No-children travellers perspective of children on cruises???

[jc24cruiser]

Hi,

 

I have cruised a few times before but have now booked the kids first cruise with us next October, they will be 7 and 8 at the time. Although I think they can be a pain at times, on the whole they are generally good. When we went to Disneyland in the summer they were amazingly behaved compared to a lot of the children I saw there.

 

The cruise we are booked on is during our school October half term, however our half term is usually a week out from the majority of other schools so not sure if there will be many other kids and if non-family people will have booked banking on this!

 

We are also hoping to do a Trans Atlantic cruise next year or the year after and due to the legislation in England changing about not authorising holidays there will probably not be many kids aboard....so interested in people's opinion, especially as it will be so long at sea.

 

On my previous cruise when I did not had my kids with me I didn't really notice many kids about, I think it must have been during term time but also as a parent, other people's (well behaved) kids slip under my radar.

 

If I spot another child throwing a tantrum and the parent is actually dealing with it, I tend to give the "been there, done that, got the t-short look" as I know how difficult it can be when I am trying to deal with my kids bad behaviour (rather than give in to them and allow them to be spoilt) and then I get rotten looks from bystanders :(

 

Other kids bad behaviour, that is being either ignored by the parents or dealt with (in my eyes) the wrong way, however, drives me mad even as a fellow parent!

 

So.....I want the opinion of anyone who travels without children....

• What kids behaviour drives you mad?
  
• What behaviour from the parents drives you mad?
  
• What areas do you not like seeing kids?
  

I want my kids to enjoy this amazing adventure and I hope that they will be very well behaved, but un-fortunately that isn't the case 100% of the time. I guess I am looking for re-assurance that they will be tolerated by other passengers....within reason :D

[It'sRC4ME]

Hi,

 

[*]What kids behaviour drives you mad?

[*]What behaviour from the parents drives you mad?

[*]What areas do you not like seeing kids?

 

We are child-free, and you are already winning brownie points by asking this! My answers are geared to kids who are your children's ages - and would differ depending on the ages involved.

 

What kid behavior drives us mad? NOISE! And running. Somehow I don't remember ever being allowed to shout or run in public places as a child (except perhaps beaches and parks), and I find this type of behavior really annoying.

 

What behavior from parents drives us mad? Ignoring the noise and running. Allowing children to be rude to staff.

 

What areas do you not want to see kids? Bars at night. If I am having a drink and relaxing in the Schooner Bar, Viking Crown, Pub, etc. I don't want to have to watch my language or behavior because little Jimmy is on the bar stool next to me.

[Irene7]

We are child-free' date=' and you are already winning brownie points by asking this! My answers are geared to kids who are your children's ages - and would differ depending on the ages involved.

 

What kid behavior drives us mad? NOISE! And running. Somehow I don't remember ever being allowed to shout or run in public places as a child (except perhaps beaches and parks), and I find this type of behavior really annoying.

 

What behavior from parents drives us mad? Ignoring the noise and running. Allowing children to be rude to staff.

 

What areas do you not want to see kids? Bars at night. If I am having a drink and relaxing in the Schooner Bar, Viking Crown, Pub, etc. I don't want to have to watch my language or behavior because little Jimmy is on the bar stool next to me.[/quote']

 

I think you pretty much speak for a lot of us. For me you hit the nail right on the head!

[roysmith99]

We have just returned from a cruise with around 1000 children onboard. For the most part the only issue we had, or have eve experienced is running in the corridors and those who insist on lift-hopping.

 

Our biggest problem on this last cruise was from adults, who behaved very badly and set a poor example to those children and young adults onboard.

[jndsilver31]

From my own experiences raising our son and daughter, who by the way have children of their own now, what really drives me nuts is when parents let their kids run wild in a restaurant or in the MDR. That is the only issue I have. Kids are going to run around and make noise at the pool areas and such.

[Tripper10]

The most annoying thing, for me, is when parents allow their kids to take over the pool area by running and splashing etc. There is usually a kids pool where that is fine, but some people with children do not use it. Also, the obvious, which is being overly loud at dinner in the MDR or specialty restaurant.

[cb at sea]

Our kids are grown and gone....so we never now travel with kids! On cruises, I seldom notice kids....unless they are in an "adult" area where they aren't supposed to be.

 

As long as the child isn't MY problem, they can be totally ignored...as well as their parents, if need be.

[Debde]

Oh boy-this could get ugly!!:eek:

 

No doubt we have some children and parents that behave badly. No doubt we have childless adults behave badly.

 

like I sad-ugly...........

[PattyG12]

We are child-free' date=' and you are already winning brownie points by asking this! My answers are geared to kids who are your children's ages - and would differ depending on the ages involved.

 

What kid behavior drives us mad? NOISE! And running. Somehow I don't remember ever being allowed to shout or run in public places as a child (except perhaps beaches and parks), and I find this type of behavior really annoying.

 

What behavior from parents drives us mad? Ignoring the noise and running. Allowing children to be rude to staff.

 

What areas do you not want to see kids? Bars at night. If I am having a drink and relaxing in the Schooner Bar, Viking Crown, Pub, etc. I don't want to have to watch my language or behavior because little Jimmy is on the bar stool next to me.[/quote']

 

Yep ... and I don't want to hang out in the Solarium with a bunch of unsupervised kids either.

[spookwife]

1: loud screeching in areas that are unsuited.. the hallways, and indoor public areas. I am not a fan of it by the pools either but I accept that that is unrealistic of me to expect. in fact any loud noises at all.. the most annoying sound in the universe is that of a 2 year old screeching for no reason. you can have fun and enjoy yourself without bursting eardrums. in fact it IS physically painful for my husband due to his past ear surgeries

 

running ANYWHERE. I have nearly been knocked over more than once by packs of pre teen boys running down the hallways not looking where they were going and coming around corners at speed.

 

congregating on stairwells, using the elevators as a personal theme park ride.

 

2: parents who INSIST that their little darling is very well behaved and mature for their age and are never any trouble. your idea and mine of 'not any trouble' is VASTLY different. what you let slide cuz it doesn't bother you irritates the hell out of me.

 

self entitled parents who give you the stink eye for daring to correct misbehavior. Damn skippy I am going to yell at the kid who damn near ran me over since you didn't tell them to slow down . or would you rather I hand you the medical bill for my busted hip that happened when he did knock me over?

 

parents who think their kids are more entitled to have fun and relax at the expense of the other passengers because they paid all that money.

 

Parents who think they dont have to follow the stated rules about no kids in the specialty restaurants after a certain hour, or think that their little darling should be allowed into the pool even though they aren't potty trained. Parents who let their kids use the hot tubs as a swimming pool and horse around.

 

3: adult swimming pools. period. the world will not end becase in December it's too cold to swim in the regular outdoor family pool and Junior can't swim on the way to Bermuda where he can swim in a much better atmosphere. In his swim diaper.

 

Hot tubs that are listed for adult use( or age limited.. most I see are either 12 or 16 minimum age)

 

Indoor adult only areas. No I am not going to insist no kids allowed in the lounges, but they better not be seated at the actual bar. and if something is listed as adult only at 10 pm, don't try and sneak them in at 930 and then expect to be allowed to stay past 10.

 

young children should not be seated at the late dining time. I realize that this is not entirely within your control so I fervently hope that if there is a meltdown you deal with it BEFORE you start getting dirty looks from the diners around you.

 

I do my part by requesting to NOT be seated at a table with kids, I choose excursions that either do not allow kids or limits them to the older set and I spend as much time as I can in the adult only venues. ( I honestly don't care how well behaved and articulate they are by any standards, I really truly do not want to be around them.) All I ask is that parents do me the same courtesy and accept the fact that some people do not consider their kids to be acceptable companions.

[It'sRC4ME]

From my own experiences raising our son and daughter, who by the way have children of their own now, what really drives me nuts is when parents let their kids run wild in a restaurant or in the MDR. That is the only issue I have. Kids are going to run around and make noise at the pool areas and such.

 

I agree with you on the restaurant behavior! What I find especially curious is the running by the pool. When I was a child, pools were the number one area where running was not allowed - what has changed? Is it safer now to run in a crowded, wet area?

[Aquahound]

 

So.....I want the opinion of anyone who travels without children....

• What kids behaviour drives you mad?
  
• What behaviour from the parents drives you mad?
  
• What areas do you not like seeing kids?
  

 

Kidless here. I got no beef with kids. I'm fairly patient and I know kids will be kids and can't be controlled 100% of the time. However, what I have noticed in the past few years is a huge decline in discipline and parents allowing a lot more to slide in their kids...to the point where, God forbid, another adult says something to an unruly child. So to answer your question, what drives me mad is a general attitude of letting kids do anything they want, despite them being in a community of other people....and actually holding it against another adult if said adult says something.

 

Where do I not like seeing them? The Solarium and the Casino, and if loud and obnxious, in the specialty restaurants.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Aquahound

[Starry Eyes]

I believe the vast majority of passengers and crew understand that even very well behaved children are not perfect 100% of the time. If you as a parent are considerate and attentive as reflected in your writing, you have no worries.

 

I have been on several transatlantic cruises. Just a few children on each. I do know the child care staff is aboard (and maybe bored;)). Honestly, the few kids on those cruises have been great. Maybe just because there are so few, the few seem even more adorable. Or perhaps more likely, it reflects the type of parents and kids who would elect long cruises with many sea days. Taking a happy, well behaved kid on such a cruise might make sense; sharing a cabin with a difficult child on such a cruise might not. Do not be surprised if your well behaved kids are regularly fawned over on the TA. Lots of crew love kids and may miss their own. Lots of grandparent-age cruisers on the TA are apt enjoy seeing younger cruisers, too.

 

Enjoy both your cruises with the little ones.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Starry Eyes

[Mattypies]

Its the "adults" who get in the pool and are horrified when they get wet that really annoy me!

[kyriecat]

Noise, running, and kids in adult areas have already been thoroughly covered.

 

I am bothered by kids with noisy electronic devices during dinner. I've been seated at a table with kids playing their Nintendos during dinner. The bleeps, pings, and whizzes were enough to make me switch tables. I've also been seated at the next table from a couple who let their child watch DVDs during dinner. I loved Beauty and the Beast but I hated having to shout during dinner to be heard over Be Our Guest played at maximum volume.

Edited November 6, 2013 by kyriecat

[Koohiichan]

You are brave to ask this question. Frankly, as a parent myself, I feel that I am very understanding of other families and sympathetic to their plight. ;) However, since you asked, my pet peeve is when parents keep their young children out late at night in adult venues. Usually, kids' behavior deteriorates at night and I can't believe they don't understand that their kids need to get to bed! I've experienced fussy kids on cruise ships on the dance floor (not nightclub, but Boleros, etc.) and I can't for the life of me understand why they are there! Personally, this would not be fun for me as a parent. Get a sitter, put them in the kids' club or just hang out in your cabin on you balcony while they sleep.

 

I am not addressing this to you personally, but to those who drag their kids about at all hours of the night.

 

Anyhow, as someone who has been there, done that, I think you should just adjust your expectations. You may not have long, luxurious mealtimes, or get to Quest. If you can afford it and you and your kids are amenable, get a sitter one or two nights or use the kids club a little. That way you have a few nights when you and your dh can enjoy adult time.

 

I think your kids are at a great age for a cruise in general. My dh and I took our dd on Disney (cruise) when she was just 3 and boy, that was the opposite of a vacation for us. She wouldn't go into the kids club, we had bad weather and missed 2 ports. It was harder than parenting on land, believe it or not and we didn't enjoy Disney as a cruise line. She was very well behaved. That wasn't the issue. We were just overly ambitious for our family.

 

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Koohiichan

[phoenix1181]

I agree with all that has been mentioned & have to add my pet peeve......... No supervision at the buffet! I get absolutely crazy seeing children roaming through the buffet, touching, spilling & not paying any attention to where they're going or who they may be interfering with.

[jc24cruiser]

Noise, running, and kids in adult areas have already been thoroughly covered.

 

I am bothered by kids with noisy electronic devices during dinner. I've been seated at a table with kids playing their Nintendos during dinner. The bleeps, pings, and whizzes were enough to make me switch tables. I've also been seated at the next table from a couple who let their child watch DVDs during dinner. I loved Beauty and the Beast but I hated having to shout during dinner to be heard over Be Our Guest played at maximum volume.

 

You and me both!!! My kids have only recently been allowed to have Nintendos, but they are not allowed them at dinner times, at home and especially when eating out!

 

I like to be able to talk my kids at the dinner table, because dinner times were family times for me when I was growing up, not movie or game times!

[Thoie]

Childless here, and did a TA last April with relatively few kids on board. The ones that were there were generally very good (as in, they didn't bother me :) ).

 

One family with small kids always made sure to sit on the outside during performances, and the first sign of a peep, daddy would pick up child and exit the theatre promptly, which I thought was great.

 

I don't want to hear any screaming, roaring, yelling or raised voices from anyone over the age of 3 (and that includes Mrs Sixty Something who didn't like her coffee in the buffet).

 

Like others, if anything is designated as being for a certain age group, I don't want to see anyone younger than that there. A hot tub is not the place for 5 children to have a water fight, particularly when I'm already in it trying to relax.

 

I'd prefer not to be woken at 7am by kiddies in the next cabin bouncing off the walls, but short of drugging them, I'm not sure what can be done about that.

 

I don't want to hear beeps, whistles, tinny cheap speaker music or any other electronic noises from any devices, no matter how old the owner is.

 

I don't want to have to step over anyone of any age on the staircase (unless you're having a medical issue).

[ryano]

My biggest pet peeve as far children on a cruise ships goes are those that like to get in the elevator and push ALL the buttons to EVERY floor just before I get on.

 

As a paraplegic and one who relies solely on elevators to get places on the ship, it can be rather annoying having to stop at every floor.

 

It seems I have ran into this on EVERY cruise Ive been on too :o

 

Other than that, Im not bothered by the kids on board. Usually they are kept so busy you dont even know they are there.

[xxHadleyxx]

I think that you show you are going to do just fine, simply by caring enough to not want to bother people!

 

I do have kids (two teens) and they have cruises since they were toddlers. Their all time favourite cruise? A translatlantic that had only 200 kids under 18 onboard for 14 days. They are just as bothered by lots of unruly kids as their parents are :D

 

I would say:

 

Please go through the buffet WITH your child (or have them sit at the table while you fill their plates). Often, even well behaved and intentioned children can not reach well and end up touching the food left behind and/or slowing the line considerably.

 

Please o not allow screeching or yelling at any time. I expect louder voices by the pool or kids pool, but screeching IS hurtful, even to other kids, and really uncalled for.

 

Please remove your child from the dining room ASAP if they are unable to sit still and quiet for the meal. And please ring somethign small and NOT electronic for them to do at the table (even with headphones, honestly that bright screen is distracting to the rest of us).

 

Also, please remove them ASAP from the theatre if it turns out they cannot sit quietly through a show (sit in the ends of aisles to facilitate this).

 

Please engage and enjoy your children on the ship. Play shuffleboard with them, order a drink to sip together, dance with them at parties, etc. Children seem to behave much better when they have your attention while doing so and o not need to get it by acting up :)

 

Please do not allow your child to push elevator buttons for floors you are not going to, to run in the ship, to drip water on other's belongings on loungers at the pool, etc.

 

PLEASE take this great opportunity to let your children try many new foods in a "safe" environment (there is always the possibility to get something different if they do not like it), to learn proper table manners (which does not include an electronic device), to learn to meet lots of people from all over the world and how to sit in a theatre, etc. If you see this as a chance to teach them how to do it properly (which means telling them and also removing them when they do not), then you will enjoy it more, and handle it better if the mess up.

Edited November 6, 2013 by NHDisneylover

[micmacmissy]

The fact that you've even asked this question tells me you probably already are conscientious parents with well behaved kids.

 

It's the "hey we're on vacation do what you want" kinds of parents, who aren't thinking of other passengers, that are the rude ones, with their obnoxious kids. The apples don't fall far from the tree!

 

Take your kiddos and ENJOY! :)

Edited November 6, 2013 by micmacmissy

[Alyrica]

Like several of the other posters, I am childless. Most of what the others wrote is true for me as well. I want to add one additional pet peeve and that is children unsupervised at the buffet. If they don't know not to touch the food or sneeze on the food then they should be accompanied by an adult who will get the food for them. Of course, I often see questionable food handling/gathering practices by adults at the buffet as well.:eek:

[luvscruising2007]

The 2 child behaviors that bother me the most are screaming, screeching or running on the ship. There is no need for either behavior.

The parental behavior that bothers me the most is parents who ignore their child's bad behavior, or who are not around to see it. Parents need to supervise their children on a cruise ship as they would anywhere else.

 

OP have a wonderful cruise with your children.

[jc24cruiser]

Well, this has been tamer than expected and I am actually quite pleased with all the answer so far.

 

Restaurants

My kids won't have DVD players or game devices and our rules for eating out include eating with their mouths shut, not getting down unless asked and not wasting food. So hopefully we will have no probs there. However we do sometimes eat out late. Because I run my own business and some times don't finish till late we sometimes don't end up at restaurants until 9pm. The first few times at our 2 most favourite restaurants earned us some funny looks, but after going a few times all the staff know us and know that the kids will be well behaved. Even though they are used to late nights I think that we will try to keep to earlier times as I can understand that others will like adult time!

 

If the kids are misbehaved then I do not get into a family row at the table, I like the think that we are quite considerate of others. But I will frog march them outside the restaurant and make them do "Quiet Time" in a quiet corner nearby. It usually earns me as a parent some funny looks, so it sometimes feels like I can't win either way. But it is the best way to ensure that when they go back in or for the next meal that they will be well behaved :)

 

Pools

I am going to let the kids have a blast in the kids pool. From the pics I have seen it is mostly ankle deep water. I would like to take them into a deeper pool to practice their swimming, but this would be purely supervised and on a one-to-one basis :)

 

Buffet

I had not thought of that one on advance as being frustrating, however I hate it at buffets when people use their hands, child or adult....although you would hope that adults are more sanitary than kids. We go to one buffet restaurant occasionally and they have strict rules on not touching food. We went to a buffet restaurant at Disneyland and all the kids were touching the food, it put me off having most of it.

 

Shouting/screeching

My 2 generally don't do this often for no reason at all. They sometimes wind each other up and my DD will screech at her brother. But I think this is one of the things that we are going to be the most aware of other passengers not being keen on. At least I have nearly a year to work on sibling resolvement issues ;)

 

Running

My kids are not allowed to run in my house or other people's houses. I am just hoping that they can understand that this is the case on such a big ship. As it is something that most of you have mentioned I will make sure that we are extra firm about it. The time that I expect that they will be eager to run is racing to our stateroom, which is in an aft location so right past everyone else :-S This will have to be one of our holiday rules!

 

Adult only areas

My kids WILL NOT be going in the casino, adult only pools, solarium or bar areas. Not just because of thinking of others (though that obviously comes into it), but because most of those places just aren't suitable for kids and they need to grow up understanding that sometimes certain things are out of bounds!

 

I don't mind others stepping in and pulling my kids up on their behaviour if I have managed to miss something. In fact they are more likely to listen to some one else in those situations!

 

What I am more worried about it people being funny about us disciplining the kids. I am not talking about smacking them or swearing at them. But when I impose a punishment I hate it when others give me dirty looks for being harsh. If my kids do not eat nicely at the table or break the rules (such as getting down from the table) then they will probably miss their pudding....but I then get others sticking their nose in saying things like "ah, they're on holiday, treat them"...etc which makes things worse.

 

Come on, keep throwing me more suggestions, I will actually be using these to create some "Holiday Rules"!!!