Christmas Cruise TOO many kids??

[Tiggertastic]

we have done 4 christmas cruises in a row and have the next 2 booked. The first 2 we took kids and never really saw them other than meals and daytime off ship - they lived in the kids clubs

 

Yes there are many more kids at christmas but I have to say that we find at christmas rather than easter or spring break that they spend a lot of time as a family and we've never had an issue

 

We found a lot more kids on NCL than Royal at christmas

[BillOh]

My husband and I just booked an 8 day cruise over Christmas on IOS. Im a bit worried now realizing how many kids are on vacation that week. Im not opposed to well behaved children but too often I have seen kids going wild unsupervised on cruises, and am rethinking my reservation. Anyone been on a Christmas cruise and what was your experience?? Thanks in advance!! :)

 

Just a couple of thoughts. Liberty does has a nice solarium that is adult only :) I know you will get flamed and someone already started another thread about cruising with kids based on this one :D Might you consider Allure or Oasis. While it is a bigger ship, I found kids easier to avoid and the adult only solarium is even bigger. I remember our Allure cruises we avoided the parades and the character interactions and rarely saw kids. A couple of times we walked back to the H20 zone just to see what kid of fun they were having. Book a few specialty restuarants?

 

FYI, we love cruising after spring break, before schools let out for the end of the year. Least amount of kids.

[MrsPete]

I've sailed at Thanksgiving, and I suspect that's somewhat similar to Christmas in terms of children onboard.

 

Yes, that cruise did include more children than we have encountered in other cruises -- more children than a summer cruise! I did not personally encounter problem children, but I would never sail on a holiday again for several reasons:

 

- The ship sailed at greater than 100% capacity; that means every cabin bed was full AND many of the cabins sailed with 3rd and 4th passengers. This means that the pools and other public areas were overcrowded, which did impact our experience.

 

- The dining room was over-full, and our table assignment was NOT in the main dining room at all; rather, it was in a little side room that was intended for small groups who wanted to be placed together. Because the ship was full, changing to a better spot was not possible. It was like being placed at the children's table, and we did not enjoy it.

 

- The cruise was very expensive compared to other weeks. We booked early, and the price went up, up, up. It was not a great value for the money.

 

I still think fall is the best time to sail, but we will never sail on Thanksgiving again. It just wasn't a good value for the premium price.

[OCruisers]

Keeping in mind this is the Royal Caribbean board ....

Yes, there will be LOTS of children on 7-10 day RCCL Christmas and Christmas/New Year's cruises.

LuLu

[goodycruising]

We did a Radiance cruise during January which is Australian summer school holidays. 770 under 18s from about 2100 passengers (roughly).

 

The main pool and whirlpools were full of kids, but also there were adults carrying glasses into them and hogging them. There were some kids in a hurry to get in the lifts that had to be reminded that it works better if people get out first, and some that were going up and down a few times.

 

There was a different atmosphere on the ship, and there were more announcements asking for people to contact the service desk than I had ever heard before. One night we were woken at about 3am with announcements that were into our cabin looking for a missing teenager.

 

The vast majority of any age are pretty good, but as with any group, a few bad ones will give the rest a bad rap. Otherwise we personally didn't have a lot of issues, as we eat later, and like room service for breakfast on our balcony. But we would be reluctant to take a school holiday trip again. We still really enjoyed our holiday though!

[PORT ROYAL]

Keeping in mind this is the Royal Caribbean board ....

Yes, there will be LOTS of children on 7-10 day RCCL Christmas and Christmas/New Year's cruises.

LuLu

 

Agreed

Royal over Christmas, think holiday camp at sea :eek:

Also you will actually pay a premium fare to Royal for possibly having your vacation ruined. It does not make sense.

As other posters has stated, book early December or late January. Simples ;)

[Paulette3028]

My husband and I just booked an 8 day cruise over Christmas on IOS. Im a bit worried now realizing how many kids are on vacation that week. Im not opposed to well behaved children but too often I have seen kids going wild unsupervised on cruises, and am rethinking my reservation. Anyone been on a Christmas cruise and what was your experience?? Thanks in advance!! :)

 

DH and I are booked on Indy for 2/14/15 eight day cruise itinerary. We booked it because that Monday will be President's Day and DH can use one less day of vacation. Then people said, "Oh there will be a larger number of children on board, because many schools have a winter break, not an Easter/Passover break" -- my thoughts -- so what; on Indy there is lots to do and places to go.

 

I have cruised on Her Majesty over Thanksgiving and Christmas and there are a lot less things to do or places to go....and it was just FINE.

 

GO when it is convenient for you, and ENJOY yourself.

 

We have cruised in the summer many times, and there are plenty of children; just like there are many seniors....and people of every age in between.

 

There can be unruly people of ANY age. I will take children over drunks -- all the time!

Edited July 30, 2014 by Paulette3028

[A2Mich]

I think as a parent and a person who has cruised with and without my kids. If you want to go on an adult's only type cruise RCCL shouldn't be your cruise line of choice. We went to Mexico and did it on Azamara, I was considered a child on this line, and I am 37.

I was always treated worse by older people/adults then I have seen children behave on all my cruises.

Children know to wait their turn, be polite (generally) and not push ahead and be demanding...

Adults however need reminding ALL THE TIME about such things.

If you want to take a trip during Christmas, I suggest you pick a different line.

Princess, Celebrity, and Azamara all had hardly any children on them. Azamara had NONE, and the other two lines didn't have more then 10 in all our cruises.

Carnival and RCCL are family type lines and that is fair. You can't complain about children when your on a line that promotes itself as a family type destination..

 

 

Surprisingly, I've read complaints here on CC from passengers complaining about the number of children on DISNEY. Are these people for real? I love t when people make a decision to knowingly place themselves in an environment they may not care for, yet still have the nerve to complain about it. One word comes to mind.....DUH!

[first_state101]

we are actually doing a cruise with the grandparents, ourselves and the grandchildren over winter break. our kids are almost 13 and 11. I am hoping that there are more kids for my children to hang out with.

 

i know for a fact my children are very well behaved and don't act like rats.

 

my kids got excellent grades and earned this vacation.

 

if you are worried about kids on the boat over winter break- don't go. :)

 

Well said! Thank you for your comments. Some folks need to travel with kids. We need to adapt.

[dancinman66]

Have usually found that they have more child care staff and keep the additional rugrats mostly under control then

Only sometimes have I had a real issue with kids

 

 

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[karen&roy]

Thanks for all of your input. To tell you the truth, the more I think about it, the more I think I would rather cruise with kids then a lot of grumpy older folks I have run into over the years!! LOL I will miss my grandkids so I have to make sure I enjoy the kids on board and not start to become ONE of those grumpy old folks!! You all have given my an new insight!!:D I *might* even bring some small trinkets in my purse to occasionally hand to a child I see behaving . After all, it IS Christmas :p

[Adayatatime]

Thanks for all of your input. To tell you the truth, the more I think about it, the more I think I would rather cruise with kids then a lot of grumpy older folks I have run into over the years!! LOL I will miss my grandkids so I have to make sure I enjoy the kids on board and not start to become ONE of those grumpy old folks!! You all have given my an new insight!!:D I *might* even bring some small trinkets in my purse to occasionally hand to a child I see behaving . After all, it IS Christmas :p

 

I like you :D refreshing to see someone change their mind a bit :)

[Magnetchief]

[quote name='ATC cruiser']Are there any cruises without old people?


Aft Cabins Rule[/QUOTE]


Always worry about the amount of old people, then the D D+ and pinnacle can be another deciding factor.