As parents, what irritates you on a cruise (things you see other people's kids doing)

I don't know what irritates me yet but I think I may find out next cruise. Our first one was not in school holidays and there was only 40 children under the age of 12, I barely noticed them. Ours must have been behaving appropriately enough because we go compliments from some lovely older couples we met. Next cruise is June 2015 on the Oasis. I'm guessing I'll notice the extra kids and I'll be one of those parents expecting good behaviour and using inside voices. We've told them already that we'll make them stay in the cabin if they don't use their manners and good behaviour.:eek:

I don't know what irritates me yet but I think I may find out next cruise. Our first one was not in school holidays and there was only 40 children under the age of 12, I barely noticed them. Ours must have been behaving appropriately enough because we go compliments from some lovely older couples we met. Next cruise is June 2015 on the Oasis. I'm guessing I'll notice the extra kids and I'll be one of those parents expecting good behaviour and using inside voices. We've told them already that we'll make them stay in the cabin if they don't use their manners and good behaviour.:eek:

I've always taken advantage of "Jersey Week", the 1st week in November where the NJ Teachers Convention and Election Day coincide resulting in an extremely short school week (2 half-day sessions).

Being November, there aren't a lot of kids on the cruise ships... and it's a wonderful week to take a break... fewer crowds, fewer lines, etc...

This year, my eldest is in high school, and we've opted not to pull him out of school for the cruise, leaving us with Spring Break when we board the Quantum of the Seas for a cruise.

I'm anxious to see what it will be like... Spring Breakers, hundreds of kids, thousands of passengers.... all from the NY/NJ area.

I'm stressing a little..... :confused:

The thing that irritates me the most is kids helping themselves to food off the buffet when they have not been taught basic manners of buffet eating. Granted, I did once see a distinguished looking older gentleman on Holland America use his hands to take food off his plate and put it back on the buffet, just saying I've seen kids do that type of thing more.

I've always taken advantage of "Jersey Week", the 1st week in November where the NJ Teachers Convention and Election Day coincide resulting in an extremely short school week (2 half-day sessions).

 

Being November, there aren't a lot of kids on the cruise ships... and it's a wonderful week to take a break... fewer crowds, fewer lines, etc...

 

This year, my eldest is in high school, and we've opted not to pull him out of school for the cruise, leaving us with Spring Break when we board the Quantum of the Seas for a cruise.

I'm anxious to see what it will be like... Spring Breakers, hundreds of kids, thousands of passengers.... all from the NY/NJ area.

 

I'm stressing a little..... :confused:

The cruises leaving from NY or NJ during the first week in November have tons of kids. There were 1200 on our last Breakaway cruise, and it looks like numbers were similar this year.

The cruises leaving from NY or NJ during the first week in November have tons of kids. There were 1200 on our last Breakaway cruise, and it looks like numbers were similar this year.

Yeah... usually we avoided NY/NJ cruises in November because of the cold and the people. It is still Jersey Week out of Miami, but still fewer kids in general.

What's it like with that many?

Biggest annoyance are the packs of middle schoolers RUNNING around on the ship. I hate when packs of them crowd in the elevator, and just ride up and down.

I also hate when I see kids leaving dishes just anywhere on the ship. Parents need to speak to their kids about where to leave plates if they take them out of Lido...sitting on the deck or on the steps or wherever is not appropriate!

My kids are 7, 5, and 3, and I am trying to teach them to walk, be quiet, and be respectful. I wish other parents did the same. Kids in large groups act dumb, even if they are great kids normally.

As a parent of 4 DDs, here is my list.

A few annoyances...

1 - I have rarely had issues with them running up and down halls or banging on doors. Now I have said this, they probably will do it on my next cruise:o

2 - I do not like it when parents permit them in the "Adults Only" areas and pools. Just because you are with your child, it does not mean they now are the required 16 or 18 years of age.

3 - Pushing all the buttons in the elevators and getting off of it.

4 - Main dining room behaviour - if they cannot handle it, take them to the buffet first, put them in the kids program while the parents do the MDR. If the children can handle the MDR, it is a wonderful experience for them and the other diners. My DDs LOVE the service in the MDR and therefore are respectful since they have been told if they are not, they will not be dining in the MDR.

Honestly, I have had more issues with drunken college students than with children on my cruises. Catcalling during the shows. Slamming doors, yelling, talking loud in the cabin next door at 2 am in the morning when the bars shut down, etc. I have been on cruises where this has not been an issue at all in mid-March (Oasis), but where it has been unbearable and I have called the Purser's desk many times (NCL Spirit out of NY).

As a parent of 4 DDs, here is my list.

 

3 - Pushing all the buttons in the elevators and getting off of it.

 

Yeah, that in particular really annoys me... especially because my first cruise was in the mid 80's on Norwegian Caribbean Line's Skyward when I was 11. At the time I wasn't even allowed *IN* the elevators w/o an adult, as per ship rules...

Kids these days, they don't know how easy they have it! I was forced to take the stairs!

Of course, there were many fewer decks on that ship, compared to ships today...

Yeah, that in particular really annoys me... especially because my first cruise was in the mid 80's on Norwegian Caribbean Line's Skyward when I was 11. At the time I wasn't even allowed *IN* the elevators w/o an adult, as per ship rules...

 

Kids these days, they don't know how easy they have it! I was forced to take the stairs!

 

Of course, there were many fewer decks on that ship, compared to ships today...

I cruised this summer with 4 teens/young adults. None of them took the elevators at all. Our cabins were on deck 5 (lowest passenger deck) and they spent most of their time up on Lido (deck 14) and took the stairs every time. They took pride in not using the elevators. Personally, I'd climb all the way up the stairs once a day, but it was painful. Oh, to be 18 again!

1. The kids running up and down the hallway from room to room slamming doors all day and night. I get it you want to have fun and go back and forth, but please don't run, don't yell, don't shout from room to room and put a dang towel in the bottom of the door so it doesn't slam shut - then you don't have to yell for your mom to get the spare key and let you back in.

I mean, not that it's happened or anything.... but if it did and then the parents gave YOU grief for asking "their precious Johnny" to be quiet b/c your toddler was sleeping FINALLY... that's really annoying....

2. Kids unsupervised on the buffet that don't know that you don't drop spoons and put them back, you don't use your fingers to get things, you don't eat and lick your fingers and then go get another scoop of something, or that you don't taste something and put it back if you don't like it - no kidding. The kid was like 5 or 6. No parents to be found.....

3. Kids playing on the atrium elevators. Go fore or something... leave the atrium alone. Yeah, it's glass and has a great view, but it's more fun from top to bottom than stopping at every blessed floor.

Playing on a screen at dinner. Learn to have a conversation. Kids are capable of learning to sit properly at a meal, enjoy the conversation, eat, etc. Its super annoying to listen to another kid playing on their ipad or whatever while I'm trying to eat and chat with my son.

And also eating everywhere - like at shows eating and making a big mess - my son is allergic to lots of things and we have had to leave family events because of kids eating. They can eat before, eat after, but during a show WATCH THE SHOW. This happened at the library over the summer many times, and you aren't even supposed to eat there and it was a kids show, so why food needed for entertainment during entertainment. Its messy, annoying to look at/listen to, and in our case a health issue.

And lastly people tryign to sneak un-potty trained kids into the pool. Potty train your kid, or stay out of there (and "almost" doesn't count). No one wants to swim in poop. I saw this happen on every cruise so far - either flat out sticking a baby in a diaper in the cruise, or putting a kid without a diaper in there, even though I saw the same kid in a diaper before and after they were in the pool - so thats even worse, no diaper at all. My kid was out of diapers on his first birthday (and trained for poop at 8months) so the forever potty training thing in the U.S. irritates me. Gross.

Will probably eat a lot in the buffet but we want everyone to enjoy the cruise, including the kids. They love to wave at everyone or say hi. Hope there are kid lovers out there who want to say hi back and make their little faces light up.

My son is like this too - he loves to say hello to people and engage them in conversation. However, I have taught him not to bu people if they don't say "hi" back, he has been taught that if people don't respond or look away or just nod, that they don't want to chat and to just smile and leave them be.

Its one thing to say hi and wave, another to get upset when they don't respond, or keep saying hi again and again, or whatever. Also some people clearly want kids to talk to them and some do not, so its important to teach kids the difference.

I agree with the screen use in restaurant. I recently went to a small Christmas party for my husband's work. My DDs are 11, another boy was 10 and sat in a chair for the entire evening staring at an IPOD screen. Someone else brought their daughter and her friend who were both 14. They sat on the couch and texted their friends all evening. My daughters kept trying to borrow my phone to fit in. Instead, they interacted with the adults and organized the gift exchange. I told them that they would never get a phone if they did that at a party being hosted by someone.

My main annoyance is youth who are loud talkers and aren't encouraged to speak more softly. We ran into three last week on our trip and they drove me nuts. The younger kids I can usually forgive a little more quickly, but the teens who talk incessantly and loudly tend to annoy me more.

There was one teen on our last Disney trip that was sarcastic through the whole fireworks show "ooooh it's so magical, isn't it special...oooh". I felt badly that he was kind of ruining it for the few small children near us.

Playing on a screen at dinner. Learn to have a conversation. Kids are capable of learning to sit properly at a meal, enjoy the conversation, eat, etc. Its super annoying to listen to another kid playing on their ipad or whatever while I'm trying to eat and chat with my son.

 

 

And also eating everywhere - like at shows eating and making a big mess - my son is allergic to lots of things and we have had to leave family events because of kids eating. They can eat before, eat after, but during a show WATCH THE SHOW. This happened at the library over the summer many times, and you aren't even supposed to eat there and it was a kids show, so why food needed for entertainment during entertainment. Its messy, annoying to look at/listen to, and in our case a health issue.

 

 

And lastly people tryign to sneak un-potty trained kids into the pool. Potty train your kid, or stay out of there (and "almost" doesn't count). No one wants to swim in poop. I saw this happen on every cruise so far - either flat out sticking a baby in a diaper in the cruise, or putting a kid without a diaper in there, even though I saw the same kid in a diaper before and after they were in the pool - so thats even worse, no diaper at all. My kid was out of diapers on his first birthday (and trained for poop at 8months) so the forever potty training thing in the U.S. irritates me. Gross.

Oh,leighi123,please tell me where do you live.I came to Canada from former Czechoslovakia,and in our country it had been normal to have kids potty trained early-definitely before 2 years of age.I still can't understand why it takes so long to potty train kids in North America?:confused:

(Sorry for hijacking the thread)

I tried to think of bad behaviour (by kids) I'd been subject to during vacations, but frankly, it was easier to think of bad behaviour exhibited by adults ...

I agree with the screen use in restaurant. I recently went to a small Christmas party for my husband's work. My DDs are 11, another boy was 10 and sat in a chair for the entire evening staring at an IPOD screen. Someone else brought their daughter and her friend who were both 14. They sat on the couch and texted their friends all evening. . . .

If you let your kids have devices and set/enforce expectations for appropriate use, then maybe your kids will grow up and understand the limits for use. So many adults exhibit rude behaviors with their smart phones -- maybe if they had learned what is right and what is wrong, I would not have to listen to some woman discuss her dog's digestive problems while in the line at the grocery store and maybe the guy whose conversation about his fantasy football team could look up and acknowledge the sales clerk who is checking him out, and maybe the mom whose 4YO is continuing to slam the cart against the back of my legs would look up from the emails she is checking long enough to notice.

A two-hour long meal can be a bit long for an 8YO. I never had a problem when my DD -- who had conversed prior to the meal, ate without any distractions, conversed a bit after she had completed her meal and answered the "what grade are you in question" for the fifth time -- asked politely if she could read her book or whatever (this was about 10 years ago, prior to most hand-helds). She has grown up to be a very thoughtful use of technology in public places and has been complimented by several of our dining companions over the year for her attitude at the dinner table and her ability to hold a conversation.

But I do agree that some people are just "glued" to their devices and can be quite rude!

Oh,leighi123,please tell me where do you live.I came to Canada from former Czechoslovakia,and in our country it had been normal to have kids potty trained early-definitely before 2 years of age.I still can't understand why it takes so long to potty train kids in North America?:confused:

 

(Sorry for hijacking the thread)

Simple- disposable diapers

Simple- disposable diapers

And the fact that the diapers are so advanced that the little one literally feels no wetness on their bottom...why train when you're not uncomfortable!

 

A two-hour long meal can be a bit long for an 8YO. I never had a problem when my DD -- who had conversed prior to the meal, ate without any distractions, conversed a bit after she had completed her meal and answered the "what grade are you in question" for the fifth time -- asked politely if she could read her book or whatever (this was about 10 years ago, prior to most hand-helds). She has grown up to be a very thoughtful use of technology in public places and has been complimented by several of our dining companions over the year for her attitude at the dinner table and her ability to hold a conversation.

 

I agree with your "happy medium" point. We'll be cruising with our 4 year-old granddaughter in January. She's accustomed to rules around the dinner table and eating out, but in a more formal dining room situation, we have to be aware of her limitations, too. So we'll spend a good chunk of dinner chatting, then I suspect she'll retreat to her iPad (Dora and Frozen) while Grandma and Papa talk.

For those who'd question bringing a preschooler to dining room, let me just say she can't wait to try frog's legs and alligator bites. She's quite an adventurous diner. :)

We haven't cruised yet but I would say that I am most dreading the self-absorbed kids...typically brought on by their self-absorbed parents.

Nothing gets on my nerves quicker than a kid who thinks they can do whatever they want, whenever they want with a parent just smiling at them and not TEACHING them right from wrong. Children are a product of their environment and, sadly, so many just aren't being taught the basics of manner and just general awareness of their surroundings. Things like appropriate voice level, staying seated in your chair during your meal and waiting your turn in line are things that the parents should be enforcing, both for the benefit of their child and for the benefit of others. I don't know if it is laziness or what, but it seems like so many parents prefer to take the 'easy' route and not stay on their kids about stuff. They are missing one of their most important responsibilities as a parent, in my opinion. You only get one chance to bring 'em up...bring 'em up right!!! :p

Take advantage of the suite breakfast and lunch perk on NCL. Don't brave the buffet unless you absolutely have to! The staff in Cagney's (or Moderno) will go over the top for the little ones

 

Try and get the 3-yr old into the Splash Academy.

 

Those two bedroom suites are fantastic - we've actually utilized them 6 times now with our son.

To add to the above poster, don't be afraid to leave dinner at a specialty restaurant with a misbehaving little one and call your butler asking for the reminder of yours and little ones meal be delivered to your cabin.

Our butler saw me returning to the cabin with only one child while my husband and two other children stayed to finish dinner. She convinced me that if I hadn't finished my meal and paid the specialty service charge for it I deserved my full meal experience and that she would bring it to me. She then went to my husband and older kids to determine which meat I had departed the table and brought back everything plus some extras for me.

 

And lastly people tryign to sneak un-potty trained kids into the pool. Potty train your kid, or stay out of there (and "almost" doesn't count). No one wants to swim in poop. I saw this happen on every cruise so far - either flat out sticking a baby in a diaper in the cruise, or putting a kid without a diaper in there, even though I saw the same kid in a diaper before and after they were in the pool - so thats even worse, no diaper at all. My kid was out of diapers on his first birthday (and trained for poop at 8months) so the forever potty training thing in the U.S. irritates me. Gross.

AGREED! On Disney Dream, I remember being on the upper deck and looking down to the pool and seeing a little girl with a full load clearly showing through the back of her bathing suit. She was running and playing and it was smooshing in her suit. My kids were in another end of the pool with my DH, and I ran down and pulled them out, then alerted a cruiseline worker. He called an engineer or mechanical worker, and they were "assessing" the situation but it looked as if nothing was done. I'm not sure they knew who the girl belonged to (echoing the complaint about unattended kids) and I don't think either wanted to forcibly remove her from the pool. I was VERY disappointed with how "Disney" handled that situation. I made my kids stick to the deeper pool for the rest of the trip.

I tried to think of bad behaviour (by kids) I'd been subject to during vacations, but frankly, it was easier to think of bad behaviour exhibited by adults ...

Agreed!

I'm a pretty strict parent, and I have a no tolerance attitude from my kids. I'm pretty lucky and have good kids to start. But because I'm so strict with my own kids, it makes it really hard for me to tolerate other people's kids when it comes to bad behaviour.

We've done 2 Disney cruises - for the character experiences - and while we love them, I have no desire to ever sail DCL again. Too many kids.