Children's Program

We are currently on Quest on the final portion of a wonderful 20 day Mediterranean cruise. This is our fifth Seabourn cruise and definitely our favorite. There are many children on board and supposedly a program has been created for them. Unfortunately, the poor little tikes are put into the card room with a staff member and kept there until mommy comes back to fetch them. The staff seems to play games with the children but all takes place in the card room. How unfair to the child and the staff member. Seabourn is not designed for children and this feeble attempt at a children's program is pathetic.

We are currently on Quest on the final portion of a wonderful 20 day Mediterranean cruise. This is our fifth Seabourn cruise and definitely our favorite. There are many children on board and supposedly a program has been created for them. Unfortunately, the poor little tikes are put into the card room with a staff member and kept there until mommy comes back to fetch them. The staff seems to play games with the children but all takes place in the card room. How unfair to the child and the staff member. Seabourn is not designed for children and this feeble attempt at a children's program is pathetic.

Agreed! +1...now if they could only tackle the smoking on Seabourn.:rolleyes:

We are currently on Quest on the final portion of a wonderful 20 day Mediterranean cruise. This is our fifth Seabourn cruise and definitely our favorite. There are many children on board and supposedly a program has been created for them. Unfortunately, the poor little tikes are put into the card room with a staff member and kept there until mommy comes back to fetch them. The staff seems to play games with the children but all takes place in the card room. How unfair to the child and the staff member. Seabourn is not designed for children and this feeble attempt at a children's program is pathetic.

Seabourn does not market itself for children. This is the parent's fault, they should not do anything.

It always puzzles me why parents take young children on a small ship luxury line like Seabourn that is not intended for children and has no facilities or programs for them. Haven't they heard of Disney?

I blame the parents. It's easy to research what cruises are good for children and which aren't.

It's funny how everyone has jumped to the conclusion that the kids are having a bad time.

Anyway, it's the summer and you are going to see children on the three newer generation ships as you do on all of the luxury lines. Even from time to time the triplets had a few children.

I know. Most of you don't care for that but when you cruise in the summer you will find children on almost every cruise ship.

And if Seabourn didn't want the kids they certainly would not set up something for them.

I know. Many of you don't agree and while I wouldn't take my kids when they were young on cruises like this, (we did take them on cruises but not on luxury lines) there are some things that I do in life or that each of you do that others might not agree with either.

Again, as to the kids, they are very resourceful and sometime more than the adults. It doesn't take a lot to entertain many of them. And if one doesn't want to sail with them, summer is not the time to be cruising particularly those itineraries that now are attracting families.

Keith

My kids didn't want to sail disney, nor did they want kids clubs. they liked good food and intellectual conversation at dinner and they still do.

On our recent Sojourn we had quite few kids BUT they were all 9+ other than the bleeding baby (sorry it isn;t cute watching it crawl up the stairs, it isn't nice sharing the washing machine with dirty diapers, it isn't enjoyable when you are snoozing by the pool and the baby expresses it delight or disgust via a scream)

The kids on our cruise certainly seemed to enjoy themselves (although we never saw them in the MDR), yes they closed off the card room, but it appeared deserted..

When children are well behaved they are usually a pleasure to have on a ship of any size. The problem is when they are bored and left to run wild by parents who abandon responsibility for their behavior. Jim Avery has some interesting photos on the SeaDream board that show how quickly children can take over the pool, hot tub, etc. and abuse them to the point that they become unuseable for adults. At least on larger ships there is usually a pool area that is adults-only, and programs to keep kids occupied and entertained.

For this reason, I no longer cruise over Christmas or the summer holidays on the smaller luxury lines. While some kids can be well behaved, there are others (and their parents) who see nothing wrong with ruining someone else's vacation.

I understand that now we have to expect kids on cruises during the summer and holidays. It is completely consistent with selfish parents who bring their kids on to Seabourn in the first place that they are willing to park them in the card room with a stranger rather than tend to them themselves. Their needs come before those of their children.

I understand that now we have to expect kids on cruises during the summer and holidays. It is completely consistent with selfish parents who bring their kids on to Seabourn in the first place that they are willing to park them in the card room with a stranger rather than tend to them themselves. Their needs come before those of their children.

I could not have said it better. No doubt someone will reply by saying these children enjoying being dumped in a small room with a stranger with nothing to do. If so I would hate to see what their home-life is like!:eek:

Sorry folks. It is what it is.

If you don't want to sail with children don't sail in the summer.

While I would not have taken my children on Seabourn what others do and that is their prerogative. And no, I didn't take them to fancy restaurants. But in the end it does not reflect on their judgement. There are things each of you do that we don't do and that doesn't make you right or wrong. Same in reverse.

By the way I was 12 on my first cruise and that was back in the day that very few children cruised. No it was not a luxury line. There weren't that many cruise lines anyway. But my memory of that cruise will stick with me for the rest of my life and I cherish that memory. And I had a wonderful time.

We did start taking our children on cruises when they were nine and five respectively. Not luxury lines but cruises to get them onto good fitting.

Just like adults are not created equally nor are children. Some will make good cruisers and others won't.

Keith

Sorry Keith, you are the one who is wrong. Children who are well behaved are welcome everywhere, including on luxury lines. The problem is that a good number of children who cruise are not well behaved because their parents ignore them. When I pay good money for a cruise, I should not have to endure out-of-control children. Yes, I can and do cruise out of the peak family vacation periods to avoid the issue. But that does not excuse bad behaviour by children and neglect by their parents.

When children are well behaved they are usually a pleasure to have on a ship of any size. The problem is when they are bored and left to run wild by parents who abandon responsibility for their behavior. Jim Avery has some interesting photos on the SeaDream board that show how quickly children can take over the pool, hot tub, etc. and abuse them to the point that they become unuseable for adults. At least on larger ships there is usually a pool area that is adults-only, and programs to keep kids occupied and entertained.

For this reason, I no longer cruise over Christmas or the summer holidays on the smaller luxury lines. While some kids can be well behaved, there are others (and their parents) who see nothing wrong with ruining someone else's vacation.

Hi Dave. Those pictures are not mine. Frequent Traveler and ZQVOL took them on the second leg of a Med BTB with SeaDream. I, on the other hand, had the "privilege" of sailing with 30 kids on a different SeaDream Trip.:eek:

comodoredave, you see I see this differently.

There is no right or wrong on this.

And, personally I have seen the vast majority of children being well behaved. And many better behaved than some of the adults.

Anyway, this, smoking, attire and a few other things always solicit different opinions.

Mine is simple. If you don't want to sail with kids don't sail on the summer or sail on long cruises.

And as luxury lines build larger ships you will see more kids.

Smaller ships, no. But we know there won't be many of those.

Again, no right or wrong. In the end the only opinion that counts is our very own.

That's life.

Sorry.

Keith

comodoredave, you see I see this differently.

 

There is no right or wrong on this.

 

And, personally I have seen the vast majority of children being well behaved. And many better behaved than some of the adults.

 

Anyway, this, smoking, attire and a few other things always solicit different opinions.

 

Mine is simple. If you don't want to sail with kids don't sail on the summer or sail on long cruises.

 

And as luxury lines build larger ships you will see more kids.

 

Smaller ships, no. But we know there won't be many of those.

 

Again, no right or wrong. In the end the only opinion that counts is our very own.

 

That's life.

 

Sorry.

 

Keith

Hi Keith. I have to disagree too. I have sailed SeaDream with 30 kids.:eek: Several other SeaDream voyages were marred by lesser numbers of rowdy kids. They DO show up on small ships. And price does not seem to be any deterrent. Many people (parents) just do not care what their kids do to others. It only takes a few of these on your cruise to make you question the next one.

I'm not going to get into the middle of this other than to say I agree that kids aren't going away for a very good reason. Like other leisure industry companies I think SB is trying to "grow" the next generation of customer. Is this, in part, why SB is transitioning to larger ships IMHO?, absolutely. It's a smart business decision.

As to the lack of parenting, I couldn't agree more. Please don't get me started about the selfish, "kids as an afterthought," "it's our vacation, someone will take care of the kids" mentality. Here in the US I've never ceased to be amazed at the poor parenting that is at the heart of many of our problems.

Personally, I'm not shy about confronting parents, at first politely, if their refusal to parent properly affects us. If not well received, I escalate the issue because as many as you noted, it's your vacation too. Frankly, as much as we love children, we refuse to be victimized by them, or more importantly, their parents.

Our advice? Be assertive if anyone, including children, are negatively impacting your well deserved/well spent vacation.

Currently on the Odyssy we have 42 kids unde the age of 21 and let me tell you on a ship fulll at 453 passengers, you can't help but noticed the mannerless people onboard causing mayhem onboard. This ship is not designed to accomodate such a high number of kids running around, wearing out the carpeting from deck 10 to Deck 4, Room Service has been attacked nightly wih countless orders of pizza, popocorn, cookie orders, we have run out of chocolate chip cookies as of Tuesday of this week. What I find most disturbing is yes the Company is prepared to accept them onboard buut really should limit the amount or number that any one ship can have onboard at any given time. The card room looks like a bomb went off in there as it's now a Kids Camp. All I can say is that I can't wait for Saturday when they all disembark in Istanbul. I knew there was a reason why I don't usually/normaly do 7 day cruises.:eek:

comodoredave, you see I see this differently.

 

There is no right or wrong on this.

 

And, personally I have seen the vast majority of children being well behaved. And many better behaved than some of the adults.

 

Anyway, this, smoking, attire and a few other things always solicit different opinions.

 

Mine is simple. If you don't want to sail with kids don't sail on the summer or sail on long cruises.

 

And as luxury lines build larger ships you will see more kids.

 

Smaller ships, no. But we know there won't be many of those.

 

Again, no right or wrong. In the end the only opinion that counts is our very own.

 

That's life.

 

Sorry.

 

Keith

Sorry, but that's a bit of a cop out. The only right is for children to behave properly and for their parents to pay attention to them. Anything else is wrong.

Hi Dave. Those pictures are not mine. Frequent Traveler and ZQVOL took them on the second leg of a Med BTB with SeaDream. I, on the other hand, had the "privilege" of sailing with 30 kids on a different SeaDream Trip.:eek:

Sorry about that, Jim. And thanks to Frequent Traveler and ZQVOL for showing us why we should not have too many kids on a small luxury vessel, especially when their parents don't know how to parent.

I have just come of a 10 day Legend cruise where we had quite a few children on board. We were lucky as they were well behaved and their parents took responsibility for them. Being a port intensive cruise they were kept busy during the day and the parents kept them entertained when on board. So no problems and an enjoyable cruise was had.

What I am concerned about in the OP is the use of the Card Room for a cobbled together children's room. Where did the the card players go? People we befriended on our cruise who were keen card players would sometimes hold impromptu games with like minded people. This would seem unlikely to be possible if it was being used as a "kid's club" or am I reading this wrong? If this is the case our card playing friends wouldn't be happy.....it seems an unfair imposition when the cruise line is primarily marketed as being for adults.

Julie

I know I am not going to convince any of you who do not think parents should take their children on a Seabourn cruise to do so.

I find it interesting though that some are jumping to the conclusion that the children are not happy or the parents are just dumping them because they are in a room with Seabourn staff. Julie this is not in response to your post. It is in response to the posts assuming that the kids were somehow being neglected.

We took a Silversea Cruise of Alaska. There were a lot of kids on board. In fact, a record for them at the time. They did the same thing. They used a room and created a children's program. The kids who I spoke with really enjoyed it.

Now, if it was me as I said I wouldn't take younger ones on cruise lines without official programs but they are not me. It is their choice but this demonizing of the parents and assuming the kids are being neglected I do not agree with. Likely the kids are having a great time and would be upset if their parents did not let them go into this program that was set up for them.

Now, for those who want official programs during the summer and holidays, there is at least one cruise line, Crystal that has a room for the kids that is designed for children and brings on board counselors and has a program for them.

Keith

I know I am not going to convince any of you who do not think parents should take their children on a Seabourn cruise to do so.

 

I find it interesting though that some are jumping to the conclusion that the children are not happy or the parents are just dumping them because they are in a room with Seabourn staff. Julie this is not in response to your post. It is in response to the posts assuming that the kids were somehow being neglected.

 

We took a Silversea Cruise of Alaska. There were a lot of kids on board. In fact, a record for them at the time. They did the same thing. They used a room and created a children's program. The kids who I spoke with really enjoyed it.

 

Now, if it was me as I said I wouldn't take younger ones on cruise lines without official programs but they are not me. It is their choice but this demonizing of the parents and assuming the kids are being neglected I do not agree with. Likely the kids are having a great time and would be upset if their parents did not let them go into this program that was set up for them.

 

Now, for those who want official programs during the summer and holidays, there is at least one cruise line, Crystal that has a room for the kids that is designed for children and brings on board counselors and has a program for them.

 

Keith

Keith, you keep missing the point. Well-behaved children whose parents properly supervise them are not the problem. What most of us are objecting to are parents who bring their kids on a small ship without proper facilities for children and then ignore them and expect other pax to supervise them.

I know I am not going to convince any of you who do not think parents should take their children on a Seabourn cruise to do so.

 

I find it interesting though that some are jumping to the conclusion that the children are not happy or the parents are just dumping them because they are in a room with Seabourn staff. Julie this is not in response to your post. It is in response to the posts assuming that the kids were somehow being neglected.

 

We took a Silversea Cruise of Alaska. There were a lot of kids on board. In fact, a record for them at the time. They did the same thing. They used a room and created a children's program. The kids who I spoke with really enjoyed it.

 

Now, if it was me as I said I wouldn't take younger ones on cruise lines without official programs but they are not me. It is their choice but this demonizing of the parents and assuming the kids are being neglected I do not agree with. Likely the kids are having a great time and would be upset if their parents did

 

 

not let them go into this program that was set up for them.

 

Now, for those who want official programs during the summer and holidays, there is at least one cruise line, Crystal that has a room for the kids that is designed for children and brings on board counselors and has a program for them.

 

Keith

Keith it is okay I didn't think you were having a go at me. Maybe I am wrong but I think we are on the same page in some regards. I have no problem with well behaved children whom parents take responsibility for.

What concerns me is having them using and closing off a venue that would normally be available for passengers. It is a bit like having large groups on board and then needing to close off certain areas to normal public access. I think most people prefer to avoid cruises where this occurs.

I agree at this point in time Crystal already has the facilities to deal with children in a "kid's club" and if parents are not prepared to educate and entertain their children ......and want other's to do so....it is the best choice...Crystal entertains the children very well.

Julie

Julie, I understand your point about the room. You bring up a good point. As long as it is not impacting others because other arrangements have been made it's probably not an issue but if it is that is a different story.

commodordave, I can assure you I am not missing the point. I have not ready that the parents expected seabourn to entertain the kids. What I did read is that a room was set up for the children with a staff person there. That is a service that Seabourn is providing as Silversea did on our cruise. If this is available and parents take advantage of it that is different than someone demanding something.

Keith

Julie, I understand your point about the room. You bring up a good point. As long as it is not impacting others because other arrangements have been made it's probably not an issue but if it is that is a different story.

 

commodordave, I can assure you I am not missing the point. I have not ready that the parents expected seabourn to entertain the kids. What I did read is that a room was set up for the children with a staff person there. That is a service that Seabourn is providing as Silversea did on our cruise. If this is available and parents take advantage of it that is different than someone demanding something.

 

Keith

It's not an ideal situation, and it certainly cannot accommodate many children. But if the kids are well behaved and their parents don't abdicate responsibility for them, so be it. My experience has been that it does not work. And that's why so many of us avoid cruising at Christmas and school holidays.