School Age Kids

[C cruzer]

Hi everyone,

I was just reading on another post that there are very few kids on Jan cruises on RCCL. I have found on Carnival that of course there are less kids in Jan than Holiday weeks but there always seem to be kids in each age group. I'm pulling my DD out of school for three days with a long weekend (MLK). Now I'm worried. She will be in the 9-11 age group and I just hope there are at least a few kids her age. What do you all think. I'm looking so foward to our trip but I dont want her to be board:( Have you sailed with school age kids in Jan? How was the adventure ocean?

 

Thanks:)

[Onessa]

Our school district does not have the day off for MLK (or Columbus day or Presidents day for that matter) so that is not a weekend when we usually travel. Our cousins from Illinois, do have long weekends for those holidays and do generally travel those weeks (some cruises, some AI resorts). She indicated that there are "always" lots of kids those weeks. They do tend to do the shorter cruises 3, 4, or 5 day always warm weather.

[perthgirl]

We just came back from a 12 day Carnival cruise of the Med where there were only 30 kids on the ship (out of 3000 people)

 

My daughter (aged 10) attended the kids club for a few hours most port days and while it was quiet she still enjoyed it because there was plenty of attention. On one occasion there was only herself and a boy in the club when one of the Carnival dancers was teaching them some steps. The boy didn't want to participate so she had a private lesson and enjoyed it. She also enjoyed the fact that the dancer remembered her and waved to her at the end of the show featuring 'their' dance.

 

She was a real hit on the ship and got attention from all the adults so felt very special. I say - go for it!

[CanadianTwosome]

I agree with Perthgirl. If there aren't any other kids her age, there will still be a youth worker assigned to her age group, so she'll have a paid companion any time she wants one!! We were on the Dream last December 2 - 9, so there weren't as many kids as there would have been two weeks later, but there were enough for my daughter to make a really nice friend. Don't forget to check your roll call as well and see if anyone else with kids is going. You might find someone that your daughter can get to know online before you sail. :)

[Dengail]

Our kids always had more fun with the great youth staff than the other kids anyway....

[Cruisin' Chick]

It's quite possible (at least on some cruiselines) that if there are few kids onboard, that some ages would be grouped together. That happened when my girl was 5 and there were only two other 5-yr-olds on a February cruise. One of the kids' rooms was closed and there were fewer activities.

[abitaturbodog]

I prefer to cruise the week AFTER Thanksgiving because there are very few kids on board. (Usually there's roughly 100 kids around that time.)

 

My sons enjoy getting the special attention from the counselors. You'll find that the counselors are more fun and laid back when there are just a few kids.

 

This past Easter we cruised for the first time over a holiday and it was CRAZY!!!! There were 1400 kids on board! Although my sons still had a great time, they complained about some of the "bad" kids in their group. I'm sure the counselors had their hands full!

 

Also, if your daughter is between 9 and 11 there is a good chance that she won't want to spend a lot of time in camp. I've found that the older they get, the more they want to "hang out" with new friends and avoid the Kids Camp because it's for "babies."

[SelectSys]

Hi everyone,

... I'm pulling my DD out of school for three days with a long weekend (MLK). Now I'm worried. She will be in the 9-11 age group and I just hope there are at least a few kids her age. What do you all think. I'm looking so foward to our trip but I dont want her to be board:( ...

 

Cruises over the MLK holiday will most likely have more kids. I wouldn't worry about it.

[C cruzer]

Thanks everyone for the info. Your right, I'm sure there will be some kids and if not alot she will get more personal attention. Now just to pick our shore excursions...

 

:) Thanks