Jewel of the Seas - No Nursery? Royal Tots Program?

[DJDaveS]

Hi there,

 

I will be sailing on the Jewel of the Seas on April 24th. This will be the very first sailing after the drydock which is happening in March/April.

 

I am traveling with my twin two year olds. I heard there was no nursery onboard. And the drydock renovation to include the nursery has been scrapped. It is not being added. I am pretty bummed out as I thought the Royal Nursery was going to be fleet-wide.

 

But I do hear as of right now, they do offer the Royal Babies & Tots Program. Anyone have more info on what that is?

 

I only found out by looking at a video of the ship.

(See 52:52)

 

Maybe the info I have been getting is incorrect and it will have a Nursery.

 

 

Any assistance would be great.

[cb at sea]

I don't think Radiance class offers a nursery. They may very well still have "in cabin babysitting"....

 

I think the Royal Tots is a specified time where you can bring your kids in to play with toys and such...but you have to stay with them.

[akcruz]

Here is a review from someone who was on the same Jewel sailing as I was last fall. She had a 2 1/2 year old along with her. She was one that was told the plans to put a nursery onboard were scrapped, even though there is one on other ships in the same class.

 

I seem to remember she took advantage of the Royal Tot play time. Good read.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2268873&highlight=sunkissed

[DJDaveS]

Here is a review from someone who was on the same Jewel sailing as I was last fall. She had a 2 1/2 year old along with her. She was one that was told the plans to put a nursery onboard were scrapped, even though there is one on other ships in the same class.

 

I seem to remember she took advantage of the Royal Tot play time. Good read.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2268873&highlight=sunkissed

 

Thank you for sharing.

[Ashland]

I don't think Radiance class offers a nursery. They may very well still have "in cabin babysitting"....

 

I think the Royal Tots is a specified time where you can bring your kids in to play with toys and such...but you have to stay with them.

 

We were on the Radiance to Alaska and they have an amazing Royal Tots Nursery.

 

I think that RCI deciding to not have one added to the Jewel when she goes into drydock is a big mistake...and a reason we wouldn't sail on JOS when traveling with our family that includes our toddler grandchildren and more on the way.

[DJDaveS]

We were on the Radiance to Alaska and they have an amazing Royal Tots Nursery.

 

I think that RCI deciding to not have one added to the Jewel when she goes into drydock is a big mistake...and a reason we wouldn't sail on JOS when traveling with our family that includes our toddler grandchildren and more on the way.

 

I completely agree. According to another guest they are not adding it because of the lose of profit from the arcade. The arcade basically makes them more money.

 

Maybe since the ship is heading to Europe in 2016-2017, they feel it is an older group to travel. Who knows.

 

Looking at the 2015-2016 deck map and the 2016-2017 deck map, the golf simulators are missing. Not sure why they don't just put the arcade in the golf simulator room. And the Nursery in the arcade room? Also, not sure what they are even putting in that room. It is an empty room on the map.

 

I have never been on this class of ship, only the Voyager and above.

[kitkat343]

Our family is also limiting future cruises to those with nurseries. I'm hopeful the Norwegian Escape's nursery will be profitable so Norwegian will consider adding this feature to their fleet.

[cruisegirl06]

I bet the nursery is more profitable than it looks on paper. Even though the hourly rates probably aren't a huge profit, then the parents can go spend money elsewhere. I know we've frequently used it so we could do specialty dining or go to some of the bars on board. When our older aughter was 1 we cruised on a ship without a nursery and I'm pretty sure our onboard bill was pretty low on that cruise compared to cruises where we've had a nursery available. (Granted not all lines care to target families with babies). But, As long as we're traveling with an under-3 the nursery/available childcare is a big consideration

Edited March 5, 2016 by cruisegirl06

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I bet the nursery is more profitable than it looks on paper. Even though the hourly rates probably aren't a huge profit, then the parents can go spend money elsewhere. I know we've frequently used it so we could do specialty dining or go to some of the bars on board. When our older aughter was 1 we cruised on a ship without a nursery and I'm pretty sure our onboard bill was pretty low on that cruise compared to cruises where we've had a nursery available. (Granted not all lines care to target families with babies). But, As long as we're traveling with an under-3 the nursery/available childcare is a big consideration

 

I agree with you. I think the Nursery IS more profitable than they think because it will attract families to sail on those ships. Plus when my son was in the nursery we did spend money at bars and specialty restaurants. I am also the person who is mentioned above. We sailed on the Jewel in October and I was told that the nursery was scrapped. So far, everything I have researched confirms that. Checking out the deck plans on the Royal website, a nursery is not showing for the dates after dry dock. :(

 

FYI- that entire cruise, the arcade was DEAD. We went in there so my son could SIT on the motorcycle games. Always the only ones in the room. It's a shame they aren't adding it.

 

The Brilliance (sister to Jewel) has a nursery because we used it the year before on our Canada/New England cruise.

 

My son is now 3, so we are open to a lot more ships now. If/when #2 eventually comes along we will definitely limit ourselves to nursery ships again for that time period.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Sunkissed Mommy