Freedom with children

[sarahkslp]

We recently booked the Freedom of the Seas- this will be our fourth cruise- but our 1st with children.

 

For those that have been on the FOS- what did you do with your children? How much time did they spend in kids care? What did they enjoy on board?

[CS-RN]

Our only 2 cruises were both on Freedom, both with kids. They were 2 and 6 the first time, 4 and 8 last year. They LOVED being on the ship. My kids did a lot of activities with us - all the port activities, some shows, etc. they spent an hour or 2 typically once a day, sometimes twice and were never bored. (Except when my daughter was 2 she spent less time because she wasn't old enough to go to the free Adventure Ocean program since she was too young. She did go to the Royal Tots babysitting that you paid for by the hour, it was excellent.)

 

The kids loved the pools/H2O zone , the food, snorkeling and beach activities in port, DreamWorks parade, mini golf. My oldest liked the Sports Court. We wanted to go to open ice skating, but ran out of time!! They love cruising, we are going on Adventure next January!

 

Let me know if specific questions.

[SBerryMN]

Hello CS-RN,

 

I am currently looking at booking a cruise on Freedom of the seas with my DH and children who will be 4 and 7 during the cruise. I am curious to know what shore excursions you choose during your cruise. Did you book anything through RCL or did you book through 3rd party or did you just get to the port and take a taxi to the nearest beach/shopping area? Note: the cruise we are looking at has ports in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Costa Maya. Thanks!

[CS-RN]

When we did Western itinerary, we didn't stop in Costa Maya- we went to Coco Cay and Falmouth instead. So, I can't speak about that. I don't know how adventurous your kids are- my kids snorkel. So, at Grand Cayman we did the Sting Ray city and 2 snorkel stops through Captain Marvin excursions. It was amazing!!! If you just want shopping and beach, there is plenty of shopping right off the port. You can take a taxi to 7 mile beach.

 

In Cozumel, we went to Chankanaab park. Great beach day! It was too windy for us to snorkel. But it's a family friendly set up- a walking path with some manufactured ruins/sculptures, swim with the Dolphins, a seal show, fish pond, several restaurants/bars, and of course a beautiful beach. My mom and 8 yr old did the swim with the Dolphins and manatees and loved it. We just took a cab there, easy to do right outside the port. We did some shopping at the port and walked around outside the port a bit when we were there. I wish it had been quieter so we could've snorkeled! I was in Cozumel in 1997 and loved snorkeling there!

 

There are some other beach set ups, too. I've heard Nachi Coccum mentioned in Cozumel that sounds family friendly. In the 2 cruises we've done, we haven't done a RCL sponsored excursion. I do my homework and save TONS of $$ doing our own thing. And we have much more flexibility, get to stay at places longer, etc. We just make sure we have plenty of cushion time to get back to the ship. We've always been back plenty early.

[CS-RN]

And let me know if more questions!

[mollyeilis]

My son has been 9 and 10 on royal ships. 9 for Freedom (and soon he'll be on Freedom at 11 years old).

 

He loves the kid club; they don't have all-day hours, so the kids come out of there every so often during the day. :)

 

He liked swimming in the "donut" pool.

 

When we were on Freedom we were recuperating from a rotten virus and tried to relax a lot, so he didn't climb the rock wall or try to get me to say "yes" to the flowrider.

 

He loved ice skating.

 

 

He's a dancer, so on the cruise when he was 10 (on Vision) he participated in things like learning to dance "Funk" and had a great time.