Kids club with most active/outdoor activities (3 year old)

[anonmom]

I am a single mom and I would like to take my three year old on a cruise this year or next. I stay at home and her father is not in our lives, so we are together all the time except for preschool, which is 15 hours/week.

 

Basically, I am looking for a cruise where she can spend most of the day in the kids club on sea days, but I don't want her sitting in front of movies the whole time, or playing video games, or doing other activities that involve screen time. Some sedentary activities like arts and crafts would be fine, but she does plenty of that at preschool, which is a lot cheaper than a cruise, so I would really prefer her to be outside playing with the other kids.

 

Are there any kids clubs that actually take the kids to the pool? To me that seems like the obvious thing to do with kids on a cruise ship, but none of the reviews I have read mention swimming activities.

 

Thanks!

Edited May 2, 2014 by anonmom

[1025cruise]

For safety concerns, they will not take the kids to a pool. In addition, all kids need to be fully potty trained to use the pool.

 

For the most part, the kids will stay inside the kids club area, doing various activities. Some of them might take them out, but for the most part, you they will be inside.

[Kerry's Girls]

 

Are there any kids clubs that actually take the kids to the pool? To me that seems like the obvious thing to do with kids on a cruise ship, but none of the reviews I have read mention swimming activities.

 

Thanks!

 

No cruise line will assume the risk of taking children to the pool. But at that age, none of the cruise lines we've been on (Princess, NCL, RCCL, Carnival) include screen time except at the evening movie hours (where kids can watch the movie or sleep). It's games, activities and arts & crafts - but it's all inside. Again, I doubt a cruise line wants to take responsibility for a group of small children running around the deck of a ship at sea. But they have a great time playing with kids inside. Outside activities will have to be with you.

 

All the best,

Mia

[rebeccalouiseagain]

None of the youth programs take the kids to the pool.

 

My personal recommendation- being a single Mom myself- is Celebrity. They have themed daily activities and the Fun Factory is like catnip to kids. My son at age 3 never wanted to leave. The little ones do play outdoors at various time of the day. There are group scavenger hunts (with parents) and family disco night (with parents), family bingo and usually a little talent show- with parents invited. The rest of the time the kids are supervised and you will have time to yourself. There are kids dinners for a fee ($12 per child) from 5-7PM. Really my son has more fun on cruises than I do and I start to miss him because he wants to be in the youth program so much.

Edited May 2, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[c-cruise]

The Princess ships we have been on have had an outdoor play area as part of the kids club.

 

Holland America will have times scheduled where they take the kids up to the sports court for various outdoor activities.

 

Disney has incredible facilities for younger kids, but all the supervised club activities were inside as far as I remember.

 

If you are going to the caribbean most lines operate a kids club on their private islands where you can drop the kids off for outdoor activities.

[cb at sea]

They won't take kids to the pool..you'll have to do that. Most kid's clubs will have crafty sort of projects....or storytelling, playtime, etc....

Sometimes, they may go outside, but usually, for safety, they're INSIDE. You will have to take your child outside and do things. At 3, it's very basic...so if you need your child to be outside, it's up to you!

[JinxyB]

I just took my 3 y/o son on the Allure of the Seas and it is a fantastic ship for kids. He loved their kids club - I never saw the kids parked in front of a TV when I picked him up/dropped off. They also have a great water park area for kids, carousel/boardwalk, parades, etc. I'm a single parent, too, and was able to get plenty of time to relax while my son enjoyed the kids club!

[anonmom]

For safety concerns, they will not take the kids to a pool. In addition, all kids need to be fully potty trained to use the pool.

 

For the most part, the kids will stay inside the kids club area, doing various activities. Some of them might take them out, but for the most part, you they will be inside.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

 

She is fully potty trained, no problems in that department. Obviously, all kids have accidents, but hers have been less frequent since turning three. It doesn't make sense for us to take a cruise when the weather is nice at home, so I'm guessing we won't get away until October at the earliest, and, realistically, January would probably be the best month to not be here (Minnesota), so at that point she will be practically four.

[anonmom]

No cruise line will assume the risk of taking children to the pool. But at that age' date=' none of the cruise lines we've been on (Princess, NCL, RCCL, Carnival) include screen time except at the evening movie hours (where kids can watch the movie or sleep). It's games, activities and arts & crafts - but it's all inside. Again, I doubt a cruise line wants to take responsibility for a group of small children running around the deck of a ship at sea. But they have a great time playing with kids inside. Outside activities will have to be with you.

 

All the best,

Mia[/quote']

 

I don't really have a problem with one movie a day, I was just disappointed when I started reading information about the Disney kids clubs that they were practically bragging about how much screen time the kids would get, LOL. It just seemed very heavy on the electronics, which surprised me for such an expensive cruise line that I just assumed would be very kid-focused.

 

Looks like some of the more affordable lines have better programming, which is great to hear!

[anonmom]

None of the youth programs take the kids to the pool.

 

My personal recommendation- being a single Mom myself- is Celebrity. They have themed daily activities and the Fun Factory is like catnip to kids. My son at age 3 never wanted to leave. The little ones do play outdoors at various time of the day. There are group scavenger hunts (with parents) and family disco night (with parents), family bingo and usually a little talent show- with parents invited. The rest of the time the kids are supervised and you will have time to yourself. There are kids dinners for a fee ($12 per child) from 5-7PM. Really my son has more fun on cruises than I do and I start to miss him because he wants to be in the youth program so much.

 

I will definitely look into Celebrity! I have seen a few positive reviews already and I just like the idea of my daughter getting outside to play. I definitely am not worried about her not wanting to go to whatever programming they have. I think I might have the only child on the planet who routinely cries when I pick her UP from preschool...

 

I don't think I would do the kids dinners. I worry because she has allergies, so I prefer her to eat with me. Plus, I would feel silly/guilty paying for her to eat gross "kids menu" style food when I'm eating real food that is already included in the cruise price.

Edited May 4, 2014 by anonmom

[anonmom]

The Princess ships we have been on have had an outdoor play area as part of the kids club.

 

Holland America will have times scheduled where they take the kids up to the sports court for various outdoor activities.

 

Disney has incredible facilities for younger kids, but all the supervised club activities were inside as far as I remember.

 

If you are going to the caribbean most lines operate a kids club on their private islands where you can drop the kids off for outdoor activities.

 

Good to know that Princess has an actual outdoor play area! Is that only on some of their ships? Which of their ships have you been on?

 

I will also check Holland America, although I don't really remember seeing many of their crises on the discount lists, which is definitely a factor for me.

 

What did you like about the Disney clubs? I was really disappointed when I read their promotional stuff. It just seemed like the kids would be interacting with electronics instead of people.

 

Wouldn't the same safety concerns come in to play on the beach as at the pool? Or am I misunderstanding the whole "private island" concept? I guess I thought they were pretty much all beach.

Edited May 4, 2014 by anonmom

[anonmom]

They won't take kids to the pool..you'll have to do that. Most kid's clubs will have crafty sort of projects....or storytelling, playtime, etc....

Sometimes, they may go outside, but usually, for safety, they're INSIDE. You will have to take your child outside and do things. At 3, it's very basic...so if you need your child to be outside, it's up to you!

 

I guess I'm used to it being up to me to do everything for my daughter, so I'm looking for a vacation from that responsibility! She only started going to preschool two months ago, before that we were together 24/7.

 

It looks like some of the lines do have outdoor play areas or scheduled outdoor time, so I will be reading more about those.

[cadien]

Our son will be almost 4 when we all go on our first cruise and one thing I've found very helpful is people scanning and posting the daily schedules for the kids' club for his age group. It's jam packed! More artsy crafty than physically active though.

 

We're not traveling on a line you're considering, but I would think you can find scans for any ship. Not everyone posts in this forum. I actually found them by doing a general Google search. And there's not so much variety within a single line that really any ship/itinerary's club schedules won't give you a good general idea.

[c-cruise]

Good to know that Princess has an actual outdoor play area! Is that only on some of their ships? Which of their ships have you been on?

 

I will also check Holland America, although I don't really remember seeing many of their crises on the discount lists, which is definitely a factor for me.

 

What did you like about the Disney clubs? I was really disappointed when I read their promotional stuff. It just seemed like the kids would be interacting with electronics instead of people.

 

Wouldn't the same safety concerns come in to play on the beach as at the pool? Or am I misunderstanding the whole "private island" concept? I guess I thought they were pretty much all beach.

 

We've been on a lot of Princess ships, but only the Island with our kids. It had an outdoor play area on the back deck that was part of the kids club. Many of their ships have a similar setup with some sort of outdoor area attached to the kids club.

 

We've done Holland America probably 10 times with our kids. Their pricing is in line with all the other mass market lines (ok, except Disney). Their kids clubs aren't anything to write home about in terms of facilities, but there are usually less than 100 kids onboard so the kids get a lot more attention from the kids club staff. Our kids are starting to get a bit bored on HAL though. Also, no water parks, slides, etc. Much more subdued traditional cruise experience.

 

Nobody has better kids clubs facilities than Disney in my opinion. The difference with Disney though is that there are a 1,000 kids onboard and they don't get near the individual attention from the staff. Kids have to bee somewhat independent as they are pretty much allowed to roam free and play in whatever area of the kids club they want. They do of course have organized activities as well. Lots of character interactions, games, themed evenings, etc. Yes there are plenty of screens and electronics in the kids club, but it is mostly interactive activities. They do show movies as well of course. One of our kids has food allergies as well and Disney has been by far the best at handling that of the lines we have taken them on. Also felt they had the most organized and secure kids program we have seen.

 

The kids clubs on the private islands don't take the kids into the water so no safety concern there. They usually have some sort of facility that they keep the kids at. On Disney it is called Scuttles cove. It's a completely fenced in area for playing in the sand. There is a dig site for finding whale bones, sprinklers, activities, etc. You check the kids in (and leave them) with the kids club staff just like on the ship. Holland America has club HAL on Half Moon Cay. They have an area at the end of the beach with a small water slide and playing in the sand. They also have a playground with climbing toys, etc.

[moesyk4]

We took our just turned 4 year old with us on the Carnival Breeze back in January and this was the thing I was most disappointed in..we planned to have DS in the kid's club for at least two hours a day so that we could have adult time too. From the way people described it, their kids were obsessed with the kid's club and never wanted to leave, and the activities were amazing!

We didn't have that impression though...we did drop DS off almost every day for at least a little while, but I felt much more like I was dropping him off at our gym's child watch. As in, I felt like it would enhance his vacation and be a great addition, it felt more like a babysitter instead. He did fine there, but was always happy to see us.

Screen time was on the schedule at least three times a day...usually in the evenings (either just listed as a movie or as part of a themed "party"), then at least 1 hour of Wii time, and then randomly at another time. The staff, while nice, were never engaged in whatever activity happened to be on the schedule at the time of drop off. For instance, one night they had a pirate party planned, and DS loves pirates, so we talked it up all day to him. The schedule listed face painting, treasure hunts, crafts, tattoos, and prizes. He walked away with a pirate hat that was premade and that was it. They didn't do anything else listed.

Also, something we noticed, was they closed the kid's club at key times on sea days for pay activities, like Build a Bear. It was always at times that I felt would be peak times for dropping a child off.

All that to say, get a lot of feedback from others as far as the actual club as opposed to just what the cruise line brags about. Like I said, it was fine, but I like you wanted DS to be experiencing stuff he couldn't just do at my house's living room!

[anonmom]

I just took my 3 y/o son on the Allure of the Seas and it is a fantastic ship for kids. He loved their kids club - I never saw the kids parked in front of a TV when I picked him up/dropped off. They also have a great water park area for kids, carousel/boardwalk, parades, etc. I'm a single parent, too, and was able to get plenty of time to relax while my son enjoyed the kids club!

 

I took a look at the Allure of the Seas and it does look fantastic! I'm so glad I started this thread, because I've gotten some great tips.

[anonmom]

Our son will be almost 4 when we all go on our first cruise and one thing I've found very helpful is people scanning and posting the daily schedules for the kids' club for his age group. It's jam packed! More artsy crafty than physically active though.

 

We're not traveling on a line you're considering, but I would think you can find scans for any ship. Not everyone posts in this forum. I actually found them by doing a general Google search. And there's not so much variety within a single line that really any ship/itinerary's club schedules won't give you a good general idea.

 

Great idea, thanks! I will search now...

[Twolittleboys]

I have taken my boys on several Royal Caribbean cruises as a single mother and they had a great time in the kids club. My kids are a bit older (on the first cruise they were 8 and 6) so I don't know exactly what Adventure Ocean is like for the little ones.

 

However, for kids from about 6 to 11 they do have a lot of fun. Most of it is inside though (the older kids generally had one night out on the sports court and they do a pirate parade through the ship on another night). There was some TV watching (generally one night on which they watch a movie and do some arts & crafts at the same time) and there is free time to play computer games. My boys loved it but I hardly ever saw them sitting at the computer when I came to check on them/pick them up. I think they have several activities every hour and then get about 10 minutes free time (which mine usually did spent on some computer activity). Still, to me it seems the biggest part of the day is spent playing various ball games and competitions. Obviously, the younger kids would do things a bit different but some of the activities are similar for the 3 years and up group.