Princess and Royal Caribbean & Kids?

[HopingtoCruiseSoon]

I've been watching the Princess and Royal Caribbean boards lately as my extended family (including 6 children under the age of 10) will be taking a cruise next year and we've narrowed it down to these 2 lines. I don't know if this is a recent thing or if it's always like this, but the Royal Caribbean board seems very negative about children cruising. The Princess board seems much more relaxed and more concerned about other things than children. I'm wondering if this holds over to the population on the cruises in general. I certainly don't want to take my children in to an atmosphere that is hostile to them. I know both Royal Caribbean and Princess are supposed to be family friendly, but it seems to me that Princess might be the better choice or am I misreading the whole thing?

 

Thanks.

[dad son team]

I think you are misreading it. RCCL is very family friendly. Alot of people, including me, consider their kids programing to be among the best. Their voyager class ship are fantastic for kids. If they didn't want the kids onboard, they wouldn't offer the programs they do.

[michaelsmom]

Lot's of cruise ships are family friendly, it is just some cruisers who aren't. My kids loved the kids program on the Infinity last year.

 

That said, please make sure you understand everything that is and isn't available for all the children in your group. For example, make sure you understand the ages for group babysitting and other requirements. Nearly all cruise lines require kids to be potty trained, siblings can go down in age to stay together but not up, etc. Make sure that if in room babysitting is desired that the cruise line offers it.

 

Kids must be potty trained on almost all the cruise lines to swim in the pools and many cruise lines don't allow children in the indoor pool (if they have one)

 

I say this because so many people are so shocked by the rules after they are fully committed to a cruise line.

 

From personal experience having cruised with a group of 18 last year, please make sure that all the parents in the group understand everything as well. Communicate in writing (ie email) and get feedback. Require everyone to participate in the decision making so that everyone is equally responsible.

[berry04]

I think that both cruise lines are very family friendly. However there may be more bad talk about kids on RCCL because there are usually more kids on board. Princess limits the number of passengers under 18 on each cruise so there are fewer kids to complain about. That is really the only difference. You will probably enjoy either line.

[Kaylas Mom]

We had an awesome, fabulous on RCCI Legend of the Seas in 2002 in Alaska. My daughter, who was 7 then, just loved the kids club and the whole cruise. We could not get her to leave. They had so many games, science experiments, arts & craft activities, talent shows, etc. she was totally occupied. She even made a friend with whom she still writes. In contrast, we had a great cruise this year on NCL's Star but their kids blub was truly awful -- they just plunked the kids in front of movies. We're trying Princess for the first time in August 2005 and we've got our fingers crossed... of course, the good news is that we always fill port days with lots of interesting stuff, so any vacation is a good vacation to us.

[HopingtoCruiseSoon]

Thanks for all the replies. I think we're leaning toward Princess because of the age groupings in the kids clubs and the fact that they do limit the number of kids. I agree with dad son team that the cruise lines are marketing toward families, however the passengers are the ones doing all the complaining on the boards.

[MERED1TH]

Thanks for all the replies. I think we're leaning toward Princess because of the age groupings in the kids clubs and the fact that they do limit the number of kids. I agree with dad son team that the cruise lines are marketing toward families, however the passengers are the ones doing all the complaining on the boards.

 

I would double check the age group thing for your exact ship and sailing. We were on the Golden recently and they were broken down as per the web site 3-7 and 8-12 etc , but I have read some posts reporting different breakdowns on the new ship Caribbean Princess.

[HopingtoCruiseSoon]

I would double check the age group thing for your exact ship and sailing. We were on the Golden recently and they were broken down as per the web site 3-7 and 8-12 etc , but I have read some posts reporting different breakdowns on the new ship Caribbean Princess.

 

I checked with the TA (who checked her "official" Princess literature) and with Princess directly and they both said 3-7 and 8-12, but I will post a query on the Princess board and see if I can get a response from someone who's actually been on the ship. Thanks!

[ECMama]

We did RC a few months before our wedding & it seemed extremely family friendly, so we decided to go ahead & book RC again for my birthday next year, when our kids are 2 & almost 1. I won't be able to take them in the pool, but I think it'll be fun anyway. :) Good luck with your decision!

[Rustynail]

As long as children are supervised and well behaved why should you have to worry about what other people think? It's your family's vacation too!

 

Rusty

[karen_cpa]

Make sure you stay in touch with Princess and watch that the age category of the children's program(s) that you need does not fill up. There have been a few instances that I have read recently, where families tried to book Princess for next year, only to find that their children's categories was filled up. Not only does Princess limit the # of children in total, they also limit by age group. Once it is full, it is full. I believe a few people had to be wait-listed for the cruise of their choice.

 

Good Luck and enjoy your cruise!!!!

[watsonsmom]

We had a very positive experience last year on RCI. There were 6 kids in our group of various ages. All of them had such a good time that when we began planning next year's vacation, they all wanted to cruise again with RCI. The supervision was good, and I never worried about their safety. The only complaint I had was that the kids never wanted to spend time with us! They met many friends and still e-mail several of them. I recommend it highly.

[busybusybusy]

We were on the Golden Princess in August, and the ages were broken down further into 3-5, 6-7, 8-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18. It depends on the number of kids in each age. Princess limits the number of kids on the ship, so you might want to think about booking soon. Both of my kids (10 and 15) loved the programs. They are open whenever the ship is at sea, and there are 2 evenings when they eat together, allowing the adults to dine alone :) .

[diconway]

We've done both RCCL and Princess with our three kids ten and under. Both are super and our kids loved them. RCCL has more age breakdowns and also gives tickets when the kids participate which they can redeem at the end of the cruise for lanyards, T-shirts, backpacks, stuffed animals, etc... Princess does not have that, but we think both programs are pretty equal. Sometimes, though, even though RCCL has more age breakdowns they will combine two age groups together for certain activities.

[merela]

I've never been on a RCCL ship, but my sister had. She has 2 kids under 3 so her kids weren't old enough to get into the kids' club. I think the big difference between Princess and RCCL ships is that for Princess, as long as the parents accompany the children under the age of 3, they can go into the kids club and enjoy the facilities there--Playing in the ball pit, games, playdoh....and even paint t-shirts (my 2YO son did that with his 5YO sister). But RCCL will not let kids under 3 to go inside the kids' club even if the parents stay with them. So if you have kids under 3 travelling in your group, then Princess is a better choice. If not, RCCL is probably a better ship in terms of organized kids' events/activities....but I can't say for sure because I don't have the kids' program list from RCCL.

 

Here is the list of kids' activities from the Kids' Patters I took off the Diamond Princess to Alaska:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=78190

 

The theme will be different and the movies shown will be different, but the basic activities will remain basically the same. I was on the Star Princess to Mexico last year and the 3-5 age group had basically the same activities. I also liked the fact that they open new boxes of board games and Playdoh for each sailing.

 

Also, the soda card on board the Princess is cheaper than RCCL. It's $20pp for 7 days (without the Coke souvenir cup, $22.50 with it), so if you have teenagers who roam the ships by themselves, a $20 soda card pp is really a good deal. I believe RCCL charges $40+ (check the RCCL board).

 

Princess also provide free baby food (Gerber's no less!). Just give them the flavors of the food your baby enjoys (tell your travel agent to request the baby food) and they'll give you enough for at least 2 weeks!!!

 

Princess has a kids' menu which I had posted somewhere (either on the Princess board or on this board). Just do a search on my username and you'll find it. The food is much better on the Princess. So if the adults love to eat good food, Princess would be the cruise to go with, not RCCL. On the Princess, the buffet was great and the dining room experience was great too. If you travel with kids, you'll know what a hassle it is to find the food they like while travelling. You don't have to worry about that on a Princess ship. Even if your child wakes up at odd hours and screams hunger, like mine did, just bring him/her up to the buffet area and a 24-hour buffet is available everyday on the Princess.

 

If you do book with Princess, request early seating if that's what your family wishes. But I would just go with anytime dining and go with the flow. Depending on which Princess ship you go with, if you go in a group, you may have to reserve large tables ahead of time. I believe the largest table on Princess is for 10 people. So if you have 16 people in your group, you may want to do early seating for 2 tables of 8 side by side. Just let your travel agent know.

 

We'll be choosing Princess for our next cruise, this time with kids 1, 3, 3.5, and 5.

 

If you have any questions regarding travelling with children on the Princess, just email me: jtsaila@excite.com

 

HTH.

 

Jennifer

[cruisinqt]

We went on the Rhapsody in January with our kids ages 4 and 6. They loved RCI and always fussed when we came to pick them up because they didn't want to leave. They also loved getting the ocean adventure dollars every time they entered the kids program or won a contest. They used their ocean adventure dollars to buy "Inky" and "Stinky", their beloved stuffed octopusses. You will also receive ocean adventure dollars if you win the family scavenger hunt. The kids love getting ocean adventure dollars and spending them on fun stuff.:)

 

On our RCI cruise the kids got to build a volcano and make it explode. They also got to make their own rubber balls and get their faces painted like a pirate and go on a treasure hunt. They still have the pillow cases they painted! All in all I would recommend RCI highly. The cruisers and staff alike were very friendly to our kids and made them feel welcome.

 

The only place you will find negativity towards kids is here on the boards. I have been on a number of cruises with my kids on cruise lines like Carnival, NCL and RCI, and have never had cruisers be rude to my kids. Some of the people on the boards really dislike having kids on the cruise ships and they are very vocal about it. I had one id**t actually say cruising was not meant for kids and cruise ships were not geared towards kids.:rolleyes: What a load of cr*p! With free child care all day, kiddie pools, degree'd professionals hired to watch the kids, kids menu's, and kids activities for the next day printed up and brought to your cabin every night, how could someone be insane enough to say that?:eek:

 

My advice is to ignore all of the negative comments towards kids on the boards. Almost every cruise line has negative comments about kids on their boards. It fluctuates a lot, but RCI is just having more than their fair share of negative kid comments here lately. :( I've read lots of negative comments about kids on RCI, Carnival, and NCL. But I never once saw negativity towards kids on the actual cruises. You won't see the negative kids stuff on the actual cruise, just here on the boards. I think people are just a little frustrated and are venting.