Freedom of the Sea's Kids programs

Our family is getting together and traveling this feb on the Freedom of the Sea's for the Dreamworks experience.

Travelers.

two 70+ year olds

four 30+ year olds

One 5 year old (son)

One 3 year old (son)

one 1 year old (son)

I was wondering all the kid friendly items they have on the ship, programs, activities for younger kids on the Freedom are ? and a little bit of real experience on the Dreamworks Experience. Royal has a lot of general information but not much ship specific info.

Thanks

The 3 and 5 year old will have a blast in the kid's club....they do LOTS of age appropriate stuff...most kids don't want to leave!!!

I'm not sure if Freedom has the nursery....if it does you can leave the 1 year old there occasionally.....

Most kids seem to prefer the more "structured" RCI clubs to Disney's "free for all" sort of program.

I was on the Liberty of the Seas and they had the Dreamworks experience. The parade started at 10 pm (awfully late for your kids ages I would think). They had characters out in the Promenade area a couple of times for pictures and autographs. They also had the Dreamworks Brunch on sea days. It was $5 to go. We didn't have a lot of interest since after Disney, the Dreamworks characters aren't a real draw for my kids. There were not as many family activities for you all to do together like you would get on Disney with both the open house concept in Disney's kids club and the family comedy/dance/etc (there was one each evening on RCI and many involved a build-a-bear type thing for a fee). But the kids clubs are much better for that age, IMO, because Disney is a free-for-all. The nursery is an option for your youngest on RCI. Any cruiseline is great for generational cruising.

I believe the layout of the ships is the same so the entry for the 3-5 year old club is outside of the arcade - to get to the older kids and teens you have to walk through the arcade. I didn't particularly care for that aspect.

The "dreamworks" experience is a nice add-on to a cruise, but it's not an "Experience" as one would have with Disney!

The splash pad area is the best. This was our kid's favourite part of the ship.

The kid's club is good, but I don't find the counsellor's all that great. My opinion is probably in the minority. My kid's never "beg" to do go to the kid's club like they do on X or HAL. They go because they know we want some alone time.

Character experiences are good and will be posted in the daily. But if there is a character you want to meet, arrive early and stand line line. If Shrek is at 6 PM and Gloria is at 6:30 and you want to meet Shrek and are in line ... they WILL swap the characters at 6PM regardless of how long you have been waiting.

The parades are great and lots of fun. I recall daytime parades in the afternoon. Check the daily for times.

When we sailed FOTS and OASIS ... the breakfasts were free but I've read here that there is a charge now. The breakfast is honestly quite good. The characters mingle and dance for a bit, and they will stop for pictures at each table. If your child has peanut allergies; they will not be allowed to partake in the chocolate breakfast as it all "may contain" nuts.

Freedom is one of our favourite ships! Enjoy!

Just got off the Freedom last week and used both the Adventure Ocean (for my 3yo) and the Royal Babies and Tots (For 1.5 yo).

For the AO program, excellent. 3yo loved it and was begging to go back every night, even during the day, she'd want to go play with her friends. It was structured and energetic. They did pirate nights, camp-out nights, a circus, etc. A little chaotic getting them checked in after dinner, but a really nice break for mom and dad.

For the 1.5 yo in the Babies and Tots program, the staff was excellent. Nice facilities, great toys; however after the 3rd or 4th session (you pay by the 1/2 hour btw), she was tired of it. I don't think it's as structured or engaging as the AO program. It's more supervised play time. Worked well for us, and they even put the kids to sleep when you wanted them too. Oh, and they have toys for checkout too, which you can take back to your cabin.

With regards to other kid activities:

- Dreamworks character parade (starts late, but fun)

- Dreamworks character breakfast (+$10 per person, regardless of age)

- H2O Zone Splash Pad (No diapers allowed, but there is a VERY small kids pool for those with swim diapers. They were very strict about this)

- Cupcake decorating for kids (+$)

- And of course, there's entertainment shows (broadway, magic, etc.), ice shows, ice skating, etc.

All in all, I found it to be a great cruise for the family. An excellent ship and had a little bit of everything for everybody.