Kids activities on Regal Princess to Alaska

[minnow12]

We may be booking a Princess cruise to Alaska in June on the Regal Princess. Is there enough to do on this 10 day cruise for our 4 kids ages 7-15 or should we book on the Carnival Spirit? We usually take larger ships with lots of activities. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[cookie1207]

We took our two teen sons a couple of years ago on the Regal doing Alaska and there wasn't much going on for them and facilities for them were minimal. They has a much better time on Royal Carribean and Celebrity.
Carnival isn't high on our list anytme. Perhaps one of the newer larger Princess ships doing a 7 day would be a better choice than Regal.

By the way, my wife and I will be sailing the Regal next July to Alaska from SFO but our sons will not be aboard. We just love th extra sea days that the SFO sailings allow.

[LisaK]

The Regal is a smaller, older ship and doesn't have all the "bells and whistles" that the newer, large ships do. I would look into booking your cruise on one of Grand Class ships of Princess. Lots to do on these ships for kids of all ages.

[CAsailor]

I sailed the Regal to Alaska last May with my 3 nieces (ages 3, 8 and 9) and my nephew (age 16). The three girls loved the kids program and seemed to notice no difference between the larger ships we have been on (Sapphire and Dawn).

My nephew, however, had a more difficult time. There seemed to be way less structured activities for the teenagers and they more or less just roamed the ship in packs. He is a little shy and has trouble making friends outside of a structured environment. On the larger ships, there were lots of activities to help him break the ice and feel comfortable, but on the Regal he was kind of left on his own and I don't think he ever really got to where he felt comfortable with the other teenagers. If your 15 year old is more outgoing, then this probably won't be an issue for you as the other teenagers seemed to be having fun just hanging out.

One problem we did find with the Regal concerning the kids program was the location. The kid's center is located at the top of the ship and the only way to get to it is by walking down an outside corridor and up an outside staircase in what was often very windy conditions. It was sometimes quite scary navigating the little ones to and from the center. They actually had to close it the entire last day of the cruise (talk about 3 very disappointed kids!) because the winds were too bad for it to be safe going up the staircase. Surprisingly, they just canceled all activities rather than moving them to a better location.

Personally, I prefer the bigger ships, but the Regal is still nice and I would sail on her again if the price and itinerary were right.

[sunnyazfamily]

I was wondering the same thing, we are booked on the regal for 06/15/2006 to alaska and traveling with a 16 year old. He is kinda shy and a loner so I hope he can find something to do. He was one who picked this cruise and like the idea of having 10 days, instead of 7.