Royal Caribbean Kids/Teens activities?

My family usually travels on Carnival cruise lines, so I can and do get a lot of information from them about those ships. Which is nice since I am taking most of my family on their very first cruise this weekend. But in December we are taking an extended family cruise with several cousins, aunts/uncles and grandparents, and my toddler will be with us. So I am hoping to get some advice/answers here about RCCL.

We will have children of the following ages with us: 15 (with special needs), 14 (also with special needs), 2 who will be 13, 10 and 3. My 10 year old is very close to her cousins who will be 13 and 14 and would like to be able to hang out with them. Has anyone ever requested that a younger child be able to hang out in the same group as older siblings or cousins and has RCCL ever made an exception for that sort of thing? Or for an older child to be allowed to stay with the younger group, such as my 15 year old being allowed to stay in the area for the 12-14 year olds? We may just end up letting the kids do their own thing without the clubs/groups.

Do they have a Build A Bear activity like Carnival does? If so, how much do those cost?

One of the children we are traveling with has Autism, ADHD and SPD. A couple others suffer from various levels of anxiety disorders and ADHD. In addition we will be trying to corral a 3 year old, and both grandparents that are going have knee issues, one has Arthritis, as does one of the aunts. Is there anyone we could/should contact about things like priority boarding, less crowded muster stations, etc, to minimize the stress and anxiety these kids will experience? As well as the stress of trying to corral a 3 year old, and both grandparents that are going have knee issues, one has Arthritis, as does one of the aunts.

What about food allergies or issues? The 3 year old is allergic to tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc, but not peanuts), not to the life threatening level or anything, but is there a way to get an ingredients list for the foods that are served to avoid any reactions at all? I do travel, even just to church or the store, with Benadryl just in case, so it will be in my cruise bag anyway.

Are there any sort of equipment recommendations anyone has for traveling with a toddler? We have never taken her on any sort of trip at all, as I prefer avoiding travel with infants or toddlers. Tried that with my oldest two and that was enough to have me saying "nope, not until they are at least in kindergarten" but this is a special cruise with family so we are going. I already plan to take her favorite blankets (2 in case one gets dirty) and stuffed animal, plus any and all meds I can think that we would possibly need for the short cruise since I don't want to have to go to the ship doctor for a runny nose or motion sickness. We will most likely be bringing an umbrella stroller and her harness/leash deal to help keep her close by and from running off.

Also any recommendations for walkie talkies that work even when folks are on opposite ends of the ship so the entire family can keep in touch?

Thanks!:confused:

Contact the special needs department and discuss your concerns:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/accessibleseas/otherNeeds.do

Thank you for that website address. I have sent them an e-mail.

That leaves the questions about walkie talkies, equipment recommendations for travel with a 3 year old, Build a Bear or similar activity and if they allow children to be in a club/group other than their own age group.

You didn't mention which RCCL ship you're sailing on. Oasis Class have a Build A Bear Shop on the Boardwalk. Prices varied based on the animal purchased, but seemed on par with stores in malls. I'm not sure how it works on other ships, but I do recall seeing a small kiosk for Build A Bear on a smaller RCCL ship a few years ago.

I'd say that the stroller and leash are good. We took both when DD was 2 1/2. We only used the stroller (only a couple of times), but we're glad we had it.

You might want to decide what you will do in ports to determine if you need to take a car seat or booster. We never left port areas with DD (used those days to take advantage of less crowded ship) so we did not take one with us.

If the 3 year old is potty trained she can attend the children's program and enjoy the pools. If she is not potty trained there might be a splash area for non potty trained depending on the ship, but she would not be able to use the pools.

I've heard that most the cruise lines are pretty strict about the age groups, but I don't have any personal experience with that.

You mention that some of the older people traveling with you have mobility issues. You might want to look into scooters for those that might have trouble with the amount of walking. There are companies that deliver scooters to the ships.

I didn't think about the fact that the different class of ships would have different things. We will be sailing on Enchantment of the Seas.

We don't plan to do any excursions, so don't think we will need the booster seat. And I sure hope she is potty trained by then, lol. We are already working on it with some success.

Thanks!

. . . My 10 year old is very close to her cousins who will be 13 and 14 and would like to be able to hang out with them. Has anyone ever requested that a younger child be able to hang out in the same group as older siblings or cousins and has RCCL ever made an exception for that sort of thing? Or for an older child to be allowed to stay with the younger group, such as my 15 year old being allowed to stay in the area for the 12-14 year olds? . . . !:confused:

Adventure Ocean programs are for 3-11. You may request a 12YO be allowed in AO, dependent upon the number of kids in the program and the staffs' preferences, they may or may not accommodate aging down. Anyone much over 12YO would be very unlikely to be allowed. (and would probably not want to anyway!)

12 and up are aged to be in the teen program -- they have two groupings in the teen section, some of the activities include both groups, others are limited to one age group or the other. While we have been on some cruises where an 11YO has been allowed to age up, they are relatively rarely granted (primarily because the older kids don't care for hanging out with younger kids and will then avoid the program like a plague :) )

A 10YO being allowed to particpate in the Teen club programs will be unlikely. A 15YO being allowed to participate with the 12-14YOs may be accomodated.

There are more than your group for the cruise line to deal with, so major changes to accommodate the nuances of your group is unlikely. Parents of some 12YO may not be too thrilled with a 15 or 16YO to be participating in programs with their kids. 14YOs will not accept a 10YO no matter how cool he/she is and/or who her cousins are. DD was quick to pick up on the ageism and did not mention she was in 6th grade when she had "just" turned 12 (a week pre-cruise) because all of her other 12YO friends were in 7th grade and while she was very well accepted - they all assumed she was "like them" and in 7th grade -- the 8th graders treated the 7th graders differently.

With kids in a variety of age groups, and those kids not necessarily being "close" to another age group; I would assume that the programs would be unlikely to accommodate keeping your kids together. But on just about any of the RCCI ships there is plenty to keep tweens and teens occupied outside of the formal programs. The larger the ship, the more activities will be available.

Royal is not my favourite line for allergies.

My son has tree nut and peanut allergies.

Royal acts in way to protect themselves from being sued. IF they know of a nut allergy (and it's a big IF that information makes it from special needs through to the MDR) - you are best to have a discuss with your Waiter, the Head Waiter, and/or the Maitre D. If there is any doubt, they will tell you "better not to take a chance". While this is true, they will tell you this about everything - no cookies, no ice cream, no chocolate ....

All chocolate will be off-limit for your child because all ship chocolate has a "may contain" label. If you are on a dreamworks sailing, you may want to skip the chocolate breakfast.

Royal is also famous for "hiding" nuts. For example, the Apple Parcels which appear on a sea day menu - the description does not contain any mention of nuts, but there is an almond paste that lines the pastry.

Do you just have benedryl or do you carry an epi pen? Allergies can escalate especially if she has multiple reactions successively on a cruise.

Adventure Ocean programs are for 3-11. You may request a 12YO be allowed in AO, dependent upon the number of kids in the program and the staffs' preferences, they may or may not accommodate aging down. Anyone much over 12YO would be very unlikely to be allowed. (and would probably not want to anyway!)

 

12 and up are aged to be in the teen program -- they have two groupings in the teen section, some of the activities include both groups, others are limited to one age group or the other. While we have been on some cruises where an 11YO has been allowed to age up, they are relatively rarely granted (primarily because the older kids don't care for hanging out with younger kids and will then avoid the program like a plague :) )

 

A 10YO being allowed to particpate in the Teen club programs will be unlikely. A 15YO being allowed to participate with the 12-14YOs may be accomodated.

 

There are more than your group for the cruise line to deal with, so major changes to accommodate the nuances of your group is unlikely. Parents of some 12YO may not be too thrilled with a 15 or 16YO to be participating in programs with their kids. 14YOs will not accept a 10YO no matter how cool he/she is and/or who her cousins are. DD was quick to pick up on the ageism and did not mention she was in 6th grade when she had "just" turned 12 (a week pre-cruise) because all of her other 12YO friends were in 7th grade and while she was very well accepted - they all assumed she was "like them" and in 7th grade -- the 8th graders treated the 7th graders differently.

 

With kids in a variety of age groups, and those kids not necessarily being "close" to another age group; I would assume that the programs would be unlikely to accommodate keeping your kids together. But on just about any of the RCCI ships there is plenty to keep tweens and teens occupied outside of the formal programs. The larger the ship, the more activities will be available.

Thank you!

Royal is not my favourite line for allergies.

 

My son has tree nut and peanut allergies.

 

Royal acts in way to protect themselves from being sued. IF they know of a nut allergy (and it's a big IF that information makes it from special needs through to the MDR) - you are best to have a discuss with your Waiter, the Head Waiter, and/or the Maitre D. If there is any doubt, they will tell you "better not to take a chance". While this is true, they will tell you this about everything - no cookies, no ice cream, no chocolate ....

 

All chocolate will be off-limit for your child because all ship chocolate has a "may contain" label. If you are on a dreamworks sailing, you may want to skip the chocolate breakfast.

 

Royal is also famous for "hiding" nuts. For example, the Apple Parcels which appear on a sea day menu - the description does not contain any mention of nuts, but there is an almond paste that lines the pastry.

 

Do you just have benedryl or do you carry an epi pen? Allergies can escalate especially if she has multiple reactions successively on a cruise.

My niece who has food allergies does have an epi pen. I believe she and her family have sailed on RCCL previously, so they would know what to watch out for.

My toddler with tree nut allergies does not currently have severe enough reactions to warrant an epi pen, we have never needed more than Benadryl. Thank you for the warning about the almond paste used in the pastry. It was almond extract used in frosting that prompted her first allergic reaction, and since then she has reacted to any tree nut exposure, even just a kiss on the cheek from a cousin that drinks almond milk. But peanuts have never prompted a reaction at all. We will probably be extremely selective in what we serve her and may even take some of her favorite prepackaged foods with us to help avoid exposures.

I do know that I was not impressed with the response I received from RCCL when I sent in an inquiry with regards to my son with Autism. Carnival on the other hand was awesomely helpful.

On our recent cruise, AO did mix all the kids from age 6-11 due to the lower number of kids on board. So you could have them all together.

I've also found that communicating with your waiter on day 1 does help with food allergies. I agree that they will probably take it to the extreme, but better safe than sorry.

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Also, I've heard mixed reviews on walkie talkies. Some say you get a ton of interference and lots of other conversations. We did purchase wifi this last time and used iMessage to keep in touch. Not sure if that's an option for you but it worked well for us.

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Also, I've heard mixed reviews on walkie talkies. Some say you get a ton of interference and lots of other conversations. We did purchase wifi this last time and used iMessage to keep in touch. Not sure if that's an option for you but it worked well for us.

 

 

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Is iMessage an iPhone app? Is there one available for other cell phones? I am going to look into if RCCL has the social media wifi like Carnival now has. It was fairly cheap and we could use it to send Facebook messages to each other for communications. Thanks!

Is iMessage an iPhone app? Is there one available for other cell phones? I am going to look into if RCCL has the social media wifi like Carnival now has. It was fairly cheap and we could use it to send Facebook messages to each other for communications. Thanks!

It's the messaging via wifi option on iPhones. You can text for free from iPhone to iPhone while on wifi. I believe there is WhatsApp, Kik, and Tango which will work on other OS.

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I agree with Onessa. As a teacher of special ability kids, I doubt seriously that the Kids Club staff on any line has the specific training to work effectively with your differently abled kids, especially if anxiety plays a factor. I would play it by ear if I would even use the AO programs, based on #s of kids in the program. If it is a low week, then awesome, the staff will have the time to help your kiddos acclimate, if it is really busy, perhaps not. It will be a judgment call. Good luck! I am sure your vacation will be marvelous!