Anyone been on the Star, Dawn, or Gem with kids?

My son loved the Getaway, we went on the ropes course every single day of our trip, rock climbing wall @ 3x during the trip.

I’m worried he may be bored on the ships listed above. Would love to read input from people with kids in the 8-10yr range.

Thanks!

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Hi! I was on the Dawn this past August Boston to Bermuda with my 8 year old nephew. Honestly he loved the cruise, while it may not be as updated as other ships the kid's club really kept him occupied. They had different activities every day and at the end of the week put on a talent show. He was also happy to just go to some of the kid friendly shows with adults! There is also a small but fun kids only pool/slide section, Hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions :-)

I was on the Gem in August with a 5 and 8 year old. They LOVED the kid's club. Had a wonderful time.

My daughter was definitely more than happy on our two trips on the Dawn to Bermuda (she was 6 and 8 at the time). The little kids pool on the back of the ship plus the kids club were more than enough to keep her entertained. That said, it’s a small pool area and no slides. The -away class ships don’t have huge pools either but with the ropes course, slides, etc, the kids don’t care as much if they can’t hang out on the pool due to overcrowding. Now that she’s 12 she definitely prefers the ships with more activities so we probably will have to stick with the bigger ships for a little while.

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Would agree with OP. We have been on both the Dawn and the Gem with either 7 kids (Dawn) and Gem (3 kids) all around the same age as yours. The -away class ships are better suited to older tweens and teenagers than the older ships. but, having said that, kids find plenty to do on any ship. The ropes course and water slides are just not available on the older, smaller ships.

Of course, adults often prefer the older ships because they are smaller, more intimate and less crowded.

Bottom line - try them all - you never know. Never had a bad time on a cruise.

We've been on all with Gem and Star twice with kids.

Dawn and Star have a kids pool and whirlpool aft. Kids 10 would find it about too kid like to really enjoy but it would be on the fence.

They are all fine ships but not all the bells and whistles as the newer ships but also not as crowded.

Of all Gem would be our favorite.

What room type are you looking for?

Our son was just shy of his 8th birthday when were on the Star. He played in kids pool some and we played in the regular pool and did the waterslides some too. We cruised Norway, so there wasn't a ton of time for water activities, but we had a great time with what was there. Our kid isn't that adventurous so the smaller ship was great for him.

The other thing to note is the Dawn never had slides by the main pool like the Star.

Thanks for the responses!

Would it make a difference if my kid isn’t interested in the kids club?

He didn’t want to spend much time there on our Getaway cruise.. he decided last minute that he wanted to do Splashtacular, so went the last day.. then he went back for their “after hours” that night til 1am.

I’m anticipating the same on the next cruise.. it’s just the two of us traveling together. We took advantage of the structured ‘family activities’ each day.. and we played a lot of ping pong and mini golf along with the water slides - over and over and over until I tapped out.lol.

So anyway, the kids club is the least of my concerns, I probably should have put that in the OP.. Does that change any of the recommendations?

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We've been on all with Gem and Star twice with kids.

 

 

 

Dawn and Star have a kids pool and whirlpool aft. Kids 10 would find it about too kid like to really enjoy but it would be on the fence.

 

 

 

They are all fine ships but not all the bells and whistles as the newer ships but also not as crowded.

 

 

 

Of all Gem would be our favorite.

 

 

 

What room type are you looking for?

Aft balcony. Our balcony in the Getaway was HUGE. I think we were in 9960 if I remember correctly.

If I choose the Southern out of San Juan then I think it way he port intensive enough to not miss all of the bells and whistles, as long as there is enough for us to do together in the evenings.. evenings are when we spent most of the time on the ropes course.

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So anyway, the kids club is the least of my concerns, I probably should have put that in the OP.. Does that change any of the recommendations?

 

 

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Tough question. We were on the Jewel (same size) in 2016 with a 10 year old. He DID participate in the kids club and had a great time. He also joined every sports tournament (basketball, soccer, etc.) that he could for his age. But if he had been less interested in joining with other kids, we would have struggled just a bit to keep him happy. There's no mini golf, for example.

We did play a lot of games in the game room, which was great for all. And he enjoyed all the shows. And we did fun stuff on shore...so he was often quite pooped by the end of the day.

Thanks for the input. I decided to go elsewhere in June.. booked the Breakaway out of NOLA over Thanksgiving for our next NCL cruise.

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