MSC Cruises… The best kids club at sea?

Kids clubs on cruise ships are becoming increasingly innovative. And after 2 days onboard MSC Cruises’ newest flagship, MSC Grandiosa, our Marketing Manager reports back on the latest innovation for cruising kids.

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As someone with a young daughter, my first thought when holiday planning is always; what will keep her busy?  The busier she is, the less busy I am and the more fun I’ll have. I don’t spend all year saving for holidays to then spend 7 days listening to, “I’m bored” on repeat!

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With their famous Swarowski-crystal staircases and two brand new Cirque Du Solieil shows, fun and glamour are here in abundance.

But where does brand-new MSC Grandiosa sit in the family-fun stakes? Well, she has an incredible aqua park, with 3 twisting slides, a range of pools and a ‘Himalayan Bridge’ or rope walk, but what do you do with the kids on a sea day when the weather’s less, errr charitable?

I found this answer toward the aft of the ship, alongside a HUGE multi-sports arena, a mini bowling alley, virtual reality maze and 4d cinema AND some sick (or dope, it’s up to you) Formula 1 simulators.

Welcomed by life-sized Lego characters (selfie time!) here, you’ll find five dedicated and secure areas for different age ranges, from babies to cool teens.  There’s lots to go at and, to be honest, I was pretty blown away by the facilities on offer.

Celebrating awesome GCSE results? Your biggest darlings can hang out in the Teen Club, a club specially tailored for dance contests, Wii, Xbox and PS3 tournaments, comedy fun and loads of themed events.

At the other end of the age range, Chicco Baby Club provides fun and educational toys, specially selected for MSC’s littlest guests by the Osservatorio Chicco Baby Research Centre (no idea either, but it sounds impressive).

And the rooms kept on coming, 5 more, in total, all equipped with everything from books and babyfoot to games consoles and dive in Lego pools!

The highlight for me, and something I’ve never seen on a ship before, was the Web Creator Room; a creative space for kids from 8-14 to try their hand at making web content for YouTube or TikTok in a safe environment, learn how to fly drones (yes, really) and even have a go at 3D printing. We’re all familiar with the stress of trying to get your kid to put their device down and socialise instead – in the  Web Creator Room, they get the best of both worlds! I was left feeling a bit jealous that I was too old to get involved, if nothing else, it would be great to learn what the heck TikTok is!!!

Partnerships with Lego and Chicco are no mean feat, thrown in some HUGE theme-park esque indoor facilities and an incredibly well thought out range of kids club rooms and MSC are onto a winner here, and in my book, are almost certainly front-runners for best kids club at sea.

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