Is DCL the only line to offer Kids Clubs that don't separate kids ages 3-12 within the Club?

[DisneyFave]

I have looked at Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Norwegian, and Celebrity cruises to Alaska and it seems they all break up the kids clubs into subgroups (for example, ages 3-5, 6-9, 10-12). We are traveling with my siblings and their kids, and I know the kids will hate this and complain that they can't play with their favorite people in the world, their cousins (and then us adults wouldn't enjoy our alone time as much, which is a huge selling point for us as first time cruisers).

So really the ONLY reason we are paying nearly double for a Disney cruise is that they DON'T break up the kids clubs for 3-12 year olds.

Before I ask my family of 14 to fork over double the cash, I wanted to ask here if I am missing something? We will pay $12k more just for this feature. Of course I'm not mad about the Disney magic and the quality of service. But I want to make sure I am right

 

[Heatherdbby]

You're getting a lot more than not breaking the kids up... disney specializes in kids so they have one of thr best kids club set ups at sea.
There are so many areas and levels to explore plus the planned activities.

While other lines break up, they don't have nearly as well put together rooms. But some do have a waiver you can let kids go together outside of age groupa

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have looked at Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Norwegian, and Celebrity cruises to Alaska and it seems they all break up the kids clubs into subgroups (for example, ages 3-5, 6-9, 10-12). We are traveling with my siblings and their kids, and I know the kids will hate this and complain that they can't play with their favorite people in the world, their cousins (and then us adults wouldn't enjoy our alone time as much, which is a huge selling point for us as first time cruisers).

So really the ONLY reason we are paying nearly double for a Disney cruise is that they DON'T break up the kids clubs for 3-12 year olds.

Before I ask my family of 14 to fork over double the cash, I wanted to ask here if I am missing something? We will pay $12k more just for this feature. Of course I'm not mad about the Disney magic and the quality of service. But I want to make sure I am right

Time was DCL did have 2 separate kid's clubs - Oceaneer's Club (3-8) and Oceaneer's Lab (9-12).

It seems the families that wanted their kids together (regardless of age) won out over the ones saying "keep them separate".

Generally, if I were still having kids in the clubs, I'd prefer the separate ones. Yes, I'm a worrier, and I'd be primarily concerned about my just turned 3 year old being overrun/dominated by "it's MY game" 12 year olds.

Another issue could be due to little kids, 3-5 years might need more hands on help in group situations than older ones. So, if, for example, a 3-8 age group has one adult for every 5-6 kids, and an 9-12 group has one adult for every 10-12 kids, you now have something like one adult supervising for every 8-10 kids meaning less help for the little ones.

Anyway, it is what it is. And each cruise line will set whatever policies work for them.

 

[kiford]

I don't have any direct experience, but from speaking to friends who have children, I think that a lot of other cruise lines have more limited hours for kid's clubs - later opening, earlier closing, periods when they're closed for an hour or two during the day, limited availability when in port. I know he was surprised when I told him that DCL doesn't close the kids clubs during lunch and dinner times.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We have sailed DCL, NCL, Princess, Carnival, HAL, MSC, and will be on Royal sometime this year. Of all of those, yes, DCL is the only one with one big kids club in terms of age range. When my 3 were younger, it was definitely nice that they could all be in the same club on DCL....but I personally found it chaotic. They didn't mind it too much and were fairly self-sufficient, but I wouldn't actually agree that DCL offers the "best" kids' clubs. My kids really enjoyed the more structured programming offered on other lines and got way more counsellor interaction. On DCL they largely stuck to iPads, which is fine on vacation, but not particularly exciting from a parental point of view.

You know your family best, of course.

We just sailed HAL to Alaska last year on the Koningsdam. I do not regret choosing HAL at all. As noted, the kids enjoyed kids clubs and the extra bonus was the covered swimming pool. They swam every night. Glacier Bay was also amazing, and they do a junior ranger program on that day for the kids. I believe Princess offers something similar when sailing in Glacier Bay.

 

[lklgoodman]

I have looked at Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Norwegian, and Celebrity cruises to Alaska and it seems they all break up the kids clubs into subgroups (for example, ages 3-5, 6-9, 10-12). We are traveling with my siblings and their kids, and I know the kids will hate this and complain that they can't play with their favorite people in the world, their cousins (and then us adults wouldn't enjoy our alone time as much, which is a huge selling point for us as first time cruisers).

So really the ONLY reason we are paying nearly double for a Disney cruise is that they DON'T break up the kids clubs for 3-12 year olds.

Before I ask my family of 14 to fork over double the cash, I wanted to ask here if I am missing something? We will pay $12k more just for this feature. Of course I'm not mad about the Disney magic and the quality of service. But I want to make sure I am right

$12k would pay for some wonderful excursions. We did an Alaskan cruise when my dd was six years old. We went with my dh's parents, his siblings and their children. We've done 7 Caribbean cruises on Disney since then, so we love DCL, but not enough to spend $12k more. Whatever you decide, you'll have a wonderful time. We're doing another Alaskan cruise this summer on NCL. My dd is now 15 yrs old so the kids clubs and characters no longer interest her.

 

[Anna131517]

For Alaska choose by itinerary not by the kids clubs. I absolutely love DCL kids clubs and all my kids being in the same club but we went with another line for Alaska so we could cruise Glacier Bay. Also really consider where you will fly in and out of (price and customs concerns) and if you want to add a land portion to your vacation (one way or round trip itinerary). If you really want the kids to be able to hand out then pick a ship with a covered pool. Or get suites where people can hang out.

 

[DisneyFave]

Thank you all for these helpful responses!! Is the food as good on a line like Celebrity or Princess as compared to Disney? That is huge for us too.

 

[OpieDoodle]

No other cruise line handles kids the way Disney does. There really is just no comparison. The kids clubs on Disney ships are fantastic, if you haven't look up some tours on YouTube. Multiple rooms, tons to do, etc. I have gone on a couple Carnival cruises this year as well and the kids clubs were less than desirable. The one literally was a single room with 1-2 game systems, the room was about the size of a large bedroom, all glass walls so the kids literally felt like they were in a fishbowl. The entire time I maybe saw 2-3 kids using it.

Disney caters to all ages where most kids will want to be there the whole time!

 

[soniam]

Thank you all for these helpful responses!! Is the food as good on a line like Celebrity or Princess as compared to Disney? That is huge for us too.

Celebrity is better than DCL. The buffet is much better. Haven't done Princess. I don't know how good the kids offerings are on Celebrity though. We have done them off season, and there have been very few kids, like an empty kids club. I hear holidays, particularly summer, especially on the newer ships, have more children.

 

[Dailymeel]

Time was DCL did have 2 separate kid's clubs - Oceaneer's Club (3-8) and Oceaneer's Lab (9-12).

It seems the families that wanted their kids together (regardless of age) won out over the ones saying "keep them separate".

Generally, if I were still having kids in the clubs, I'd prefer the separate ones. Yes, I'm a worrier, and I'd be primarily concerned about my just turned 3 year old being overrun/dominated by "it's MY game" 12 year olds.

Another issue could be due to little kids, 3-5 years might need more hands on help in group situations than older ones. So, if, for example, a 3-8 age group has one adult for every 5-6 kids, and an 9-12 group has one adult for every 10-12 kids, you now have something like one adult supervising for every 8-10 kids meaning less help for the little ones.

Anyway, it is what it is. And each cruise line will set whatever policies work for them.

Have your kids used the kids club before? This was one of my concerns. It’s nice that families can keep their kids together, but do they have cast members who are specifically only looking out for the younger ones? When we go, our oldest will be 4 years old and I’m not sure if I will make use of the kids club because I would worry about her being “bullied” out of things she wants to do or play with. She plays very gently and when in large groups, children tend to snatch things from her - she doesn’t scream or complain but she does get upset. Can you also tell a cast member you would prefer if your child stays away from screens so they can be encouraged to do something else?

 

[braysmommy]

Have your kids used the kids club before? This was one of my concerns. It’s nice that families can keep their kids together, but do they have cast members who are specifically only looking out for the younger ones? When we go, our oldest will be 4 years old and I’m not sure if I will make use of the kids club because I would worry about her being “bullied” out of things she wants to do or play with. She plays very gently and when in large groups, children tend to snatch things from her - she doesn’t scream or complain but she does get upset. Can you also tell a cast member you would prefer if your child stays away from screens so they can be encouraged to do something else?

My son is older now but he used the clubs while they transitioned from specific age grouping to all together. The clubs will offer programing listed in navigator and announce it in the club but it is up the the child to join. They don't really limit screen time so my son spent hours playing computer games which I didn't mind since we limited it at home.
I would tell the counselors your concerns so maybe they can keep an eye or her the first couple of times she attends. I was worried my son wouldn't like the club our first cruise when he was 4 but he loved it!

 

[Anna131517]

Have your kids used the kids club before? This was one of my concerns. It’s nice that families can keep their kids together, but do they have cast members who are specifically only looking out for the younger ones? When we go, our oldest will be 4 years old and I’m not sure if I will make use of the kids club because I would worry about her being “bullied” out of things she wants to do or play with. She plays very gently and when in large groups, children tend to snatch things from her - she doesn’t scream or complain but she does get upset. Can you also tell a cast member you would prefer if your child stays away from screens so they can be encouraged to do something else?

If you’re concerned about this then look at when they have specific planned events which are more structured for your daughter to participate in. For example, when we were on The Wish my girls participated in a cake decorating class and a dance party in the kids club. They post the kid club events on the app. Even though all the ages were together on The Wish, some areas are more appealing to younger kids so my 6 and 7 year old girls were usually on the opposite end of the club from my 9 yr old son. My girls didn’t use screens in the club. They did arts and crafts and make believe, and really liked using the little kid climbing area when it was open to them. My son did play video games in the Marvel and Star Wars areas but he’s older and I really didn’t mind for a few hours. He did zero arts and crafts LOL. Now when we sailed on the Fantasy in 2019 (may be different now) they did let the kids watch / play on tablets and I did not like that. They even sat my 2 year old in front of a TV when I took her to the nursery for a nap! However, my kids were also younger (2, 4, 6) and none of them really liked spending much time in the Club / Nursery so we didn’t use them much on that cruise.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Not all kids love the kids clubs. Mine really disliked the 3-12 club on DCL. It did seem very loud and very chaotic from the couple of times they went, when we came to pick them up. The 2nd cruise we did, they didn't go there at all, and that was fine with us since we found out that seemed to be the location where the stomach bug on our ship was getting the most traction. The older one could go to Edge by then and enjoyed that much more than the 3-12 option.
If you pay that much extra just for the purpose of having a kids club they could all be at together, just be aware that some of them might not want to be in the kids club regardless.

 

[Carohs]

I don't suggest a Carnival cruise, but for their kids club even though it was separated by age group it seemed to only be for the activities. Otherwise they went in and out the same door. My kids loved their kids club just as much as Disney. Other lines also have covered pools and arcades which gives the cousins other places to hang out. Don't discount other lines just because of kids club ages.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I don't have any direct experience, but from speaking to friends who have children, I think that a lot of other cruise lines have more limited hours for kid's clubs - later opening, earlier closing, periods when they're closed for an hour or two during the day, limited availability when in port. I know he was surprised when I told him that DCL doesn't close the kids clubs during lunch and dinner times.

This is true! My DD was kind of annoyed with the clubs on Princess last summer because of the limited club hours. They were nice kids clubs, but the hours were like 9-Noon, 2-5, and 7-9. It was super limited. That said, she made friends and enjoyed the space, staff, and activities.

Thank you all for these helpful responses!! Is the food as good on a line like Celebrity or Princess as compared to Disney? That is huge for us too.

We had a very good food experience on Princess last summer, and found the food on par with or better than DCL. Specifically, we had an awesome specialty dining experience (with our DD9) at Sabatini's. We also loved Alfredo's Pizza for lunch, and the MDR food was very good.

 

[Alicatt]

My kids have loved the kids clubs on DCL. When they were smaller they never had any issues with bigger kids dominating the experiences. Now that they are bigger, they like the clubs even more. My DD was 12 and had the choice of the 3-12 club and the tween club. I thought for sure she would choose the tween one but she said that thete was so much to do in kids club that she preferred it. She made a ton of friends. My son went to the teen club and he's not as out going but he also had a great time doing the activities like scavenger hunts and sports and he too made friends. I hardly saw them at all.

 

[MomOTwins]

My children started calling the Princess kid’s club “kid jail” midway through our cruise. We had to beg them to go so we could do the spa or an adult only meal. We’ll only sail DCL from now on until they age out of the clubs.

 

[ChanaC]

Some additional food for thought since you are specifically planning an Alaska cruise. Many people will say that Holland America and Princess are the best ships for Alaska. Besides potentially going to Glacier Bay, they both have special activities and food that is Alaska specific. For example, they may bring on naturalists and historians to give lectures about the ports. For comparison, last year I went on a Royal Caribbean to Alaska and if it wasn't for the views outside of the window and one shop that had Alaska merch, you wouldn't know you are on an Alaska cruise. We had a good time and are going again, but this time we are choosing Princess. I've seen some videos of Disney Alaska sailings and it seems they do bring in some of these elements, but maybe not as much as Princess or HAL.

And another note on that, Holland America has a reputation for having an older demographic of passengers. I hear on Alaska it's different, but for the most part there are less children and more 50+ adults. They do have kids clubs though, but not a whole lot of general family entertainment and activities. I'm not saying don't choose this option, but maybe do a little more research into it if you are leaning that way to make sure the entire family would be happy.

 

[Dug720]

Celebrity's have more of a STEM focus so they have projects and stuff that they work on. I was just following a live report on Cruise Critic by a woman who took her daughter on and the activities seemed super fun. They are separated by age though.

Food on X is fabulous.