Last week we went on our annual Mother's Day trip. My mom, son, and me. This was my son's first experience in the "big kids club" as we explained it to him. In the past we've used the onboard Nurseries many times with great success. I was excited for him to finally experience the real kids club. Not to mention I no loner need to pay an hourly rate for the onboard nursery. Adventure Ocean is included in the cost of the cruise. Wahoo!
Adventure Dining
Every night, except for the 1st night, they had something called Adventure Dining. This is where parents sign up during the day (before 5pm) and then bring the child between 5pm and 5:30pm to the Adventure Ocean room. The AO staff then take the kids to the annex in the Windjammer and serve pizza and french fries. We used this service on night two (formal night) and the last night of the cruise. It gave my mom and I a chance to have a relaxing meal without feeling rushed or the need to entertain my son. I give it a two thumbs up for pure convenience!! I will say that on one evening he was the ONLY English speaking child at Adventure Dining out of the 12 kids that went. So it was probably interesting for the staff that night.
My Family Time Dining
On one evening we took him to dinner with us for the expedited meal service. They brought his dinner out right away. We then met an AO staff member outside the dining room at 6:45pm. I signed him in and they took him up to AO. I went back in to the dining room and my mom and I were able to finish our meal at a more enjoyable pace.
Each time we dropped him off we were given a beeper, so if we needed to be contacted it would go off and we knew to call or go to AO.
Adventure Dining
Every night, except for the 1st night, they had something called Adventure Dining. This is where parents sign up during the day (before 5pm) and then bring the child between 5pm and 5:30pm to the Adventure Ocean room. The AO staff then take the kids to the annex in the Windjammer and serve pizza and french fries. We used this service on night two (formal night) and the last night of the cruise. It gave my mom and I a chance to have a relaxing meal without feeling rushed or the need to entertain my son. I give it a two thumbs up for pure convenience!! I will say that on one evening he was the ONLY English speaking child at Adventure Dining out of the 12 kids that went. So it was probably interesting for the staff that night.
My Family Time Dining
On one evening we took him to dinner with us for the expedited meal service. They brought his dinner out right away. We then met an AO staff member outside the dining room at 6:45pm. I signed him in and they took him up to AO. I went back in to the dining room and my mom and I were able to finish our meal at a more enjoyable pace.
Each time we dropped him off we were given a beeper, so if we needed to be contacted it would go off and we knew to call or go to AO.
Aquanauts
My son is 3, so he is part of the 3-5 Aquanauts group. He had a blast. He begged to go to kids camp daily. When your child wants to go, you know they are doing a great job! One night they did science experiments with High Touch High Tech, another night was space themed and they made planet hats & read books about space, the final night was a PJ party with movies. On Wednesday night they had pirate night. The kids decorated and wore bandanas and then roamed the ship with AO staff to put on a little show in the Centrum. (This also happened to be the night of the "Big Tilt"). The counselors were great and they knew his name after his first visit. They greeted him by name each time they saw him. We felt like he was in a safe place where he could have fun and we could go to a show, dinner, and relax a bit on the ship.
I will say I was very impressed with their security when taking the kids out from the Adventure Ocean facility. During the pirate show in the centrum my son was overwhelmed with the number of people (it was very crowded due to the tilt incident) and volume of noise- he was scared. He saw me sitting in the crowd taking his picture and he ran to me. The AO staff was all over him and stopped me from touching him until they could confirm he belonged to me. They allowed me to sign him out from there once I presented both of our SeaPass Cards and I signed the clipboard that they had with them.
My son is 3, so he is part of the 3-5 Aquanauts group. He had a blast. He begged to go to kids camp daily. When your child wants to go, you know they are doing a great job! One night they did science experiments with High Touch High Tech, another night was space themed and they made planet hats & read books about space, the final night was a PJ party with movies. On Wednesday night they had pirate night. The kids decorated and wore bandanas and then roamed the ship with AO staff to put on a little show in the Centrum. (This also happened to be the night of the "Big Tilt"). The counselors were great and they knew his name after his first visit. They greeted him by name each time they saw him. We felt like he was in a safe place where he could have fun and we could go to a show, dinner, and relax a bit on the ship.
I will say I was very impressed with their security when taking the kids out from the Adventure Ocean facility. During the pirate show in the centrum my son was overwhelmed with the number of people (it was very crowded due to the tilt incident) and volume of noise- he was scared. He saw me sitting in the crowd taking his picture and he ran to me. The AO staff was all over him and stopped me from touching him until they could confirm he belonged to me. They allowed me to sign him out from there once I presented both of our SeaPass Cards and I signed the clipboard that they had with them.
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