One of the reasons I love to cruise is that I can have a cocktail alone with me wife or my friends. Why can I do this? Because my kids are well taken care of. *Of course* I want to spend time with them on vacation, and a cruise is a great option. However, yeah, adult time matters. We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas this Summer. We stayed in a huge suite with two families. There were a total of six kids between ages 9-15. The on board kids club is called Adventure Ocean, and it helped make the trip.
Royal Caribbean divides kids by age. The divisions are 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, and 15-17. Each group has age appropriate programming that is included in your cruise fare. These programs run for a few hours each morning, afternoon, and evening. I have sailed with kids as young as 7. As a general rule, the younger kids tend to enjoy the programming even more. For older kids, however, I have explained other options later in this post.
Every time I went to Adventure Ocean, the kids seemed to be engaged in some type of game. They were active and moving around, and that was great. Older kids have large open spaces with TVs, video games, and comfortable places to sit.
What other choices do kids have?
Our kids very much enjoyed Adventure Ocean up until about age 11. Even the younger kids, however, sometimes want to do something else. Happily, this ship has a number of great choices:
- The video arcade is featured in the video at the top of this post. It costs money, but it kept the kids entertained.
- My 13 year old loved the coffee bar next to the Cafe Promenade. Loved it. I got him the refreshment package and he happily walked around with his drink.
- Most of the kids in our group enjoyed the pool, splash pad, water slides, or some combination thereof.
- The ice skating rink sometimes had open skating. The girls in our group loved it.
All told, we loved the Liberty of the Seas for our kids. There were six kids between 9-15, and they were all happy.