Blog Archives

Baby & Toddler Friendly Ships

1/22/2014

After coming back from our first cruise with a baby, I got to asking myself. Which ships are the most baby & toddler friendly? Most cruise lines do not begin their kids clubs until the age of 3. So for families with little ones, it can be more challenging to go on vacation and have some alone time for the adults! You may or may not know that some cruise ships DO have programs for the under 3 crowd! Here is a run down of the kids programs on each of the major lines.

I know this post is a full of information and you probably won't read it all in one setting. Bookmark or save it to refer to when making future cruise plans. Or better yet, breeze through it quickly now and come back later to soak up the details! I have highlighted (in red) the two cruise lines that I feel are the MOST baby and toddler friendly.

Carnival
Camp Carnival begins at age 2. There are three distinct groups on their ships: Ages 2-5, Ages 6-8, and Ages 9-11. As with all the cruise lines, their counselors have education degrees or prior education experience. They recently partnered with Dr Suess to bring characters to life onboard.

Night Owls is a program with a fee for evening care.
Circle C is for the 12-14 year old crowd. They have their very own club onboard.
Club O2 is for the 15-17 year old crowd.
Supervised play is available to the under-2 crowd for a fee ($6.75 per hour + gratuity) during select hours. Parents can choose to play with their infants for free on sea days as well.

Celebrity
Programs run from 9am-10pm daily.

Toddler Time - under 3 years old. Time for parents to interact with their kids. This is not a supervised group.
ShipmatesSM - ages 3-5. Children must be fully potty trained to participate in these programs.
CadetsSM - ages 6-8.
EnsignsSM - ages 9-11. This age group has the ability to sign themselves in and out of the kids club.
Junior Teens - ages 12-14
Senior Teens - ages 15-17

Babysitting is available for $6 per hour, per child for ages 3-11. Private in-room sitters are available for children aged 12 months and up for $19/hour for up to three children.

Disney
Disney is designed for the young and young at heart. SO of course they will have programs for all ages! Open from 9am to midnight daily. Children can even have their meals in the kids club.

Flounder's Reef/ It's a Small World Nursery- Designed for ages 3 months to 3 years old. It costs $6 an hour (better than a baby sitter's rate) and has a 2 hour minimum.
Oceaneer's Club/Lab- Ages 3-12. Interactive and fun. Indoor playgrounds, video games, crafts, cooking, science, etc!
Skuttle's Cove- Located on Castaway Cay, this is where kids can go to play so parents can enjoy the beach on their own. Open 9am -3:30pm.
Edge- Ages 11-14. Open 9am to midnight.
Vibe- Ages 14-17. Open A hip loft/ apartment for the teens to hang out. Pizza, dancing, karaoke, punch, etc.
Splash Zone- 2:30pm-3:30pm daily. Nemo's Reef will be reserved for Toddlers only. Counselors will bring toys and play games. On Magic, Dream, and Fantasy.
Toddler Time- Ages 3 months to 3 years. Open hour for parents to spend with their children in the nursery. 8am-9am daily. Located on the Magic, Dream, and Fantasy.

Holland America

Club HAL® — Kids*: Children, ages 3-7, can participate in such activities as pirate treasure hunts, hands-on pizza making, storytelling, "Little Artists" crafts, ice cream sundae parties and a farewell pajama party.
All children participating in Club HAL must be completely toilet trained. No diapers or pull–ups are permitted in the Youth Center. Youth Staff cannot assist children in the restroom.
Club HAL® — Tweens*: Tweens, ages 8-12 take part in Xbox and Wii tournaments, relay races, scavenger hunts, karaoke disco parties and participate in the award-winning National Park Service Jr. Ranger Program in Alaska on Alaska cruises.
The Loft and The Oasis*: Teens, ages 13-17 enjoy mocktail mixology classes, late night sporting competitions, teen yoga and hip hop classes, guys verses girls scavenger hunts, cooking demos, tech classes and teen only night club events. When there are more than 100 children on board, a HAL Talent Show is offered. (The Loft and Oasis are not available on the Prinsendam. The Oasis is located on the Statendam, Ryndam, Veendam, Rotterdam, Zaandam, Volendam and Amsterdam.)

MSC
Here's the biggie, Kids cruise free on MSC. Did you know that??

Mini Club: Children 3-6 Years Old. On all the ships of the MSC Cruises fleet there is a special area exclusively dedicated to children – cheerful and colorful. Safe and equipped play areas offer daily entertainment and plenty of space for running, exploring, diving, swimming and, most important of all...playing! The Mini Club is also available during excursions.
Junior's Club : Children 7-11 Years Old. Offering dedicated activities, sports, parties, games and shows the Junior's Club provides plenty of opportunities for kids to have fun while Mom and Dad relax and vice versa.
Happy Dinners for kids aged 3 -11 years. Children are served their own dinner from the kids menu while parents are enjoying opening courses, so they can dine together as a family. Then, when kids have finished at their usual speed (in about 45 minutes) parents or entertainment staff take them promptly to the Happy Dinner Meeting Point near the entrance to the restaurant, where our staff accompany them to the Mini & Junior’s Club.
Fun Time Dinner for kids aged 3 -11 years. Children aged 3-11 can have dinner with entertainment staff for 4 evenings per week. With MSC Fun Time Dinners, children dine in a separate, specially decorated area of the buffet restaurant with the entertainment team, and then have fun in the Mini and Junior Club while parents enjoy a leisurely dinner alone, picking up the kids when they've finished. The service is free of charge, limited places available, booking is requested.

Norwegian
NCL occasionally offers Kids Sail Free promos. But don't expect to always find one. They have partnered with Nickelodeon programs onboard. The name of their kids club is Splash Academy.

Guppies: 6 mo. - 3 yrs.* This is a parent-child program. Children cannot be left with the youth staff in this program.
Turtles: 3 - 5 yrs.
Seals: 6 - 9 yrs.
Dolphins: 10 - 12 yrs.

Splash Academy Sea Day Hours
Morning: 9:00am – 12:00pm*
Afternoon: 2:00pm – 5:00pm*
Evening: 7:00pm – 10:30pm**

Splash Academy Port Day* Hours of Operation
Arrival into Port to 10:30pm
*On Port Days, children ages 3-12 are combined from Arrival to Departure or 6:00pm whichever comes first.
*During Port Day lunch and dinner meal times, Splash Academy will not facilitate drop offs.
*10-12 year old sign out authorization does not apply when the ship is docked.

Princess

Princess Pelicans” (ages 3-7) Little ones will want to stay all day while counselors entertain them with: Kindermusik® at Sea, Kids-only dance parties, Movies and cartoons, Ice Cream and pizza parties, T-shirt coloring, Pajama parties, Theme nights, Fun Fairs, and Art Projects.
Shockwaves” (ages 8-12) Older kids will enjoy a boatload of exciting activities including: Kids-only dinners, Dance parties, Movies, PS2/PS3, Wii and the latest games, Video Games, Scavenger hunts, Karaoke and talent shows, Sports tournaments, California Science Center workshops, Jr.CHEF@Sea, Klutz® projects, Theme nights

To participate in Youth Programs, children must be at least three-years-old and toilet trained. Children under three and/or not toilet trained may participate if accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Teen Lounge Ages 13-17. In the Teens-only exclusive Lounges, passengers ages 13-17 can make new friends while enjoying all of the coolest amenities. Lounges are packed with PS2/PS3 and Wii games, the latest movies, music, and foosball tables. Exciting events including: Teens-only dance parties, Late-night movies, Sports tournaments, Talent shows, Formal dinners, Mocktail competitions, DJ workshops, Teen makeovers, and Hip hop dance classes. Once registered for the Program, Teens are welcome to come and go as they please.

Sea Days Hours of Operation 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.10:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. (Group Kidsitting for ages 3 - 12*; Teen Program complimentary)
Port Day Hours of Operation 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. †6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.10:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. (Group Kidsitting for ages 3 - 12*; Teen Program complimentary)

*A $5 USD per child/hour group kidsitting charge is applicable from 10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. for passengers ages 3-12.
† A supervised, complimentary lunch service is available with parent consent.
Please be advised that Youth Staff do not provide lunch service on sea days or dinner service on sea days/port days. However, there are special kids dining events scheduled throughout the voyage. Please check the schedule once onboard.

Royal Caribbean
Adventure Ocean is the name of Royal Caribbean's kids club.

Royal Babies & Royal Tots. Royal Babies program (ages 6-18 months) offers the tiniest guests and their parents interactive classes filled with enriching activities developed by early childhood experts at Fisher-Price®. Royal Tots program (ages 18-36 months) offers 45-minute interactive playground sessions filled with age-appropriate activities and toys. A parent or caregiver must accompany child during all activity sessions.
Babies & Tots Nursery (separate from the programming mentioned above) offers parents a drop-off option in the daytime and evening, where their children can be left in the trusting care of trained professionals. Children must be at least 1 year old. The cost is $8 an hour. Available on the following ships: Radiance, Liberty, Freedom, Splendour, Rhapsody, Mariner, Grandeur, Serenade, Enchantment, Legend, Independence, Brilliance, Vision, and Navigator (Feb 2014). The plan is to roll this program out fleetwide.

Fisher-Price Toy Lending Program
The Fisher-Price Toy Lending Program consists of a collection of developmental toys, specifically created for infants and toddlers ages 6-36 months. Borrow and exchange toys for a new activity every day. Although Royal Caribbean has ended this program, officially, there is still a toy lending program available that includes Fisher Price toys.

Aquanauts- Ages 3-5.
Explorers- Ages 6-8
Voyagers- Ages 9-11

All ages will participate in art, games, science, acting, and other activities tailored to their age group.

Hours of Operation
At Sea: 9 a.m. to noon, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
In Port: Thirty minutes prior to the first shore excursion to 5 p.m. or return of last shore excursion, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Ages 12+ have scheduled activities that can be found in the Compass all around the ship. From riding the FlowRider, scavenger hunts, ice skating, game night, etc.

Babysitting- In room baby sitting for up to 3 children is $19 an hour.

Comments

O'Sheehans Going Fleetwide!

1/18/2014

Comments

Norwegian Cruise Line recently announced that O'Sheehans is going fleetwide! They are going to add it to each of their ships due to it's popularity on the Epic & Breakaway. So you might be asking, what's O'Sheehans??? Well it's a pub with yummy food, bowling, an arcade, and bar.

Back in 2012, Matt and I spent a lot of time there when we were on the Norwegian Epic. We would stop in for a snack, meal, game, etc. It was a nice open space that also overlooked the big screen. The menu had a lot of options, such as wings (my favorite), pot pie, fish n chips, and of course the ice cream brownie (Matt's favorite). We could stop in and grab something to eat without feeling like we needed to dress for dinner or venture all the way up to the buffet.

So what it comes down to is that Longboards and Blue Lagoon on other ships will be transformed in to O'Sheehans. It truly is something nice to look forward to on NCL ships. I hope that if you're sailing on an NCL ship, give it a try.

Comments

Carnival Glory- Overall Impression

1/15/2014

Comments

Now many of you may want to know my overall impression. As I stated back at the beginning we prefer Royal Caribbean. I think this was a great opportunity to open our eyes to what a full-length Carnival sailing was like. Remember, I have only been on a 3-day Carnival cruise previously.

We did not have a terrible time. I would consider a Carnival cruise in the future if: the itinerary were different than one we've done before or the ship is interesting. Carnival isn't really known for innovative ships, we DO like the amusement parks at sea. We sailed on Epic, Oasis, and Allure and loved those experiences! I love beautiful ship interiors. However, the Breeze looks interesting because it isn't fashioned in the tacky glitz like the other Carnival ships. That was one thing that really bothers me. The design is dark and closed in on all but 2 Carnival ships currently. I like light and airy. If the ship is dark I prefer it to be modern, like the Epic. I know, petty things...

Pros
More xmas activities than Royal Caribbean (even though it wasn't really xmas)
Chocolate Melting Cake
Great Dining Staff
Friendly People
Movies By the Pool day and night (not just sports!!!!)
Karaoke every night ( we like to watch)
Guy's Burgers
Blue Iguana Burrito Bar
Very accommodating with Baby
Play hours for infants
Very affordable price
Indoor muster stations for disabled and those with young children
Lots of port days
Clean ship
Many places to sit and relax

Cons
Lack of programs for the under 2 crowd
Ho Hum menu in main dining room
Horrible disembarkation
Promenade deck muster stations for general guests
Photo opportunities mostly near casino/ heavy smoking areas
Main Dining room only accessible by elevator or stairs, cut off from the rest of the ship
Hinged doors on balconies that SLAM at all hours of the day and night

Clearly the pros did outweigh the cons on this trip for us. :)

I am going on a 3-day on Royal with my mom and son for Mothers Day. On that cruise I will be testing the Royal Babies & Tots program.
Then my husband and I are taking the little one with us on Crown Princess for a California Coastal in October.

For our future trips we plan to go for the destination. In the past we've mostly gone just to get away. We get a lot of good deals down in Florida and the ships are easy to get to.

I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing our trip. Hopefully I have helped other cruisers traveling with infants or young children. I know how hard it can be to find information, believe me I searched for it all before I went on this trip!

Comments

Carnival Glory- Final Sea Day

1/13/2014

Comments

On the final sea day we slept in a bit. So I missed out on taking my son back to the kids club for infant hours.

We went up to the pool around 10ish. Every time we went to the main pool we managed to get the same spot. They were playing a movie Here Comes the Boom. We had attempted to watch the same movie on deck the other night but we ended up going to karaoke instead. It was nice to be able to watch a movie by the pool. We liked the movie, even my mom who isn't in to fighting movies! It wasn't crazy-insane loud like the main pool was on the first sea day.

I filled my son's inflatable tub with shower water this time and carried it over to where we were sitting. We gave him some empty cups from the buffet to play with. He loved scooping water in his little tub. After getting bored with the cups he wanted to stand and band on the loungers and crawl on my husband. Hey, if I have learned anything from this trip it's that babies are really easy to entertain!!!!

It was nap time and he fell asleep on the lounger. So we built a tent with blankets and sarongs. He slept for over an hour. We had lunch: I had a Guy's burger, yum!

Then the DJ came out and they did their philanthropy stuff. I bought a teddy bear for my son, with the proceeds going to St Jude. We always try to participate in the onboard charity event in some way. surprisingly, he slept through the dancing and music! Now that we've been back for about a month I have to say that my son loves the teddy-bear. He's even attempting to say the word bear :)

We didn't want him to get too hot, so we went back to our cabin around 2 or 3pm. We were out by the pool for a while. It wasn't overly crowded. I was shocked by that!

Our son got a bath, then went down for a nap. We started taking everything out of the drawers and cabinets to pack up. That is always a sad time! When we were almost done packing he woke up and decided to climb in and help.

We hung out on our balcony for a bit then watched TV and fell asleep.

I always love/hate the last night. We treated it differently on this cruise because of the baby, but on most cruises we stay up later on the last night. Have a few drinks and enjoy the last few hours onboard.

Disembarkation was awful. They made everyone leave their rooms by 8:30 even though they didn't begin letting people leave until then.

We tried to eat breakfast but people had parked their behinds in the buffet with their suitcases, no room for people actually wanting a bite to eat. We ended up filling our plates and sitting on the ground in the aft pool area. It was hot out and things were moving VERY slowly. Not fun with a baby!!

We had been assigned group 1, my mom had group 26. So we swapped tags the night before. We figured they could get off first, go get the SUV, load their stuff, and then we'd be off the ship by then. HAH! There was a 2 hour time difference between when we got off and they did. She kept calling and texting me for updates.

Not sure if it was just this sailing or if Carnival waits that long to start to disembark always??? I know we pulled in to port a little before 5am. Matt and I both woke up and went back on the balcony then to watch us pull in.

After speaking with other people who went on this same cruise (same week) a lot of people had a very BAD experience. In the end it seemed like we were the only people who didn't have problems or major disappointments.

Comments

Carnival Glory- Grand Cayman- Dinner

1/12/2014

Comments

When we got back on the ship we were very tired. I think the heat wore us out. We skipped the main dining room this evening. I was surprised that we made it this far in the week without skipping it! We chose to eat at the buffet instead. I left my camera in the room to charge so I have no photo graphic evidence of dinner this night!!

The buffet was pretty empty. The lights were dimmed. We chose a table in the back corner just in case tiny tot was over tired. I was not impressed with the dinner options. A few of the items on the buffet were some of the same ones in the main dining room (after conversing with my mom the next morning about what we ate). I was expecting more from the buffet. I expected to see a lot of people at the buffet because the dining room was nowhere near full. It wasn't, there were maybe 10 people in there at 6:30pm.

I did enjoy a pasta with green and red peppers in it. Again, I have no idea how to even name it because I didn't bring my camera. I vaguely remember cavatappi??

On our way down to the atrium we stopped in to our room and got the camera. We hung out, listening to David Lazarus on the acoustic guitar. He played daily downstairs and occasionally by the pool (I think on sea days).

After relaxing in the atrium, we headed back to our room. My son wanted to see what was going on for our final sea day. He suggested that we relax by the pool early, before lunch and the crowds! Then he ate the Fun Times...