Help...Kids club Question???

[Andy99]

The first cruise for our kids was the Disney cruise. They loved it and had an amazing time. Disney is a little on the expensive side and we are looking to take another Family cruise. My wife and I were hoping some one could tell us the best ship in the fleet for the kids. I'm sure the Staff is great on all the ships but the kids got spoiled with the huge kids club areas on the Disney ship. What would be the best ship for us. I was hoping to find one with a larger kids club area as well as great programs. If anyone could share with us your experience with the kids club and the ships.

 

Thanks

Andy

 

Just an added note my son will be almost 6 and my daughter will be 8 when we take our next cruise.

[cruisingwith6]

We have been on the 3, 4 and 7 night Disney cruises with our kids (now age 7, 10, 12 and 15). We also sailed on Royal Caribbean's Mariner last year and have another Mariner cruise booked for July and a Voyager for March 08.

 

The kids programming on Royal Caribbean is not as strong as Disney's....we thought that the counselors were a lot less enthusiastic and although a large amount of space was dedicated to the kids club, there wasn't much in there.....lots of empty space and lots of running around. The kids didn't spend much time there except for the $5/ hour after 10;00 when they loved the dodge ball like game that was played!

 

However, there is so much to do on the ship besides the kids programming that we had a great time. The kids loved the mini golf, ice skating, roller blading and rock climbing. As adults, we find a lot more to do on Royal Caribbean so it is a good match for us. We really like the Voyager Class ships (and would love to try the Freedom Class but the cost has been prohibited so far). So, we have a great time on ANY cruise but the kids love both Disney and the Voyager Class ships for different reasons....Hope that helps a little!

[CruisinNJ]

Freedom would be my vote for the best. They have a large Adventure Ocean facility and a great water park area. My next vote would be Voyager, Explorer or Adventure, as they all have a kids pool area with slides on the deck behind the Adventure Ocean facility. The Radiance class ships Adventure Ocean space is much smaller, and over holiday weeks it is very crowded, while the Voyager and Freedom Class spaces are large enough to handle hundreds of kids with ease.

 

By the way, our kids have so much fun, they don't like to miss a minute of being there!!

 

Good luck - off to my 4-8-07 Explorer sailing early tomorrow.

[PhoenixCruiser]

This PDF might help http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/pdf/Adventure_Ocean_Fact_Sheet.pdf

 

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[VacationsRme]

I agree with MRoadster, your kids will love any of these ships. We went on a Voyager Cruise when my daughter was 6. When she was 8 we went on a Disney Cruise. The whole time she kept saying how much better she liked the Voyager compared to the Disney ship. My husband and I were shocked. The freedom would be perfect. Happy cruising!

[Andy99]

Thanks for the info i will look into the voyager class ships.

[noonan5]

Our kids loved the club on the Mariner. Staff was very involved, even arranged Parent/child activitys. Much better than Disney experience when kids felt like cattle with over 1000 kids each time we sailed. They would not spend any time in them by the third cruise on Disney.(Mariner had only about 150 or so. They would not comment on exact amount but when I guessed 150 they said not far off.)

[Suzanne74]

We just got off the Navigator. Our daughter is 5 and loved the kids club. The ages are 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, and 11 to ?. Anyway - we were sure our daughter would want to be with 6-8 but she loved her section. It was a lot smaller but there was at most 15 kids at a time. It was usually around 10 kids and they had 2 councelors there. The 6-8 group was much larger and my daughter found the smaller setting and group more fun. They did tons of arts n crafts, went on hunts around the cruise ship, had a pirate party and parade then looked for treasure around the ship. They also had a PJ night, a carnival night, a circus daytime party, an astronaut adventure and many other things. There were times she didn't want to leave.

 

Overall it seems that kids around 8 and over are the majority on RCCL. I think once they get to that "disney is for babies age." There is so much to do on the ship and family disco's, scavenger hunts, sports games etc...

 

Plus on Disney - it is the minority to NOT have kids where RCCL caters to many honeymooners, large parties, couples, friends crusin together so it alleviates the masses of kids on the ship. They do not need as large as facilites.

 

The downside is that on port days the clubs aren't open all day. They are from 9-12pm, 2-5pm, and 7-10pm and then another $5 an hour for late night 10-1am. I can understand this is a good thing to not keep you kid in there all day to abuse the system but it would have been nice to relax and get some things done on ship days without constantly looking at your watch to see if it is pick up time yet.

 

We are definitely going to do RCCL again but we are also going to try Disney while dd is on the young side.

 

I recommend, any Voyager ship but not Navigator or Mariner IF you need a kids pool as they do not have one. I also think the Freedom or Liberty looks really nice too. That is what we will try next.

[KarinaGW]

If you click the Explorer link in my sig, you will find all the activities schedules for each age range for each day of the 9-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. On different cruises individual activities may vary, but this will give you a good idea of the scope of the activities

[Suzanne74]

The downside is that on port days the clubs aren't open all day

 

Woops, I meant "At Sea Days." They are open all day for port days

[mtebor]

we were on soveriegn for a 4 day cruise and my daughter (7) loved it. Before our trip she would complain about family time, well during the cruise we had to complain to her about family time as she always wanted to go to adventure club :)

 

We are booked on Freedom later on this year and I know she'll have a great time.

[jerseygirl63]

Our kids, now 12 & 8, loved their first RCCL cruise. We were worried because our first cruise was with Disney, but they loved the program and the staff. The last Disney cruise we went on we found ourselves looking for things to do in the afternoon. There is more activities offered on RCCL. I think you will be pleased with RCCL and so will your pocketbook;)

[cmich068]

at 6-8, the basic Adventure Ocean facilities are pretty strong, even on the older fleet.... As always, the newer ships have more, Adventure, Explorer, and Voyager as well as a few of the Radiance class ships (if not all) have a small childern's pool area with a small slide segregated from the main pool area, Freedom and Liberty have a sort of "Splash Zone" water park located directly next to the main pools.

[TampaMom2Girls]

There is a lot of great info here, but it leaves me with some questions:

 

1: the kids clubs close at 10pm? so if you want to enjoy any of the ship's nightlife you need to pay for them to stay in the clubs?

 

2. on days at sea there are no organized kids activities and the clubs are closed?

 

3. what is the method of communication with the parents. On DCL, they have wristbands and beepers. Anything like this on RC?

 

Thanks for the info!

[KarinaGW]

There is a lot of great info here, but it leaves me with some questions:

 

1: the kids clubs close at 10pm? so if you want to enjoy any of the ship's nightlife you need to pay for them to stay in the clubs?

 

2. on days at sea there are no organized kids activities and the clubs are closed?

 

3. what is the method of communication with the parents. On DCL, they have wristbands and beepers. Anything like this on RC?

 

Thanks for the info!

 

1. There's after-hours in-cabin babysitting also available besides the in-club. Have no details on it...sorry.

2. There's Adventure Ocean everyday....at least onthe Voyager class ships.

3. They don't have for the older kids...don't know about the littles....well, they do have wristbands.

2.

[Cuizer2]

The first cruise for our kids was the Disney cruise. They loved it and had an amazing time. Disney is a little on the expensive side and we are looking to take another Family cruise. My wife and I were hoping some one could tell us the best ship in the fleet for the kids. I'm sure the Staff is great on all the ships but the kids got spoiled with the huge kids club areas on the Disney ship. What would be the best ship for us. I was hoping to find one with a larger kids club area as well as great programs. If anyone could share with us your experience with the kids club and the ships.

 

Thanks

Andy

 

Just an added note my son will be almost 6 and my daughter will be 8 when we take our next cruise.

 

Disney is a "little" on the expensive side? So is Rolls Royce.

 

At any rate, on to your question. The best ships for your aged children would be the Freedom or Liberty of the Seas. Both have a mini water park that your aged children would love. The Freedom of the Seas is one year old, the Liberty of the Seas will begin taking paying passengers next month. Both offer seven day Caribbean cruises.

 

Here are some photos of the mini water park on the Freedom ...

 

 

 

Another RCI ship I would recommend is the Enchantment of the Seas. This ship was recently stretched (yes, made longer). A bungee trampoline and top-deck suspension bridges were added. The Enchantment of the Seas does four and five day Caribbean cruises.

 

Here is a link to some not very good pictures of the bungee trampoline area ... http://www.webshots.com/search?query=Enchantment+of+the+Seas+trampoline&new=1&source=chromeheader

 

Next in line I would recommend the two newest Voyage class ships (Navigator and Mariner of the Seas) and the Radiance class ships.

[Cruisechic470]

I recommend the voyager and freedom class ships, their adventure ocean kids program is big. And therre is alot for kids to do both with Adeventure ocean and just out on their own.

[Suzanne74]

There is a lot of great info here, but it leaves me with some questions:

 

1: the kids clubs close at 10pm? so if you want to enjoy any of the ship's nightlife you need to pay for them to stay in the clubs?

 

2. on days at sea there are no organized kids activities and the clubs are closed?

 

3. what is the method of communication with the parents. On DCL, they have wristbands and beepers. Anything like this on RC

 

1.If you want to stay out and enjoy you pay $5/hr from 10-1am. The kids just stay in after 10pm. No need to go back at that point. Whatever time you arrive they just take your sea pass and sharge your account. It takes all of 5min to do when you pick up the kids.

 

2. At Sea Days they are open and have organized activites. They are open from 9-Noon. 2-5pm and then again 7-10pm with the option of staying until 1am. At Port Days they open 1/2hr before the first tender leaves and stays open straight thu until ship leaves (normally 4-5pm depending on port) then they close and reopen at 7pm for nighttime.

 

There are 3 nights (both formal nights and another random one) where there is an option to check the kids in at 6pm and the kids club takes them to dinner at Windjammer for no charge and then they go straight back to Kids Club for night activities. My daughter did this 2 times and liked it both times. She wasn't a fan of 2hr dining with us. You have to sign up prior to noon that day. Port days the kids are taken to Windjammer for lunch at noon and ice cream socials at 3pm if they are signed in at that time. All no extra charge.

 

3. Each kid has a wristband that shows their Muster station number so in case of emergency they know where to bring the kids. It does not have any kid info on it. You fill out a form as to who can pick the kids up. I am not really sure how much they enforce this. My daughter was in 3-5 group which was never more then 10-15 kids. The councelors knew my daughter and both myself and husband by name after the first day. It was a non-issue signing her in and out. They do offer beepers to kids in the 3-5yr old group if they think you or they might need it. We chose not to as our daughter is 5yrs old and LOVED the kids club from the get go.

 

Hope this all helps!!

[Suzanne74]

One more quick thing. I do not recommend Navigator or Mariner. Neither have a kids pool. The other Voyager ships all do as well as the Radiance class and Freedom class.

[crusinmama06]

For the price of a Cat 6 on Disney Magic I got a a Grand Suite with all of the ammenities on RCCL Freedom of the Seas. We'll be leaving in a little over 2 weeks, but from all that I have seen...this is going to be the best ship ever for kids.

[Cuizer2]

One more quick thing. I do not recommend Navigator or Mariner. Neither have a kids pool. The other Voyager ships all do as well as the Radiance class and Freedom class.

 

I don't think a six year old and an eight year old wants to be in the pool for "babies".

[thehucks]

We have had the pleasure of sailing on both the Mariner of the Seas and on the Disney Wonder within the last year. I can tell you this - Mariner won hands down!!! The ship is stunning and we never felt like it was too large. My outgoing 3 year old daughter loved Adventure Ocean on Mariner and she is still talking about it now! Disney, on the other hand had sooooooo many kids in the Oceaneer Club that she was simply overwhelmed and really felt a bit lost. On Mariner, we were never paged. However, on Disney, we were paged several times a day, because she was unhappy. The counselors on Disney just didn't seem to be engaging with the kids, but rather just letting them run wild, doing their own thing.

 

The one thing that she really liked were the character greeting times with Disney. Obviously, we're going to save a chunk of change :D and cruise with Royal Caribbean from now on. My DD now refers to Mariner of the Seas as "her plain cruise" :rolleyes: and wants to know when we can go again.

[vavasmom]

For the price of a Cat 6 on Disney Magic I got a a Grand Suite with all of the ammenities on RCCL Freedom of the Seas. We'll be leaving in a little over 2 weeks, but from all that I have seen...this is going to be the best ship ever for kids.

 

We just got back from a week on FOTS. We paid $300 more for our Grand Suite than my price quote for a cat 6. The room was about twice a big (we have sailed a cat 6 twice and have one booked in Dec). The concierge was wonderful and the extra space in the room and balcony can not be described. We are wondering how we will enjoy our Christmas cruise on Disney.

 

We loved the Freedom. Our daughter is 11 and enjoyed spending time in Adventure Ocean.

[Suzanne74]

I don't think a six year old and an eight year old wants to be in the pool for "babies".

 

Uh, they are not baby pools. Adventure Ocean on the other Voyager ships have a slide, water jets and water play areas. Babies aren't even allowed in them as only potty trained kids 3 and older can be there. The majority of the kids in that pool area are 4-8yrs old. The ones that can't swim in deep water alone but can play and go down water slides alone in waist or knee level water.

 

The 2 pools on Navigator and Mariner are 5'3" deep so unless her 6 and 8 year old are avid swimmers in deep water, they are going to have a real hard time swimming in those pools. This is why the whirlpools in the main pool are stuffed with kids on the Navigator. They are the "pools" that the kids play in and the pool attendants say they are allowed to be in there. I was just on the ship last week and asked about it. At one point there was 8 kids, 2 adults in one whirlpool, 11 kids, 0 adults in another whirlpool, 3 kids in the one smaller whirlpool and 7 kids in the other small whirlpool. This was when I got up and asked. The only rules for the main pool whirlpools are no food/drink. Kids are allowed. :( It was said by many on that ship that a kids pool area was desperately needed and I agree.

[sushraya]

New to cruising. Planning on going on the Legend of the Seas this June. Have two kids (14 and 9). How is the Legend for kids this age? I read on another thread that the solarium is for adults only. Are there any pools/areas on the Legend for kids?