Take young kids on Royal Princess??? Too sophisticated?

[iceleven]

I totally agree. Seven ports in ten days doesn't give a whole lot of time for a child to get bored anyway. Go for the itinerary, not the ship's ability to wow the kids.

 

I applaud the OP for looking for port intensive itineraries for your family. It sounds like you are not looking for the bells and whistles on a ship to "keep our kids entertained while we soak up the sun kind of cruise". Sounds like you are really thinking about a great family vacation. Good for you!

 

There is something to be said about teaching kids about travelling, learning about different cultures, having inter-generational opportunities, etc. From what I have read, Princess does have activities and space for the kids to enjoy - just not things like rock climbing walls and skating rinks! There will be so much for them to do and experience in each port.

 

I think kids need space to play, to experience their environments and to be creative. They don't always need to have the big exciting glimmering ships with every imaginable activity to fill every waking hour. (and not that I'm bad-mouthing that style of cruising as I know that it too can be a fun family vacation as well - just different!)

[Cruisin' Chick]

One size does not fit all kids. There are families who enjoy cruises on Celebrity and HAL. Those lines do have full fledged kids' programs. But it does depend on the kids.

 

I did go on a tour of a Celebrity ship about nine years ago and checked out the kids' program rooms. We aren't interested on going on Celebrity, Hal, RC and some other lines as we're going on longer (for us, two week long) cruises and want the self-service laundry rooms. So Princess seems to be the best fit -- no crazy pool games (if I don't see another lip sync with a banana for a microphone, I'll be happy), no Vegasy decor.

 

Princess has activities for the kids, plus adult activities and entertainment that many older kids do enjoy too.

 

My daughter likes to go to Disneyland for the day (she performed at Cal Adventure a couple of years ago with her band), but she has no interest in everything Disney (if she was locked in a room with High School Musical playing, she would consider that torture). I think many other kids and adults may enjoy a totally Disney experience, but not everyone does. Not every kid.

 

If a friend came to me for advice, knowing I've been on cruises, I wouldn't say you must do this or that, but suggest itineraries, ships, cruise lines based on their personality and what kind of vacations they've enjoyed before. To me, there are no "musts" when it comes to do these, especially when discussing type of dinner, cabins, excursions.

[Roatanfans]

Okay- we just got back from a 15 day Hawaii cruise- lots of sea days. My children are 1 boy age 7 and twin girls that are about to turn 4. There were only 19 kids (ages 0-17) on board. My kids had a fantastic time- my son now wants to live on the ship! We cannot say enough good things about the kids club- it was amazing. My kids were treated like royalty by the staff and because my girls are identical twins, it didn't take long for most of the ship to know who we were. My 90 year old mother in law and my sister in law were on board also- one day my girls got to dress up and have a tea party with their grandmother. Our cabin steward made them towel animals. There are lots of things to do with the kids and I know that mine would love to get back on Princess!

[satxdiver]

We took our 6 y/o GD and her parents on the Royal last February and she had a ball. There were other kids on board near her age including a little boy who kept hanging around her and they played very nicely in the lido pool. She loved the children's activities (school as she called it) and several times wanted to be with them instead of us. They will love it and there will be other kids their age aboard. The number of kids aboard though depending on when you cruise will be reasonable and not overwhelming like 200 or more.

[kendon]

The 10 day cruises (vs the 7 day or shorter) usually have an older crowd. It's one of the reasons we prefer the 10 days in the Caribbean instead of the shorter ones. Sometimes there is only a handful of kids onboard and sometimes only about 40-50.

 

I was on a 10 day Princess Panama Canal cruise with only 6 kids on board!

[AmberTeka]

We took our four year old grand daughter with us on the Regal last week.

 

We visited the children's area. She played for a bit, but we did not leave her there.

 

She had her parents.....and us. Some of the time she was with them. Other times she was with us. or we were together.

 

She did fine. She went on a tour of St. Martin's. Went to the beach. Love the private beach. Enjoyed getting small toys in the stores. Suckers in Celebrations. Watching Frozen 8 times in our cabin.........

 

She did fine. But she had four adults watching her.

Next year..God Willing...Disney world for spring break.

Back in 2017 for cruise..God Willing.........will try Children program again.

 

All the luck in the world to you!!

[jdm]

I agree that the number of kids on board a cruise depends on the cruising date. A seven day cruise usually has more children on board than a ten day cruise. We are going on the Regal Princess April 5-12 with our grandchildren. Spoke with Princess and there are currently about 599 children under age 17 on this Spring break sailing! I n contrast, I was on a 10 day sailing (another cruise line) in January and there were two kids on board.

[LabGuy64]

Sophisticated?...no....lacking in interesting venues for kids....YES

 

 

Hi!

 

My husband and I (40 yrs old) are considering taking our children ages 5 & 8 on a Caribbean cruise in November. Looking at the Royal Princess for 10 nights - either the Eastern Carib or Southern Carib itinerary. Both have fantastic ports - which is why we are interested.

 

The question is, will the ship be too sophisticated (i.e. boring) for the kids to enjoy for 10 nights? We want them to have a great time onboard. There isn't a kids' pool, etc. and most all videos I have watched of the ship are ALL adults...

 

Does anyone know if many children travel on this ship? Would one itinerary be better suited than the other? I think I have read that the longer itineraries attract and older crowd.

 

Thanks for your input!! :)

Jennifer

[Colo Cruiser]

The Royal would be a great choice for kids.

My kids, (now grown) have been on NCL/RCCL and are both Elite on Princess, (reaching that milestone before they turned 18.

They were not scarred for life by experiencing the kids programs and atmosphere on Princess.

They had a blast and were never bored. Its an excellent choice IMO. ;)

[CI66774]

Sophisticated?...no....lacking in interesting venues for kids....YES

 

Not true. My kid's been on two Princess cruises (one for 7 days the other for 26 days) and she loved every minute of it.

[CI66774]

Okay- we just got back from a 15 day Hawaii cruise- lots of sea days. My children are 1 boy age 7 and twin girls that are about to turn 4. There were only 19 kids (ages 0-17) on board. My kids had a fantastic time- my son now wants to live on the ship! We cannot say enough good things about the kids club- it was amazing. My kids were treated like royalty by the staff and because my girls are identical twins, it didn't take long for most of the ship to know who we were. My 90 year old mother in law and my sister in law were on board also- one day my girls got to dress up and have a tea party with their grandmother. Our cabin steward made them towel animals. There are lots of things to do with the kids and I know that mine would love to get back on Princess!

 

Great to hear you (and your children) had a good time. Your experience mirrors my own with the five-year-old daughter. The Royal Princess is a terrific ship for kids. The kid's club is wonderful!!!!

[msmoger]

There seemed to be plenty of kids in the pools on our 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Emerald last April. They were having a ball. One thing I noticed was quite a few of them (as were there parents...haha) were British. That seemed to be due to their holiday schedules allowing for longer times off from school.

[shredie]

Sophisticated?...no....lacking in interesting venues for kids....YES

 

Are you a kid? Ask some how much they enjoyed their Princess cruises.

[KONA VILLAGE KID]

We took our kids on cruises since they were about two years old through adulthood---several different cruise lines and all over the world. All of us had a great time and I think it enriched them.

[JinxyB]

Hi, I don't mean to hijack this thread but I am wondering if anyone has a recent experience on the Royal Princess and their kids club, specifically the Princess Pelicans age group. I'm considering a 10-day Caribbean cruise on either Princess or Celebrity and would be bringing my 5 y/o. I read on a closed thread that they did not open the pelican room for the younger kids and the clubs were closed until the evening?! If there are no kids activities during the day then that's a deal- breaker for us. Don't need any lectures about bringing my kid on a longer cruise, just would like any recent reports of the club being open on a longer cruise. Thank you!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi, I don't mean to hijack this thread but I am wondering if anyone has a recent experience on the Royal Princess and their kids club, specifically the Princess Pelicans age group. I'm considering a 10-day Caribbean cruise on either Princess or Celebrity and would be bringing my 5 y/o. I read on a closed thread that they did not open the pelican room for the younger kids and the clubs were closed until the evening?! If there are no kids activities during the day then that's a deal- breaker for us. Don't need any lectures about bringing my kid on a longer cruise, just would like any recent reports of the club being open on a longer cruise. Thank you!

 

I would check directly with Princess (send an email to customer service with your planned sailing date and which ship). I think I recall the thread you're talking about but I seem to remember the OP was passing along someone else's account (and it seemed some info may have been missing IIRC).

 

I have never heard of the Pelicans room not being open during the day hours (usually 9 am to 12, 2 to 5 pm, 7 to 10pm). I have to admit the only time my daughter was in Pelicans was on our first Princess cruise when she was 5. She was one of only three 5-year-olds and because it was in mid-February there weren't too many school aged kids on board, so there was some regrouping of the age groups. Not all of the activities were happening (for example, there weren't the science activities they had when there's more kids, but the Princess website did point out that the program ran on specific cruises). But definitely we never showed up during the scheduled hours to find a "closed" sign on the door. That was back in 2003.

 

Since then, my daughter was either in what was then called the Pirateers (now Shockwave) and in the teen group, but during the summer or during winter break. The last three cruises were 15 or 14-day cruises so the longer time didn't deter families from those cruises (the cruises fell completely within their winter vacation). And certainly a full program was on those cruises.

 

Again, I suspect there was more to the story in that thread.

 

Now whether there will be plenty of five-year-olds on your cruise may depend on your sailing date, as some may be in kindergarten by then (my daughter was in K when she was on her cruise as a 5-year-old, but we took her out of school for the week).

[JinxyB]

Thanks Crusin Chick for describing your experience. Reading that closed thread really freaked me out. I doubt calling customer service will help as wont they read me a canned script from the website describing the children's programs? Are u saying they will tell me how many kids and what ages are booked for a particular sailing? Interesting...

 

My son won't start kindergarten until Fall 2016 so I won't have to pull him from school, plus there are some fabulous 10-day itineraries on both X and Princess. I won't have childcare for 10/11 days which is why I would bring him along. He's an experienced cruiser (10 cruises already!)and he really loves participating in the various kids clubs.

 

I think I started a war over on the Celebrity board asking about children on longer cruises!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Thanks Crusin Chick for describing your experience. Reading that closed thread really freaked me out. I doubt calling customer service will help as wont they read me a canned script from the website describing the children's programs? Are u saying they will tell me how many kids and what ages are booked for a particular sailing? Interesting...

 

My son won't start kindergarten until Fall 2016 so I won't have to pull him from school, plus there are some fabulous 10-day itineraries on both X and Princess. I won't have childcare for 10/11 days which is why I would bring him along. He's an experienced cruiser (10 cruises already!)and he really loves participating in the various kids clubs.

 

I think I started a war over on the Celebrity board asking about children on longer cruises!

 

I suggest just emailing customer service and ask if you can find out if there will be limited hours for the Pelicans on that cruise. If you call, you can just end up talking with a CSR who might just assure you it'll be open (and if you call three different times, you might get three different answers). Emailing might assure a better answer.

[CruisinFinsUp]

Hi,

We've done what you are considering and I can comment from experience. This is a very individual question and in my opinion it really depends on your family and what environment you prefer.

 

Take a look at my signature - list of cruises taken below - many "off peak" and all with the kids. They are now 15 & 12 - We've done the Emerald 10 day FLL down to Barbados ( same itinerary as Royal) three times.

 

Things you should be aware of - on the 10 day there are very few families. Most passengers are retirees. Even if its US Thanksgiving school break, we found that most families do the 7 day trip and more retired couples do the 10 day ( from talking to passengers and crew). The music in the evenings is largely older stuff. Even the music around the pool is a bit "older".

The exception was the 10 day over Christmas - that one was many families as north americans have 2 weeks holiday then.

 

Our kids like to relax and really like the kids clubs. They are ok without constant activity all the time all over the ship. If your kids like to be on the go constantly then perhaps another cruiseline would better suit. It really depends on your kids. We've been on 2 Carnival ships with waterslides and they still prefer Princess.

 

When there are fewer kids onboard they do tend to blend the kids clubs so Pelicans and Shockwaves are together. That can be good or bad depending on if they blend towards older or younger but in our experience they lean towards younger so you should be ok as yours are younger. The kids clubs are great even when there aren't many kids - but you should prepare your kids for a small group and that there may not be any of their age. Also, not all kids use the club so there may not be any other kids there at all at some times as well. Our kids loved that - they had the whole place to themselves without lineups for the activities. Your kids may or may not like that.

 

Royal is similar to Regal - we just got off Regal so I'll tell you about her - there are no milkshakes. No matter what other people say, there arent the machines onboard. There is great gelato and free soft serve ice cream.

There is a shallow main pool - called the "plunge pool" - great for lounging in with a beverage, right under MUTS and the music stage. But also shallow enough so the kids can swim - the main pool next to the plunge pool is very deep. The only other pool on Royal is the Retreat - adults only. On Regal for an hour once or twice they turned on the fountains for kids playtime. Check the daily patter for times.

 

When our kids were younger - During port days we went on an excursion with the kids in the morning then dropped them at the kids club ( you must book ahead and tell them what time you are coming and confirm that they will be there or they will close and let the staff go into port - they do not stay open for " drop ins" during port times no matter how many or few kids are onboard - if no kids booked ahead they close ) and hubby and I would go back onshore just to the immediate port area to shop and wander a bit.

 

We have done the off peak time longer cruises a lot. For us it made sense as prices were better, crowds were less, and we'd do a couple days in Orlando after the cruise and it was less crowded there too. We like to relax onboard. We don't need activities and action so we are ok if the crowd is older and we are ok without all the "family amenities" on other cruiselines. Our kids are ok without all the action. We enjoyed the ports a lot - tours, beach days, shopping.

 

Depending on your family, this all may or may not work for you.

 

Let me know if you have any questions - I'll check back over the next couple days.

[JinxyB]

Thank you for your account of your trip, cruisintoddler. It is very informative and answers some questions I had. Would you happen to have any pictures of the outdoor play area near the Pelicans room? Thank you so much!

[CruisinFinsUp]

Thank you for your account of your trip, cruisintoddler. It is very informative and answers some questions I had. Would you happen to have any pictures of the outdoor play area near the Pelicans room? Thank you so much!

 

No sorry - we didnt take any pics there.

 

 

Two pics here:

http://maritimematters.com/2013/07/royal-princess-decked-part-one/

Edited March 29, 2015 by cruisintoddler

[shredie]

Thank you for your account of your trip, cruisintoddler. It is very informative and answers some questions I had. Would you happen to have any pictures of the outdoor play area near the Pelicans room? Thank you so much!

 

You aren't allowed to take pictures of the areas when there are children present.

[jennymaxgirl]

Hi, I don't mean to hijack this thread but I am wondering if anyone has a recent experience on the Royal Princess and their kids club, specifically the Princess Pelicans age group. I'm considering a 10-day Caribbean cruise on either Princess or Celebrity and would be bringing my 5 y/o. I read on a closed thread that they did not open the pelican room for the younger kids and the clubs were closed until the evening?! If there are no kids activities during the day then that's a deal- breaker for us. Don't need any lectures about bringing my kid on a longer cruise, just would like any recent reports of the club being open on a longer cruise. Thank you!

 

 

Hi Jinxy.

 

I was the one who originally started this thread and we decided to book with Princess! We are sailing on the Royal Princess for 10 nights to the E. Carib. in the beginning of November. My kids are 5 and 7. I phoned Princess and they confirmed there were only 3 other children in the same age group, but we are drawn to the itinerary and other features of the ship; being that it's newer and the food looks great.

 

To be honest, I wasn't drawn to the kid-heavy ships that have the flow riders, water slides, climbing walls, etc. They seem gimmicky and not like a ship should be. Of course my children enjoy a pool slide, but not enough to have it be a priority on the ship.

 

We decided that we wanted to expose the kids to the different islands and cultures and I think this will fit the bill! We are prepared to be surrounded by a much older crowd, but hey - at least it will be a little quieter than a younger crowd. We tend to keep to ourselves anyways and wouldn't be the ones partaking in the deck parties, etc. anyways.

 

We are excited and haven't regretted our decision. The ship and the food looks fantastic and the ports will be exciting!

 

I say go for it! Maybe we will be on the same cruise. Lol.

 

Jennifer

Edited March 29, 2015 by jennymaxgirl

[caribill]

We are sailing on the Royal Princess for 10 nights to the E. Carib. in the beginning of November. My kids are 5 and 7. I phoned Princess and they confirmed there were only 3 other children in the same age group.

 

 

In the next seven months there might be additional bookings with children in that age group.

[Roatanfans]

We were on the 2/27 sailing on the Star out of San Francisco. The kids club was open 9am-noon, 1pm-5pm, and 6-10pm on sea days and hours varied a little in port. I'm sure these hours are probably pretty standard on all the ships. Yes, you can call Princess and ask for the amount of children booked (they tell you total and a break down by about 4 age groups). Even though this was clearly not the "all the bells and whistles for the younger set" cruise my children loved every minute and never were bored (they also wanted to be in the kids club more then hang out with us!)