Prices are going up for certain services in Royal Caribbean's kids club.
Adventure Ocean is the name of the kids club on all of the line's ships, and while most of the programming is included in your cruise, fare there are a couple areas that come with an extra cost.
However, if you elect to leave your kids with the counselors late at night and/or take advantage of the nursery services, there's an hourly cost to it.
The Royal Caribbean app is showing a change to the hourly rate for both of these areas.
Late night cost change
Adventure Ocean is complimentary up until 10pm, but from 10pm to 1am, there's an hourly charge for kids staying for the late night party.
Royal Caribbean Blog reader Megan Audette spotted the change in the app.
Within Adventure Ocean for kids between 3 years old and 12 years old, after 10pm, the price is going up from $10 per hour per child to $15 per hour per child.
There is still no charge for Adventure Ocean when the club is open earlier in the day.
Hourly nursery costs
The cost of dropping toddlers in the nursery is also changing.
Adventure Ocean Babies is available for toddlers infants and toddlers between the age of 6 - 36 months. Unlike the older kids areas, there's an hourly charge for the nursery throughout the day and evening.
The new cost for the nursery will be:
- $9 per hour until 6pm (previously $6 per hour)
- $12 per hour thereafter (previously $8 per hour)
Because babies require more attention than Adventure Ocean, the nursery is more specialized and offers child care that caters to each baby. Plus, they can feed children in their care and put them down for naps.
A supervised solution for vacation
If you haven't taken advantage of Royal Caribbean's kids care, it's one of my family's favorite benefits of cruising.
Adventure Ocean is designed around offering a place for children to play and have fun while their parents can go elsewhere and enjoy time apart.
When my kids were young enough to be in the nursery or Adventure Ocean, we always took advantage of its offerings because it was a win-win for all of us.
The kids got an escape from hanging out with mom and dad, and that meant games, art, movies, and playing with other kids.
My wife and I loved Adventure Ocean because it was supervised and gave us the chance to have a dinner or evening alone.
Most of the care is included, but the extra costs have always been well-worth it, in my opinion.
Ever since we tried the nursery for the first time, I was blown away by how all encompassing the service is. The staff really love their job and they always went to great lengths to make sure our children were happy.
When my kids were old enough for the main club, staying for late night was always a highlight.
Most kids get picked up before 10pm, but the ones that remain usually get to indulge in special activities because there are less kids overall.
Royal Caribbean has steadily increased the space and offerings of Adventure Ocean on its ships, with the new Icon Class ships offering an incredible variety of programming for families.
