Thread: kids Zone

Here are a few pictures from the Kid's Zone on the Millie. It will be moving when the ship goes in to dry dock next year but this will give everyone some idea what it is like right now. I checked back through my pictures and the ones on the Century and the Constellation are very similar.

First, the kids are divided up into age groups.

Inside there is a check in are so all the kids are closely monitored and unauthorized people are not allowed near the kids. Translation: it is safe.

(There is even a hand washing station with sanitizer just for the kids!)

But on to the fun stuff....

There are bins for all sort of games and additional bins for shoes. There is also a large video game are and a funhouse.

Then there is the play areas.

The kids have their own enclosed pool area. It was drained while the ship is between cruises so the water was clean. Not sure how often it is drained during the cruise but it is not that large so it should not be too difficult to do so.

Oh yes, the typical McDonalds ball room.

In the last set of pictures I included the lounging area. That is where the kids can have sleepovers or quiet time.

There are separate rooms for each age range so the big kids are not bored with the little ones and the little ones are not intimidated by the older kids. It appeared to be a very well run organization

Thanks for all the great information and for the pics Neal! Good to know about the difference between direct vs. agent. I had thought direct might offer more discounts since they're not paying the agent but I guess often not. Ship credits would be wonderful. And those look like great play spaces. However, I think my kids are too young for the youngest program which starts at 3 yrs old but I'll check out the website and see if it has more info. I think Celebrity might have said fmailies can use the play space if they were present with the <3 yrs old.

Yes, I was thinking about Celebrity, but their cruise is a lot longer then the other lines and that drives up the cost (I think it was 12 nights vs. 7 nights or so). I'm not quite sure how it compares on a per night basis. I did read an article, I think it was on one of these threads about the add-ons for specialty restaurants and I think Celebrity was included there. At the same time, I wouldn't want to go on a cruise and feel that it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Celebrity had in-cabin child care at $19/hr (though not sure how easily it gets booked up.)

Yes, I was planning to get trip insurance this time, more because of elderly in-laws. And of course, I read about Costa. I'm also going to review the websites more and ask around further to try to find people who have been on these cruises. It takes a lot of work just to relax

If you think of anything else, please post! THANK YOU!

Celebrity has specialty restaurants but I have found that the food in the MDR is very good and comparable to the specialty restaurants on other lines (read NCL)

My wife and I started cruising when our kids were 30 and 32 so I have absolutely no experience with kids this young on a cruise but one thing some of the people on the board and elsewhere have suggested is "Is taking kids this young on a cruise a good thing?" I have seen extended families on cruises with little ones but in those cases it seems that everyone splits up the duties with the babies. One of my favorite sights was a grandpa taking the baby around in a stroller trying to get the little guy tired and to go to sleep. Meanwhile everyone was going over to "ooo" and "ah" the baby who was having too much fun to go to sleep! Most of the "experts" seem to suggest that it is usually better to leave the kids behind with family or friends. Don't know if it is possible in your case but it is a suggestion.

Thanks Neal, unfortunately, that won't work. My mother passed away last year and my father when I was a teenager. My mom had been helping us with the kids. We had talked about a family vacation with her to watch them while they slept but unfortunately, it was not meant to be. My husband's parents are very old and need help themselves. Extended family won't really work as the kids don't see them very often and those families have their own issues. We had thought maybe one of them could come with us if we paid for her trip but she has to take care of her own mother.

Paying for a nanny/sitter to come with us would be too expensive and not worth it as we do enjoy spending time with our kids, just not all the time and not early in the AM. With the nanny, not only do you have to pay for their trip, you have to pay them for the time worked!

I was thinking a cruise would be good because we won't have to schlep the kids around a lot by car and figure out restaurants as one has to do with a land only vacation. Finding a good all-inclusive place on an island would require a lot of work/agreement over which island, etc. and we'd still have the long plane ride to deal with.

Thanks for the ideas though and the feedback on the cruiselines.

Good points. And I sympathize with you about the costs. I admire anyone who has kids these days and has to think about those things. From everything you have described, this will be the best way for you to go. Regardless of which line you chose, you will have total strangers coming up to you and saying how cute your kids are!

Best of luck!