P&O: help! Kids club supervision...argh!

[Tired mummy]

I'm feeling guilty (toward my children for complaining about this) but also upset and disappointed to learn today that the splashers club for kids aged 2 to 4 require parents or guardians to be present with their children at ALL TIMES whilst visiting the kids club. The whole point in my husband and I booking this cruise for October 2022 was to get some adult time whilst the children still having fun in their own surroundings! I don't understand the reasoning behind this, spa is still allowed to operate offering facials, older children are allowed to mingle in their own clubs (parent free may I add) if this is covid related, WE ARE ON A CONFINED SHIP!!!! IF THERES COVID, NO DOUBT IT WILL CATCH US ANYWAY! whether small children are supervised by staff members or not and there is covid around...what difference does that make? How will the ship earn all that extra hard earned cash spending in the extra cost fine dining restaurants, casinos, adult only bars?! This is a genuine headache, my small children don't want to sit with us while we have a 3 x course fine dining experience when they could be having fun, this would also ruin it for the other child free passengers?! I didn't book a £3500 holiday to go to my bed at 8pm with my (gorgeously funny but also at times monstrous two year old)! We have been in contact several times with p&o regarding hints and tips with travelling with infants and not once has this been mentioned to us. You are going to have a few very disappointed parents P&O.....not good at all. Has anyone else in this situation contacted P&O? Complained even? What was the end result? If this is the case, what extra activities are being offered to families daytime/evenings? If anyone could relay their experiences, this apprehensive mummy would be more than grateful! Thanks in advance! 

[Josy1953]

7 hours ago, Tired mummy said:

I'm feeling guilty (toward my children for complaining about this) but also upset and disappointed to learn today that the splashers club for kids aged 2 to 4 require parents or guardians to be present with their children at ALL TIMES whilst visiting the kids club. The whole point in my husband and I booking this cruise for October 2022 was to get some adult time whilst the children still having fun in their own surroundings! I don't understand the reasoning behind this, spa is still allowed to operate offering facials, older children are allowed to mingle in their own clubs (parent free may I add) if this is covid related, WE ARE ON A CONFINED SHIP!!!! IF THERES COVID, NO DOUBT IT WILL CATCH US ANYWAY! whether small children are supervised by staff members or not and there is covid around...what difference does that make? How will the ship earn all that extra hard earned cash spending in the extra cost fine dining restaurants, casinos, adult only bars?! This is a genuine headache, my small children don't want to sit with us while we have a 3 x course fine dining experience when they could be having fun, this would also ruin it for the other child free passengers?! I didn't book a £3500 holiday to go to my bed at 8pm with my (gorgeously funny but also at times monstrous two year old)! We have been in contact several times with p&o regarding hints and tips with travelling with infants and not once has this been mentioned to us. You are going to have a few very disappointed parents P&O.....not good at all. Has anyone else in this situation contacted P&O? Complained even? What was the end result? If this is the case, what extra activities are being offered to families daytime/evenings? If anyone could relay their experiences, this apprehensive mummy would be more than grateful! Thanks in advance! 

I sympathise with you, it does seem a bit over the top to insist that you have to stay with your children even when they are in the kids club but my guess would be that it is a staffing issue because younger children do need more attention so there is a higher staff to children ration for the younger ones.  We have taken small children on cruises and because I was not happy to leave them with strangers we kept them with us at all times.  I realise that it was different for us because they were my niece's children not our own but we and they had a great time, they both enjoyed eating in the main dining room with us. If you really don't want to spend every minute of the cruise with your children have you considered asking P&O if you can either cancel and get your money back or move your cruise to 2023 or 2024 when hopefully things will have changed and the kids clubs will go back to normal.

I hope that you manage to get something sorted out so that you can all enjoy a lovely cruise experience.

[AchileLauro]

Is this policy any different to how it's always been?

It's quite a few years since we cruised with small children on P&O but I distinctly remember that it was necessary for one of us to be present when our youngest daughter was in the children's club in her early years.

[BouncingWheel]

This is "Covid" Policy and is has been on the P&O website for ages. It has meant a worse experience for these parents BUT P&O have been upfront about it on their website (with all the other items on how Covid impacts cruisers) and they also offer flexible transfers to those that want an alternative.

 

My advice is transfer your cruise to a later date. You will not enjoy this cruise as your expectations will not be met and you will always be thinking about what your cruise should be like whilst onboard. 

I have met people on board recent cruises that felt letdown and unhappy due to this and others that knew how it was going to be beforehand and accepted it so lowered expectations and had a great time.

 

On the plus side, you know about it now rather than discovering it for the first time when onboard.

[BouncingWheel]

9 hours ago, Tired mummy said:

I'm feeling guilty

p.s Please don't feel guilty. The holiday is for you as well as your children. You are providing them with a great holiday with lots of memories and are entitled to your some own time and memories as well as shared ones.

[Tired mummy]

8 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

I sympathise with you, it does seem a bit over the top to insist that you have to stay with your children even when they are in the kids club but my guess would be that it is a staffing issue because younger children do need more attention so there is a higher staff to children ration for the younger ones.  We have taken small children on cruises and because I was not happy to leave them with strangers we kept them with us at all times.  I realise that it was different for us because they were my niece's children not our own but we and they had a great time, they both enjoyed eating in the main dining room with us. If you really don't want to spend every minute of the cruise with your children have you considered asking P&O if you can either cancel and get your money back or move your cruise to 2023 or 2024 when hopefully things will have changed and the kids clubs will go back to normal.

I hope that you manage to get something sorted out so that you can all enjoy a lovely cruise experience.

Just off the phone to p & o customer service.  Yes things have changed since pre covid but they informed me that it's an evolving situation and this may go back to normal over the coming months. I really don't want to cancel this cruise, I think I'll just have to dry my eyes and gey on with it....how bad can it be really 😵‍💫

[Palaceman]

I appreciate this situation may not appear to be your ideal scenario, but, as a parent of adult children, may I encourage that you spend as much time with your offspring as you can while they are young. They soon grow up!

[BouncingWheel]

3 hours ago, Tired mummy said:

Just off the phone to p & o customer service.  Yes things have changed since pre covid but they informed me that it's an evolving situation and this may go back to normal over the coming months. I really don't want to cancel this cruise, I think I'll just have to dry my eyes and gey on with it....how bad can it be really 😵‍💫

It is evolving but will still be the same in July according to other threads on here where cruisers with children have posted letters from P&O informing/reconfirming the reduced kid club offering for their cruises. No news yet for anything August onwards and we are all waiting for this aspect to return to normal but it appears to be one of the very last to do so for some reason - I have not heard of any explanation why this area should not have returned whilst others have.

 

As your cruise is October then it is still more than 3months away and you can still transfer your cruise. I am not urging you to transfer but pointing out that you still have up to the 3months before (P&O balance due date) to decide and although that may only be as little as 2 weeks away it still gives you some time to evaluate and digest this information and maybe gather more 1st hand feedback from this and other media sites.

[Vampiress88]

We went April. Ours are older 7&6 but kids club was still restricted. It was a late deal for us so I knew what I was getting was reduced. It’s not brilliant for older ones like it was but at least we can leave them a little bit which was great to have a date night. 
there was still cohorts. So some of the days/times we were given wasn’t at a time good for us but at least got three hours every two days average for us. 
 

It wasn’t too bad with kids. There were discos and magic shows etc. we had good weather which meant pool. 
 

just weigh it up closer to the time. I understand cos when we go places that don’t have clubs we have them constantly and sometimes it’s nice to go to toilet without a conversation with a child at other side lol but it’s doable and it’s good memories. 
 

it’s difficult being a mum cos you don’t always get to relax or have that time. 
don’t feel bad x

[Ljdoc]

1 hour ago, Vampiress88 said:

We went April. Ours are older 7&6 but kids club was still restricted. It was a late deal for us so I knew what I was getting was reduced. It’s not brilliant for older ones like it was but at least we can leave them a little bit which was great to have a date night. 
there was still cohorts. So some of the days/times we were given wasn’t at a time good for us but at least got three hours every two days average for us. 
 

It wasn’t too bad with kids. There were discos and magic shows etc. we had good weather which meant pool. 
 

just weigh it up closer to the time. I understand cos when we go places that don’t have clubs we have them constantly and sometimes it’s nice to go to toilet without a conversation with a child at other side lol but it’s doable and it’s good memories. 
 

it’s difficult being a mum cos you don’t always get to relax or have that time. 
don’t feel bad x

 

22 hours ago, Tired mummy said:

Just off the phone to p & o customer service.  Yes things have changed since pre covid but they informed me that it's an evolving situation and this may go back to normal over the coming months. I really don't want to cancel this cruise, I think I'll just have to dry my eyes and gey on with it....how bad can it be really 😵‍💫

Tired mummy, we went on Ventura pre Covid with a 4 year old and did use the kids club but we also had him with us most of the time. He went to the main dining room each night and in any cruise I have been on other cruisers love to see kids and was always interact although iPads are very helpful!!! There was very little other activities during the day for kids outside of the club but on Iona there seems to be lots which will be good for all of the family. The club itself will still be able to be used and I am sure this will be a great place to take them. 
 

I’m going on Iona in a few weeks time and my boy is 7 now and won’t get full access to the club but still looking forward to it and no way I’d cancel. The whole family will have a blast. 
 

Vampiress88, could you advise how the times for cohorts worked as we have a cruise in a few weeks and whilst I know there are cohorts I’m not sure how it works with timings/days, etc. 

[JDB78]

We went on a RC cruise when our daughter was only about 8-9 months old. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Must admit dinner times were probably the most difficult as no 'baby' food is provided - who goes on holiday with 24-36 jars of baby food? We got by - macaroni and cheese pretty much every night for her. Lunch and breakfast were a lot easier and less stressful as we went to the buffet rather than the mdr so a bit more relaxed atmosphere.

 

Our daughter is 6 now and we are on Ventura in July. No guarantee at all that she'll want to go to the kids club + obviously there are covid restrictions and cohort rules so reduced hours. At the end of the day, it is what it is. Sometimes in the past even on RC which may be seen as little more relaxed and younger audience, you are made to feel like kids shouldn't be onboard - mainly its just glaring looks from some elderly guests. Me personally, I think if you go on a cruise with children especially young ones, then you have to accept that they are going to be there a lot of the time. I think it's great getting the kids dressed up in smart clothes for dinner + for them to be a part of the whole experience. 

 

If I remember rightly the kids club doesn't stay open that late either, we used to watch the main show at the theatre but often had to leave early to get up to the kids club (to pick up my son) before it closed at 10? Obviously the kids clubs are great for a temporary break, but in general, I'd say if you take kids on a ship, expect that they are going to be with you for the vast majority of the time.

[Vampiress88]

4 hours ago, Ljdoc said:

 

Tired mummy, we went on Ventura pre Covid with a 4 year old and did use the kids club but we also had him with us most of the time. He went to the main dining room each night and in any cruise I have been on other cruisers love to see kids and was always interact although iPads are very helpful!!! There was very little other activities during the day for kids outside of the club but on Iona there seems to be lots which will be good for all of the family. The club itself will still be able to be used and I am sure this will be a great place to take them. 
 

I’m going on Iona in a few weeks time and my boy is 7 now and won’t get full access to the club but still looking forward to it and no way I’d cancel. The whole family will have a blast. 
 

Vampiress88, could you advise how the times for cohorts worked as we have a cruise in a few weeks and whilst I know there are cohorts I’m not sure how it works with timings/days, etc. 

 

 

 

if your eyes go funny reading the top one. It’s not my camera but actually how they printed it. 
 

least you’ll get the jist. 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Vampiress88

[Ljdoc]

2 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

 

 

 

if your eyes go funny reading the top one. It’s not my camera but actually how they printed it. 
 

least you’ll get the jist. 

Thanks Vanpiress88,

 

This gives an excellent indication and it is certainly a lot less than normal and we would mostly use in the evening so looks like very little time and very similar to Tired mummy. Hopefully kids clubs will go back to normal soon for the sake of them and parents!! 
 

Nonetheless I am still looking forward to it and the extra family activities will be welcome. 

[oligopoly]

We got back from Britannia last Sunday and I can say - without exaggeration - it was one of the worst holidays we've ever had. We loved the ports, the food, the entertainment but the provision of kids club was a disappointing farce and ruined the experience for everyone in our group.

 

Our 8 year old had only 1 kids club session a day. It lasts around 2 hours (and the staff ask you to pick them up early!). It's either a day one or an evening one - the latter is just watching a film. At least you can leave the 8 year old while you do something else...

 

Our 4 year old had 2 sessions a day but an adult has to stay the whole time. After a couple of days of making glittery pirate hats it gets old quick. But the worst part is the lack of planning. There are no adult seats available. So you need to either sit on a kids chair or sit on the floor. No refreshments other than water. One of these 2 daily sessions is invariably in the evening. Who is going to choose to take their kid to said kids club over going for dinner or a show? Perhaps I'm a bad parent for thinking this, I don't know.

 

The extra dining options (limelight) are adults only, so unless an adult fancies dining alone then you can't take advantage of these extras...

 

I recognise that a holiday with young children (in fact life in general with young children!) is a compromise but asking children to play ball while you drag them along to dinner is emotionally draining for everyone and felt like a channel 4 documentary experiment. The looks from other diners/theatre goers while our children make normal children noise was awful. We felt like saying "don't blame us - blame P&O". 

 

Even when kids club returns to normal I'd have to think long and hard about whether I'd want to do this again, such was the bad experience.

[oligopoly]

What I forgot to include previously is on our last cruise our kid was 3. We were able to put him in kids club the whole day if we wanted to (apart from collecting for lunch and dinner before returning him). This service was available up to 11pm or even later from memory. This gave us total flexibility on what we wanted to do on the ship and meant we could take him to dinner if we wanted or have adults only time if we wanted. We never put him in for the whole day - we want to spend time with him and explore the fun of the ship. But we chose P&O to give us the option of having a break from him. In hindsight we should have postponed this trip for the third time and waited till Kids club was back to normal.

[newbie cruissy]

2 hours ago, oligopoly said:

What I forgot to include previously is on our last cruise our kid was 3. We were able to put him in kids club the whole day if we wanted to (apart from collecting for lunch and dinner before returning him). This service was available up to 11pm or even later from memory. This gave us total flexibility on what we wanted to do on the ship and meant we could take him to dinner if we wanted or have adults only time if we wanted. We never put him in for the whole day - we want to spend time with him and explore the fun of the ship. But we chose P&O to give us the option of having a break from him. In hindsight we should have postponed this trip for the third time and waited till Kids club was back to normal.

Maybe hire a nanny 😉

[Ardennais]

Oligopoly and Tired Mummy - you are certainly not bad parents! I fully understand where you’re coming from having been at once time a very very tired mummy of three under 4s on top of working full time. We all need a break and as I see it, you booked your holidays with the expectation, based on how things used to be or how they are marketed, that you would have some adult only time.

 

No doubt someone will say that you should have ‘reset’ your expectations - that phrase comes from another thread and still riles me! 
 

Many posters over the last few months have suggested that P&O are trying to attract a younger demographic. If so, they need to resolve these issues asap! 

[Harry Peterson]

4 hours ago, oligopoly said:

We got back from Britannia last Sunday and I can say - without exaggeration - it was one of the worst holidays we've ever had. We loved the ports, the food, the entertainment but the provision of kids club was a disappointing farce and ruined the experience for everyone in our group.

 

Our 8 year old had only 1 kids club session a day. It lasts around 2 hours (and the staff ask you to pick them up early!). It's either a day one or an evening one - the latter is just watching a film. At least you can leave the 8 year old while you do something else...

 

Our 4 year old had 2 sessions a day but an adult has to stay the whole time. After a couple of days of making glittery pirate hats it gets old quick. But the worst part is the lack of planning. There are no adult seats available. So you need to either sit on a kids chair or sit on the floor. No refreshments other than water. One of these 2 daily sessions is invariably in the evening. Who is going to choose to take their kid to said kids club over going for dinner or a show? Perhaps I'm a bad parent for thinking this, I don't know.

 

The extra dining options (limelight) are adults only, so unless an adult fancies dining alone then you can't take advantage of these extras...

 

I recognise that a holiday with young children (in fact life in general with young children!) is a compromise but asking children to play ball while you drag them along to dinner is emotionally draining for everyone and felt like a channel 4 documentary experiment. The looks from other diners/theatre goers while our children make normal children noise was awful. We felt like saying "don't blame us - blame P&O". 

 

Even when kids club returns to normal I'd have to think long and hard about whether I'd want to do this again, such was the bad experience.

 

4 hours ago, oligopoly said:

What I forgot to include previously is on our last cruise our kid was 3. We were able to put him in kids club the whole day if we wanted to (apart from collecting for lunch and dinner before returning him). This service was available up to 11pm or even later from memory. This gave us total flexibility on what we wanted to do on the ship and meant we could take him to dinner if we wanted or have adults only time if we wanted. We never put him in for the whole day - we want to spend time with him and explore the fun of the ship. But we chose P&O to give us the option of having a break from him. In hindsight we should have postponed this trip for the third time and waited till Kids club was back to normal.

I very much sympathise.  Our children have long since left home and produced their own, but when we took them on holiday the children's clubs that were available were an essential part of the holiday for all of us.  They absolutely loved the company of other children, and we had a bit of valuable time to ourselves, knowing that they were safe.

 

To have booked in the expectation of getting that, but not getting it, must have been a huge disappointment, and I can fully understand how you'll feel about the experience.

[Ljdoc]

It is also strange that P&O still have restrictions on kids clubs considering on MSC last July the kids club operated as normal although they did try to keep the kids distanced, sanitised and a mask had to be worn but there was no cohorts and it was open the usual MSC times and was very well staffed. 
 

Also, sometimes the kids need a break from the parents too and kids club are great place to socialise and after the last 2 years that is something every child needs now more than ever.  

[Riddoch]

I wonder if the restrictions are no longer about  covid but a shortage of staff (or cost) issue. Either they have not been been able  to hire enough or they have planned on doing the entire season with this policy in place.

 I had another look on the website on the main page about the kids club there is no mention of time restrictions, just a one line “Pre-registration is essential.” Which I had taken to mean was the normal register at the start of the cruise. Apparently you can do that 2 weeks before the cruise on the holiday planner webpage, I only found that out by accident when ring customer services about something else.

Our daughter is now 10 so we are less concerned but she loves the stage shows so it would be a pain if the allocated times aren’t inline with what we would want to do. 

[oligopoly]

2 hours ago, Riddoch said:

I wonder if the restrictions are no longer about  covid but a shortage of staff (or cost) issue.

 

I would say 100% it's this. There's 1 staff member for up to, perhaps 10 kids in the session. If there were 2 more staff members then it would be more than manageable for kids to be left. I even joekd with my wife that they could even charge extra for "babysitting" and most of the families would happily pay for it.

[AchileLauro]

If similar rules are applied as they are on land the staff to child ratio is dependent on the child's age.

If I remember correctly children up to two years of age require a staff to child ratio of 1 staff member for every three children. For children between the ages of two and four require a staff to child ratio of 1:4 I think (even less sure on this figure).

So supervising very young children will require large numbers of staff.

 

Having taken young and very young children on P&O in the past I can only say that this is one area where P&O have absolutely excelled in the past. The company absolutely exceeded our expectations even going so far as to enquire about food requirements for our one year old daughter and providing a light weight stroller so that we didn't even have to take our own pushchair for trips ashore.

 

Saying that it became so much easier when our children grew up a bit as cruising with a very young child can be wearing and often take a fair bit of pre-planning. At times I just wish we could have left the kid's in the boarding kennels along with the dogs. LOL.  Judging by the number of parents you see walking the prom deck of an evening pushing a push chair trying to get little one to go to sleep we weren't the only ones to go through it.

Edited June 17, 2022 by AchileLauro
just to add.

[Ljdoc]

It is definitely a shortage of staff causing this, this is what their their recent email stated. 
 

The current and extraordinary impact of COVID-19 in the UK, in the wider hospitality, service and airline industry as a whole has resulted in a temporary disruption to crew members available to join our ships. Therefore, we are currently operating a reduced service in our children’s club.

 

Totally agree that pre pandemic P&O had an excellent kids club and the best we used which is probably leading to more disappointment from parents and kids.  

[BouncingWheel]

The summer school holidays will lead to a lot of complaints if they don't resolve this. I knew about the cahorts system and issues for 2-4 year olds and no night nursery but I didn't realize that even the cahorts were restricted to 1 short session a day as mentioned in this thread. This was an area where P&O excelled and although I sympathize with crew issues they have had months now to onboard and train people.

[AchileLauro]

In the past P&O have employed  suitably qualified temporary staff for the duration of the school holidays and I'm sure that they are probably considering doing that once again to allow for the greater numbers of children being carried. However I'm sure this will very much depend on a safe method of work being devised that considers the current and near future covid risk.