First cruise ever with kid (Any Tips )

[stellamar]

This is my first cruise ever and im traveling with my 7 years old kid on december. Do you have any TIPS or suggestions

[Sandy]

Royal Caribbean has wonderful children's programs on all their ships. If your child is interested in a lot of fun, age appropriate activities in a day-camp type setting, he or she will have a great time. The kids' program is free. I suggest you get main dining instead of late.

[penny3333]

Hi stellamar, welcome to Cruise-Chat. Congratulations on your up-coming cruise! My suggestion is to set a limit on the amount of video games your child can play, they can add up. Hope you have a wonderful time!

[spoheat]

My youngest's first cruise was at age 8. She loved it, of course. She especially loved eating in the dining room at night--so much more of an event than the local sandwich shop and the crew makes a fuss over young ones. On your first afternoon or evening on the ship there will be an introduction or orientation for the kids zone and I recommend you attend. They will introduce the staff, tour the area, and let the kids (and parents) know what is going to happen during the cruise. Kids can participate in as much (my friends never hardly saw their kids) to as little (my daughter would rather sit on the balcony and read, and go exploring on the ship with us and didn't go at all) as they want. But this introductory session gets it all to be familiar. My kids always liked to play shuffleboard, ping pong, mini golf, play in the pool, scout around for ice cream, attend dinner and shows with us, and the aforementioned reading and relaxing and didn't need additional diversion. Also figure all the days we were in port they were with us snorkeling shopping touring, etc. The week will go very fast!

[417rogers]

Hi...Do not be afraid of the kids programs on RCI. On our first cruise we were a little worried about leaving our 9 year old and 6 year old in their respective programs. We thought they would hate it. 100% wrong....if they had their choice after the first night they would have spent all their time there. As a family we participated on a scavenger hunt on Freedom of the Seas ( not too big to run around..not). Rock climbed as a family even though our six year old was too young...she cheered us on. Flowrider, Ice Skating, Johnny Rockets...it goes on and on. Have fun

[pink845]

Hi Stellamar,

The kids up to the teens programs on RCCL are fantastic. We have been cruising with our kids since they were little ones and now they are teenagers and still love the programs. The first night is always a little awkward for the kids - especially if they do not have a friend, sibling with them but the counsellors are really cool and very great at welcoming even the most shy of child and by the next day, you normally have to plan YOUR DAY AROUND getting child to the programs which is how much they end up enjoying their time away from you. You do not mention which ship you are on.

[electech]

As has already been stated, there is lots to do for children on the RCCL ships. Which ship are you going on? Our daughter was 8 when we took her on her first cruise in December of 2007 and she loved it so much she didn't want to leave. Although we never used any of the programs for children, everthing from the pools to rock climbing to being treated like a princess in the dining rooms made her cruise special. You will create a life long memory for your child by taking them on this cruise. Just sit back and enjoy!!

[MiamiSpartan]

Leave them at home!

[stellamar]

Im going on Adventure of the seas

[corkgirl]

Originally posted by MiamiSpartan:
Leave them at home!

Hilarious!!