1st time cruise to suggest?

[Snowbuddy]

I need help! I have been tasked with the following by my step-mom:

"Good Morning!! HELP!!! Can you look up prices for me for a Cruise? Wherever we leave on the ship from we want to be there a day ahead of boat departure. No phoofy stuff. A totally casual cruise with no screaming kids. Preferrably adults 30 and older. 5 to 7 day cruise. Not Alaska. It is all so overwhelming for us!!! Plus you know us and I trust your judgement on what you think the right trip would be. Leaving somewhere around August 19th. Thank You!!! Have a Great Day!!!"

 

What line would you recommend?? We have only done Royal & Carnival...both of which i am worried would have too many kids. I think that the ones that would be less loaded with kids would also not be too casual. Normally we don't see a TON of kids on ours, but we go during the school year, I would think leaving around the third week of august they will still catch some pre-school family cruises, right? I may have to see which is more important to them...the casualness or the # of kids. At least, with kids, most should be occupied with kids club activities much of the time, right?

 

Any suggestions for cruise lines would be greatly appreciated! Please do NOT turn this into a debate on taking kids cruising or not, whether they should be bothered by kids being there, or about the appropriateness, or lack there of, of jeans in the steakhouse...thank you!!

[firefly333]

WOW, thats a impossible task imo. There are no casual cruises that dont have a lot of kids/family.

 

I think they are mutually exclusive.

 

I booked my siser and her new fuss pot of a huband on a Celebrity cruise, because I know he is intolerant. They dont allow smoking in the cabins or in the casino and its a older crowd, but they will dress up on formal night. There is always the option to go eat in the buffet if your step mom doesnt want to ever dress up.

[cb at sea]

Totally casual/no kids just doesn't exist. At least, not on any "mainstream" line. NCL is the most casual of the lines, followed by Carnival.

 

All cruises will have some kids, but they are kept pretty busy. If they sail during a time when schools are in session (rather than holidays or summer) there will be fewer of them. As long as THEY aren't in charge of taking care of the kids, it really shouldn't affect their cruise.

 

Sounds like a Caribbean cruise is right up their alley....laid-back, warm...do what you want, when you want.

 

Have them talk to a travel agent...that way, they can get brochures (lots of info and fun to browse!), and compare prices/cabins/amenities, etc...

[LarryL]

Wow, and I thought my stepmother had a mean streak! (lol, just kidding)

 

HAL Veendam is sailing out of NY that month to Burmuda. I would guess there may be fewer kids but maybe not as casual as they want. Casual means something different to me depending on the setting. If I'm at the Minnesota lake, casual is anything but long pants but on a ship it is Dockers and a polo shirt which is probably OK for HAL except on formal nights. That's only my speculation as I have never sailed HAL but read reviews and comments by those who have.

 

Good luck and my heart goes out to you.

[Keith1010]

I need help! I have been tasked with the following by my step-mom:

"Good Morning!! HELP!!! Can you look up prices for me for a Cruise? Wherever we leave on the ship from we want to be there a day ahead of boat departure. No phoofy stuff. A totally casual cruise with no screaming kids. Preferrably adults 30 and older. 5 to 7 day cruise. Not Alaska. It is all so overwhelming for us!!! Plus you know us and I trust your judgement on what you think the right trip would be. Leaving somewhere around August 19th. Thank You!!! Have a Great Day!!!"

 

What line would you recommend?? We have only done Royal & Carnival...both of which i am worried would have too many kids. I think that the ones that would be less loaded with kids would also not be too casual. Normally we don't see a TON of kids on ours, but we go during the school year, I would think leaving around the third week of august they will still catch some pre-school family cruises, right? I may have to see which is more important to them...the casualness or the # of kids. At least, with kids, most should be occupied with kids club activities much of the time, right?

 

Any suggestions for cruise lines would be greatly appreciated! Please do NOT turn this into a debate on taking kids cruising or not, whether they should be bothered by kids being there, or about the appropriateness, or lack there of, of jeans in the steakhouse...thank you!!

 

Yes, if you cruise the third week in August you will see a lot of kids on board the ship.

 

If you want less kids I would go in mid September.

 

Keith

[isujim]

I need help! I have been tasked with the following by my step-mom:

"Good Morning!! HELP!!! Can you look up prices for me for a Cruise? Wherever we leave on the ship from we want to be there a day ahead of boat departure. No phoofy stuff. A totally casual cruise with no screaming kids. Preferrably adults 30 and older. 5 to 7 day cruise. Not Alaska. It is all so overwhelming for us!!! Plus you know us and I trust your judgement on what you think the right trip would be. Leaving somewhere around August 19th. Thank You!!! Have a Great Day!!!"

 

What line would you recommend?? We have only done Royal & Carnival...both of which i am worried would have too many kids. I think that the ones that would be less loaded with kids would also not be too casual. Normally we don't see a TON of kids on ours, but we go during the school year, I would think leaving around the third week of august they will still catch some pre-school family cruises, right? I may have to see which is more important to them...the casualness or the # of kids. At least, with kids, most should be occupied with kids club activities much of the time, right?

 

Any suggestions for cruise lines would be greatly appreciated! Please do NOT turn this into a debate on taking kids cruising or not, whether they should be bothered by kids being there, or about the appropriateness, or lack there of, of jeans in the steakhouse...thank you!!

 

You know that is really tough............I would suggest either HAL, but most will be well over 30 or possibly one of the smaller Princess ships, but I think the itinerary would be ruled out in the parameters she set. This of course is under the assumption she wants to stay with one of the mainstream cruiselines........

 

I would like to know what they choose and end up with.

 

Good Luck

[tak81288]

Yes, if you cruise the third week in August you will see a lot of kids on board the ship.

 

If you want less kids I would go in mid September.

 

Keith

 

I have to agree. School doesn't start until after Labor Day where I live. End of September for colleges, so still plenty of kids and young people vacationing during that time.

 

OP: I think what you are looking for doesn't really exists. The shorter 5-7 cruises on the casual lines NCL/Carnival/Royal are the ones that attract families with kids. You will probably have to ask her, as you suggested, what is more important and go from there.

 

Also, if any of the casual lines offer longer itineraries, that could also be an option if you can travel longer than 7 days. Maybe look and see if you can find a 9-10 day cruise with one of the casual lines. You will often find less kids on the longer cruises, especially if you go when school starts up in mid September. Many parents will take their kids out of school for a short cruise. 9-10 days is kind of pushing it for kids to be out of school.

 

Hope it works out!

[Colorado Kat]

I agree to push the cruise to September if they can.

 

If they want casual, Carnival is good.

 

For the record, in Colorado, schools are in session by August 19th.

[dustyroad]

how about new england/canada in the summer months. there wont be as many kids on it as say a caribbean cruise. it will still be warm and it has great ports too visit. i agree you are going too have a hard time getting all this planned and organized. especially if its not for yourself. good luck.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would go to a cruise specialist (a TA that specializes in cruises) with her list of demands. If she's willing to pay, maybe Oceania (I think casual is okay on that line and they really don't have kids programs). But they may have their ships in Europe and Alaska at that time of year.

 

The mainstream cruises will have kids at that time as many school districts still have vacation. (LAUSD, the second biggest in the country, mostly goes back to school right after Labor Day, except for the Valley high schools -- which doesn't make sense to me as it's over 100 degrees through late September around here). Some of the lines that may have less kids tend to be the most formal too.

[Shifra]

If you are looking for a Caribbean cruise your choices will be limited. Carnival and RCI dominate at that time of year and will have lots of kids on board. Other than that Celebrity has 1 ship from a US port (not a casual line) and Holland America has 1 ship which I think goes to Bermuda.

 

All the other major lines will be in Alaska or Europe and won't be back to US ports until sometime in October/November.

[griffy116]

Depends on the port, as to the number of kids. Because lots of GA, TN, FL cruisers leave from Port Canaveral and drive, there will be MUCH fewer students on-board. Schools in GA generally starting August 1st. No schools here start as late as the 3rd week in August. We went on RCCL ship during spring break this year and we were surprised at the small number of children on our cruise. We had expected to be overrun. There are no cruises that have no kids/casual so you just have to hedge your bets on which itinerary/cruiseline will best benefit you.