I love going on Royal Caribbean cruises with my kids, but there are at least a few things I don't think are worth buying for them.
Family vacations are perfect on a cruise ship because of how we get to spend a lot of time together, but there are also opportunities for the kids and parents to have fun on their own as well.
Part of the fun of a cruise is indulging in certain add-ons, such as fun shore excursions, family photos, or a cabana rental. However, there are a few extras I personally don't think are worthwhile for my kids and I generally steer clear of them.
In most cases, these are things that I don't think are worth it for them, or it's simply excessive. As a parent, you want your kids to have a good time, but spoiling them isn't in the cards (that's what grandparents are for).
While my kids might think I'm being "the worst" dad ever, these are cruise extras I won't bother buying for them on any cruise.
Drink package
Royal Caribbean's drink packages are a great value, but I don't think it's necessary for kids, especially kids that aren't teenagers yet.
I look at any drink package purchase as a question of "breaking even" on the investment, meaning can I consume enough drinks every day of the cruise to get value from the package in lieu of paying for drinks individually.
My kids are still young enough that they'd only ever have one sugary drink at home, and on vacation, more than 2 or 3 feels excessive for them from a health perspective. Plus, they have enough energy without a sugar kick to keep going most days.
For anyone new to cruising with Royal Caribbean, it's also important to know which drinks are included with your cruise fare. It's not like the kids are relegated to water for the duration of the sailing.
It also greatly helps that they are Diamond Plus members in Crown and Anchor Society, so they get a few free drinks per day from their perks.
Ultimately, I'm all for them splurging on a cruise, but a drink package seems excessive for them.
Jewelry
I have two girls, and as of yet, I don't think jewelry makes a lot of sense to buy for them.
My kids have some jewelry, but the sort of jewelry you can buy on the ship's shops are over the top for their personal attention to detail.
Essentially, the risk of them misplacing or damaging jewelry is quite high, so investing in something nice would be more of an exercise in futility than anything else.
When they get more responsible, I think there's a good rationale to reward them with something nice from a shop onboard or on shore, but for now, the cheap stuff from our mall is what they need.
Prepaid arcade credits
We usually make a pilgrimage to the ship's arcade at least once per cruise, but I never buy the prepaid arcade credits.
There's two reasons why I don't purchase the arcade credit package pre-cruise on Royal Caribbean's website.
First, it seems there's always left over credits that you're trying to figure out the right combination of arcade credits and extra credits to finally get rid of your balance. It's just easier to pay for credits as you go, rather than rely on a balance ahead of time.
Second, it's not uncommon for certain arcade machines to be out of order, which means there are less games appealing to them and that leaves us with arcade credits we end up spending for the sake of spending them.
Candy from the duty free shop
My kids eat plenty of junk on a cruise, so we don't need to spend extra money on the duty free candy.
Besides the bottles of liquor you can purchase onboard, there's also large quantities of candy you can buy in the duty free store.
I find there's many treats to enjoy around the ship for no additional cost. Plus, we'll bring a few extra snacks onboard the ship from home to have so they can nosh in the cabin from time to time.
I have no idea if the candy sold in the duty free shop is any kind of deal, but I think it's unnecessary for us to buy for our kids.
Dining package
I don't buy my kids a dining package on a cruise, but not because I'm being cheap or think it's excessive.
My oldest daughter really loves specialty dining, so we visit our fair share of specialty restaurants during a cruise. I'll buy a dining package for my wife and I, but I'll skip the kids.
At any specialty restaurant, kids ages 6-12 can dine there for a flat $12.99 cover charge. Kids 5 years old and under eat free. Just show up and I pay for the kids on the SeaPass account.
Another reason I don't buy them a dining package is sometimes they eat elsewhere. My youngest daughter is super picky, and we often get her a couple of slices of pizza from Sorrento's. The staff doesn't mind that we bring the food with us while the rest of us enjoy the meal at the restaurant.
Kids get charged less and it provides more flexibility in case they prefer to eat from another venue.
Historically or culturally significant shore excursions
I admit I struggle with taking my kids on certain shore excursions that have a great deal of significance, but I know they wont appreciate.
On the one hand, I want to expose my kids to the world and have them learn about the things, places, and times that shaped our world. It's important for everyone to know these things, including kids.
But, no matter how many times you tell your kids something they are seeing or doing is important, you can't force them to actually appreciate it. Or at least have them stop complaining they're bored.
As an example, when we took a cruise to Cuba, we left the kids onboard because we knew they were too young to care about Cuba's political history.
I know that if I ask them if they'd be interested in certain tours, I'm sure they'd say no to just about anything not involving ice cream or the beach. There's a certain level of filtering you have to do as a parent to know what's best for them. In other cases, there are certain excursions that are definitely better for a more mature audience.
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