Princess Kids Club = Very So-So (review of four different kids clubs)

[croozen]

Princess Kids Club = Very So-So (review of four different kids clubs)

 

In reviewing our recent experience with kids club on Princess, I feel like I am now in a position to do a comparison of kids clubs for four different lines: HAL, Celebrity, Princess and Disney.

 

By way of background, I should say our son, now 7, is an only child and also a very outgoing happy sociable type. He has been in kids clubs since he was 4 and has liked all of them. He always wants to go, and we didn’t notice a big difference in his level of enthusiasm b/w the four lines. (not as discriminating as his mother!) Celebrity might have come out marginally ahead for him but I think that is due in part to fact he met an awesome friend Lego-Brother that week, that he still talks about. B/c he likes to interact with other kids, we tend to use kids club frequently, usually mornings, and then again in the evenings. Afternoons we often spend time with him in port, around the ship, or at the pool, as the case may be.

 

The winner of the four, for us, was Celebrity. We have had two sailings with Celebrity, but only with our son in tow. It was Christmas time, there were many kids on board but the counsellors were super engaged. He came home every day and sometimes every night with a craft item and it was clear that more than a bit of time effort and money had been invested in coordinating these projects – i.e. it wasn’t just a drawing on paper. The week culminated in a talent show put on in one of the theatres. You could tell there was a lot of practicing involved, you could also tell the staff members knew each of the kids quite well as they were announcing each “act”. There was a generally upbeat and family atmosphere among the staff and they genuinely seemed to be happy to be with the kids and with each other. There was very much a feeling by the end that the kids had been at a fun camp all week. Not sitting in front of a video screen. (more on that below) Very positive experience.

 

Very close behind and second in line would be HAL. There have been varying numbers of kids onboard our different HAL cruises, which can sometimes make for a challenge for the counsellors but they adapted really well. The staff members on HAL seem engaged and into it, just like Celebrity. They genuinely appeared to enjoy children and that really showed. Similar to the talent show noted above, the kids had a lip sync contest in one of the lounges one night. Let’s just say there was excellent attendance and a long line up for the microphone. Again, it was near the end of the week and you could tell by the way the counsellors were interacting with the kids that 1. They knew them well as individuals 2. They liked them. One afternoon we wanted some adult time and our son was essentially babysat by a counsellor. When numbers were small the programming did not suffer one bit. The staff were very adaptable to a lot or a few kids. They made a conscious effort (as did Celebrity) to get the kids out and about on the ship, marching around as pirates, going for ice cream, outside for 30 minutes per day playing games , running races on the tennis court etc.

 

Third; Disney; They rest on their laurels a lot. The feeling/vibe they were giving out was: your’re on a Disney Cruise, so of course you are having fun and we don’t need to personally do much to help that along. They tended to put kids in front of a screen for a movie or depend on visits from characters to fill up time. Actual one on one time with a counsellor, which we were accustomed to seeing, seemed to be rare. We once saw a counsellor sitting at a table with a group of girls colouring. That was about the extent of it. The facilities are amazing, clean etc but the care or attention your child is getting seems to be minimal. They are safe and not breaking any rules but that’s about it. I would add that the play facility on the Disney private island is out of this world. Our son did not want to leave. But it was more about the play place than anything any staff member was doing. To me, that is where Disney misses the boat. (bad pun)

 

Last place: Princess. Hard to put a finger on it but the staff here did not appear happy. All their interactions with the kids seemed rote. Parents were not permitted inside the play area you were just dropping off or picking up outside a gate. Counsellors appeared tired, distant, and not that engaged with the children. I inquired about a talent show and lip sync b/c our son is definitely at that exhibitionist stage in his young life, and was told there would be nothing like that rather a “family fun fair” which was not at all similar. Just some face painting and events at a particular location onboard, where you were explicitly told you were responsible for your own child and kids club supervision hours were not applicable during that time blah blah blah. Similarly, on port days the kids club shut down at for 1 or 1.5 hours so staff could take a certain group of kids on deck for supper. This meant no scheduled activities for the late afternoon for children who would eat dinner with their parents later. Struck us as very odd. It really felt the whole week like there was an effort to minimize time they would have to do anything much with your child. Staffing issue? Also our son, who just turned 7 came back very often talking about Mario – first time ever he had this level of exposure to video games while on a cruise. I realize part of that is his age, but I was left with the distinct impression there was very little effort to do anything but that during free play. Not once during the week were the kids taken outside to burn off steam, nor did they even leave the designated play area. Having said all that, he still liked going.

[ceilidh1]

Thanks for the comparisons. We have been loyal Princess cruisers since having kids specifically as we have always thought their kids club was amazing. I have to say, things are definitely changing and not for the better on that front. I am starting to think it's time to explore what other lines have to offer!

 

I agree 100% with your Disney review - neither or my kids particularly enjoyed the kids club and rarely went.

 

Princess used to do an amazing talent show at the end of each cruise - usually in the Explorers lounge. It was advertised in the Patter so other passengers, as well as parents, would come to watch. I was very sad when that disappeared about 3-4 years ago as my daughter would look forward to and practice for it throughout the cruise! I have always had excellent experiences with the staff in the Princess clubs (other than one person on one particular cruise who obviously hated her job/being with kids!) but have noticed that hours are very inconsistent depending on ship/sailing and the "waitlist" policy is not well communicated prior to booking - we have been disappointed on two cruises as there were too many kids for the program and we were not able to get in!

 

Having said that, I just booked two more cruises on Princess, so I guess I'm not quite ready to give up on them! :D

[Neonsport]

Thank you for the good reviews. This will be the first time we are cruising with our little guy that he will be old enough to go to the kids club. Honestly, if they wouldn't let me inside the facility that my son is in, I will not leave him there. We will see what happens

[Roatanfans]

So sorry it did not live up to your expectations- this does not describe our kids club experiences at all. Which ship was this on and what cruise/time of year? Was it crowded or empty? My kids love going to the kids club and usually bring back so many projects we have trouble fitting them in a suitcase to go back home! Hopefully our experience is more normal then yours was!

[croozen]

Crown Princess March 12-19. There were not enough kids that wait list was effective, but it was not empty either. Just seemed like a comfortable amount. I should emphasize our son liked it fine. He is easier to please than I am! Friends I have talked to (with slightly older kids) had a great experience on Princess as well, said it was very much a family atmosphere with a small number kids on board and staff really were making an effort.

[donaldsc]

We took our 10 year old granddaughter to AK on Princess so she was a bit older than your child. We picked Princess because we figured that she would be interested in doing stuff at the kids club. She took one look at the activities and pronounced them all as stupid (her words, not mine). She also decided that eating in the dining room with a menu to select from was much better than pizza in the kids club. She also decided that she was in the ship to see Alaska instead of playing games inside in the kids club. She never went back and she had a great cruise.

 

DON

[CI66774]

OP - thanks for the comparisons. My experiences have been the opposite of yours - although I've never sailed HAL. My ranking as follows:

 

(1) Princess (caveat - I've only sailed on Royal Princess (three times - two of those were 26-day t/a Baltics and British Isles). Outstanding, engaged staff who allowed me to come in to the club at any time and play with my DD, etc. Ice cream parties, slumber parties, arts/crafts galore. My favorite overall.

 

(2) Disney - great hours - open all day and will feed the kiddos. Great club but somewhat chaotic and frantic at times. Lots of kids running around at all times. DD loved it. I liked it but not as much as the personalized attention on Princess

 

(3) Celebrity - DD didn't like it. Not much personal attention and staff seemed distant. Also - paxs on ship frown upon people with kids. Lovely ship but not much to rave about.

 

I guess we all have different impressions. Thanks again for your post.

Edited April 1, 2016 by CI66774

[croozen]

Very interesting that our rankings are exact opposites. I wonder now if we just struck it lucky the one time on Celebrity and got really engaged staff. But their programming was excellent as well, and the crafts he came home with were a notch above other crafts if you know what I mean. Similarly, on Princess maybe we just struck it unlucky our one time, but my negative impressions were a combo of both the programming (uninspired) and robotic employees who looked and acted like they didnt want to be there. If we had insisted in coming in beyond the gate to the play area I suppose we could have, it was just not the system they had in place. HAL, having experienced it three or four times I can confidently say there is an established trend with us that they have a good club. Or at least, good for us.

Edited April 1, 2016 by croozen

[shredie]

I'm curious. How many visits to each of the respective facilities did you base these rankings on? Did you, for instance, leave your child three times at the HAL facility as opposed to only once on a Princess ship? If there were only single visits at each of the other lines' clubs, this might be a balanced comparison. However, a one-time experience at any given place could have been an anomaly, could it not? Might good experiences at other clubs (Celebrity, for example) color one's perceptions and set up certain expectations? In such a case, wouldn't one disappointing visit also color one's perceptions, leading, perhaps, to an unfair assessment of any particular facility?

 

We have had nothing but good experiences with the Princess kids' clubs. We have never been denied access to the play areas. Our grandchildren have always had a great time (and that, to me, is the point )

[SMHCPA]

Shredie- Your curiosity can remain. I have no wish to enter in to a debate so find another target for your deep thoughts. I posted this review with an intent to be helpful. Just my two cents, rounded up to a nickel if you will. The tone of your replies is so nasty and confrontational and I have no idea why. You are obviously a veteran ( 5000+ posts) but you have in fact have discouraged me from posting again on any topic. Hope you have achieved what you set out to do.

 

 

And your review was definitely helpful, I for one thank you. I am relatively new to these boards and with very few exceptions (H, Owen and Jelly come immediately to mind [emoji3][emoji106]) it is hard to find detailed descriptions of the different experiences available to kids. I personally believe it's because as soon as the topic of kids or heaven forbid babies comes up the snarky judgemental comments start immediately. I hope you are not discouraged from posting again, because then they win.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[arctickitty]

Croozen, thank you for posting your reviews. It is a different topic than I typically read here on CC and it was neat the read about the inside world of the kids clubs.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to write and share your review.

 

Keith

[livinforcruisin]

Croozen thanks for taking the time to post this review. It was really interesting and informative.

[CI66774]

Very interesting that our rankings are exact opposites. I wonder now if we just struck it lucky the one time on Celebrity and got really engaged staff. But their programming was excellent as well, and the crafts he came home with were a notch above other crafts if you know what I mean. Similarly, on Princess maybe we just struck it unlucky our one time, but my negative impressions were a combo of both the programming (uninspired) and robotic employees who looked and acted like they didnt want to be there. If we had insisted in coming in beyond the gate to the play area I suppose we could have, it was just not the system they had in place. HAL, having experienced it three or four times I can confidently say there is an established trend with us that they have a good club. Or at least, good for us.

 

OP- maybe some of my delight with the Princess kid club was the personal attention showered upon DD. The two 26-day cruises were somewhat unique because there weren't many kids on the ship. She, and a few other kids, had the club all to themselves and the staff catered to their every desire. We're going on another Royal Princess cruise later this year during a time where lots of kids are out of school and I'll see whether my opinion of the club changes. I guess as a mom, I just love having some alone time where the kid is occupied and I can relax, stretch out, and have a drink. I really want to go on HAL (maybe a grand voyage) and am happy to hear they have good clubs, too!:)

[shredie]

Let's try this again (addressing the topic, that is.) My opinion of the Princess kids' clubs is based on multiple experiences with the facilities and not just one visit. My grandchildren love the place and can't wait to cruise again to attend. We have not had a bad experience. If I were to base my assessment of the facility based on just one visit, and that visit was not good, I would be judging the experience on what might be an anomaly, a one-time, uncharacteristically bad day. Therefore, I would think it important to include the information about the number of times I visited any particular facility in any report I might make. If I were comparing more than one experience to several among different cruise lines, I would think it important to mention how many visits to each of the various facilities I was using in the comparison. However, I am not the one doing such a comparison, and evidently I am the only one who thinks this information would be useful. (Indeed, even asking the question seems to be regarded as an act of hostility.)

 

I would tell anyone who has never experienced the Princess kids' programs that we have had very good experiences over the years, and I would not characterize the kids' club as "so-so."

[trishh]

Princess Kids Club = Very So-So (review of four different kids clubs)

 

In reviewing our recent experience with kids club on Princess, I feel like I am now in a position to do a comparison of kids clubs for four different lines: HAL, Celebrity, Princess and Disney.

 

By way of background, I should say our son, now 7, is an only child and also a very outgoing happy sociable type. He has been in kids clubs since he was 4 and has liked all of them. He always wants to go, and we didn’t notice a big difference in his level of enthusiasm b/w the four lines. (not as discriminating as his mother!) Celebrity might have come out marginally ahead for him but I think that is due in part to fact he met an awesome friend Lego-Brother that week, that he still talks about. B/c he likes to interact with other kids, we tend to use kids club frequently, usually mornings, and then again in the evenings. Afternoons we often spend time with him in port, around the ship, or at the pool, as the case may be.

 

The winner of the four, for us, was Celebrity. We have had two sailings with Celebrity, but only with our son in tow. It was Christmas time, there were many kids on board but the counsellors were super engaged. He came home every day and sometimes every night with a craft item and it was clear that more than a bit of time effort and money had been invested in coordinating these projects – i.e. it wasn’t just a drawing on paper. The week culminated in a talent show put on in one of the theatres. You could tell there was a lot of practicing involved, you could also tell the staff members knew each of the kids quite well as they were announcing each “act”. There was a generally upbeat and family atmosphere among the staff and they genuinely seemed to be happy to be with the kids and with each other. There was very much a feeling by the end that the kids had been at a fun camp all week. Not sitting in front of a video screen. (more on that below) Very positive experience.

 

Very close behind and second in line would be HAL. There have been varying numbers of kids onboard our different HAL cruises, which can sometimes make for a challenge for the counsellors but they adapted really well. The staff members on HAL seem engaged and into it, just like Celebrity. They genuinely appeared to enjoy children and that really showed. Similar to the talent show noted above, the kids had a lip sync contest in one of the lounges one night. Let’s just say there was excellent attendance and a long line up for the microphone. Again, it was near the end of the week and you could tell by the way the counsellors were interacting with the kids that 1. They knew them well as individuals 2. They liked them. One afternoon we wanted some adult time and our son was essentially babysat by a counsellor. When numbers were small the programming did not suffer one bit. The staff were very adaptable to a lot or a few kids. They made a conscious effort (as did Celebrity) to get the kids out and about on the ship, marching around as pirates, going for ice cream, outside for 30 minutes per day playing games , running races on the tennis court etc.

 

Third; Disney; They rest on their laurels a lot. The feeling/vibe they were giving out was: your’re on a Disney Cruise, so of course you are having fun and we don’t need to personally do much to help that along. They tended to put kids in front of a screen for a movie or depend on visits from characters to fill up time. Actual one on one time with a counsellor, which we were accustomed to seeing, seemed to be rare. We once saw a counsellor sitting at a table with a group of girls colouring. That was about the extent of it. The facilities are amazing, clean etc but the care or attention your child is getting seems to be minimal. They are safe and not breaking any rules but that’s about it. I would add that the play facility on the Disney private island is out of this world. Our son did not want to leave. But it was more about the play place than anything any staff member was doing. To me, that is where Disney misses the boat. (bad pun)

 

Last place: Princess. Hard to put a finger on it but the staff here did not appear happy. All their interactions with the kids seemed rote. Parents were not permitted inside the play area you were just dropping off or picking up outside a gate. Counsellors appeared tired, distant, and not that engaged with the children. I inquired about a talent show and lip sync b/c our son is definitely at that exhibitionist stage in his young life, and was told there would be nothing like that rather a “family fun fair” which was not at all similar. Just some face painting and events at a particular location onboard, where you were explicitly told you were responsible for your own child and kids club supervision hours were not applicable during that time blah blah blah. Similarly, on port days the kids club shut down at for 1 or 1.5 hours so staff could take a certain group of kids on deck for supper. This meant no scheduled activities for the late afternoon for children who would eat dinner with their parents later. Struck us as very odd. It really felt the whole week like there was an effort to minimize time they would have to do anything much with your child. Staffing issue? Also our son, who just turned 7 came back very often talking about Mario – first time ever he had this level of exposure to video games while on a cruise. I realize part of that is his age, but I was left with the distinct impression there was very little effort to do anything but that during free play. Not once during the week were the kids taken outside to burn off steam, nor did they even leave the designated play area. Having said all that, he still liked going.

Thanks for your review. My family and I have been cruising on Princess ships since my youngest was 18 months old (she's now 16). Both my kids have said that the kids club is not what it used to be. It really depends on the youth staff on board, how enjoyable kids club is and how much interaction goes on. The kids come back to the cabin now and say it was boring, nothing was organised, it was left to the teenagers to organise thing themselves. Of course then the teens just end up hanging around the ship in groups and people get annoyed with them. A couple of years ago there was a Canadian (male) youth worker who had some kind of teacher training and he was only in his 20's. The kids loved him because he interacted with them, got them all doing interesting activities (including pool games), and really appeared to enjoy sending time with them. There also used to be youth security on the ships looking out for the teens and making sure they didn't upset other passengers (again by getting to know them and chatting them). All of these things made a difference but it has changed now which is a shame.

Trish

[jchris1230]

Thank you!! We sail Friday on the Ruby. Hope all goes well.

[dakacz]

Going to Alaska on the Star Princess with my grandson age 11. What type of activities would be offered. Is there a daily patter for each group. We were on RCCL Freedom of the Seas when he was 6 and he loved the youth club. In fact that experience is why he is looking forward to cruising again and joining in the activities of the youth club. Looking for any info on the Princess program.

 

Dotty

[cloveygrl]

We took our 10 year old granddaughter to AK on Princess so she was a bit older than your child. We picked Princess because we figured that she would be interested in doing stuff at the kids club. She took one look at the activities and pronounced them all as stupid (her words, not mine). She also decided that eating in the dining room with a menu to select from was much better than pizza in the kids club. She also decided that she was in the ship to see Alaska instead of playing games inside in the kids club. She never went back and she had a great cruise.

 

DON

 

 

FYI your granddaughter sounds like an amazing little woman!

[easyboy]

Going to Alaska on the Star Princess with my grandson age 11. What type of activities would be offered. Is there a daily patter for each group. We were on RCCL Freedom of the Seas when he was 6 and he loved the youth club. In fact that experience is why he is looking forward to cruising again and joining in the activities of the youth club. Looking for any info on the Princess program.

 

Dotty

Star Princess will have Camp Discovery in December 2017.

 

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/kids-and-teens/

[crawford]

Star Princess will have Camp Discovery in December 2017.

 

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/kids-and-teens/

 

Thanks for posting this link.

 

Although the thread is dated, it was very interesting to get insights/comparisons for those who have had experiences with multiple lines..

 

WhiIe dynamics change (i.e. cruise line ship, crew, itineraries), it's great to see some comparisons. I was really surprised that Disney wasn't at the top but can now understand why.

 

Including Royal Caribbean, Carnival and NCL perspectives would be great, as well as updates to the revamped Princess kids clubs.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

my friends' kids (10 and 8 now) have been in kid's club on Princess for several years now, and they LOVE it. They literally wake up and beg to go first thing in the morning, and stay all day till late night. We didn't even see them for 5 minutes on our last week's cruise, because they were at camp all day every day.

 

I know it's an excellent club, even though my kid (a very special snowflake with stranger anxiety) refuses to go.

[Celeste_SM]

I would love any advice anybody has about the kid's clubs on Princess. I read here somewhere that it's a good idea to bring your kids the first day, as friendships are formed early. Does that mean the day you board? Do you need to tip the kid's club staff individually? (Ok not NEED to, but does it help if you do?)

 

I've never cruised before, nor has my six year old son. I want him to enjoy the kids club and make friends, as he's very into playing with other kids. Any tips are appreciated.

[theloo]

Thanks for the reviews. We have only sailed NCL with kids and their kids club was fine. We're sailing on Ruby Princess in January with 9, 9, and 11 year old boys. Is there anything special I need to know in advance? There was some talk on NCL about turning kids away, so we always tried to get there when the club opened (before it filled up). Is this a problem on Princess?