Kid's Clubs - RCCL vs. NCL

[sarahcd]

We're looking to book a trip for next February. My husband and I have been on several Princess cruises and last year we took our kids on our first RCCL, Mariner of the Seas. They had a blast! Looking to next year...NCL's Pearl has a great itinerary and price is MUCH lower. Can do a mini-suite for $1000 less than balcony stateroom on RCCL. HOWEVER...I have not read many positive reports about NCL's kid's clubs. I've read it's chaotic, counselors yell, more of a group babysit than anything else, combined agr groups for several hours a day, etc...I need some feedback! :eek: My kids will be 7 and 10.

[lamolesky]

We have done two NCL cruises with our little ones (2 and 5) and never had the problems that some others have said. We had only positive experiences with the kids club and loved the counselors. The only thing that I can figure out is that maybe they went on a school vacation week when there were a ton of kids? Our kids loved it and so did we. I have pictures and schedules on the Gem and Dawn pages so you can take a look at how NCL works.

[VikkiGarcia]

After sailing both lines (RC 6 times, NCL 2) I noticed the biggest difference was when you have older kids/tween/teens. NCL does not seem to know what to do with this age group. On our Alaska sailing the kids club was from 7-12. My 9 year old nephew (who acts like he is 13) thought it was very babyish.They had them playing duck, duck, goose and coloring. He wanted to be in the teen club room. My teens thought that the leaders were bored and the teen club was very sub par to RC. The teens all seemed to meet up in the teen club then head off to wander the ship. The staff made no effort to get them to stay, do an activity, or just hang out in the teen room. Now my small nephews (all under 8) thought that kids club on NCL was the greatest thing in the world. We could not get them out of there.

[sarahcd]

That's what I was afraid of. On Cruise Critic's Member Review section, no one had anything good to say about the tween age club. Also, this new program they've started where all the age groups play together for the first two hours and the last hour - to me, it just sounds like they're trying to utilize less staff. My 10 yo will not want to play with 4 year olds! Although I like NCL's itinerary better, I think we're going to stick with RCCL and try the Freedom of the Seas.

[14ersco]

On sea days NCL has the Kid's Club open from 9 AM to 10:30 PM for no cost. Also unlike other cruise lines there are closures for meal times, but during those times the age groups are combined. The ages were also combined for the first half and last half hour each day; if the groups were small. Earlier this month our DS (5) loved Kid's Club; even during the combined times. The one sea day he came out only for a total of 40 minutes for meals.

 

When you first register for Kid's Club you are given a list of all activities throughout the cruise; with there being a new activity every couple hours. For the 3-5 y/o group included decorating a cupcake, coloring a t-shirt, meeting the Captain for cookies and an individual photo, going to dinner one night with the Kid's Crew, dressing up as pirates, and attending 2 of the main evening shows. We were there during spring break and the kid's were under control, even when walking the length of the ship to go to a show or at a show. Never saw a staff member get angry; even when a boy got mad at his parent for taking him out of kid's club and the boy hit the staff member.

[sarahcd]

I will say I like the idea that kids are not forced to participate in the scheduled activity. It's all or nothing with RCCL. My son was 8 when we sailed on the Mariner last year and he just doesn't enjoy anything to do with singing and dancing. He'd rather be on the computers or a game system if there aren't any sports going on.

[2Cruise4Ever]

Our kids have been in the NCL Kids Crew 3 times now (4th time coming up!). They loved it each and every time. The only time I ever saw the age groups combined was when we picked them up one time at 1:00 a.m. (during the group babysitting time). They all wanted to watch the same movie and there were only about 10 kids in there. Other than that, my two have always been separated (DD is 6 and DS is 11).

 

The first thing they ask every morning, "Mommy, when can we go to the Kids Crew???" And, they're disappointed when we go ashore instead of to the Kids Crew. I've never heard a counselor yell. And, they don't force the kids to do the organized activities.

[sarahcd]

Well now y'all have me wavering again! If the kids' clubs are the same caliber...:confused: NCL has the better itinerary, but RCCL has the "wow" factor. So the question is - is the "wow" worth an extra $1000? I'm dying to see the Freedom, but maybe we save our money this trip, and go for RCCL's Oasis or NCL's Epic next time???

[VikkiGarcia]

saracd: There is not a game system or computers in the kids club on the 2 NCL cruises we did. The game system and computers were in the teen center,not kids club, if this matters to you.

[2Cruise4Ever]

There are Wii systems on the Dawn (and I bet the Pearl, too since she's newer) and computers and other games in the Kids Crew.

[loveysbydesign]

Anyone cruised the Dawn recently with kids? If so how iold were they and did they have a great time??

[bbcruiser]

No game center for 6-9 y.o. on Pearl. Our 6 y.o. son loves them and was disappointed there weren't any computer games or video games in his age group.

[rebeccalouise]

I have sailed Norwegian several times and we had fun on our cruises. When you travel during school breaks- there are going to be tons of kids on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and to a lesser extent Princess. For example- over Christmas there were 1000 children on Independence of the Seas- yuck! I was on Indy with 300 children and that was plenty.

 

Longer cruises tend to attract fewer families and I have enjoyed these cruises more- since I am forced to travel over school breaks.

 

As for the the mini suite on Norwegian- it may or may not be bigger than a balcony suite on Royal Caribbean. Norwegian cabins are tiny- as are some of the cabins on the older Royal Caribbean ships. Check room dimensions before booking.

 

Of all the kid programs- I have to say that Celebrity is still # 1 in my book. They tend to have fewer kids on board and the staff takes great care of the kids- and there are lots of fun activities. Royal is good also but they get lots of kids on these ships.

 

As a parent- I would rather have fewer kids onboard because I want my child to make friends but also have supervision. I just don't think the counselors can get to know the kids when there are 600-1000 onboard.

[bbcruiser]

NCL lists Pearl's mini-suite as 283 Sq. Ft. including balcony, if that helps.

 

Alaska cruise, week after kids were out, total of 150 kids (all ages) on board as per the Kids Crew Staff. There were about 40-50 in 6-9 years, only about 20 in 2-5 (usually 10 or less there whenever we picked up or dropped off our kids).

 

Few enough kids that the Kids Crew staff even recognized our kids and said hi to them by name when we happened to see them in port in Skagway.