Do your kids ever get bored on a cruise.....

[glovergirls]

My husband and I are taking a cruise with our three girls in November 3,6 and 11. We are doing this as well as going to the parks. We are really doing the cruise part for us as we are hoping on taking full advantage of the kids clubs so we can spend some time ALONE. Very rarely do we ever get to go out.

My question is do most kids like the clubs or do they get sick of them. We are just doing a 3 night cruise?

 

[sdchickie]

I really think it depends on how outgoing your kids are. My daughter comes out of there on the first day with 5 new "best friends" and she loves the clubs. My son sits by himself and doesn't talk to anybody because he's shy so he hates the clubs. I would definately make sure to get the kids to the club the first day because that way they have a better chance of making friends since the others haven't buddied up yet.

 

[glovergirls]

They are still letting siblings stay together right? Because of this I think my girls will be fine. They play well together and look after one another.

 

[HallsofVA]

My 6 year old could live in the clubs, and we always have to go drag him out of there. My 3yr DD loves it when the princesses are in the club, but thus far hasn't been a long term participant in the clubs like her brother.

But they don't get bored on the cruise in general (though we do avoid boring tours, etc.)

 

[Tower]

Your 11 yr old should check the thread for your specific cruise. Occasionally there is also a kids thread for them to meet each other online without parents feeling like they're peeping toms.
I periodically checked posts there to make sure privacy was being kept. (Some kids were publicly posting phone numbers etc. I'm too paranoid about stuff like that)
If the kids remain within guidelines, they'll have a great time chatting online, and it will be like meeting an old friend once aboard!

 

[kbmo4444]

I agree with PP check cruise thread for your sailing and see if any other kids are your daughters age and have them start to email/penpail ahead of cruise. My DD's 9 and 10 have done this on last 3 cruises and have made great friends some of them they still keep in contact with. I also think that since your on a 3 night your kids won't have time to get bored there is so much going on and Disney keeps most events in 45 minute time slots so things move along pretty quickly. Have a great cruise

 

[Cliffside]

With my DD it is usually the opposite. There are so many activities she can't seem to find the time do all the ones she wants.

 

[mndisfam]

My kids usually ditch us the minute we walk on board, and we have to make sure they show up for the life boat drill. There is so much to do - even if they don't like the clubs, its good for them to show up the first day or two so they can see all the children in one place.

For us, it has been a great vacation as parents. I have never heard of a child not enjoying the cruise, but it can happen, I guess.

 

[RealLifeCinderella]

When I went on my first cruise with my mom I was 11. I really didnt like the Oceaneers Lab. It just wasnt for me. But because I showed up and looked around the club on the first day I met a few nice people who I ended up hanging out with for the rest of the cruise. It really just depends on the maturity level and how outgoing your kids are. If your 11 year old is mature for her age there's a chance she wont like the Oceaneers Lab. Hope this helps.

 

[glovergirls]

How crowded are the clubs usually? Any idea what the adult child ratio is?

 

[amym2]

I'll be honest with you- our kids (5 and 7 at the time) were totally overwhelmed by how many kids were in the club on our 3 nt cruise. They went together to do the cookie making activity but otherwise DS (who was 7) refused to go and actually opted to take a nap instead! DD who is definitely more outgoing than DS went one other time but didn't want to go back after that. That being said, DH and I didn't get a lot of alone time, but we did have a fantastic time and the kids were NEVER bored. We wanted them with us for all of the meals, swimming, parties, time in port, etc anyway, and once you do all of that there isn't too much time left on a 3 nt cruise. You may find that you want your kids with you so you can experience their excitement. I'd certainly hope for a little bit of time alone but not count on it!

 

[skuttle]

Our first cruise was in June. It was a 4 night. DS was almost 7 and LOVED the kids clubs. He would have stayed in there all day long and all night long if we let him. He didn't even get off of the ship with us in Nassau. He wanted to go to the kids club so DH convinced me to let him go so we could enjoy walking around Nassau for a couple of hours. I drew the line at dinner. DS had to come to dinner with us! LOL!

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

My kids are NEVER bored on the a Disney cruise except when we force them to eat dinner with us night after night . . . so, we eat dinner together the first night then, after that, they can choose if they want to eat in the club with their new friends or sit down with Mom & Dad.

The way I see it, it's their vacation too so we give them the freedom to choose. In the end, it works out great for DH and I because we get to have quality time together and adult conversation. It's a win/win situation and one of the biggest reasons we LOVE DCL.

 

[sjsjbrook]

My daughter was 11 when we went on our last cruise. She tried the kids club, but she doesn't like camps, so she really didn't like it and signed herself out. I found her in our cabin watching TV.

She really did enjoy the cruise though. She just found other things to do, like swimming, eating and relaxing in the sun.

My other children were 3 and 4 and wanted to be in the kids clubs all the time. Even when I wanted to spend time with them.

 

[LKFan]

My 8 year old son doesn't like to go to the kids club. If we force him to go for an hour, he ends up having a great time but he is always eager to leave when we pick him up. My 11 year old daughter is the opposite. She makes friends everywhere and loves kids clubs.

On our recent 5 day cruise, the kids didn't spend much time in the kids' club. We had three days at port so kids club wasn't really an option those days. On the day at sea, they went to the breakfast buffet together (while my husband and I went to Tritons). They saw Alice in Wonderland, went swimming, etc.

They were never bored, they just chose not to do kids club activities.

 

[emma'smom]

My girls (8 and 5) could sleep in the clubs/labs! In fact on the EBTA, the actually did spend the night there! However, on a three night--you'll all be so busy you won't have time to be bored! Seriously...between all of the great kid's activities, swimming, the shows, meals, and events like the "pirate party"--There's too much to keep you all busy together and separately!

We particularly enjoyed sending our children to the kids activities on Castaway Key. They did some beach time with us, but then had better things to do. So off they went to treasure hunt and what not while I floated in the blue sea!

 

[momto2inKC]

My kids thought cruising was just 'ok' They were 10 and 12 when I took them. They spent a total of 1 hour in the kids club and had no desire to return. I was a bit bummed because of all the great things i've heard about the clubs. Most of the time they either swam, watched movies in the theater, played ping pong and ate lol We're doing the Podcaset cruise this December but leaving the kids at home. They however can't wait for our next Disney World vacation

 

[tvguy]

My kids were 12 and 16 on Disney.
They were too busy doing stuff to ever use the pools or go to the kids clubs.
They got their age group Navigator, but there was always something else on the regular Navigator they wanted to do instead.
Only time it was slow was after dinner (we had late seating), mainly because the ship pretty much closes down after 10 or 10:30 at night. They had cruised the year before on HAL and there normally was a show at Midnight, then they loved going to the Midnight buffet after that about 1 am, it was open until 1:30 am.

 

[cakesnjammom]

no ds 7 and dd 5 at time of last cruise both had a BALL. There were times that ds wanted to leave the club but he always had fun on the ship!!