The Queen Mary 2's Kid and Teen Zone

The Queen Mary 2's Kid and Teen Zone

By Mark Fitzgerald

The aft part of the ship on deck 6 is large area called the Zone.  Aimed at providing activities and amenities for children, it is broken down into 3 age groups.  It had programs for 2-7 year olds, 8 - 12 and 13 - 17 year olds.  Our youngest was in heaven as she saw this has a chance to go to preschool each day.  Each day had a theme, like pirates or space, for the crafts, activities and games.

The kids zone for 8-12 year olds and the Teen Zone did activities both in the zone and supervised out and about the ship.  Lots of the games in the Zone were interactive group games, though they also had board and card games available for checkout.  Out and about they had time exploring the ship, in the sports courts and scavenger hunts.  They even had a time in the golf simulator, which is normally a paid activity.  They also had a wide variety of Play Stations and Nintendo Wii games.

The Zone opens at 9 am and goes until late, with closures for the families to have lunch and dinner together.  There is a strict protocol of checking kids under 13 in an out of the Zone.  It involves stickers on the kids and parents ID cards.  Those children also have to have a wrist band that identifies their emergency evacuation area.  This was challenging for our 11 year old that is used to having more freedom to roam on his own.  The teenagers on the other hand were free to come and go as they please.

The Pavilion Pool, Deck 12

Behinds the Zone, on the deck of the ship were additional amenities for kids.  There was a splash pool connected to a full size pool.  There was also a playground pirate ship in the corner aimed at little kids.  The Zone is where they keep the chess pieces for the large chess set on deck.  With that said between the weather and the depth of the pool my kids preferred the covered pool on the top of the ship.

When you check in to the Zone the first time there is a fair amount of paperwork that needs to be filled out.  They want to make sure of allergies, waivers and other standard legal stuff.  At that time they give you and activity program that lists all of the themes and activities for the cruise.  At the end of the crossing they have an awards ceremony and give the kids a certificate stating they crossed the Atlantic.  Also based on their level of participation they also earn points.  Those with the most points earned a prize.

On our particular cruise there wasn't more than 10 kids in each age group.  They were primarily American though there was Welsh and English as well.  Though the cruise ship had lots of Germans, they weren't hanging out in the Zone, which was English speaking.  I loved that my kids had interaction with people from other cultures and area of the world.  At first my kids were suspect about using the Zone facilities.  It ended up being a important and liked part of their vacation.

Queen Mary 2 Activity Programme from June 21, 2015

Play Zone Activity Programme:

    

Kids and Teen Zone Activity Programme:

 

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