Children's Hostess

We have just disembarked Silver Whisper and were shocked to find a children's hostess on our 10 day Baltic sailing from Copenhagen to Stockholm. There were about ten under eighteens onboard and we were told that the provision of a childrens hostess is a new concept for SS that had gone down well with the children.

As we know SS has previously never catered for children and to many of the passengers, young children in particular, are unwelcome.

We remember a cruise on the Spirit in March 2013 when the front area of the swimming pool was dominated by a large children's paddling pool bought apparently by SS to cater for one child who was still in nappies (diapers), and therefore was not allowed to go into the swimming pool. This paddling pool took up the space of six sun loungers, leaked and created considerable amount of extra work for the deck attendants. The child in question screamed almost continually, not just in the pool area, but also dinner in the Terrazza where he was taken every night around 9 pm. Every passenger with whom we discussed this situation was fed up, but the parents had two cabins for a number of months; money talks!

If the provision of a childrens hostess is to become a regular feature on SS sailings, not just in the summer months, but at "holiday" times, ie Easter and Christmas, then SS should start to add a symbol (skull and crossbones?) in similar fashion to that for Venetian Value sailings and those with gentlemen hosts etc., in order to warn the travelling community of the likelihood of an unwelcome number of children on a particular cruise.

Master Echo

Love the skull and crossbones idea. I am not a child hater, but would like to be forewarned.

And I also encountered the mentioned toddler in diapers in April 2013 on the TA (but all my post about that issue got deleted).

So sorry to hear about the children's hostess on your trip. I do hope we don't encounter any children on our TA in November.

I agree - a skull and crossbones is the perfect symbol.

I like kid's too, but not on my vacation--that's why I join cruising "no noise time".

Rick

Oh dear, l do hope Silversea aren't going to go down this road, the ships are too small (IMHO) to cater for children and as much as l also love the little darlings I don't relish the thought of having them disturb the peace and relaxation, which inevitably happens....as good as they may be!

Sophia :)

It's a sad indictment of our times ..... and the implied sanctions we feel from others on these boards, that we feel that we have to say "I really like kids" before we say "but not on my cruise ....." :)

The issue with kids is nearly always not the kids but the parents. Kids job is to be kids. There is a place for kids and equally should be places for people not wanting other peoples' kids. The reality is that when you buy a cruise you aren't planning to buy a ticket to a lottery, and if you have ever experienced it, then it is only normally just one kid and one clueless set of parents on a ship with several hundred other innocent decent people that can make the cruise absolute hell.

The issue is not the kid. It is the aspect of being in a lottery you'd prefer not have have purchased a very expensive ticket for.

Jeff

Our August Spirit trip also had the "Groovy gang" on board and they tried to enlist us by putting the next days programme in our letter holder. This was one offer we were happy to decline.

The number of kids put the pool out of use for the duration. I know August is family holiday month but SS state that no arrangements are made for children on one hand and then go and do so.

If SS consider the provision of gentlemen hosts is worthy of advertising then they should be honest and advertise that a groovy gang leader will be provided on such voyages. Better still make all voyages child free.

We remember a cruise on the Spirit in March 2013 when the front area of the swimming pool was dominated by a large children's paddling pool bought apparently by SS to cater for one child who was still in nappies (diapers), and therefore was not allowed to go into the swimming pool. This paddling pool took up the space of six sun loungers, leaked and created considerable amount of extra work for the deck attendants. The child in question screamed almost continually, not just in the pool area, but also dinner in the Terrazza where he was taken every night around 9 pm. Every passenger with whom we discussed this situation was fed up, but the parents had two cabins for a number of months; money talks!

 

Master Echo

Really sorry to hear about your experience on the Whisper. Was it worse than having to put up with 'screaming Nico' and his inconsiderate parents on the Spirit. Dont/cannot blame the kid, but his parents really didn't give a damn about the ship, the crew and in particular the other guests. And the management was way too scared to do anything unless there were multiple complaints.

We have just disembarked Silver Whisper and were shocked to find a children's hostess on our 10 day Baltic sailing from Copenhagen to Stockholm. There were about ten under eighteens onboard and we were told that the provision of a childrens hostess is a new concept for SS that had gone down well with the children.

Master Echo

During the summer of 2010 there was also a children's hostess aboard the Silver Spirit. We were on a Black Sea cruise at the end of summer, the last cruise segment for the hostess. She had four or five bored charges she supervised doing puzzles or playing games in the card room. I had hoped that they'd abandoned that idea for good.

We also experienced the Nico affair on the Spirit in February 2013. Groan!

It's all very well and good to say it's not the kids, it's their parents who are to blame, and they are most assuredly, but the result is the same....screaming and running and multiple elevator buttons pushed yada yada yada.

We had the children's program on our Spirit cruise this past June. I'd estimate there were roughly a dozen or so young children under the age of 10. No problems were seen as they were well supervised.

Just home from a month on the Cloud.Approx10 children on the three cruises,not bad for school holiday cruise.Mostly well supervised apart from a one year old whose favourite game in restaurants and the Panorama lounge was to bang the top of the table in front of him with any object he could lay his hands on much to the amusement of his parents and nobody else.The baby did not enjoy the enrichme lectures and cried for most of the time,however the parents must have liked the lectures as they stayed as a family unit until the end much to the annoyance of the audience in General.The only answer was to watch the lecture replays on TV which only occasionally picked up the baby noises.One minor complaint on an otherwise great cruise.

Just home from a month on the Cloud.Approx10 children on the three cruises,not bad for school holiday cruise.Mostly well supervised apart from a one year old whose favourite game in restaurants and the Panorama lounge was to bang the top of the table in front of him with any object he could lay his hands on much to the amusement of his parents and nobody else.The baby did not enjoy the enrichme lectures and cried for most of the time,however the parents must have liked the lectures as they stayed as a family unit until the end much to the annoyance of the audience in General.The only answer was to watch the lecture replays on TV which only occasionally picked up the baby noises.One minor complaint on an otherwise great cruise.

The rights and enjoyment of the many compromised for the rights of one.

I'm afraid I'm far more grumpier than you and this aspect of "lottery" really turns wifey and me off.

Just home from a month on the Cloud.Approx10 children on the three cruises,not bad for school holiday cruise.Mostly well supervised apart from a one year old whose favourite game in restaurants and the Panorama lounge was to bang the top of the table in front of him with any object he could lay his hands on much to the amusement of his parents and nobody else.The baby did not enjoy the enrichme lectures and cried for most of the time,however the parents must have liked the lectures as they stayed as a family unit until the end much to the annoyance of the audience in General.The only answer was to watch the lecture replays on TV which only occasionally picked up the baby noises.One minor complaint on an otherwise great cruise.

I disagree. There was another option. To stand up and tell those parents to take their screaming baby out of the lecture hall so the rest of the passengers can enjoy it.

Only two sixteen year old teenagers on the Seabourn Legend this August,no kids minder,no noise,very pleasant as usual.

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We had counselors on our Alaska Silversea Cruise.

If you want to sail with very few or no children do so when school starts.

This is a business. They are not going to turn away paying customers.

Keith

We had counselors on our Alaska Silversea Cruise.

 

If you want to sail with very few or no children do so when school starts.

 

This is a business. They are not going to turn away paying customers.

 

Keith

With all due respect Keith, that's fine as long as Silversea realise that by encouraging children may, and most probably will have a very great bearing on those of us who do not wish to sail with them....business or not.

There are other lines that cater for children tremendously well giving both parents and their offspring a much better chance of a very enjoyable voyage.

I personally never travel during school holidays for many reasons, but stating that one should avoid sailing at these times is quite ridiculous, particularly with SS when one expects to enjoy a more mature mix of pax at all times.

Sophia :)

I disagree. There was another option. To stand up and tell those parents to take their screaming baby out of the lecture hall so the rest of the passengers can enjoy it.

I would first ask the staff to intervene right away and if it didn't stop I would definitely say something. That annoying noise situation can happen anywhere. The library was unusable at times on my last Spirit cruise due to the old snorers who turned it into quasi-bedroom during the day. Several of us said something and the problem appeared to be solved.

I will also say that I sailed solo on one of the famous "Nico" cruises and was all set for the craziness that I heard was to be expected. The pool WAS hilariously out of place but I suppose some accommodation had to be made for him. I never once saw ANY flare up or noise from this little kid. The family did seem to have the same table all of the time but I saw them as a very quiet trio, sad actually, with no apparent interaction with anyone but crew. The mother spent endless time walking him around and around the deck. They seemed to avoid eye contact but Nico himself was uneventful the times I saw him.

Just home from a month on the Cloud.Approx10 children on the three cruises,not bad for school holiday cruise.Mostly well supervised apart from a one year old whose favourite game in restaurants and the Panorama lounge was to bang the top of the table in front of him with any object he could lay his hands on much to the amusement of his parents and nobody else.The baby did not enjoy the enrichme lectures and cried for most of the time,however the parents must have liked the lectures as they stayed as a family unit until the end much to the annoyance of the audience in General.The only answer was to watch the lecture replays on TV which only occasionally picked up the baby noises.One minor complaint on an otherwise great cruise.

Obviously, that baby is just being a baby and not at fault. But his parents are idiots. They can watch the lecture on their tv in their suite.

If the crew wouldn't do something about this, I would have said something. Not appropriate to take an infant or toddler to a lecture unless they are asleep.

With all due respect Keith, that's fine as long as Silversea realise that by encouraging children may, and most probably will have a very great bearing on those of us who do not wish to sail with them....business or not.

 

There are other lines that cater for children tremendously well giving both parents and their offspring a much better chance of a very enjoyable voyage.

 

I personally never travel during school holidays for many reasons, but stating that one should avoid sailing at these times is quite ridiculous, particularly with SS when one expects to enjoy a more mature mix of pax at all times.

 

Sophia :)

Sophia, the facts are that you see many more children on luxury lines than ever before and at luxury hotels. Whether people like that or not it is happening more than ever and I don't see the trend going back. There are many reasons for this including personal wealth.

If it was me and I didn't want to sail with many children I would avoid the summer months and I would avoid sailing during holidays when school is out. I am not being flippant. I am just sharing my view on this.

I just don't see cruise lines changing their approach because I don't see them wanting to turn away revenue. Yes, I know there is the argument that if no kids were on board more people would sail but I don't think the cruise lines buy that approach.

Keith

We were on odyssey at end of July and there were about a dozen under 18s on board. The card room was set side for activities for them. Most were older teenagers. There was one baby. They did not detract at all from our trip. All were well behaved and were part of large extended family groups. It was good to see the interaction between the different generations. There was no invasion of our privacy or space.

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Sophia, the facts are that you see many more children on luxury lines than ever before and at luxury hotels. Whether people like that or not it is happening more than ever and I don't see the trend going back. There are many reasons for this including personal wealth.

 

If it was me and I didn't want to sail with many children I would avoid the summer months and I would avoid sailing during holidays when school is out. I am not being flippant. I am just sharing my view on this.

 

I just don't see cruise lines changing their approach because I don't see them wanting to turn away revenue. Yes, I know there is the argument that if no kids were on board more people would sail but I don't think the cruise lines buy that approach.

 

Keith

Keith,

1. If you consider further the customers that are turned off cruising because of the potential risk of other people's children or babies spoiling their experience it is not predominently first time cruisers but cruisers who have cruised before but had an adverse experience they wish to avoid in future. This group is a particularly valuable group because they do not need to be attracted to cruising for their first cruise, but simply needed to switch-sold to a line offering a child-free experience. This group has been fully researched by some lines and it is my impression that this group represents a more significant loss of business to SS than that gained by accepting babies and young children.

This is obviously going to be "even truer" for so-called 6 star cruise lines operating smaller ships because pretty much all customers spend a premium diem to buy a cruise on this size ship anticipating a degree of quiet sophisitcated ambience that arguably people are expecting less when they book on larger ships or more precisely larger ships operated by lines further down the food chain in the mass market. To be more precise, anyone (like us for example) is not going to return to SS if there is a risk of experiencing what we have on a previous cruise that effectively took a great chunk of enjoyment out of our cruise and is something we will not risk repeating. I think you have underestimated the amount of business that would be gained by whichever of the smaller 6* star lines first offers child-free cruising who will be gaining customers afrom accross the sector and from sectors further down the food chain. At the moment there is clear opportunity for the first line in this sector that does so.

2. You say that cruise lines "don't buy that approach" but this is incorrect as several have reserched this and have as a result already bought that approach completely and have highly lucrative child-free cruises. This approach has been adopted by other parts of the hospitality industry as well ....

You can however be assured that the current owner of SS has considered this but prefers not to ban children or babies.

Jeff

When we began sailing with Silversea in 2000, it was rare to see a child on board. Cruises had to be booked through travel agents, there was virtually no advertising, it was mostly word-of-mouth business. The product was directed at sophisticated, mature, wealthy clients. Of course, the world economy was healthier back then, the company only had 2 ships, and online marketing was still in its infancy. It wasn't hard to fill the 2 ships with finely-targeted travelers who had the time and income to enjoy a fabulous Silversea experience.

As the fleet grew and the economy and travel industry tanked, SS changed its marketing to fill 2,000+ berths, bring in younger clients (a necessity as we all age...), welcome families with children, and recruit corporate and other large groups. These small ships don't always absorb their new populations as well as larger ships do.

We accept that times change and the company has embraced a certain business plan. But our most recent cruises on Silversea just didn't feel like the elegant, boutique experience we always enjoyed. So we're part of the group Jeff refers to: we left Silversea, at least for the time being, and now cruise on Crystal.

Since Silversea now promotes family cruising, a big "bravo!" to those parents who actively supervise their child's behavior, and whose children have the intellectual capacity to appreciate far-off travel and luxury cruising.

But I also have to wonder who other parents are really thinking of when they book a luxury cruise on a small ship with no (or few) children's activities.. whose children would clearly have more fun on a line that truly caters to them and the dozens of other children they can meet and play with. No, it wouldn't be Silversea, there might not be a butler for every suite, but for those families, it would seem that there's a great deal of value and satisfaction in creating a trip that's really tailored for the young ones. Isn't that part of what good parenting is about??

I have learned in life that we all have different approaches and that includes what we do in terms of vacation with our children.. I have also learned over the years that just like adults children also vary quite a bit too.

When our children were of a young age we certainly would not take them to a fine restaurant for a variety of reasons including not disturbing others. But like most things in life some families do bring children sometimes because their children will sit still and not disturb others and in other cases because they just don't care.

Same with cruising. For some families sailing on Silversea will work. For us we would not have done this. We did start cruising with our children at a fairly young age. But for many reasons we went with cruise lines such as Celebrity. We also thought carefully as to what itinerary would be appropriate for them and we adjusted thus as they grew older and when we knew they were ready to appreciate itineraries such as Europe.

For some they have an extended family with grand parents, parents and the children and sailing on a luxury line is what they want to do.

Times also change. I was 12 for my first cruise and that was at a time when very few children sailed on cruise lines and for that matter when very few people sailed. It was not a luxury line though.

In the end more and more people are sailing cruise lines and children are at earlier ages than in the past and the reality is more and more families are traveling on various trips that were unheard of back in the day and on cruise lines including luxury lines. In fact on each of our last few world cruises on another luxury line we have had at least one full world cruiser at ages anywheres from around four years old and a couple who were teenagers. Would I do this? No. But in life there are many things I might not do that others do and that does not make them right or wrong or me right or wrong. It just means we are all human with different approaches and that includes our approach with our own children.

Keith

Some good points Keith, and l realise that SS are apparently now opening up to the 'family' market, which to me personally is very disappointing and does rather take the shine off looking forward to a voyage that may be slightly marred by youngsters running amok...or not.

Most parents these days appear to allow their offspring to do as they please and this IMHO on vessels such as SS is down to boredom.

There are other more appropriate lines who cater for kids very well ( as l stated before) surely to goodness this makes sense and allows the whole family to enjoy....and if parents wish for a more upmarket experience than the Disney ships then Queen Mary 2 could well be a compromise for very many reasons....size being one.

I'm sailing on the Whisper soon and do hope there won't be a problem....but if there is then l will be looking for other alternatives in the future.

Sophia:)