Independence Of The Seas

Adventure Ocean aft of deck 12 is the ships play area featuring specially designed activities for kids ages 3-17 and is run by college-educated staff.

Royal Caribbean’s complimentary, year-round Adventure Ocean Programme is available for children aged 3 (who must be fully toilet trained) to 17.

All children’s activities are supervised by male or female youth staff who have a 4 year University degree or international equivalent in Education, Recreation or a related field. All staff also have at least 3 to 5 years qualified experience in working with children ages 6 months to 17 years.

Aquanauts caters for children aged 3-5 years with activities such as story time, face painting, theatre, finger painting, Camp Aquanaut, building blocks, music activities, space night and animal, colour and shape bingo.

Aquanauts opens as follows:
At sea – 9 am to 5 pm; 7 pm to 10 pm.
In port – 30 minutes prior to first shore excursion to 5 pm; and 7 pm to 10 pm.

Children aged 6-8 years can join Explorers where activities range from conducting science experiments to learning how to make kites and sweets, pirate night, backstage tours, Nutty Nicknames, pyjama night, carnival games, model magic creations and talent Shows.

Explorers opens as follows:
At sea – 9 am to 5 pm; 7 pm to 10 pm.
In port – 30 minutes prior to first shore excursion to 5 pm; and 7 pm to 10 pm.

Voyagers provides entertainment for 9 to 11 year olds with a range of educational activities including science experiments, backstage tours and new sports like Gagaball. Other events taking place include karaoke, sports tournaments, List-o-Rama, Boys vs. Girls, Scavenger Hunts and Crazy Tag.

Voyagers opens as follows:
At sea – 9 am to 5 pm; 7 pm to 10 pm.
In port – 30 minutes prior to first shore excursion to 5 pm; and 7 pm to 10 pm.

The H2O Zone features colourful sculptures around a series of sprinklers, jets and water cannons that youngsters can use to soak each other. It is catered for by the Squeeze juice bar and a soft drinks and sprinkles soft scoop ice cream station (the ice cream is complimentary whilst the soft drinks station is for use by those with a drinks package using the special cups provided which have a chip in them to activate the machines.

Open from 8am to 8pm, in addition to the splash areas, the H2O zone includes two whirlpools, a large round splash pool which is 1.07m deep (3ft 6”) deep and a rectangular pool with overhead water fall which is 1.7m deep (5ft 7”).

Due to public health regulations, children in nappies, swim nappies, pull-ups or who are not completely toilet trained are not allowed in the pools or whirlpools including the H2O zone with the exception of the baby splash zone. Children in nappies or who are not toilet trained may use the Baby Splash Zone specially designed for them portside and adjacent to the round pool within the H2O zone which is separated off from the rest of the area for use by children in diapers and is 1.5 inches (3.8cm) deep.

In the evening the H2O Zone transforms into a beautifully lit sculpture garden.

The ship's Video Arcade, located aft of deck 12 offers games such as Pacman and table hockey, Guitar Hero, Fast and Furious Drift, Mario Karts and dance games. Charges apply of around $1.00 per game (some of the older games are around $0.50 per game) and guests need to insert their Seapass card into one of the recharge stations in the arcade to buy arcade credits to play games.

For 12-14 years and 15-17 years activities include games and sports, parties and competitions. With laid-back places on board to hang out with friends, Independence also has a teen-only club for dancing, listening to music or just chilling out.

Further examples of activities on offer include family discos, pool parties, scavenger hunts , karaoke, Video Games, Nintendo© Wii ( for 12-14yrs), pool parties, DJ training, Battle of the Sexes, Casino Night, themed dance parties, Nintendo© Wii-Guitar Hero and movies ( for 15-17 years.)

Supervised teen activities for 12-14 year-olds:
At sea – daytime activities vary; night time activities – 8 pm to 2 am.
In port – daytime activities vary; night time activities – 8 pm to 2 am.

Supervised teen activities for 15-17 year-olds:
At sea – daytime activities vary; night time activities – 9 pm to the wee hours.
In port – daytime activities vary; night time activities – 9 pm to the wee hours.

Teens may join adult activities with the exception of adult sports tournaments and the adult nightclubs (teens have their own nightclubs, Living Room and Fuel).

The Living Room aft of deck 12 is a laid-back club with non-alcoholic bar for teens to hang out with new friends.

The Fuel Teen Disco is a teens-only club where they can gather, dance and enjoy music and is situated aft of deck 12.

Family karaoke also takes place in Fuel on a number of occasions during a cruise.

The Royal Babies and Tots Nursery aft of deck 12 is a colourful nursery for infants aged 6 to 36 months old and is run by trained professionals providing daily activities and playgroup sessions including music, toys and learning activities. A parent or carer must accompany children visiting this area at all times.

Edu-tainment Programming is available on Royal Caribbean ships and includes:

Adventure ScienceSM (with fun learning through a blend of hands-on science experiments and wacky entertainments including Staggering Through the Stars©, Germ Jungle©, Wacky Water Workshop©, Jurassic Junior©, Environmentation Station© and Volcanoes©).

Adventure Art by Crayola offers children craft opportunities including making cultural masks and pottery, whilst learning about the art, history and culture of the regions visited during their cruise. The projects vary according to cruise destination, sharing information on the history, traditions, aquatic habitats and animals indigenous to the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Australia, Asia and Europe

Adventure Theatre mixes educational activities with physical fun as participants get to learn about actor’s craft where entire worlds are created with just their bodies, voices and imaginations. Using structured theatre games, vocal and physical exercises, and creativity-freeing activities, instructors guide groups through an exploration of the theatre arts.

Sail Into Story Time entertains young holidaymakers with a story hour followed by creative, hands-on activities and projects.

In association with Huggies® and Gerber®, Royal Caribbean provide stocked and ready-to-go nappy bags, which can be pre-ordered and delivered to guests stateroom upon their arrival.

For guests who would like a little time to themselves during the day or evening, Nursery Babies and Tots caters for infants from 6-17 months or 18-36 months in the professionally run nursery. A small charge applies for this service. Added in the May 2013 refit, the nursery is located outside the Living room and Arcade on deck 12.

Babysitting Services (for children aged over 12 months) are available on Independence of the Seas in either a group setting or individually in staterooms. It must be booked at least 24 hours in advance at the Guest Relations Desk (deck 5 aft of the Royal Promenade).

A Royal Caribbean staff-member equipped with Fisher-Price toys and Mattel games will engage and entertain the youngsters until parents return at which point parents will be presented with a log of the child’s activities with the babysitter, including books read, games enjoyed, food consumed, and when the child was put to bed.

The charge is $19 per hour for up to three children within the same family with a two-hour minimum requirement.

Group sitting is available from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am in the Adventure Ocean centre. The cost for this service is $6/hour per child. Children attending must be at least 3 years old and fully toilet trained – no nappies or pull-ups are allowed.

Introduced fleet wide from March 2013, the Barbie™Premium Experience is available for girls aged between four and eleven and includes a Barbie stateroom; Tiaras & Teacups party; Mermaid dance class; Fashion Designer workshop and a Barbie Fashion Show. The premium experience costs $349.00.