Regal Princess — kids related questions

[Forfio]

Hi All,

 

We’ve been on 10+ cruises but this is our first Princess cruise (Regal). We will be bringing our 2/yr old next month. If you have any experience or knowledge about Regal Princess especially about kids programs, please share. Here are our questions. Many thanks. 

 

Q1. Do they offer babysitting service? If so, how much?

 

Q2. Do they have any kids program for age of 2 or 2.5?

 

Q3. Is their kids area or play room full of toys? Big? Any Outdoor? 

 

Q4. Do they have any pools for potty trained kids?

 

Q5. Any other advance bookings we could do before boarding?

 

Q6. Do we need to pre-book highchair for the dinning rooms before boarding?

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by Forfio
Typo

[Daniel A]

I don't think you will find Princess to be very kid friendly.  I think Princess caters to a different demographic.  I'm not saying they are unfriendly to young kids, just that they don't have a big focus on younger cruisers. 

 

From Princess website:  "A framework of current and brand new children’s programming (ages 3-12) are bundled under Camp Discovery categories...

For your convenience, group kidsitting is offered in the Youth Centers. Kids can relax and watch movies or play games with their friends while mom and dad have a relaxing night out.

• For children ages 3 to 12 years.
• From 10:00 pm to 1:00 am.
• Charge of $5.00 per hour per child."

More info is here including a pre registration card:  https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/Onboard_Experience/Youth_Guidelines_Registration.pdf

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Regal is not very kid friendly. Our kid sailed on it twice so far, starting at 5 yo. There is nothing to do with a kid that young on Princess, besides hot tubs and pools, if they are potty trained. Ours was NOT at that age. Our kiddo doesn't do kid's club anyway, so he is always tagging along with us. A tablet (plus headphones) with cartoons and games has always been a life saver, especially during dinner in MDR.

 

That's the reason we just tried Norwegian Getaway and will be back on RCI's Allure of the Seas in 3 months.

Other than that we like Princess.

[cherylandtk]

Unfortunately, the Princess kids program starts at age 3 and not a day under.  You are welcome to use the kids facilities with your child, but you will not be able to leave.  The area for the littlest ones has a ball pit/hamster maze (similar to McDonalds), a craft area, and a small outdoor area reached from the kids center.  You can see a 10 second walk through at the 12:39 point of this video.

https://youtu.be/tbMPYrj3FIM

 

A fully toilet trained child can use any of the pools that are listed as adult only; there is no splash pool specifically for toddlers.

[Forfio]

Thanks so much, everyone. Do you know if they offer babysitting/private nanny service ? 

[Coral]

29 minutes ago, Forfio said:

Thanks so much, everyone. Do you know if they offer babysitting/private nanny service ? 

Nope - you have to bring your own........

 

It gets better when they are 3.

 

Several people buy a blow up splash pool and bring that along so the child doesn't feel left out. There is a family section on these boards which may give you some better ideas.

[Wishing on a star]

I will add to the chorus that Princess is not really kid-friendly.

As far as the pools, I suspect that the child would have to be fully potty-trained...  

Look for pictures of the pools, especially the smaller round plunge pool on the main Lido deck.

There is one on page two of the current Live Christmas Cruise thread....  Taken at night, no sunshine, with a school aged kid.

You can see that there is a large area around the actual deeper pool that is like a smash area a few inches deep.

[Forfio]

Thanks again, everyone. This is disappointing. I wish I did some research before booking. We’re on Celebrity Edge at the moment. They’re not kid friendly either. When these places don’t offer enough services for the kids, it’s not so much of vacation for the parents either. Sucks. 

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, Forfio said:

Thanks again, everyone. This is disappointing. I wish I did some research before booking. We’re on Celebrity Edge at the moment. They’re not kid friendly either. When these places don’t offer enough services for the kids, it’s not so much of vacation for the parents either. Sucks. 

Except for Disney - most lines are not kid friendly until the kids are older and potty trained.

 

When your little one is a few years older, check out Disney or RCCL.

 

You are just cruising when the kid is too young in order to take advantage of the kids programs.

Edited December 27, 2018 by Coral

[hm9912]

On 12/26/2018 at 1:03 PM, Forfio said:

Hi All,

 

We’ve been on 10+ cruises but this is our first Princess cruise (Regal). We will be bringing our 2/yr old next month. If you have any experience or knowledge about Regal Princess especially about kids programs, please share. Here are our questions. Many thanks. 

 

Q1. Do they offer babysitting service? If so, how much?

 

Q2. Do they have any kids program for age of 2 or 2.5?

 

Q3. Is their kids area or play room full of toys? Big? Any Outdoor? 

 

Q4. Do they have any pools for potty trained kids?

 

Q5. Any other advance bookings we could do before boarding?

 

Q6. Do we need to pre-book highchair for the dinning rooms before boarding?

 

Kids club on Regal

DSC_2872

 

My three under six grandchildren loved it. As others mentioned you cannot leave a two year non potty trained child without a parent. Bring a book

 

Howard

Edited December 27, 2018 by hm9912

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, Forfio said:

Thanks again, everyone. This is disappointing. I wish I did some research before booking. We’re on Celebrity Edge at the moment. They’re not kid friendly either. When these places don’t offer enough services for the kids, it’s not so much of vacation for the parents either. Sucks. 

We've always enjoyed cruising with our kiddo, but he started at 3, when he was potty trained. He's never agreed to participate in the kid's club (with a notable exception of the very first time on his very first cruise, which ended 20 minutes later, and this year, which lasted for 2 hours, and that's was it).

Our cruise vacation has never been ruined by his presence. If yours will be, leave him at home with a trusted sitter, please.

[Forfio]

Not possible. We have no one, absolutely zero family member, at home to watch him, unfortunately. I wouldn’t say he ruins our vacation but definitely made it hard to enjoy the cruise. The good things came out of cruising when he’s so young are: I don’t have to cook and the buffet is perfect for a snacker like him; and he gets to see a lot of different things and people. 

We’re now definitely looking into Disney Cruises. 

 

Have you been on Eclipse? We’re booking one to Alaska before he turns 3. What’s your experience with Eclipse if you have been on one? 

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Forfio said:

Have you been on Eclipse? We’re booking one to Alaska before he turns 3. What’s your experience with Eclipse if you have been on one? 

Celebrity will probably be the worst for kids under 3.

 

I would stay with Disney until the kid turns 3.

 

I suggest going over to the family part of CC and ask for suggestions.

Edited December 29, 2018 by Coral

[Daniel A]

Why not wait on future cruises until your child is old enough to enjoy them?  I think even a 3YOA is still too young for Disney.  Why not try some all inclusive resorts with childcare until your child is older?  The cruises will still be there.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

Why not wait on future cruises until your child is old enough to enjoy them?  I think even a 3YOA is still too young for Disney.  Why not try some all inclusive resorts with childcare until your child is older?  The cruises will still be there.

This is the best idea. I would even avoid the all inclusive resorts. Not sure how good their daycare is either. Unless you can travel with those who will watch your kids (grandparents) - I would wait to travel. 

Edited December 29, 2018 by Coral

[LXdad]

This may be surprising but we found that Cunard had great programs for kids between 1 and 3 years. Plus Cunard has a vibe similar to Princess which we prefer over a Disney product. Should be noted we are an extremely quiet family. 

[molecrochip]

On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 8:39 PM, LXdad said:

This may be surprising but we found that Cunard had great programs for kids between 1 and 3 years. Plus Cunard has a vibe similar to Princess which we prefer over a Disney product. Should be noted we are an extremely quiet family. 

Exactly the same kids setup for P&O. Very happy to entertain kids from 1 and a great (free) night nursery so you can get some grown-up holiday time. P&O also allow kids in swim pants into certain pools even if not toilet trained.

[ceilidh1]

I have cruised with my two kids from the time they were 10 months old (they are now 11 and 7 and the oldest has racked up 32 cruises). It was most definitely a different experience when they were babies/toddlers as they were not able to be left in the kid programs or go in the pools. We knew this ahead of time so had no expectations/disappointments as far as the kiddos being with us at all times. As they got older, they wanted to be in the kid clubs more and more, to the point that I now barely see them when we are on vacation!

 

 For our family, cruising is by far the easiest and least stressful vacation you can take with kids. No thought has to go into eating, cooking, entertainment, activities, etc. We originally only sailed on Princess and had no complaints about their offerings. Now that we have started trying other lines, the kids are realising just what else is out there on the mega ships and are asking to cruise these lines rather than Princess!

[Colo Cruiser]

We did not start with ours until they were 8.

When they turned 18 they were both Elite.

[Cafedumonde]

Carnival.  Our kids love it.  They love Disney cruise lines too, but they REALLY love Carnival.  On our first CCL cruise, the kids declared no other lines but Carnival.  Dh and I looked at each other.  We've been doing mostly Carnival for a couple of years and are trying to branch out.  I think we are going to try Princess.  The kids didn't love NCL.  

[ceilidh1]

4 hours ago, Cafedumonde said:

Carnival.  Our kids love it.  They love Disney cruise lines too, but they REALLY love Carnival.  On our first CCL cruise, the kids declared no other lines but Carnival.  Dh and I looked at each other.  We've been doing mostly Carnival for a couple of years and are trying to branch out.  I think we are going to try Princess.  The kids didn't love NCL.  

My kids said the same with Princess - it was all they had known so didn't want to sail any other line. We tried Disney and they both HATED it! They did, however, enjoy Carnival and we just tried NCL Bliss - which they thought was the best ever!

[ringpop]

We've been in the same situation so can definitely empathize. The first question you need to ask is what you're expecting out of these vacations. If your goal is "have fun together" then all the mainstream cruise lines are kid friendly to some extent. There's just so much to see and do, so many options for everything from exploring to dining outside of a few adult-only spots, and our experience has been that crews are fantastic with kids.

 

If your goal is to enjoy more separate, adult-oriented activities while your child is also enjoying child-orienting programming, that gets a bit more challenging. When traveling with a small kid you kind of have to go with that flow, and it's hard to hold to expectations of sophisticated dinners and an adult-oriented schedule.  Until your child is 3+ AND enjoys the idea of being dropped into a new social environment away from you, cruising (and really vacations in general) is just a different experience. The suggestions above (Disney, RCCL, Cunard, etc) have some free and paid nursery programs. Others (Carnival?) have babysitting. But those are all tough options unless your child is comfortable. 

 

We cruised with our oldest son when he was nine months old. After that experience, we stopped cruising for years. It was fun, it was a great break from the day to day of new parenthood where someone else does the laundry and cooking, but we left feeling that we had overpaid and couldn't take advantage of most of what a cruise offered. We made annual trips to mid-tier resorts after that and found we got much, much, much better value for money. Sometimes 2 year olds just want to walk in circles around a pool or dig in sand or stack cups for an hour.

 

That said, experience helps and this phase passes. We now have 3 kids. The youngest is 2, and cruising with her is a no-brainer because we're just that much more experienced ourselves. I can honestly say that our first trip with 1 young kid on Norwegian was much harder than our latest trip with 3 on Celebrity.