Kids activities your kids really liked on Cruise?

[mikewdw]

Planning 5th cruise and our kids have always loved to just stay around pool Besides detective agency, what activities, especially edge and oceaneers, have your kids liked? Ours will be 14 and 12
thanks
mikewdw

 

[FigmentSpark]

Wow... Edge and detective agency are the two my 13 yr old loved. But he also loved the Aquaduck and the independence. We trusted him on the ship, so that gave him the freedom to make decisions on what and when he did things (within limits, of course). The biggest was probably the ability to make friends and hang out with them.

But he (and my 15yr old) also loved the food, the ice cream, the movies, and the great service in the MDRs. Neither of my kids are 'relax by the pool' guys and while they did venture up to the mini golf/basketball court, I think it was often too windy for them to enjoy those activities.

I can tell you that they never went near the atrium or shops without me, as they are not character guys or shoppers.

I think they also enjoyed our beach excursions, as well. The older one went fishing with his dad instead of Castaway Cay and loved that, too, while the younger loved the water slides on Castaway Cay.

 

[darnheather]

My youngest went to Edge last October at 12. I gave her almost complete independence. That was the most fun part of the trip for her. Even though we had no special meetup times I would often see her around the ship. She also left notes on our white board. Great cruise for us both.

 

[lklgoodman]

My dd is 9 yrs old. She likes Pluto's pj party and the tracing table in the Oceaneer's club. She doesn't care for the nightly entertainment, she'd rather go to the club during that time. She also likes being able to stay up until midnight(at home she's in bed by 9), unfortunately she still wakes up by 7am on the cruises even when she stays up late. Loves getting to eat doughnuts and ice cream and chocolate milk, doesn't get that at home unless it's a special occasion. She didn't care for the regular slides or splash pad areas on the ships or CC. At CC usually likes to get a tube to float around in. Loves the aquaduck. She also like the MDA and the mini golf on the Fantasy. We've been on 4 cruises (264 days until cruise 5) and have never done shuffle board, we keep meaning to do it, but somehow always forget to do it while on board. Whenever we're in our cabin, she always turns on that channel that shows nothing but the old style Mickey cartoons. She doesn't care about meeting any of the characters or getting her pic taken with them anymore, which is nice. We took her on her first cruise when she was 6 yrs old and I felt like we spent the whole cruise doing nothing but making sure we went to every character meeting. Only character I care about seeing is Donald, so I usually drag her along to get our pic taken with him.

 

[ShelleyTaylor]

My kids have been in Edge the past two cruises and find it to be the greatest thing ever. Make sure yours go the first day, they get assigned to a team Hero or Villians, and also do an intro meeting of sorts. They love brains vs Brawn and all the Heros vs Villians events.

 

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

Neither of my sons is much into the pool scene, and on sea days I am SO down with that. They do like riding the AquaDuck at night, though -- I have to admit it IS pretty awesome at night -- and movies under the stars. Both of them are really into the clubs. DS14 is very social and a gamer, so he's up for just about anything that's happening at Edge and is looking forward to being able to go to Vibe on our cruise this summer. DS11 (soon to be 12) is a total Club/Lab junkie and always wants to be there for any Star Wars related activity. Since he'll age out after our next cruise he plans to spend every waking minute that he can in there; he'd probably stay there 24/7 if they'd let him. He's less outgoing than his older brother but he likes making new friends, so the social engineering that happens at the Club/Lab is helpful to him. Both boys still like to dress up for Pirate Night but they're pretty much over the pirate party and games on deck.

DS11's favorite thing by far has been the sting ray encounter on Castaway Cay. He talks about it all the time and has asked to do it again on our upcoming cruise.

I think that DS14 likes being independent more than any particular activity. We gave him charging privileges and the run of the ship the year he turned 12, provided that he carries a wave phone and lets us know when he changes locations. He was really responsible with his new freedom and I think it was good for all of us.

 

[Angie_T]

We just cruised over Easter on the Fantasy. My daughter is 12 and it was hard letting her have the independence they get in the Edge. So strange going to bed knowing one of my kids would probably out hanging with new friends until 1 am. She enjoyed the freedom and even got back on the ship with the Edge group to swim in the Vibe pool on our Castaway Cay day. She never even went to the Oceaneer's clubs and spent all her time at the Edge (or wherever they go, they don't stay in the club much). When I first saw the club, it seemed small but then we learned that they rarely stay and play there. They went to the sports deck at midnight, aquaduck, smoothies in Vibe, etc.