Kids club question

[terkov]

Hi, we have never sailed RC always Disney as my 8 year old loves the kids club. However looking at a summer cruise with other family members and Disney is over double the price ! We are sailing Disney again in February but can't justify the more then double price we are seeing now

 

My question is around the kids club. My daughter loves the freedom of the Disney club. Example, if she doesn't want to do the scheduled "activity " (a game, baking, art project) she can do something else ( color, play on the computer, do art)

 

Is that the same on RC or is it if you are in the club and it is time for an activity everyone must do it?

 

Any insight would be super. Thanks!!

[curry767]

Last year on Radiance our 6 year did what she wanted if she wasn't interested in the planned activity

[southnam]

Our kid loved the kids program on Freedom of the Seas. I am sure you 6 year old will love it too. The staff are great.

 

 

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[pattle66]

My kids have always loved the kids club on Royal. I do not think they will force a child to do an activity they did not want to do. There are always other activities on offer.

 

Happy cruising

[M_BA]

Hi,

 

Here's an example of a day schedule for your child:

 

 

Kids aren't required to do all activities. It's not uncommon for some to color, play with others, be on a personal tablet.

[queenL]

It's funny you should mention this. My new 9yr old was not allowed to do her own thing most of the time. The counselors said some activities she could do something else but others she either participated or sat and watched until they moved on to something else. She complained a lot about that this cruise. We were on the Anthem.

[pattle66]

It's funny you should mention this. My new 9yr old was not allowed to do her own thing most of the time. The counselors said some activities she could do something else but others she either participated or sat and watched until they moved on to something else. She complained a lot about that this cruise. We were on the Anthem.

 

Wow, we have never come across that on our cruises. What a shame for your daughter. We haven't been on Anthem but I thought they would be all similar. Our cruises have been on Radiance and Vision class ships.

[cb at sea]

The clubs on Disney are totally different than on every other line...and most kids LOVE the non-disney lines...You have no worries!!!!

[crabby5]

My 9 yr old daughter had a different experience on the Oasis, she hated the kids club. We had been on the Disney Dream 3 times prior and she loved The Oceaneer club. She loved eating dinner fast and going to the club while we ate but she wouldn't even do that on the Oasis. The Oceaneer club was huge compared to Oasis, she likes to do her own thing and felt like she had to participate with the group on the Oasis.

The upside to this is that if you asked her which ship she liked better, she'd pick Oasis. In fact, she liked it so much that we're going back again this summer. She has already told me that she won't go to the kid's club and I'm fine with that. I work full time and she's in school, so we don't see each other as much as we'd like so I like to hang out with her on vacation.

[jaygee77]

Just off Independence this past week, and the Aquanauts club for ages 3-5 told us they could not bring in their own kiddie tablets. I got the sense that they made everyone participate in the same activity in that age group, since there were only two employees to supervise the entire group of 15 or so children.

[LJ1012]

My kiddos were 7, 9 & 11 when we were on the Oasis. I had to MAKE them come out of the kids clubs. They did say that kids participated as a group and nobody did their own thing. I was initially worried because the trio got split up and one kiddo was by himself. He had a blast so it worked out. I am more worried about our upcoming cruise when the oldest 2 will be in the tween clubs. I think they have high expectations and want the same group activities. My kiddos are pretty outgoing though so it will be fine.

[karl_nj]

Wow, we have never come across that on our cruises. What a shame for your daughter. We haven't been on Anthem but I thought they would be all similar. Our cruises have been on Radiance and Vision class ships.

 

 

 

My 10 year old tells me that he was usually allowed to opt out of the group activity last August on Serenade, but not a few weeks later on Liberty.

 

He generally prefers DCL because he can do whatever he wants, but he really enjoyed the kids club on the Serenade cruise to Norway.

 

I thought it had to do with the number of kids onboard that cruise, but perhaps the ship class also comes into play.

 

My 6 year old daughter was also allowed to occasionally drop down to the 3-5 group in order to spend time there with her 5 year old cousin on Serenade, which was very nice. This was during periods when that room wasn't very busy anyway.

[jticarruthers]

Ours has aged out of the kids club now, loved it when we first started going but on the last couple of cruises he complained that it was "the same activities as the last cruises and they wouldn't let him do his own thing for the ones he wasn't interested in".

 

Anecdotal but it seemed like as he got older they got stricter on its the group activity or no activity.

[UCF_Knight]

It seems to vary by ship. But most of the time recently it is "do the group activity which is usually throwing a ball at each other, or sit there and watch". Our last 2 cruises within the past 6 months (Enchantment and Oasis) have been disappointing experiences. The staff seemed to skip almost all of the activities on the kids' cruise planner and have just had the kids play Gaga Ball for hours at a time. Probably because it is easier for the staff to not have to organize activities. My kids (9 and 7) who have usually loved Adventure Ocean in the past told us a couple of times they did not want to go.

Edited April 20, 2016 by UCF_Knight

[xxHadleyxx]

We have sailed both lines about a dozen times with our kids (now older teens).

 

One never really liked the clubs and one prefers RCI''s

 

One prefers DCL'S familiy actvoties and ships and the other RCI

 

Both have very much enjoyed every cruise on either line (and both prefer RCI's teen programming, for future reference ;) )

 

Both encountered time on each line when they were not allowed to do anythign but the main program in teh club (this was more often on DCL, back in teh day) and both have encountered really good, flexible counselors. It has been a long time since they were in the children's sections (my youngest is now 17) but at least for teen programming, RCI is MUCH more likely to be flexible and let the kids do what interests them.

 

I'm sure your daughter will have a good time on the ship

Edited April 20, 2016 by NHDisneylover

[jagwebb]

My daughter (age 9) has been on Disney Dream, RCCL Freedom (twice), and RCCL Oasis. She very much preferred the club on Disney. We couldn't keep her out of the Disney club. She does not care much for the clubs on RCCL. She will go a few times during each cruise for certain things. Her reason centers around what you asked. She said that free play on Disney was allowed and not on RCCL. I will say that - just like others have said - although she does not prefer the RCCL clubs she does prefer the RCCL ships which is why we are sailing Oasis again next month.

[3happyferrets]

I can't be helpful with the Disney comparison, sorry, but we've been cruising with our kiddos on RCCL ships since they were 2&3, now 12&13. They LOVE the kids club (now in teen club [emoji22]). They begged to go. Didn't even say bye to us when we would drop them off! Last cruise on Allure we we barely saw them when the club was open, lol. I guess it all depends on the ship and your kids, but I don't think you have much to worry about. Have a great cruise[emoji4]

 

 

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[reallyitsmema]

Hi,

 

 

Kids aren't required to do all activities. It's not uncommon for some to color, play with others, be on a personal tablet.

 

What ship allowed your kids to use a personal tablet? They don't usually allow the kids to bring anything in so that it doesn't get lost or stolen.

[tradeshowgirl]

Is the kids club open the first night on Allure?

 

 

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[mariapd719]

I have a question about the toddler groups. Does anyone have any experience with them? Also if my son is 1 year and 11 months old on our next cruise will he still be forced into the 1 year old group?

[jticarruthers]

Is the kids club open the first night on Allure?

 

 

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Historically the clubs are usually only open for registration on the first night, however, our most recent cruise they seemed to be changing that to actually be open for operation.

 

Not sure if that is something changing fleetwide or not though.

[janets]

We have done two Disney cruises with my two adult children and their spouses and 4 grandchildren. The two oldest this year were 4. Unfortunately the two younger ones could not go to the Kid's Club but the two 4 year olds LOVED the video games! We will be on the Allure July 2018 and now the 3 year old and two 5 year olds can go to Aquanauts. I saw pictures of Aquanauts and looked very "babyish" for 5 year olds. I understand that for video games that you have to go to Arcade and pay $1.25 per game. I a concerned that the 5 year olds will not want to go to Aquanauts. On plus side, I have heard that the activities in Aquanauts is more structured than Disney. Does anyone have any experience comparing Disney to Aquanauts.

Thanks

[akiko03]

We were on Harmony in October. My 5 year old loved the kid's club. The 9 year old - not so much. She said some of the activities were required (everyone had to participate) while others she could sit out. She said the kids were wild. I think some of that is that she is a quiet kid who would rather be reading a book on her own and she gets frustrated when people don't listen and follow the directions of the people in charge. So it probably depends on what type of activities your child enjoys participating in.

[melski]

Historically the clubs are usually only open for registration on the first night, however, our most recent cruise they seemed to be changing that to actually be open for operation.

 

Not sure if that is something changing fleetwide or not though.

 

All of our cruises had AO open the first night but it opened later at 8. Go and register during the day so you don't have to have a long line at night. If you have a teen, your teen definitely should be there the first night as they do meet and greets and that is when the teens will form groups.

 

During the day, AO tends to have less kids and they can be more flexible. During the day, it is more arts and crafts, etc. The evening has a lot more kids and tend to be large group games (like gaga ball).

[BNBR]

We have done two Disney cruises with my two adult children and their spouses and 4 grandchildren. The two oldest this year were 4. Unfortunately the two younger ones could not go to the Kid's Club but the two 4 year olds LOVED the video games! We will be on the Allure July 2018 and now the 3 year old and two 5 year olds can go to Aquanauts. I saw pictures of Aquanauts and looked very "babyish" for 5 year olds. I understand that for video games that you have to go to Arcade and pay $1.25 per game. I a concerned that the 5 year olds will not want to go to Aquanauts. On plus side, I have heard that the activities in Aquanauts is more structured than Disney. Does anyone have any experience comparing Disney to Aquanauts.

Thanks

 

My 4 year old (2 months from turning 5) absolutely adored Aquanauts. Couldn't wait to go every day.