Kids Club Spaces

[manonabike]

I have been hearing that P&O have increased the numbers of children permitted on board and this is putting increased pressure on the kids club places resulting in long queues and children being turned away. 

We have previously travelled outside of school holidays but now we are limited to the holiday season. Can anyone shed any light if this is a new policy or just to accommodate bookings transferred from Aurora now that she is Adults only?

Has anyone got any experiences to share from the Easter Holidays?

We love the kids club and for our next cruise both our children will be able to go giving us some much needed grown-up time so the thought of having to queue up early or be turned away is quite a concern.

 

[9is]

Hi

 

We have just returned from Azura at Easter.  I can confirm that there were more children than places in the kids club.  We were told that P&O have changed the policy regarding child numbers as they believe that some of the children will be taking part in other activities with their parents.  

 

We never had our children turned away but others did.  It seemed to affect the 5-8 year group, but this could have just been this particular cruise.  On this cruise we were told by kids club there were 150, 5-8 year olds and only 80 places at a time in the club.

 

Queuing to get into kids club did become a problem and queues began forming 20 mins before opening and signing in was extremely slow.

 

 

[Thejuggler]

It was always a ridiculous policy to limit children numbers based on the kids club capacities.

 

Over the years I have checked for last minute bookings with a child and they weren't available as kids club numbers had been reached.  Change the child to an adult and a cabin for three was available at a good price.

 

I've also had situations where I could book cabins for 4 (either all adults or 2 adults and 2 children), but not for 2 adults and 1 child due to P&O policies.

 

We ended up spending money with other companies.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2019 by Thejuggler

[manonabike]

2 hours ago, 9is said:

Hi

 

We have just returned from Azura at Easter.  I can confirm that there were more children than places in the kids club.  We were told that P&O have changed the policy regarding child numbers as they believe that some of the children will be taking part in other activities with their parents.  

 

We never had our children turned away but others did.  It seemed to affect the 5-8 year group, but this could have just been this particular cruise.  On this cruise we were told by kids club there were 150, 5-8 year olds and only 80 places at a time in the club.

 

Queuing to get into kids club did become a problem and queues began forming 20 mins before opening and signing in was extremely slow.

 

 

thanks, thats what I have heard too. Thats one of the age groups we need, plus 3yr old. 

 

Do we know if this is a permanent change of policy? Did P&O ever guarantee the kids club place? 

 

[molecrochip]

Ahead of Iona coming on stream P&O have finally acknowledged that not all the children who cruise will go to kids club. It will however still take a while to get the balance right and inevitably this will lead to occasions when kids club appears oversold.

 

If you read the Ts and Cs, the kids club, like any activity on board is on a first come, first served principle and not guaranteed.

 

There are still general limits on certain kid numbers due to the age groups related to life jacket sizes. 

Edited April 22, 2019 by molecrochip

[dazlight]

What age are the kids clubs as I have a 13 and 11 year old and would like them in the same club. 

[Les_ldh]

2 minutes ago, dazlight said:

What age are the kids clubs as I have a 13 and 11 year old and would like them in the same club. 

 

I think you’ll find that they’ll be in different clubs, but you can find details here...

 

https://www.pocruises.com/taking-the-kids

[ozzysdad]

35 minutes ago, dazlight said:

What age are the kids clubs as I have a 13 and 11 year old and would like them in the same club. 

They will be in different clubs and P & O are strict with regards ages even if they are siblings. 

[molecrochip]

@dazlightwhen are you going? If its during term time then don't be surprised to see the kids clubs merged with under 8s and over 8s.

[dazlight]

1st August to Med @molecrochip

See what happens if they meet any friends near the pool but I won’t be letting them go in different groups, crazy rule that. 

[john watson]

1 hour ago, dazlight said:

What age are the kids clubs as I have a 13 and 11 year old and would like them in the same club. 

 

The children's club is called "The Reef " and this is sub-divided into "Splashers" 2 to 4 yrs, "Surfers" 5 to 8 yrs, and "Scubas" 9 to 12 yrs.  All members have to be signed both in and out by a responsible adult as authorised by the parent at time of initial registration on board. Children cannot just turn up alone and be admitted.

 

The 13 to 17 yrs club is called "H2O" and technically not part of The Reef,  the radical difference with this area is they simply come and go as they please independently without anyone signing them either in or out.  They just have a door person ensuring only teenagers attend.  There is no record kept on who has entered or exited.

 

Regards John

Edited April 22, 2019 by john watson

[Tom Baker]

1 hour ago, dazlight said:

1st August to Med @molecrochip

See what happens if they meet any friends near the pool but I won’t be letting them go in different groups, crazy rule that. 

Are they inseparable?

My kids won't attend if they are in the same group 🤣

[dazlight]

No mate. I just feel more comfortable they are together. I should of looked into it before I booked the holiday. Didn’t think about it be be honest. 

[john watson]

13 hours ago, dazlight said:

No mate. I just feel more comfortable they are together. I should of looked into it before I booked the holiday. Didn’t think about it be be honest. 

 

The younger one will meet up with kids of the same age range in their section and they will be doing stuff appropriate for that age.  May well find mates who he can associate with and be happy.  The way the rules are the older one can come and go in his club as he wishes and is allowed to wander into the younger one's club every hour or half hour to check if younger one is ok.  He cannot sign him out but can then locate a parent and tell them brother wants to leave club.  

 

Quite often a buddy can be found in one or both sections and outside the club they can freely associate as a bigger group almost anywhere else on the ship.  The children's clubs are a very safe environment in my experience.

 

Regards John

[cabin4three]

16 hours ago, john watson said:

 

The children's club is called "The Reef " and this is sub-divided into "Splashers" 2 to 4 yrs, "Surfers" 5 to 8 yrs, and "Scubas" 9 to 12 y

 

The 13 to 17 yrs club is called "H2O" with this area is they simply come and go as they please independently without anyone signing them either in or out.  They just have a door person ensuring only teenagers attend.  There is no record kept on who has entered or exited.

Oh dear, I don't think I am ready  for that! I would prefer that they had a sign in and out system.

Is there any issues with teenagers running around the ship?  Thinking of returning to P&O next year after years away on Princess and Disney.

[john watson]

36 minutes ago, cabin4three said:

Oh dear, I don't think I am ready  for that! I would prefer that they had a sign in and out system.

Is there any issues with teenagers running around the ship?  Thinking of returning to P&O next year after years away on Princess and Disney.

 

I do not think there will be issues of teenagers running amogh on board. Interestingly you mention previously cruising with Princess.  Their self-signing in/out regulations start at around 8/9 years of age, so one would think they have more of the type of problem you mention.  Princess also have a Youth Security staff who have yellow t-shirts with those words emblazoned on them.

 

Regards John

[Tom Baker]

P&O have extra security during busy peak season and when there are a large number of teens on board. The teens club is usually poorly attended after the first couple of days when they divide themselves off into groups.

 

I would advise anyone with teenagers to send their kids to the teen club on the first night or second day because that's the only time they seem to be busy and make friends.

 

Teenagers don't want to hang around with adults on cruises, nor do they want to be anywhere near authority. You will find that the "roaming gangs" of teenagers go to the places not used by adults. The sports deck during the evening or the upper deck away from adults. During the day they will congregate in the empty unmanned bars or in empty function rooms. The people that tend to complain about "gangs" are the ones that have wandered into these areas by accident.

[cabin4three]

6 hours ago, john watson said:

 with Princess.  Their self-signing in/out regulations start at around 8/9 years of age, so one would think they have more of the type of problem you mention.  Princess also have a Youth Security staff who have yellow t-shirts with those words emblazoned on them.

Thanks John,  Princess do allow self sign in but they still need to sign in and out, I was just worrying about there being no record of who was going in or out of the club.  Our eldest will be 13 on next years cruise,  so scary letting them go, I need to stop watching crime drama 😃 

 

5 hours ago, Tom Baker said:

P&O have extra security during busy peak season and when there are a large number of teens on board.

Thanks Tom,  I am worrying about my 13 year old being led astray - though getting him to leave the games console would be difficult 

 

Thanks for putting my mind at rest, kids will have me worrying about something else next week! - but  now I can book 2020 cruise on P&O 

[Yorksphil]

We were on Ventura last week with our 7 year old. No problems with the kids club. The only time we queued was after lunch on a sea day, when we waited maybe 10 minutes whilst a queue of surfers were signed in. Not sure on the capacity, but we got in OK with 40 children aleady in the room. 

 

I did notice that they seemed to have more activities where the children had a choice. For example in some sessions groups were taken to metropolis for drama workshops and those who didn't want to take part did other activities in the Reef. 

 

I had no problems with marauding teens either. There were sometimes groups walking around the ship together, just the same as passengers from other age groups! 

Edited April 23, 2019 by Yorksphil

[john watson]

45 minutes ago, cabin4three said:

 

 I am worrying about my 13 year old being led astray - though getting him to leave the games console would be difficult 

 

 

 

In the early days of the cruise the Youth Team staff go through the rules.  I know a few of them; no children can be in a lift without an adult accompanying them.  No children may enter cabins of people not travelling with them.  Children are not allowed to disembark at ports without parent or appropriate adult known to them at the time of booking.  Children are not allowed to sit at the front in the theatre. Children must be supervised by an appropriate adult in the pools. There are extensive other pool rules some of which are general but ages allowed in the pools are displayed on notices locally.

 

Regards John

Edited April 23, 2019 by john watson

[groovechick]

On 4/22/2019 at 7:28 PM, dazlight said:

What age are the kids clubs as I have a 13 and 11 year old and would like them in the same club. 

dazlight - we have had children split across clubs. I asked P&O if they could go together but they would not give way. Anyway, I shouldn't have worried. They were both absolutely fine and the older one didn't get into any trouble or get led astray in the teen club. They do organise age-appropriate activities for teens who prefer to stay in the club, which daughter tended to do. When son got to that age he tended to meet up there with a group of friends that formed, then they would go off and play pool, or board games, or table tennis/football, or spend time in the pool.

[manonabike]

P&O have confirmed that they have increased the number of child places on the cruises but the Kids club limits are the same so there will be times when children will be turned away 😞 
With kids in 2 of the age ranges I can foresee some stressful family queueing if this is the case, we're hoping to get some adult time whilst they are in the club.

 

 

[arendale1]

Wow! I had no idea that kids places were restricted to club spaces.

My kids have never been to a kids club on land or at sea - they would balk at the idea. So we have no idea what they involve, but also had no idea that places on a cruise were restricted as such 😳

Edited April 26, 2019 by arendale1

[john watson]

1 hour ago, arendale1 said:

Wow! I had no idea that kids places were restricted to club spaces.

My kids have never been to a kids club on land or at sea - they would baulk at the idea. So we have no idea what they involve, but also had no idea that places on a cruise were restricted as such 😳

 

The kids cruise berth places are not restricted to the exact number of places in the kids club.  They are restricted on a proportional basis, maybe 130% I do not know but clearly when people say they were on cruise but could not drop the kids off at the club because it was full, there must be more children on the cruise than clubroom section spaces.

 

There is no compulsion for any children to attend the club whatsoever, they could cruise and never even see the club's front door if that's the way they like it.

 

If children's places on a cruise were not restricted in theory with 2,500 passengers comprised of 1,000 adults with 1,500 children it would be a nightmare, something a lot worse than unknowingly booking into a cruise which had been chosen as a shared Chumley's Bear Cruise.

 

Regards John

Edited April 26, 2019 by john watson

[waughy]

I will be travelling with  11, 17, 17 year olds - they have never been to a kids club on holiday, however I will register the 11 year old as i suspect friends she will make will be registered. Do I register the 17 year olds? or is the H2O area one that you can just come and go to. Or is it just up to 17? and if you are over then discounted.

 

Thanks