Ships with most stuff to do for kids?

Looking to book a cruise for our 4 kids (ages 6, 7, 11, 12). We have cruised a lot in the past so we are quite familiar with family cruising.

I'm trying to find a ship that has as much to do as possible.

We have previously enjoyed the Carnival Breeze and the RCL Freedom of the Seas. We didn't love the NCL Epic mostly b/c of it's layout.

We're not married to any particular line but believe that Carnival RCL and NCL probably offer us the most for kids to do.

I'd love to hear what ships your kids loved and why.

I'm sailing soon on the breeze, first time crushing with the kids. They are 2 and 5.

Did your kids enjoy it? Did they attend the camp ocean?

I'm super excited just hope it isn't too crazy with 2 little ones.

So far we've only done vacays where we fly to our destinations and they have been SO MUCH WORK. Lol

2 years is an "iffy" age...some kids are still "clingy" and don't want to leave the parents. The 5 year old will love the club...at least, most do!

Get a guidebook on your ports...libraries have them...and find out ALL there is to do that might interest your kids!

My kids are probably weird. THey are 9 and 10 and they prefer the adult cruise lines like X and HAL.

They like having fewer kids in the kid's clubs and they find the counsellors are better too. On HAL, my daughter really enjoyed the cooking classes - something I don't think I've seen offered for kids on other lines. On X, we've done the TOP CHEF cruise and my daughter enjoyed all cooking events.

My kid's enjoyed DISNEY for the character meets, but they were not fans of the kid's club.

My kids are pretty mature. On most other cruises, they find the kid's club activities to be too juvenile.

On Royal, my kids enjoy the rock climbing and other activities, the kid's club - not so much.

I'm going to HIGHLY recommend Disney Cruise Line!! There is so much to do for FAMILIES, which I live. There's also lots to do for everyone individually as well! The kids clubs, the family events, the characters, the shows, the service...as a family, it's our FAVORITE cruise line!!

I'd say RCCL Harmony of the Seas. We loved Allure because there was so much to do. Harmony has all of that plus waterslides. We sailed Allure when DD was 2 and hope to sail again next year when she's 6. We hope to sail Harmony in the future.

Disney was very nice, but DD hated the children's program. They put ages 3 - 12 together with minimal supervision/guidance outside of scheduled programs. DD is very social and adventurous, but she was scared of the bigger kids--it was a free for all.

Looking to book a cruise for our 4 kids (ages 6, 7, 11, 12). We have cruised a lot in the past so we are quite familiar with family cruising.

 

I'm trying to find a ship that has as much to do as possible.

 

We have previously enjoyed the Carnival Breeze and the RCL Freedom of the Seas. We didn't love the NCL Epic mostly b/c of it's layout.

 

We're not married to any particular line but believe that Carnival RCL and NCL probably offer us the most for kids to do.

 

I'd love to hear what ships your kids loved and why.

Ok, this is late and you have probably already decided... But one thing to be aware of is that if your kids use the kids clubs at all, RCL puts 12 year olds in the "teen" club while most other lines start the teen club at 13. So the structure (or lack of structure) is very different, and 12 year old would not be with 11 year old on RCL.

Disney was very nice, but DD hated the children's program. They put ages 3 - 12 together with minimal supervision/guidance outside of scheduled programs. DD is very social and adventurous, but she was scared of the bigger kids--it was a free for all.

Yes, but the wide age band is great if you have kids of different ages that want to be together in the same kids club. Our kids are only 3yrs apart, but on some lines they end up in different kids clubs. I would call it unstructured at times for sure, but definitely not unsupervised. Never seen so many kids club staff as they have on DCL.

Yes, but the wide age band is great if you have kids of different ages that want to be together in the same kids club. Our kids are only 3yrs apart, but on some lines they end up in different kids clubs. I would call it unstructured at times for sure, but definitely not unsupervised. Never seen so many kids club staff as they have on DCL.

I'm glad it works well for you. Since my daughter does not have siblings/was alone so it was awful for her (despite being very social and thriving at pre-school). Three and four year olds do not belong with 12 year olds running wild. Yes, there was a large kids club staff, but the staff stood around watching (not interacting with the kids or trying to keep some control of the situation).

We learned our lesson and will stick with cruise lines with structured, age appropriate children's programs. As much as we disliked MSC, DD loved the children's program when she was 3. Ages 3- 5 were together and sometimes combined with 6-8, but never with kids older than that.

There are going to be plusses and minuses to whatever age ranges a cruise line decides on. Disney works great for us, but I can definitely appreciate that it can be overwhelming especially for really little kids. Our oldest was a week or so short of three when we did our first Disney cruise and she had to go to the club on her own. I remember it being a bit intimidating at first, but by the second day we couldn't get her out of there. Our youngest would have probably never gone in there on her own though.

We are going back on HAL for our next cruise. Have already told them they will likely be separated into different kids clubs so we shall see how they do.

Ok, this is late and you have probably already decided... But one thing to be aware of is that if your kids use the kids clubs at all, RCL puts 12 year olds in the "teen" club while most other lines start the teen club at 13. So the structure (or lack of structure) is very different, and 12 year old would not be with 11 year old on RCL.

Our 12 year old loved the teen/tween club and wouldn't entertain another cruise line this summer after doing the Allure 2 weeks after she was 12. She looks a little older so mingled with the older teens easily.