Onboard Activities for Princess Cruises Kid's Clubs

Here is where you'll find the onboard activities provided for kids aged 3-17 on Princess Cruises. While these are specific to Alaska, they should give you an idea of the variety of activities and experiences provided for kids on Princess Cruises.

If you haven't had a chance to hear my interview with a parent and child as they shared their experiences with the kids club on Princess, take a listen by clicking on the description below:

• In Part 1 you hear from Emily herself.
• In Part 2 we continue the conversation and also hear the parent's perspective.

Camp Discovery - The Tree House, ages 3-7.

Camp Discovery - The Lodge for ages 8-12.

The Beach House for ages 13-17.

All About the Kid's Club on Princess Cruises

Are you interested in knowing more about the kid's clubs on Princess Cruises? Take a listen to 11 year old Emily as she tells me all about her experiences. Click on the icons below to go straight to Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview. 

If you are looking to see what kinds of activities may be happening during the week for each age group, take a look at the onboard listings from a recent Alaska cruise:
Camp Discovery - The Tree House, ages 3-7.
Camp Discovery - The Lodge for ages 8-12.
The Beach House for ages 13-17.

Emily also shared photos of some the crafts she made. Thanks, Emily!

Royal Princess Turnaround Day in Vancouver, August 31

Hello from a cloudy/sunny/cloudy day in Vancouver. After being in chilly Alaska, the warmer temperatures here feel just outstanding.

Moving cabins was easy, as usual. The things from the drawers went back into our suitcase and all our clothes stayed on hangers. We left our cabin at 8 and let our cabin steward know we were heading out. He contacted his supervisor and when the new cabin was ready they moved our things for us. By the time we got back from our face-to-face with US Customs and Border Protection our new room was ready. We moved straight across the ship from the starboard to port side on the same deck. Everything is in the same exact place in the new cabin so it's like we are in the same cabin. Just have to remember to turn left, not right, when getting off the elevator. Next cruise we go back to our original cabin so we'll be back to turning right instead of left. (Good thing I'm not directionally challenged. I won't comment on hubby's sense of direction.)

While the move when smoothly, the in-transit process in Vancouver is most definitely the day's everything-isn't-always-perfect-in-the-cruising-world Public Service Announcement. See that building right there with the flat white roof and green windows? Like right off our balcony? That's the terminal where we had to do our face-to-face. I'm not about to put anything in writing about who is to blame, but I will say we stood in line for a very long time and my phone showed we were also traipsed a mile through that building before we could get back on the ship.

But we'll forget about that and focus on the good. This week my husband is hitting his 500th day with Princess. The celebration started with the flowers that were delivered to the cabin and continued with the chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. Eat the strawberries, give the champagne to someone we know on the ship is the plan. From the experience we had when I celebrated my 500 days a couple months back I know it'll be a good week.

Our ship is leaving Vancouver super-late because of the tides and the ship needing to fit under the Lions Gate Bridge. Instead of leaving at 4pm or so today we'll be leaving tomorrow morning around 1 am. All passengers still have to be on board by 5pm but the crew get to stay out until 11pm. Yay for the crew! But because of our super-late departure again this cruise our call to Ketchikan will be cut short.

A beautiful night in Vancouver

I won't be blogging live these next two weeks unless something comes up but I will be working on some new videos and articles. By the end of these next two weeks I hope to have the following information/videos/audio posted on the blog:

• Interview with 11 year old Emily about the kids club on Princess Cruises.
• The interview with Emily and her mom about what they learned as first time cruisers, their impression of Princess, and of the Ocean Medallion. 
• Ordering food, drink, and services through the Ocean Now section of the TV and through the app.
• Information on Ocean Compass - how to add passengers into the messaging system, find traveling companions around the ship, and directions on how to find your own way around
• Demonstration of the Play Ocean portals
• Cabin tour of a handicapped balcony stateroom
• Ways to get from Anchorage to Whittier, including how the Egan Convention Center staging area works
• Review of Crown Grill
• How to find those somewhat secret doors on deck 7
• An interview with Matt O', Cruise Director Extraordinaire (I hope!)
• And probably something else I can't think of as I sit here with my feet up on the bed typing this.

Yikes! Now that I look at that list I'm not sure I can get all those things posted in two weeks, especially with the speed and reliability of MedallionNet in Alaska. But I'll try!

Alaskan cruise number 19 and 20 here we come...

Want to find out more about what to do in Alaskan ports?
Check out my Cruising Alaska resources:

Royal Princess Last Sea Day: August 30

Today is our last sea day and it was a full one. And a foggy one.

It cleared up for a while before it turned cloudy again.

While time changed last night and we lost an hour, we didn't mind much. We took our leisurely time getting ourselves going in the morning and didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do until afternoon. I attended another live Wake Show taping (yay to the energy of Matt O') and I hosted an afternoon tea in our cabin.

This afternoon tea was a special one. I had a passenger contact me a couple weeks back as she was prepping for her cruise. She and daughter were traveling together on a girls getaway. How fun is that? We were able to connect once on the ship and I'm excited to say I was able to interview both her and her daughter today during afternoon tea. Guess what? I now have a kids cruise expert. (Hi Emily!) We did some interviews about the kids club, cruising, and the Ocean Medallion, and some filming at one of the ship's portals. I'm pleased to say I'll be sharing the Princess cruise experience from an 11 year old's perspective - and her mom's. Look for more information coming soon!

We had dinner at Crown Grill tonight. I'll be doing a separate write-up on it - pictures and menus included - at a later date.

We also couldn't forget to get some quick packing in as we have to change cabins for next cruise. Thanks to booking super late, for this next cruise we have to move directly across the ship to the port side. Then the next cruise we move right back to this exact same cabin. 

Today's everything-isn't-always-perfect-in-the-cruising-world Public Service Announcement comes from our balcony where we have smelled someone smoking this week. And it just wasn't cigarette smoke. We had a couple days of weed wafting our way. We know it wasn't the folks next to us on either side (we can see the reflection in the glass) but we never could determine where it came from . As we learned last year on the Caribbean Princess (you can read about that smoking situation here) there really is nothing that can be done.

Tomorrow is our turnaround day in Vancouver, the start of our 19th Alaskan cruise, and the week my husband will be celebrating a milestone cruise - 500 days with Princess cruises. I'll be back tomorrow for one last live-from before I shift to creating and posting videos from the ship.

Royal Princess in Ketchikan, Alaska: August 29

Before I get started on today, I'd like to share a photo of last night's sunset. It was just so beautiful leaving Juneau.

I did have another foghorn alarm this morning. I decided it was time to rouse myself from bed, got on my slippers, and headed out to the balcony to get another picture of the white-out. I could see straight up into the beautiful starry sky but everything around me was fogged in. As dark as it was I figured I should check the time.

1:13 AM. 

Forget that! Off went the slippers and back to bed I went.

Once daylight arrived I again donned my slippers and headed out to take photos. It was an amazingly spectacular day in Ketchikan. I watched all kinds of boat traffic from the comfort of the balcony. Even caught a dog getting in on the action!

We made it to Burger Queen just as it opened at 11:00 today. Even with being some of the first folks there it was still an hour wait to get our burgers. While the plan was to hang out at the Arctic Bar in the meantime, we were taking a crew member (who wasn't a drinker) out to lunch and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So we sat in Burger Queen, chatted, and caught up with the goings-on while waiting for our tasty burgers. To quote a line from the movie Pulp Fiction, "This is a tasty burger."

We have an early departure today because of the need to get under the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver not at high tide so after lunch we made our way back to the ship. Hubby and I headed up to the buffet to grab me a glass of ice and as we were walking, out of the corner of my eye I saw a piece of purple paper being put into one of the worker's wallets. At that same moment I heard the words ridiculously amazing.

I stopped and asked about it. Yep, he found it and thanked me profusely. What did he find? Something I left in the buffet, of course. 

He told me where he found it and I told him we're on for two more cruises and I'll keep putting them out every single day. He and his coworker were quite happy. And so was I.

Today's everything-isn't-always-perfect-in-the-cruising-world Public Service Announcement comes from room service. As I mentioned last night, we had formal night and we were ordering our dinner through the Ocean Now section of our TV so I could show viewers how the process works. While I don't have the video completely together yet, when I do I'll post it right here and you'll see why I'm not recommending you order a grilled cheese from room service. 

We have the Most Traveled Guest Cocktail Party tonight and tomorrow is our last sea day before the end of the cruise. So very glad we have two more weeks to go!

I've pulled the Princess Patters from this cruise off the blog and won't be posting any more of them. The more photos I have on the blog, the more I have to pay to have them stored (or maybe hosted is the word?). I'm more than happy to email updated Patters if you ask, but I won't be adding them here anymore. 

Want to find out more about what to do in Ketchikan and other Alaskan ports?
Check out my Cruising Alaska resources: