Want advice? Just off the Radiance!

[Julie O.]

Hello everyone, just off the Radiance of the Seas, Eastern Caribbean. I thought I would offer my observations, it might help other families. My children are 7 and 9 and it was our first cruise. We had an amazing time.

 

Here are my tips:

 

1) Book late seating. We had early seating and our children rushed through every meal so that they could return to Adventure Ocean. I also had to rush everyone to get ready to make it to the dinning room for 6:00. The Windjammer (buffet )had food available all the time, so the kids were eating something about every 2 hours. This meant by dinner time, they were not really hungry for a big dinner. I would have enjoyed dinner much more had I booked late seating with just my husband and I. The kids were at Adventure Ocean from 7:00 pm until 10:00 every night. This would have allowed my husband and I to enjoy dinner instead of rushing every night.

 

2)Don't book excursions. My family felt very rushed at every port. You only have about 8-10 hours on the islands, so there is very little time. I had booked excursions ahead of time, so we had very limited time to see the island other than our excursion. Again.....rush.....rush.....rush.

 

3)Kids just want to swim and play with other kids. Don't forget this very important point. I would have liked to do much more exploring, but the kids were much happier just staying on the ship to play with other kids and swim.

 

4)Allow one precruise night and day. This allows the children to unwind before going on the ship. Our kids were not as hyper because they had already had a full day swimming and enjoying being on vacation. It also allowed my husband and I to unwind as well.

 

5)Bring two bottles of suncreen. You will need both. Try the "spray on" one. We had the lotion and it seemed to take 20 minutes to get the kids ready to go in the sun.

 

6)Bring a journal for them to write in each night. I bought the kids each a vacation scrap book with vacation stickers and stencils. Each night they couldn't wait to write down what they did each day and decorate their pages.

 

7)Be careful of the many photographers! There are many photographers taking pictures all the time. The pictures look wonderful but very expensive. It's very hard to say no when they catch so many great shots. With that said, we spent $110.00 within the first two days. It was really hard not to buy more.

 

8)Make sure to get a balcony room. The rooms are very small, and it seemed like the balcony was used for anyone who wanted a little quiet, downtime. Even the kids would sneak out for a few minutes to themselves! It was absolutely worth the extra money.

 

Hope this helps. If anyone has any questions I will check back often. Take Care!

 

Julie

[dolphins76]

Yes, I agree about late seating. This will only be our 2nd cruise but on our first we did late seating cause we were with a group of i think 26....it worked out great. The kids either ate dinner with the camp 2 or 3 days a week or on the other nights they had room service they went to camp and we had time to ourself to get ready for dinner and drinks before hand. Yes, lots of sunscreen is a key thing...when we were on our cruise Feb 04 our kids were always wearing it...better to be safe then sorry. Yes, and with the pics....its very hard to say no when they are the cutest pics of your children...on our 1st cruise we spent $160.00 on pics...but im my eyes it was well worth it :)

Thanks so much for your tips and Im glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

 

Jayme

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

What were your ports?

[Julie O.]

Our first stop was Cococay, Bahamas. We had booked the snorkel excursion here. My youngest is 7 and she stuggled with the snorkelling. We had to be back on the ship for 3:30 p.m.

 

Next stop was St. Thomas. We went on the Atlantis submarine. We left the pier at 11:00 and did not return until 2:30. The ship left at 5:00 pm. It was interesting, but something you would only do once.

 

Last stop was in St. Maarten. We went on the Shipwreck Snorkel Adventure. Since I had booked our excursions 3 months ahead, I did not know then, that my daughter would not do well with snorkelling. This was from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm. The ship left at 5:00 as well.

 

I would have liked to experience the island more. The kids would have enjoyed the beaches much more than the excursions.

 

Hope this helps!:)

 

Julie

[MERED1TH]

 

2)Don't book excursions. My family felt very rushed at every port. You only have about 8-10 hours on the islands, so there is very little time. I had booked excursions ahead of time, so we had very limited time to see the island other than our excursion. Again.....rush.....rush.....rush.

 

You lost me on this one. There are some ports where an excursion is a must do. If your children enjoy a little adventure and are the get out there type.

 

For Example,

Stingray City - Grand Cayman

Shark Ray Alley - Belize

Sea Turtles - Barbados

 

If you plan to take a young child snorkeling have them practice at home in a pool or even the bath tub. You can also bring a float vest, this makes snorkeling much easier on them and you.

 

I have taken my two kids, now ages 6 and 10 on the above excursions plus many others and they loved every second of it.

[serene56]

Julie: was this your first cruise?? (most first time cruisers get an overload of the pictures...then you learn- lol First cruise we also went overboard on pics...like we were never gonna get pictures like that again...lol Now we buy the embarkation and only 1 formal night pic.

 

Before we cruised I discovered this site. We did late seating. It was nice but- the camps are closed at 10...disco for the teens started at 8 and ended at 10 so the teens onboard with us suffered. Before we left home we told all the kids that dinner with us was manadtory since this was our family vacation. There was no hard feelings and they loved it. Next cruises we did early and it worked so much better for us. Dinner was over before 8pm when the disco was opening...

 

You said that the kids would rather stay onboard the ship instead of doing excursions-- I am sure that the majority of the kids go on the islands with the parents. Last time iN jamaica there was hardly a soul on the ship. (it ws so nice...lol

[Julie O.]

I should explain a little further on this one. The excusions were fun and the kids did enjoy them. I guess next time I wouldn't book so far in advance, but choose on the day we port. That way if the kids wanted to leave the ship and explore we would have a choice.

 

And yes this was my first cruise. I learned so much from this site, it was half the fun planning and researching all about cruising!

[serene56]

Each cruise gets easier as each one gets done. We all learn the do's and dont's.

Planning is part of the fun. I dont know if i could go into a port and not have a plan- especially in some ports that are run down like Jamaica or Belieze.

 

How come you did the sub tour in st thomas and didnt look up Godfrey tours? We did the sub tour in Cozumel. It was nice. wouldnt do it again. but trying it out was good.

[travellady]

We felt differently about dinner seating times. On our first cruise we did late seating and my son, 11, hated missing the kids evening programs so by the last 2 nights, he didn't eat dinner with us at all.

 

We just completed 2 additional cruises, had early seating, and it worked much better for us. He ate all meals with us and then headed out to do kids activities for the evening. And, we were hungry later for the midnight buffet and didn't enjoy it as much when we had late seating.

[ckrobyn]

What a great thread!

 

We are cruising for the first time with our 8 year old daughter, and we have booked early seating on the recommendation of our TA. I had no clue about cruising when I originally booked ( Last July), knowing what I know now, I may have changed a few things around.

 

My daughter is highly sociable but I don't think she will want to participate in the "organized" events ie: Adventure Ocean, therefore we are giving her that option and she can make the final decision as to whether she wants to join in or not. We will however encourage her every step of the way! I have heard terrific things about the program.

 

I am hoping that there will be lots of kids on the cruise and that she will make friends :) .

 

Did anyone dine in the specialty restaurants? I have been reading a thread on the main RCI board that says kids have to be 13 or over to be in those restaurants?

 

If there is any advice you can give these first time cruisers with an 8 year old daughter, it will be very welcomed!

 

Happy New Year to you all!

[serene56]

Your daughter does NOT have to particiapate in all the activities. I mean if she joins she can come and go to the program as she wishes. She really should try it. This is where she will meet and greet people her own age.

 

On our first cruise we made the kids go and try it the first night. THey hated that we were forcing them to go--its gonna be lame-- they thought they were too cool for the program- guess what-- it was the best thing we ever did for them that week. They loved it and were glad we forced them the first night.

 

Kids are supposed to be 13 to go to the supper clubs. Its a long time for dinner. a tad more then the regular dining room. If you think your 8 year old could sit through that...without getting bored or fidgity...then go for it. If you and your husband want to try it out--- let her go to the kids club to do things they offer that night.

[kjanders]

We are getting ready to go on the Voyager in March. I've booked early seating, but after reading this, am having second thoughts. We have a 5 and 7 year old, and I know they won't like the idea of missing anything. I also like the idea of not rushing to get ready for dinner and make it to the dining room by 6 (we're even in port at Cozumel until 7 one day). I was wondering: when the kids eat with the AO program, is there a dress code-or do they go in shorts,etc.? Also, I'm assuming you would make your dinner reservation for the entire party, that way should we want them to accompany us to dinner in the dining room, it wouldn't be a problem?

 

After reading these threads, it seems that for travelers with slightly older children, say 10 and up, the early dining works well as their activities seem to get started around 8 (disco opening up) right when dinner is finishing up. I'm wondering if most activities for the younger set goes on earlier in the evening? Is this true in any of your experiences?

 

Thanks for any help

[dad son team]

kjanders-

 

Your entire party has reserved seats in the dining room for every night of the cruise whether you choose to eat there or not. Late vs. early is all a matter of preference for your family. I need early because my 7yo enjoys the dining room experience and would fall asleep at dinner if we sat down at 8:30pm to eat. The down side is that you need to pull them away from afternoon activities at about 4:30/5pm to get ready for dinner. The kids program usually reopens at 7pm and we are done with dinner by 7:30pm so he doesn't miss much and sometimes stays until 12am anyway so he has plenty of time there. This will be a learning experience for you and your family to see what kind of schedule best suits you.

 

As for clothes when eating with the kids program, its shorts and tee's. They take them to either Johnny Rocket's or to the buffet and there is no dress code for either location.

[kjanders]

Thanks for the info. This cruising as a family will be a learning experience. We've cruised before, but all before kids, so this will be interesting. We are all definitely looking forward to it!!!

[HockeyMom44]

We're about to sail with our 5yr. old. This will be her 4th cruise. She's asked if she could stay on the ship while were in port. This time I think we're going to let her. the last 2 times all she did was ask when we were going to be done with the siteseeing so she sould go back to the "playroom" as she calls it. So this way I have some free time to explore the islands and I know she's safe and sound on the ship. :D

Trudy

[mnchec]

Thanks for your Radiance experience. I'm a single parent considering the Radiance for a spring break cruise with my almost-9-year-old son. He is very bright but has special needs. He did not like the children's program on Carnival, so I want to shop carefully before booking. Did your kids have enough choices in the Radiance program? Was there enough staff for the number of kids? Did they have enough time playing in the pools? Did the ship seem a comfortable place for a single parent?

 

Also, he and I both hate smoking. How does Radiance protect non-smokers from tobacco smoke? Thank you (and anyone else who has sailed on the Radiance) for your replies.

[serene56]

If your child is not going to partiicpate in the dining room let your agent know that you do not want them assigned a dinner time. They can eat in the buffet and you wont have extra open seats around you.

 

 

All ships are do not allow smoking in the food places. Casinos are notorius for smoke. Show lounges will be smokre free. And most ships today only allow smoking on one side of the ship on open decks- avoid that side and i think you will be fine.

 

For younger kids doing the late dining is good but if you have teens please rethink that as most of the activities are going on during the late dining--ex is the disco is opened to them until 10pm. and dont start until 8.

[MERED1TH]

If your child is not going to partiicpate in the dining room let your agent know that you do not want them assigned a dinner time. They can eat in the buffet and you wont have extra open seats around you.

 

 

Excellent point however my children will on occasion want to go to the formal Captains dinner so I need those seats open.

 

I will be taking my kids 7 and 10 on thier 8th cruise this March and this is one subject area that really gets on my nerves. My kids really enjoy the kids program, we have sailed RCCL, Princess and Carnival and they all follow the same exact schedule. 9-12, 2-5, and 7-10. Now I am not an advocate of leaving children in the club for 14 solid hours and I realize that some parents would do just that (maybe they home school and just need a break who knows). However I hate the back and forth, after all you are on vacation and everyones schedule is different. I feel that the cruise ships should double the staff and run the program all day with the understanding that on sea days you must pick your kids up for lunch, when they need to eat (for example if you slept late and ate breakfast at 11am your kids may not be ready for lunch until 2pm). Forcing everyone to pick up the kids from 12-2 for lunch causes many problems but mostly overcrowding at the pools.

 

For those of you new to cruising you will soon see what I mean. Book a cabin near the kids center as you will spend alot of time running back and forth.

[serene56]

If your child is not going to partiicpate in the dining room let your agent know that you do not want them assigned a dinner time. They can eat in the buffet and you wont have extra open seats around you.

.

 

 

the main reason I mentioned this is --a lot of people think because the kids dont eat there why should they tip (which isnt fair to the waiters if those seats remain empty.)

[mnchec]

Any flexibility on age groupings in the kids program? My son will be 6-weeks shy of 9 and would do much better with older kids rather than 6-8.

[serene56]

The cruise lines are very strict with the age in kids programs-especially during high peak family sailing time. -what they will do is place him where he should be- if after the first day he can approach a counselor and asked to be moved up to the next group. (you are aware that the older group can check themselves in and out?

[MERED1TH]

We tip regardless of how often the kids eat with us.