Off season travel with school aged kids

[WTMhs]

Greetings!

 

I'm looking to send my husband and 10 year old on a cruise this fall, but the ship mentions that unless there are 20 children aged 3-17 on board the youth center will not be open.

 

Are cruises a ghost town for kids except in summer? Will the cruise line be able to tell me if other kids his age are on board?

 

We homeschool, and will do schooling over the summer so kiddo won't fall behind.

Thanks.

[askimdog]

We only cruise Dec/Jan or Feb. always plenty of kids.

[boulders]

Greetings!

 

I'm looking to send my husband and 10 year old on a cruise this fall, but the ship mentions that unless there are 20 children aged 3-17 on board the youth center will not be open.

 

Are cruises a ghost town for kids except in summer? Will the cruise line be able to tell me if other kids his age are on board?

 

We homeschool, and will do schooling over the summer so kiddo won't fall behind.

Thanks.

 

Which cruise line and which ship are you considering? The ships differ greatly in the number of kids that are typically on board.

[sandvinsd]

Yes, cruises during the school year will be "ghost ships" for the kids. There may be a few like you that have taken a cruise during the traditional school year due to home schooling or year-round schools that have their break at that time of the year. The ship may be able to provide you information about the numbers of kids on the boat if you ask, especially if you are trying to book a cruise and want to find the departure that would have the largest numbers of kids.

 

I know the off-season is cheaper for cruises, but if you want the best chance for ones with kids, I would try the shoulders where some schools may be out such as late May , early September or right after New Year's. A lot of schools have a week off in February for President's "day" and the spring break times generate kids (but then the prices are higher at those times) You might look at the year-round school schedules and see when they generally schedule their breaks.

[james'mommy]

It depends on the line. We went on a Disney cruise a couple of Septembers ago during school time and there were a ton of kids. Too many kids in my opinion.

[cb at sea]

Most cruiselines keep their kid's club open, no matter how few kids are onboard. Which line are you sailing?

[Disneymomx2]

I'm cruising with my kids (8 and9) at the end of October (not school break)- and expect the kids clubs will be open. Never crossed my mind that they wouldn't be. We are on freedom of the seas.

[WTMhs]

Most cruiselines keep their kid's club open, no matter how few kids are onboard. Which line are you sailing?

 

Haven't bought tickets yet. I'm looking at the late Sept sailing of a Princess boat from LA to Sydney. They mention if there are less than 20 kids between 3-17. My son likes younger kids and will play with them, but for weeks a couple of like minded peers would be nice. He's even happy to play with girls, so that wouldn't matter, if it didn't matter to them.

[newbiecruiser09]

It may be harder to find lots of kids on such a long cruise, especially when most schools are in session. You may want to see if there is a Roll Call started and ask over there.

[WTMhs]

It may be harder to find lots of kids on such a long cruise, especially when most schools are in session. You may want to see if there is a Roll Call started and ask over there.

 

I called Princess and there are 4 kids aged 6-12 and two teens, so far. Kiddo is not a snob about age/sex, and I think what few kids are there will be ecstatic to see each other, if I remember my childhood correctly.

I checked with hubby (who cruised with kiddo in 2008) and he said he'd have no trouble entertaining the boy with a pool, deck games, and a chess board.

[onthelake]

We did this trip with Princess a few years ago. DS turned 13 during the trip. There were only about 8 under 18s but they all had a wonderful time. It is an amazing voyage. There are many sea days but the weather is usually warm and sunny. I know they have the less than 20 kids rule but they did have staff on our trip.

[WTMhs]

We did this trip with Princess a few years ago. DS turned 13 during the trip. There were only about 8 under 18s but they all had a wonderful time. It is an amazing voyage. There are many sea days but the weather is usually warm and sunny. I know they have the less than 20 kids rule but they did have staff on our trip.

 

Ohhh, that would be nice.

 

I made the trip when I was a kid when we moved to Australia way back before cruising .... it was "crossing" then, and it was lots of fun. I double checked with hubby before booking, and he was sure he and kiddo could entertain themselves no matter what. Kiddo is easy to please, and since he doesn't have electronic toys or a TV, things like a room with a TV and big screen movies will be a big WAHOOOO to him when he gets tired of swimming.

 

Thanks.

[lrowe70]

We did Carnival in January with our child and were told that there were 100 or so people under the age of 18, 30 of which were under the age of 2.

[Keith1010]

Haven't bought tickets yet. I'm looking at the late Sept sailing of a Princess boat from LA to Sydney. They mention if there are less than 20 kids between 3-17. My son likes younger kids and will play with them, but for weeks a couple of like minded peers would be nice. He's even happy to play with girls, so that wouldn't matter, if it didn't matter to them.

 

 

You will find very few school aged Children on this cruise not only because of the time of the year but because of the length of the cruise and the cost of flying back.

 

There may only be a few children.

 

Keith

[nenasmum]

Hi I would say with a cruise at that time of the year you are likely to get a few Australian kids on board. We are Australian and usually cruise at that time and run into quite a few Aussies as the end of Sept beginning of Oct are our kids spring vacation- usually 2 weeks. Australians are also a LOT more likely to take their kids out of school to vacation.

We cruised Princess a few years ago on a New England cruise and there were only 7 kids- the smallest number we have ever had on a cruise- they still ran the kids club every day . Jennie

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Which Princess ship is it?

[kitty9]

Haven't bought tickets yet. I'm looking at the late Sept sailing of a Princess boat from LA to Sydney. They mention if there are less than 20 kids between 3-17. My son likes younger kids and will play with them, but for weeks a couple of like minded peers would be nice. He's even happy to play with girls, so that wouldn't matter, if it didn't matter to them.

 

In all likelihood, there won't be many, if ANY kids on that cruise. I've done cruises of that length, and that exact itinerary, and there were maybe one or two kids on the ship and those were infants or toddlers---actually, I've done similar cruises three times and there were no kids on two of those cruises. I don't know of any families that can pull their kids out of school for that long, and even home schoolers don't tend to take cruises of that length and that far from the US. Add to that the fact that the average age of the passengers will likely be 65 and older, because again, people who are still working don't have that long to take a cruise of that length.

[kitty9]

We did Carnival in January with our child and were told that there were 100 or so people under the age of 18, 30 of which were under the age of 2.

 

There's a huge difference between cruising Carnival for 7 days in the Caribbean, and taking a three week or longer cruise from the USA to Australia like the OP wants to do.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I think it will be a fun adventure and I suspect that this is an inexpensive way to get to Australia. If that's where the OP wants to go- then I think she should.

 

The Princess ships have Movies Under the Stars, wonderful swimming pools and hot tubs, etc. The crew will LOVE having a couple happy smiling kids onboard. There may not be a supervised youth program but they have pictionary and lots or trivia games, etc. If they have the same wait staff (I recommend traditional fixed dinner)- they will be fawned over.

 

I did a Transatlantic with my then 4 year old. There were about 10 kids onboard. Only one over the age of 6. So he had a great time in the kids program, which was available. But if your kids have each other to play with- they will make their own fun.

[Kerry's Girls]

We did a Princess 15 day round-trip LA/Hawaii when my girls were 4 and they ran the kids program - there were a number of Australian families, so I'd imagine that for a cruise going LA to Australia, there is a likelihood of some Aussie families on board. As a previous poster noted, the average passenger age was much older, but as with all the Princess cruises we've taken, kids were doted on by the crew and there was plenty to do to keep everyone happy. It was our favorite cruise by far because we love sea days.

 

Best,

Mia

[ShelbysMom]

Given that there is the caveat that there need to be 20 kids or more to have a kids program means that this is one of Princess' small ships, the Ocean or Pacific. No Movies Under the Stars and a very small pool.

 

We sailed on the Ocean (then Tahitian) with our just under 2 year old a few years ago on a 10 day Tahitian cruise. There were 4 kids under 12 on it. Our son wouldn't have been eligible for a kids program even if one had been run, so we knew what we would be dealing with when we took him.

 

Staff definitely doted on the toddlers. But it's a small ship with fewer places for the kids. If your kids are good at entertaining themselves, it can be great.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I can't find this LA-Sydney Cruise at all on Princess.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I found one cruise from San Francisco- Sydney for Sept. 20, 2012. Not sure if this is the sailing. If so it is the Sea Princess which is 77,000 tons and does have the MUTS and looks like a nice ship.

[nenasmum]

[, I've done similar cruises three times and there were no kids on two of those cruises. I don't know of any families that can pull their kids out of school for that long, and even home schoolers don't tend to take cruises of that length and that far from the

 

I take my daughter out of school 3 or 4 weeks every year to vacation overseas. She his 10 now and we have been travelling since she eas 5/It is invariably with the school's blessing. According to our education dept guidelines you do not even have to request the apporval of the principal if you are going for less than 20 school days. We always run into other Australians who are holidaying with their kids for similar time frames. It is a very different attitude down under. Jennie

[ShelbysMom]

It does look like it must be the Sea Princess, leaving from SF. In that case, there should not be a question as to whether the kids clubs run. They should run regardless of how many kids are on board. Only the Pacific and Ocean require 20 kids to run a kids program. These two ships don't have dedicated children's facilities.

 

The Sea Princess does have dedicated children's facilities and MUTS. A much different story from the ships that have minimum limits to run a program.