Children on SS

I am starting this thread since the subject has come up on other threads. This is directly from the new Spirit brochure (p. 6): "Youth Programme...Fun, interactive activites for children led by experienced youth counsellors. Available on select Mediterrean and holiday sailings." So who gets to use the one pool??

Hi duct tape,

This is very ironic. On my last 3 cruises, I made the suggestion to have Bingo by the pool. All 3 Social Directors nixed the idea. Reason was, "they do not want to disturb the people who are reading and snoozing". As you mentioned, who is going to be able to use the 1 pool??????? Hopefully, they will have the children use it after 5PM. It starts thinning out at that time. I was thinking of booking the Spirit for Thanksgiving 2010, but am having 2nd thoughts.

The new people that came over from Regent and I believe there are two senior executives. They have instituted a full fledged children program similar to Crystal. I understand this would include the Med as as well. I would check with your T/A and check which cruises are involved. There are few safe heavens in the cruise industry now unless you want to charter.

I will stick with Seabourn,although a small BBQ'd child with a little Tabasco is appealing.

:mad: what's next ? sippy cups ?

Or perhaps the Pool Bar will turn into a Soda Fountain. I think I will call SS and let them know we are not happy about the "changes". Perhaps if we let them know that some passengers are not happy, maybe it will clue them in. And, yes, checking before you book will be the way to go.

I read about the children's program on another board and stopped by here to see reactions. We are Regent customers and definitely prefer sailing on ships without children. It may help to know that the children's programs are only run during the summer months and school breaks. Knowing this makes it easy to avoid those sailings.

Hopefully, Silversea will not start running "kids sail free" programs. The result of this on Regent's Alaska itinerary has been up to 100 children per week on board. While these are also easy to avoid, the ship (the Mariner in this case) gets more wear and tear during the summer months.

Note: I don't hate children. . . . just "been there done that";)

Goldens4, I like to go into the pool after Trivia...

This is not good news. I'm assuming it's an attempt to attract a younger demographic but it is tampering with the product and will come back to bite them in the rear. Children do not belong on SS. Or perhaps I should say with children aboard I do not belong on SS.

I agree with the comments on this thread. There have been a very few children on several of our previous SS cruises, and they have been well-behaved and closely monitored by their parents or nannies. But if SS is actually encouraging children as passengers and providing programs for them, the fundamental nature of these cruises will change, and not for the better. I'm sure that most of us love the children in our lives, but not on our SS cruises!

Sorry, duct tape, I did notice it did thin out. This is going to interfere with what folks like to do. My bingo games would have been too noisy, but kids wouldn't be. Gee, go figure. Kids are kids. I don't fault them for being what they are, but a SS cruise is where they should not be. Has anyone ever heard of Disney??????

wripro, I'm with you. If this is what SS wants to do, then it may be time to move on. I can understand them wanting to get a different demographic group, but proof is in the pudding that the "Baby Boomer" generation has the $$$$. We are not the ones that are going into foreclosure. It's the 20 & 30 and very early 40's that have decided to burn the candle at both ends. Yeah, SS may get a good group for a year or 2, but will they come back, I doubt it.

I wonder if anyone from SS is reading this??????

Verywell said, Well Seasoned.

What did I miss??

I'm looking at the Spirit for Oct/Nov 2010 (transatlantic & caribbean).

Would this be school holidays for anyone? It isn't in Australia but our seasons are upside down to the northern hemisphere.

I'm travelling a long long way and I don't want to be on a cruise ship with loads of childen.

Cheers

Ging466

I'm looking at the Spirit for Oct/Nov 2010.... Would this be school holidays for anyone? It isn't in Australia....

Well actually Ging it is school hols here in Oct, at least for the first two weeks, but this doesn't affect the euro packages.

now i've taken my kids on SS and they had a great time but....

they HATE kids clubs, like to sit and relax by the pool and eat good food...

if it had been kid central or even geared that way I doubt we would have even chosen that cruise...

there are plenty of ships catering for kids and no where near enough catering for people who want a civilised adult experience...

One of the major problems for so many holidaying in the land of Aus is the lack of kid free places...because so many places have listened to what the majority of market wants..to the point where they have no market any longer or at most a minimal share of a huge pie..sometimes it's better to get 50 percent of a 100gm pie than 5 percent of a 200gram one!

I am really drawn to cruising on SS, mostly because there will be few children. I go on vacation to avoid children. Until now, my experience has been with RCCL, and I just cannot take it anymore. Even if SS starts some form of children's program, it cannot be as bad as the mass market lines. Hopefully people will take the hint and keep their children at home or take them on a Disney cruise. I look forward to adding SS to my cruising list in the next 2 years (finishing my Ph.D, so luxury cruising is on hold for a few more years)!

In the US, we have Thanksgiving which falls on the 4th Thursday of the month. Some school districts are now giving this as a holiday week instead of just 2 days off. Some parents will keep their kids out to cruise even if it cuts into the school time. When we used to go to Jamaica at this time, the planes were packed with families. So, this time frame on the Spirit, may be a "crapshoot". We are thinking of doing this cruise in 2010, but will definitely check before we book.

I will stick with Seabourn,although a small BBQ'd child with a little Tabasco is appealing.

This is awful, but hilarious!

On Whisper 4909 (current cruise), they have had children's activities daily. There are 3 girls that happen to be around age 10, none of them traveling together) and one boy that is around 15 that is not hanging with anyone but his parents. We invited the boy to join our golf putting, but he politely declined. One of the 3 girls entertains herself, and the other two girls very quietly entertain themselves together sometimes and other times with their families. They all look beautiful at dinner, and the water at 12 to 15c has been widely open to them for the 3 or 4 minutes they chose to use it, and at any time they chose to hot tub, there was always the other one they were not in, and they were behaving just like any other guest anyway.

On Regent at Christmas, I think there were about 60 kids, and they did dominate the pool, but there was no screaming and never more than 3 or 4 of them in there at a time, and possibly one of their parents at any given time.

A few comments on the children's programme on Silversea from Steve Tucker:

The childrens programme we are developing is seasonal, not year round. One of the reasons we are offering a children's program is that we already get children on many of our summer cruises, particularly in Alaska and the Med. When there are a number of children on Silversea it can potentially impact our adult population from fully enjoying their cruise. So the idea was to create a children's program to keep the children occupied with scheduled activities so that their being on board does not impact the adults that do not have children from fully enjoying their Silversea cruise experience. Also, this is not being offered on the Cloud and Wind at this time. By having a scheduled program it enhances the on board experience for all guests - adults and children alike.

Steve Tucker

Silversea Cruises

Vice President National Accounts and Eastern Region Sales

Steve, thanks for the post. My husband and I never had children and aren't overly tolerant of the noisy types, but the children we have encountered on Silversea have been well-mannered, beautiful inside and out, and with even more to engage them, I feel even more good things are to come.

Oh no! So it is true...

Silversea, please reconsider this silly unwanted decision about en'couraging children onboard.

Just by promoting and marketing a childrens programe, children numbers onboard will increase.

That is the last thing that l and many other loyal Venetian members want.

This decision will go towards many chosing to switch cruiselines.

So you might see "some" additional revenue sales of childrens bookings, but at what cost?.

This decision will cost Silversea much more than it will gain, irregardless of whether it's 2 ships or all of them.

The market will not tell the difference, it will just assume that SS now welcomes children with open arms.

With all due respect

Who ever made this decision needs to find another job.

If I wanted children with me, then I would have had some. The main reason I selected SS was the lack of children. It is not my idea of a vacation to be subjected to hordes of screaming children. That said - hopefully any children on SS would be well mannered, but since the days of having children who are raised with rules and taught to obey them seems to be over....:(. These days it seems to be the children who are in control.

There is a big difference in "accomodating" any children who happen to be on board and "encouraging" the inclusion of children. It would "encourage" me to choose a different cruise line.

Steve,

The problem with your reasoning is that it becomes a vicious cycle. You are developing a childrens' program to accommodate the ones aboard but the fact that there is a program will attract more parents with children to book. Ultimately, it will have to affect the atmosphere on board. And it removes many cruises from consideration for those of us who prefer to cruise with adults only.

Time will tell. There certainly were a lot on Regent's Christmas cruise, but except at meals, they really were not around. I would guess that would be the case on Spirit, but if 60 were to show on Whisper, that would be different. I just don't see it happening.