Adventure Ocean club (for kids)

[PopeyeDaSailor]

Has anyone ever registered their kids in Adventure Ocean Club?

 

For those who don't know what AO is here's a decision from RCCL website:

 

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Adventure Ocean® is our complimentary fun-filled babies, kids and teens club for anyone aged between 6 months and 17 years. The club is split up into different age groups and each group has a range of activities and events, led by our youth team.

 

If so can you leave the ship on an excursion if your children are in the club?

Are there any hidden fees I'm missing?

Do you tip the counselors?

[TravelMommyof2]

Has anyone ever registered their kids in Adventure Ocean Club?

 

 

 

For those who don't know what AO is here's a decision from RCCL website:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If so can you leave the ship on an excursion if your children are in the club?

 

Are there any hidden fees I'm missing?

 

Do you tip the counselors?

 

 

 

Yes, you can leave while you are in port. It is up to your sensibilities if you want to stay close to port or do a day long excursion. Remember without your phone on, you will not be able to be contacted. It is totally your decision. I have done it on Disney before. Plenty of people have done it on many cruise lines.

 

No extra $, except unless you have non potty trained kid under 4 whom you’re putting in the nursery. The nursery is extra $6 or $7 per hour.

 

There may be a late night program where they do AO (Late Night Party Zone...check with your particular ship) during 10pm - 2 am $7/hour

 

No tipping needed for staff. But, again I’m sure if there was someone who went above and beyond for you kid you can do that...

 

 

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[PopeyeDaSailor]

Thanks and I hear you. I'm thinking only excursions my youngest couldn't handle. I have Verizon and will be paying the weekly fee to have service turned on in Mexico that week anyhow.

 

I don't think I'd feel comfortable doing it until I spoke with my kids after the first day to make sure they were having a lot of fun in their groups.

[ONECRUISER]

Yes, you can leave while you are in port. It is up to your sensibilities if you want to stay close to port or do a day long excursion. Remember without your phone on, you will not be able to be contacted. It is totally your decision. I have done it on Disney before. Plenty of people have done it on many cruise lines.

 

No extra $, except unless you have non potty trained kid under 4 whom you’re putting in the nursery. The nursery is extra $6 or $7 per hour.

 

There may be a late night program where they do AO (Late Night Party Zone...check with your particular ship) during 10pm - 2 am $7/hour

 

No tipping needed for staff. But, again I’m sure if there was someone who went above and beyond for you kid you can do that...

 

 

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Under age 3. Potty trained 3-5 is youngest age group

[PopeyeDaSailor]

My kids will be 11 (turning 12 in middle of cruise) and 8. They are pumped about Adventure Ocean and both make friends easily.

[WestTexasBySea]

My kids always get mad when I come to pick them up. They have a blast and the staff keeps them busy. I think the only time they want to come out is to go swimming and to eat. Great program!

 

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[Grandma Dazzles]

My kids will be 11 (turning 12 in middle of cruise) and 8. They are pumped about Adventure Ocean and both make friends easily.

 

Just so you are aware, the 11-year-old will be allowed sign in and out of Adventure Ocean, unless you give permission otherwise and do not allow. This might be a consideration if you plan to go ashore and leave the kids there.

 

They will also be in different groups of AO.

[PopeyeDaSailor]

Just so you are aware, the 11-year-old will be allowed sign in and out of Adventure Ocean, unless you give permission otherwise and do not allow. This might be a consideration if you plan to go ashore and leave the kids there.

 

They will also be in different groups of AO.

 

I knew they would be in different groups but did not know about the signing out part. My 11 year old will stay with the group and I'll make sure to remove the signing out part. Thanks for the great info!

[GarlicBread]

I knew they would be in different groups but did not know about the signing out part. My 11 year old will stay with the group and I'll make sure to remove the signing out part. Thanks for the great info!

 

Don't worry. You don't have to take it away. It's not automatic, you have to approve it, which you can do at any point, not just registration.

Also, if you do make your kid a self signer, it will not work when the ship is docked.

[GarlicBread]

Under age 3. Potty trained 3-5 is youngest age group

 

3 year olds can use the nursery too. An unpotty trained 3 year old will be directed to the nursery and not allowed in AO.

[GarlicBread]

Just so you are aware, the 11-year-old will be allowed sign in and out of Adventure Ocean, unless you give permission otherwise and do not allow. This might be a consideration if you plan to go ashore and leave the kids there.

 

They will also be in different groups of AO.

 

Actually, all this is totally the opposite.

 

A self signer has to be approved by a parent and is not automatic.

 

Self signing priveledges do not work when the ship is docked, an authorised adult still have to drop off and pick up, self signer or not.

[nascargirly]

Just came back from a cruise on RC Liberty. Heres some flyers for kids club attached, hope it helps!

RC Liberty kids club info.pdf

[rimmit]

A 3 year old who is not potty trained can be accommodated by the nursery if space is available. They will typically not be the first priority for time slots.

 

You get three strikes in AO before getting kicked to the nursery. On a 7 day that is reasonably manageable but on a 12 night or longer if they aren’t fully potty trained they will likely not make it. Daytime nursery hours are $6 per hour. After 6pm it is $8 per hour. Late night party zone (LNPZ) after 10pm in AO is $7 per hour per child till 2AM.

 

Our kids have grown up in the nursery and AO and have loved it. They always want to go back. If the ship doesn’t have many kids the age groups get lumped together sometimes.

 

There are two dining options for AO. Adventure time dining is throughout the whole cruise in which a counselor meets your kids at the front of the MDR after 45 min. To pick up your kids so you don’t have to leave and drop them off when they open at 7pm. The waiters also get there meals out fast so they will be done by then. The second is Adventure Time Dining some about half the nights on a cruise. The kiddos eat dinner entirely with the staff in the windjammer with this option. They are both complimentary.

 

Hours are 9-12, 2-5, 7-2AM when at sea. In port AO is always open and will open early to accommodate those dropping off for excursions. They will also feed kiddos lunch during port days. Adventure time dining bridges the gap from 5-7 when they have it.

 

Feel free to ask any other questions.

[cb at sea]

My Verizon plan covers Mexico and Canada on my normal service....check on that!

[lovescats5]

My granddaughter was able to sign herself in and out of AO except on port days. Those days an adult had to sign her in and out. That said, we had a radio that we used so she had to call us when she got to the AO and when she was leaving, just an additional perk of Star Class.

[PopeyeDaSailor]

Thanks for all the posts.

 

My kids will be 11 (turning 12 on cruise) and 6 at next May so they are both potty trained. :)

 

We plan on signing them in and out quite a bit to do a lot of activities with them. We're staying in a Grand Suite so maybe one excursion without them and our spa day, but the rest of the cruise we'll have them with us.

[rimmit]

We plan on signing them in and out quite a bit to do a lot of activities with them. We're staying in a Grand Suite so maybe one excursion without them and our spa day, but the rest of the cruise we'll have them with us.

 

 

Famous last words. ;)

 

J/k. I will say that from my observation, typically the kids club tends to get busier as the cruises progress. It's typically super busy the first day or two, slows down a bit as the ports start to hit, and then really explodes by the end of the cruise.

 

This is for several reasons I've noticed.

 

One, the kids club is actually excellent. My son and daughter love going, and they have a great time. Once they make friends, lots of times they'd rather be there than with me quite honestly. They find trivia quite boring. When i was young and went to AO, I was the same way. It really is a lot of fun. It's like school, but no work.

 

Secondly, is parental fatigue. This more so in regards to the nursery usage, more so than older kids in the main club. I've met SOOOO many parents on cruise ships with babies and toddlers who were too paranoid to leave their kid in the nursery the first half of the cruise. I'd meet them on the ship, and talk to them, and ask if they were using the nursery, and they were too concerned to leave their snowflake with unknown youth counselors.... LOL. Typically by day 5, I'd see the exhaustion in their eyes. By day 9 or 10, they will almost alway cave in and start using the nursery, and then I'd see them in the hot tub or relaxing on the deck. The nursery hours toward the end of a cruise are almost always really tight to get, whereas the first couple days are almost always wide open.

 

I have met some parents who do not use it at all, but more often than not there are grandparents on the ship. There are some I have met who have no other family and did not use the nursery at all, but I'd say that was more the exception than the rule. Obviously, with a 6 and 12 year old, the level or care needed is significantly less than an infant.

 

Have a great time. Your kiddos will have a blast either in Adventure Ocean or not. Whatever works for your family. There were times when I had to drag my son out, just so we could do an activity I had planned with him already, like roller skating or the bumper cars.

[PopeyeDaSailor]

Famous last words. ;)

 

J/k. I will say that from my observation, typically the kids club tends to get busier as the cruises progress. It's typically super busy the first day or two, slows down a bit as the ports start to hit, and then really explodes by the end of the cruise.

 

This is for several reasons I've noticed.

 

One, the kids club is actually excellent. My son and daughter love going, and they have a great time. Once they make friends, lots of times they'd rather be there than with me quite honestly. They find trivia quite boring. When i was young and went to AO, I was the same way. It really is a lot of fun. It's like school, but no work.

 

Secondly, is parental fatigue. This more so in regards to the nursery usage, more so than older kids in the main club. I've met SOOOO many parents on cruise ships with babies and toddlers who were too paranoid to leave their kid in the nursery the first half of the cruise. I'd meet them on the ship, and talk to them, and ask if they were using the nursery, and they were too concerned to leave their snowflake with unknown youth counselors.... LOL. Typically by day 5, I'd see the exhaustion in their eyes. By day 9 or 10, they will almost alway cave in and start using the nursery, and then I'd see them in the hot tub or relaxing on the deck. The nursery hours toward the end of a cruise are almost always really tight to get, whereas the first couple days are almost always wide open.

 

I have met some parents who do not use it at all, but more often than not there are grandparents on the ship. There are some I have met who have no other family and did not use the nursery at all, but I'd say that was more the exception than the rule. Obviously, with a 6 and 12 year old, the level or care needed is significantly less than an infant.

 

Have a great time. Your kiddos will have a blast either in Adventure Ocean or not. Whatever works for your family. There were times when I had to drag my son out, just so we could do an activity I had planned with him already, like roller skating or the bumper cars.

 

Thanks! My kids are very independent we've raised them that way. We'll play it by ear, if they are having fun then they can stay as long as they want. It's a cruise in middle of May and we're pulling them out of school so there may be less kids around. Who knows but I'm pumped to go on this cruise and so are my kids!