second seating last August and waiting until almost 8 for dinner was too hard in my 4-year-old. You pay so much for a DCL cruise I hate to think of someone doing it just for a leisurely dinner every night and be disappointed with the reality

[luvtheships]

Suggestion....do dcl

 

Make it a kid centered cruise and you will be happy you did

 

You can always go back to the better priced cruises later with your son

 

We did dcl when our youngest was 3 1/2 and it was incredible..... For us.... For our 3 older kids....and for the youngest

 

 

Book Disney and don't look back

 

They are only young once and it goes too quickly

 

Others here will now say you have plenty of time for dcl... And you do

 

But if it were me I would do dcl now.... Do Ncl or whoever for the next few cruises..... And then definitely get back to dcl at least 2X in the next 10 years....

 

Which will btw fly by in the blink of an eye

 

 

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[abbyar]

I have to agree with the DCL when they are younger, ncl when they're older.

 

We did a 15 day Panama Canal on DCL when ours were 3 1/2 (boy) and 5 (girl). Our little guy is more introverted, so he didn't want to be in the club as much as the 5 yo, but they both had a grand time. Although my 3 yo likely slept through half the later dinners instead of going to the club....Dh would drop him off there and he would sleep (with blankets) until we picked them both up at 11 or so and he would sleep all the way to the room. He never even realized we had dropped him off.

 

The food at disney, although good at the MDR, did not blow me away in Palo. My kids had no interest then, but if we took a DCL cruise now they'd be disappointed to not go to the specialty restaurant.

 

We didn't mind having a designated seating time. The kids would get room service before - fruit & cheese or turkey sandwich, and they were happy with that. Then sometimes they'd eat dinner in the DR, not always. They also loved the Mickey ice cream bars from room service (especially for breakfast on Panama Canal day). Overall, it was great for us at that time.

Drawbacks - the other parents, who were the type of "I spent so much money on my cruise I will treat everyone else on board (not just staff) as gum on my shoe". I'm hoping to get away from some of the disney crazies on our ncl cruise.

 

To note on pricing, we got a phenomenal deal ICT bc of the repo, and I had miles to cover airfare. We then upgraded at the port to family balcony, so cruise was $4200. With hotels before and after, transport, fees on board & excursions we spent just over $8000. Good for 2 weeks, but more than we'd want to usually spend (we try to stay within $4000 on an annual family vacation).

Edited April 3, 2015 by abbyar

[buckeyemommy16]

We have sailed NCL, DCL, RCI, and CCL. The DCL kids club on the Fantasy was my daughter's least favorite and most disappointing to us. My daughter was 9 when we sailed and she hated the large age group, even with the supposed separation with the lab/club. She much prefers the smaller age groups with activities geared toward her age (10-12 on our most recent CCL).

 

As a PP mentioned with early seating you can take your kids to the club yourself. Our problem came in when we pre-booked nursery time for our son who was 18 mos at the time. The nursery does come with a cost and we NEVER (not one single night) made it at the time we scheduled because of the slow, slow, slow service in the MDR. We were charged for the nursery even though we weren't there. I even backed our times up by a half hour and it still happen. I requested to have the kids' food expedited too and it still was very slow. I realize you won't be dealing with the nursery and the cost but just wanted to make you aware of the problems we encountered with that, of course your YMMV based on your serving team.

 

As far as the characters, we spent a lot of our relaxing cruise time standing in line to see characters. If I had to do over again I probably wouldn't devote so much time to this. Also, I don't know if it was the semi-limited time my kids spent in the clubs/nursery but they never saw a single character when they were in the clubs. I feel like Disney's advertising leads you to believe they are there with the kids a lot but they aren't.

 

Sorry that I can't directly compare NCL and DCL clubs as we have only been on the Sky and it was short so my daughter did not spend any time there. We are trying the Dawn in December and are optimistic about the clubs since they are structured more like CCL and RCI which my kids love.

 

We got a good "deal" on the DCL cruise but the whole time I was on it I felt like I was trying to find what the premium is for, which was double our previous cruises even with the "deal". I just wasn't finding it. The service didn't wow me like I expected. This is not to say we didn't have a great time. The ship was beautiful and we did enjoy ourselves very much. My kids loved Castaway Cay. This is the only part my daughter still talks about from that cruise!

Edited April 3, 2015 by buckeyemommy16

[buckeyemommy16]

Drawbacks - the other parents, who were the type of "I spent so much money on my cruise I will treat everyone else on board (not just staff) as gum on my shoe". I'm hoping to get away from some of the disney crazies on our ncl cruise.

 

 

I noticed this too and did not like this aspect at all.

[denas]

I agree with the idea of "I spent so much on my cruise" types. The rudest passengers we have ever encountered were all on Disney!

 

It really is just a different experience than other cruise lines. If you go with the idea that it is all about kid and family time, you won't be disappointed. I have taken each of my three kids when they were 4 and it truly is magical for them. If you think you are going to have great alone time - I wouldn't count on it. But that is true of any cruise! You don't know until you are on the ship what your kids will think of the experience and that changes as they age so every vacation is like a brand new experience. Personally, we have found Disney works best for us when we are planning on spending most of our time doing kid-centered activities. If your kids hate the clubs (or can't be accommodated due to disabilities), there is sooooo much for you to do with them. But you will spend a lot of time waiting in lines for characters. I only cruise Disney when there are boring ports and lots of sea days (Bahamas and Eastern Carribean) so I feel like I get my money's worth! We have scheduled other cruise lines when we are more interested in the ports and plan on little use of the kids clubs. We have also had great experiences at Club Med.

 

If you can swing it, schedule a cheap adults only cruise for a time period within about 6 months after your Disney cruise (this is when I cruise NCL). That way when you are leaving the adults only pool after just ordering a drink to pick up an unhappy child in the kids club or chase down Captain Hook, you will remember that you do get your alone time in a few months!!

[buckeyemommy16]

 

 

 

It really is just a different experience than other cruise lines. If you go with the idea that it is all about kid and family time, you won't be disappointed. I have If your kids hate the clubs (or can't be accommodated due to disabilities), there is sooooo much for you to do with them. But you will spend a lot of time waiting in lines for characters

 

 

I agree and disagree. I think everyone's experiences are unique of course but I feel like Disney wasn't good at things to do together other than the pool, movies or characters. I really don't think any cruiseline is particularly good at activities to do together--I think they assume kids will be at the clubs. We have to find our own fun most of the time. The difference for us is we have to beg our kids not to go to the clubs on other cruiselines and on Disney we had to beg our daughter just to go for a little while so we could make it to our scheduled Palo brunch :)

[reporterjen]

Thank you all so much for these great insights and for sharing your experiences.

 

We don't quite know what we'll do yet, but all of this is so tremendously helpful -- especially the tip about the adults-only cruise (now *that* I can get into!)

 

I also appreciate the advice on making it all about the kid (which can make it all the more fun).

 

The specific details on the dine and play check-in both in August and February, the advantages and disadvantages of structured, age-separated play for various personality types and other experiences also are so very instructive.

 

Thanks!

Jen.