Adventure Ocean on Royal Caribbean Cruises

Adventure Ocean is the youth club on Royal Caribbean ships. It's a fun place where junior cruisers can meet children their age and pass the time onboard with games, themed parties, crafts and other age-appropriate activities under the supervision of animated staff members.

What It Is

A free-of-charge youth club, Royal Caribbean's Adventure Ocean caters to three age groups: Aquanauts (3 to 5 and who need to be potty-trained for enrollment), Explorers (6 to 8) and Voyagers (9 to 11). Each category has a dedicated space where parents can drop off their children while they amuse themselves onboard or on shore. Facilities vary by vessel (some are more elaborate than others). Though there's no official theme of Adventure Ocean, you can be assured that activities are engaging and educational, and the decor, splashy and colorful. Junior cruisers can expect rooms outfitted with crenellated castle walls or painted with a bounty of sea creatures.

Depending on the age group and ship, children can partake in activities such as brainteasers, scavenger hunts and dodge ball games. Staffers may set up the room with cool tunnels and tents or conduct story time or dress-up sessions. Arts and crafts projects include making murals, chef hats or birthday cards. Young cruisers can also participate in the Adventure Science program, which offers hands-on science experiments on topics such as volcanos, fossils or gravity.

During sea days, Adventure Ocean is open for three sessions: 9 a.m. to noon; 2 to 5 p.m.; and 7  to 10 p.m. When the ship is docked, the club operates for the entire duration of the time in port. Additionally, Adventure Ocean offers a "Late Night Party Zone" from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. (or until the last child leaves). This group babysitting program caters to young ones from ages 3 to 11 (an hourly fee applies).

Family time is big at Adventure Ocean, and the club hosts bingo, trivia nights and bubble-making (among other pursuits) for both parents and children to enjoy together. "My Family Time Dining" is an escort service where staffers pick up children from the dining room roughly half-way through dinner and deliver them to the Adventure Ocean Club for an evening of fun (leaving the parents to finish dinner in peace). There's also an Adventure Dining option in the buffet, where young cruisers can eat in the company of their fellow club members, alongside the Adventure Ocean team.

Among Adventure Ocean's strengths is its capacity to serve children with autism and other developmental disabilities. The club accommodates special needs with autism-friendly activities and toys, a specially trained staff, and pager and phone lending to parents.

Not technically part of Adventure Ocean -- and not available on all ships -- the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery tends to cruisers ages 6 to 18 months. A daytime and evening drop-off is available for an hourly fee, and complimentary Royal Tots family activities such as maritime sing-alongs (including musical instruments and props), play groups and art-making sessions are organized.

Price

Daytime Adventure Ocean programming is complimentary. The Late Night Party Zone costs $7 per hour, per child, and the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery drop-off program costs $6 per hour, per child during the day and $8 per hour at night.

Ships

Adventure Ocean is available across the Royal Caribbean fleet. Royal Tots programming is also available fleetwide, but the Royal Babies and Tots Nursey is not.