Kids bored on transatlantic?

[rjlit]

We were recently on the Fantasy and we booked the eastern transatlantic with our 3 kids ..ages 14, 11 and 9. They really weren't into the kids clubs so we are concerned that they will be bored with 6 consecutive days at sea. Has anyone done this cruise with kids of similar ages and if so, how did it go?

 

[heatherb819]

We went EBTA in 2011 we are book again DD is 10 now and she loved it last time and can not wait to go again. She isn't a huge fan of the clubs either, but loves to swim and do some of the other activities on board. They will have activities not normally offered on the shorter cruises. If you go to our roll call board you will find a copy of the Navigators from 2011. Come join the roll call!!!

 

[Jubilee]

That is an expensive trip to take a bunch of bored kids on....take me instead

 

[MikeAndNick]

eastern transatlantic with our 3 kids ..ages 14, 11 and 9.

My son was 14 when we did the Eastern Trans-Atlantic and we both loved it. He has been bugging me to do it again. When we cruise I never see my son except for Dinner and the Trans-Atlantic cruise was no different. With 14 days they found every nook and cranny in the ship and found everything there was to do. The only complaint I got from my son was all the American Girls liked the boys from England at the start of the cruise. After about 4 days he told me the girls figured out the boys from England were no different and are now hanging out with American Boys.

Note: Almost everyone complained when we got across the ocean to land; 6 sea days went by way to fast.

 

[lmb]

My kids were a little younger but loved it too. DH and I thought it was our favorite cruise. We loved all the sea days.

 

[tink too]

Our DD was 9 when we did the WBTA and she loved it! Her favourite thing about cruising is the days at sea - she was disappointed when we told her we were going ashore once we reached the carribean!

 

[hannah's dad]

Our girls were 7 (almost 8) and 5 when we did the EBTA in 2010. They has a blast, with the pools and they did a lot in the kids clubs. We also used the sea days for doing things like shuffleboard, basketball, foos ball, etc. They definitely had fun and we'd do a TA again.

 

[owensamo]

We were on the 2011 EBTA as well, and while DD9 did spend some time in the clubs, she spent more time with the kids on the cruise meet - swimming in the pools, on the beach at CC, on excursions, at dinner, etc. We had a huge group that linked reservations, and it worked out great. There was always someone we knew, both the parents and the kids, in the activities we wanted to do.

There's plenty to do outside the clubs on a TA cruise - especially if you have a particularly active meet thread! We had DIS activities scheduled for each of the sea days - and often times there was so much else going on that it was hard to choose what to do! There's also plenty you can do with kids that age as a family - try hidden mickey hunts or make your own scavenger hunt for the kids, play cards/games in Diversions, play shuffle board, ping pong or basketball, walk Deck 4 or Deck 10... I don't think we were ever bored.

We would have done the EBTA again this year with DD11, but it really didn't fit into the schedule this time Instead we booked B2B Fantasy 7n cruises to make our own 14n! I'm keeping an eye out for PC and TA cruises that fit into our calendar in the future - DD's changing schools and will have different breaks that might make things more manageable!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

My boys were 4 and 7 when we did the WBTA and they loved it. However, they both liked the kids club - although my older was harder to get in there because he is shy. One of the nice things about the TAs are that they don't seem very crowded, and the number of kids, IMHO, is just right. With smaller groups of friends and longer cruising and more sea days, it is very conducive to the kids making friends.

Signed on for the WBTA next year and CANNOT WAIT!! It was my favorite cruise ever!!

I've heard that EBTA isn't QUITE as good as WBTA because of the time change - you lose hours, vs. gaining hours westbound.