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.

[crusinmama06]

My oldest is that age and she loved Camp Carnival. If you want the newest ships in the fleet, try Freedom and Liberty (I think that's what they are called)

 

From what I understand, some of the best ships on the sea for kids right now are the Royal Carribean Voyager Class and Freedom Class ships...Freedom/Liberty of the Seas, Explorer/Adventure/Voyager of the Seas.

 

We were booked to go on Explorer but I had a scheduling conflict. :mad: But from reading everything at CC about it, families LOVE the Voyager class ships.

 

We are leaving for the Freedom of the Seas in 3 weeks. Those ships are a family PARADISE

www.freedomoftheseas.com

 

I'll be able to give more of a review when I get back. RCCL has Adventure Ocean. I am planning on taking loads of pics of the kids areas and posting them when I return.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Go on a big ship with just about any major cruiseline and there will be a big enough kids' area. Just avoid the upper crust types (Regent, etc.) and the tiny ships. You can look at the deck plans for just about any ship and see where the kids' areas are located. On Princess, there's three separate rooms by age (I think similar to Carnival). I didn't think they were small at all.

 

If you want to go when there's a full-blown program, go when there's plenty of kids (between June and late August, mid to late December, and spring break time, usually mid-March to early April, around Easter).

[Quilting_Cruiser]

My DD absolutely loves Camp Carnival (look in my signature for how old she was on our previous cruises). She wakes up every morning asking when she can go to camp. They have lots of activities for the kids and family time as well.

 

In second or third grade the teacher gave an assignment to write an essay about their favorite place. Hers started with, "There's a ship called the Carnival Spirit with a place called Camp Carnival..."

 

Cheers!

Jayne

 

:)

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

My kids (6 and 8) loved RCI's Jewel of the Sea. Adventure Ocean was so much fun, I had a hard time getting them off the ship at ports. Plus. They have a kids wading pool and a waterslide. Although they were older for the pool, it was a great way for them to cool off (and hang out) with their friends from AO before heading down the waterslide again. The waterslide was specific for the kids of the ship, so there was no rowdiness or anything. People without kids were turned away. It was a huge slide, and tons of fun. We are currently planning our next cruise again, and I asked them about the Freedom wtih the whole waterpark and they both prefer going back on Jewel. Although Cruisinmama, I am looking forward to your Freedom review and pics, maybe once they see real pics, they can be swayed. I would love to do the Freedom.

Hope this helps,

Kim

[Dgonza]

We just got off the Star Princess 2weeks ago. The areas for kids was large. I scanned a copy of the princess kids patter for the whole week. I am not sure how to post it on here. Can anyone help me out? But if you like I can email it to you. My email is dgonza_1@hotmail.com It list all the activities, and kids programs that are put on. My kids had a blast!!

[Ga_Crusin]

I really liked the Celebrity Infinity kids area. The kids didn't want to go to ports and the beach because they liked the kids area so much.

[silkhair1]

We have only been on NCL cruises with our kids and they were great with them. They could not wait to go everyday. That makes it so much nicer on everyone!!!!!

[Andy99]

Thanks for all the feedback. We are having such a hard time trying to decided!

[rebeccalouise]

In my experience young children love any ship that they are on. Isn't it great!

 

As a parent, I have now done Disney (my son's favorite), Norwegian, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

 

Without a doubt Celebrity is my personal favorite and fortuneately my son loves it too. They are open from 9AM-1AM everyday (except day of embarkation) without interruption. The kids must be picked up and taken to lunch sometime between 12-2 but the Fun Factory still operates during those hours. In other words, the counselors are not responsible for feeding the kids lunch. On Port Days the kids can stay on board all day and then they are escorted to lunch with the youth staff.

Every nite at 6PM the kids can eat with the other kids in the buffet ($6 charge). After 10 there is a $ 6 per hour charge.

I traveled on Royal Caribbean over Easter week and there were over 500 kids. Last year on Constellation (Celebrity) there were only 300 kids. I like that they get more individual attention on Celebrity. I like having more freedom and being able to dine in peace every nite. It is a win-win situation. Everyone is happy!

[DCPIV]

Our older son (6) has always enjoyed Adventure Ocean on RCCL. We've also had problems getting him out of there, sometime. He didn't spend as much time there last cruise, as he discovered the pool. :)

 

We've always been very comfortable with the RCCL kids' staff. On sea days, Adventure Ocean usually is open from 9am-noon, 2pm-6pm, and 7pm-10pm. From 10pm-1am, they have group sitting in AO for $5/hour/child. AO is open all times the ship is in port (except for embarkation and debarkation days). Occasionally, they'll do a dinner for the kids at no charge.

 

I can see why you have trouble deciding. Many lines have great children's programs these days.

 

 

D

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

Rebeccalouise, So glad to hear your experience on Constellation. We are going on her next Feb. Either the week before or the week of school vacation. We are really looking forward to it, and have heard many great things about the kids program.

Thanks,Kim

[2Cruise4Ever]

Our 2 kids (2 and 7 at the time) absolutely LOVED the kid crew on NCL Dawn. They still talk about it and it's been nearly 2 years!!! We're going again this June and it's still all they can talk about! They are 4 and 9 now. I've heard that the Kids Crew on NCL is better for the newer ships (Dawn, Star, Spirit, Gem, and Pearl) than on the older ones because it's bigger with more activities.

[merela]

We just got off the Star Princess 2weeks ago. The areas for kids was large. I scanned a copy of the princess kids patter for the whole week. I am not sure how to post it on here. Can anyone help me out? But if you like I can email it to you. My email is dgonza_1@hotmail.com It list all the activities, and kids programs that are put on. My kids had a blast!!

 

I've posted one a while back. The theme changes, but the activities stayed pretty much the same.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=250207

[rebeccalouise]

Rebeccalouise, So glad to hear your experience on Constellation. We are going on her next Feb. Either the week before or the week of school vacation. We are really looking forward to it, and have heard many great things about the kids program.

Thanks,Kim

 

 

Have a wonderful time. Constellation is the prettiest ship I have sailed (and I've been on 21 different ships)

[Andy99]

Well we did it! We just booked on the Liberty of the Seas for April 19th of 2008.

I hope the kids will love it as much as they did there Disney cruise...

 

I was going to book an ocean view w/ balcony but then I saw I was able to get two rooms with an adjoining door for the same price. They are promenade View rooms. I know I will love the extra space and the extra bathroom. I hope I wont regret not having the balcony...

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

We have sailed on the Adventure of the Seas. Our table mates had 2 teenage boys who shared a promenade view room, with the parents across the hall in a balcony cabin. During the parades, the parents and my DH and I went into the promenade view room to watch. You will have a great view for a bunch of fun stuff!

Enjoy!

Kim