Anyone been on Radiance of the seas with school age kids?

[jspitz1]

Hi, I'm looking at booking a cruise in January 2023 on Radiance of seas as it will be in school holidays.  My kids are 8 and 10.  I've looked at various reviews and a few people are saying this ship is more geared for the retired age group, ship is ageing and not a lot for kids to do.  We have been on Ovation of the seas which they loved due to the variety of activities but it looks like Radiance just has the rock climbing wall, kids club, mini golf and sports court.  This may be enough for them but wondered if anyone with kids similar age, found there was enough for them to do and they enjoyed it?  From what I can tell the refubishment was delayed so not sure if anyone knows when the ship will now get updated.  Thanks.  

[akb5k]

Not Radiance but her sister ship Serenade, and planning to do Jewel next year with my now 9 year old. We did a Baltic cruise on Serenade. She was 7. We had a great time- the Radiance class doesn't have things like ice skating, splash parks, and big production shows, but after a long day of exploring we were happy to just come back and relax! I probably wouldn't do one of those ships in the Caribbean because we spend more time on the ship/ want more activities on those cruises, but Radiance class is great for Alaska or Europe. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by akb5k

[jspitz1]

Sorry forgot to say, the cruise is within Australia (where we live).  We have Harmony of the Seas booked for the Caribbean October 2022 but I'm feeling like even by then it's not going to be easy for us to do a U.S. trip with all the ongoing uncertainty with our border restrictons, insurance, kids not vaccinated, testing and quarantine on return.  So I'm looking at an alternative cruise with RCLL if I need to.  As we live in Australia it wouldn't be as much about the destination as the ship and not sure if Radiance would be interesting enough for them.  The only other RCLL ships that are coming to Australia in 2022/23 are Ovation and Quantum.  They loved Ovation but I'd prefer to try something different and Quantum is essentially the same as Ovation.  

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, jspitz1 said:

They loved Ovation but I'd prefer to try something different and Quantum is essentially the same as Ovation.  

Let the kids have their fun.

[TiiiSailor]

A few years ago we were on a two week cruise out of Sydney.  It was the first two weeks of March, not a school holiday time I was told.  There were about 50 children onboard.  There seemed to be plenty of activities for them.  I went by the rock climb one afternoon and there was a climbing activity for the children.  Also saw them going around on scavenger hunts (one youngster actually asked me for my prescription sun glasses as his list had a pair of sun glasses - LOL).  There was one family in a Royal Suite with three young children.  Each evening in the Concierge Lounge the children would, politely, share what they had done in the children's area if you were interested.  One evening they proudly showed off the magic tricks they'd learned that day.  The children seemed to be well engaged while onboard the ship. 

[Twolittleboys]

We were on another ship of the same class a couple of years ago and both kids enjoyed it. I think it was my older son's favorite cruise because he loved the teen club. I don't think they did anything extra-special but the kids just got along really well. On the other hand he very much disliked the kids club on Oasis. So I think if your kids will be going to the club, the actual facilities don't matter that much.

 

They also offered pretty nice family activities (like a Halloween scavenger hunt). However, our cruise was also rather port intensive so there wasn't that much time to do ship activities anyway.