Kids club questions

[samedaynurse]

Im writing for my son and DIL. They have done numerous Disney cruises with their 3 sons and now have booked a cruise with us on RCL Independence , based on our love and loyalty to RCL. They just got off MSC and had a terrible experience with the kids clubs , lack of any activities geared to the children and lack of supervision to the point that they didn't use the club at all . It got me to thinking that really I don't know anything about kids programs on RCL even though we are Diamond level we have never traveled with the kids. SO before we go any further I am looking for reviews and thoughts , both good and bad, types of activities, night time availability anything that will help with our decision. The boys are currently 8, 10 and 13 and our planned cruise is for next summer Thanks to any and all in advance I appreciate your help

jan

[Queen of Oakville]

My kids aren't huge fans of the kid's club on Royal. But every ship is different, and some are better than others.

 

My kids prefer the kid's clubs on X and HAL because generally there are fewer kids there and mine prefer this.

 

My kids are 8/10, now and we last sailed Royal in 2013 - so they would have been 5/7.

 

Royal (from what I recall of the ships we've sailed on) has well scheduled days, but the activities are geared towards being able to manage large groups. My kids tend to pick and choose what activities they want to do. On Royal, it is never a case of "begging" to go to the kid's club or wanting to spend all day there (like it is on HAL/X).

 

On Disney, they have some organized activities, but mostly it is free-play. They have hundreds of kids on every sailing, and it is like a madhouse in there. There is very little counsellor interaction.

 

I don't think your grandsons will hate Royal, but they may not love it as much as Disney.

 

I'm not familiar with Indy, so I don't know what she has to offer. I think your grandsons would probably really like an Oasis class ship with the rock walls, flow rider, zip line etc. This way, even if the kid's club doesn't interest them, there are lots of other activities that they can take part in.

[GoBearsGo95]

I'm on HOTS in 3 weeks with an 11yo so I'll let you know. He loved Disney and begged to stay in the kids club the whole time.

[dcgrumpy]

I sailed on IOS last summer with my 10,12 and 14 yo. And we'll be sailing on Indy again next year. They had a great time and loved the kid and teen clubs. They never wanted to leave. Every time I went to pick up my 10yo at night she would beg to stay longer. We didn't plan on utilizing the nighttime kids club often because of the extra cost ($7 an hour after 10pm). But she ended up having such a great time that we let her stay an hour or 2 almost every night.

Edited June 14, 2016 by dcgrumpy

[cruizers]

We were on the Allure a week ago with our 11-year old granddaughter. She LOVED the kids programs. She made a few friends to be with and was excited about each of the activities the group did. There is an option to eat with the group for lunch/dinner, but she chose to eat with us. The activities were age appropriate and there was a wide variety of things to do. There were absolutely no complaints, and she was happy to go each day. Hope this helps. The staff were wonderful! Have a wonderful time!

[njmomof2]

The younger ones will have organized activities in the kids clubs. The older one, who looks like he'll be 14 when you sail, will be in the teen club and they have much less organized and more hang out or use the club as a gathering place.

 

The teen club organizes certain "teen only" activities, like a slot for teens only on the flowrider, or ice skating. Also teen only rock climbing at times too.

 

For the younger ones, the groups break out as 3-5, 6-8, 9-11. They also have 12-14 and 15-17, but once they turn 13, they can do any activity called "teen". They may combine certain groups depending on the number of kids.

 

My kids did it the first few times we sailed, and then stopped. They preferred the flowrider as much as possible, and my younger one (now turning 14) loves the rock wall and ice skating too.

 

They will get a special compass with activities listed for each age group so they can decide if something is going on that they will enjoy. They may also like the late night activities so consider them if you're willing to pay the extra fee.

[mollyeilis]

They just got off MSC and had a terrible experience with the kids clubs , lack of any activities geared to the children and lack of supervision to the point that they didn't use the club at all .

 

They must have used the clubs a bit, otherwise how would they have known about activities and supervision?

 

 

For the *kid* clubs Royal is MUCH more hands-on than Disney is. Disney has a lovely space, but it's mainly a free-for-all. Until we started dropping DS off for *specific* activities he often had a hard time figuring out where the scheduled activities were, because it was crowded and so noisy. (and we've only cruised Disney in Jan, Feb, and Oct...so NOT during school break times)

 

Royal creates activities and they get to know the kids.

 

DS found on our last cruise (which was during a break time, the week before Easter) that he prefers a smaller crowd in the kid's club .

 

But...since he's now 12, like the older boy in your group he won't be using the *kid* clubs anymore on Royal. He'll be in the 12+ group, and that's a lot different.

 

We won't be onboard until December, so I can't speak about how that scene will be.

 

But I bet the kid-kids will have a lot of fun.

 

Good to know ahead of time...unlike Disney, where you *could* just leave the kids there all day long, Royal has break periods.

[kmorg1234]

My kids greatly preferred AO above the Disney kids' clubs for the reasons posted above- more structured, more activities, great counsellors. They would beg to go. Loved the late night activities as well, and the pirate night where they marched through the MDR. It's probably important for the teens to go on the first night when they have a scheduled meeting time so that they can meet the other kids right off the bat. Have fun!

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

My 12 year old loved the kids club until she was 9. They do a great job but they do the same programs every sailing so if your kids have sailed on RCL several times it becomes a little repetitive. Even last cruise when she was an old 11, she had a counselor that she loved. There has always been one or two of the counselors on the ships that she has really connected with. We have found that several of them are degreed educators which is a bonus. That being said she always wants to go to pajama night parties and a few of the other planned events. She is diamond on her own and is now an old hand at cruising. That why we like cruising she knows how to act on a ship, knows where the food is, and knows how to find us.

Edited June 14, 2016 by LeesSummitCruiser1

[samedaynurse]

Thank you ALL so much for your helpful replies, I forwarded them all to my son and DIL.

Oh, they ARE very familiar with Disney kids clubs , they only sail Disney up until the cruise they just did on MSC , so it was comparing apples to oranges MSC has a long ways to go to have a good kids program but I have been telling them I didnt think that would be the case with Royal , that they boys would be fine and have a great time I just needed to hear it from a few of you . They compare everything to Disney.....just sayin :) Time to try new things....

jan

[xxHadleyxx]

We are platinum on Disney and my kids grew up sailing mostly on their ships. One hated the kids clubs there (too overwhelming even in off season) and one loved them for a while but eventually found the activities to repeated too often and not really be enjoyable again and again as some games might be--plus the clubs were becoming more of a free for all.

 

I think my kids were 11 and 13 on their first RCI sailing and by that age both greatly preferred what RCI offers- Smaller groups of kids, more engaged counselors, etc.

 

We sailed Disney's Fantasy a couple of years ago and both kids found the teen club to be a great space but not at all fun due to counselors who continually cancelled activities due to lack of participation even though it was 20 minutes before the activity was due to begin and often groups cam e in right on time looking to participate, being "patronized" by counselors and otherwise finding staff not engaging with the teens or trying to help form bonds----meanwhile on RCI even with very international sailings and lack of a common language on most cruises the counselors stayed engaged and helped the kids all become friends and they enjoy the clubs much more.

[Texas Cruise Girl]

We were on Liberty a couple of weeks ago. My daughter is 10 and this was her second cruise. She absolutely LOVED the kids club. I think it's good to go the first night and meet up with the group. She begged to stay several nights for the after party.

[kmorg1234]

Oh, and also Disney (at least used to, this was years ago) give pagers to all parents to contact them very easily. I thought this was great, until they would page me because my kids were bored or didn't like the activities offered. Ummmmmm..... Isn't that something the counsellors are supposed to fix?