Pacific Princess over Christmas and kids

[Ferndale Girl]

We're thinking of taking a Caribbean cruise on the Pacific from Dec 20th to Jan 3rd. I know there are a lot of families that cruise at this time but was wondering if maybe that wouldn't be the case on the smaller ship. I don't mind kids in general but would prefer not to have a ship full of them.

[floridalover5623]

That time of year you've got to expect the worst.

[goofy559]

We're thinking of taking a Caribbean cruise on the Pacific from Dec 20th to Jan 3rd. I know there are a lot of families that cruise at this time but was wondering if maybe that wouldn't be the case on the smaller ship. I don't mind kids in general but would prefer not to have a ship full of them.

 

As the pacific princess does not have a dedicated children's space, and its prices tend to be higher due to its size I would not expect many children at all.

[Coral]

People with kids are not going to seek out this ship. I think you are safe :)

[Ferndale Girl]

People with kids are not going to seek out this ship. I think you are safe :)

 

Thank you. That was what I was thinking.

[msmoger]

For all the reasons stated above plus it's a 14 day itinerary which, even at the holidays is not as likely to attract a huge amount of families.

[cattolica]

Sailed on the Pacific Princess this past December 17th thru January 3rd. There were about 100 passengers under the age of 18. The Card Room was converted to the Kids Club.

[floridalover5623]

Sailed on the Pacific Princess this past December 17th thru January 3rd. There were about 100 passengers under the age of 18. The Card Room was converted to the Kids Club.

 

On any other Princess ship you would hardly notice 100 kids. How was it on the Pacific?

[Pam in CA]

On any other Princess ship you would hardly notice 100 kids. How was it on the Pacific?

A hundred kids would be very noticeable as they would comprise over 1/5th of all passengers.

[Ferndale Girl]

A hundred kids would be very noticeable as they would comprise over 1/5th of all passengers.

 

Oh no......I wonder if that was a fluke or if that is the norm for that time period.

[cattolica]

You were very aware since it was about 20% of the ship. The good thing is, most of them were well behaved.

 

 

 

On any other Princess ship you would hardly notice 100 kids. How was it on the Pacific?

[cruisequeen4ever]

We are doing that cruise, and I actually discouraged our sister and brother-in-law from doing it with us because I think their son would be terribly bored on that ship. We too appreciate the more adult atmosphere of Princess, though having some families brings a fun cheer to the ship.

[JF - retired RRT]

Sailed on the Pacific Princess this past December 17th thru January 3rd. There were about 100 passengers under the age of 18. The Card Room was converted to the Kids Club.

We were also on board. I talked to one of the 2 women who were in charge of the Kid's Club and she said they had approx. 20 who were signed up for the club.

There was at least one toddler not in the Club.

As for the other 79 of the 100 who were apparently on board, we never noticed them.

Didn't see any bad behavior.

The "card room" was changed to the Kid's Club. The only time we saw the kids was when they were herded to the buffet in the late afternoon (around 3-4PM) for ice cream.

[Colo Cruiser]

We're thinking of taking a Caribbean cruise on the Pacific from Dec 20th to Jan 3rd. I know there are a lot of families that cruise at this time but was wondering if maybe that wouldn't be the case on the smaller ship. I don't mind kids in general but would prefer not to have a ship full of them.

 

How old?

 

 

I don't think I would book a cruise with my kids on the Pacific, too small and not enough for them to do. IMO

Especially that long of a cruise.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[jennybenny]

How old?

 

 

I don't think I would book a cruise with my kids on the Pacific, too small and not enough for them to do. IMO

Especially that long of a cruise.

 

We cruise during the holidays with the kids, and I didn't realize that the Pacific Princess did not have a big kid's club. That's good to know that I need to pay attention to that when booking a cruise.

 

I would not want the kids crammed into an area. It would not be fun for them. Both Christmas cruises we have taken (15 day and 10 day) were sold out and a lot of kids. I did not find them to be overbearing, but then I have kids too. Holiday travel is huge for families, especially extended families all getting together for one cruise with everyone.

[Coral]

I guess I was wrong - I am surprised that there were 100 kids as this cruise is expensive and the ship is small.

[Ferndale Girl]

I'm pretty sure we'll book this cruise and just hope for the best. Hopefully, the ones on there are well behaved.

[cattolica]

The majority were between the ages 12-17. I am sure they had no interest in a kids club. I confirmed the number before sailing (as I always do). Also I was told that they do not have a kids club on the small ships unless there is a certain number of younger guests sailing. That number was either 25 or 35. That doesn't mean all sign up for the club.

 

 

We were also on board. I talked to one of the 2 women who were in charge of the Kid's Club and she said they had approx. 20 who were signed up for the club.

There was at least one toddler not in the Club.

As for the other 79 of the 100 who were apparently on board, we never noticed them.

Didn't see any bad behavior.

The "card room" was changed to the Kid's Club. The only time we saw the kids was when they were herded to the buffet in the late afternoon (around 3-4PM) for ice cream.

[piper28]

Interesting, i was on the Ocean for this past christmas cruise, and the Pacific this year is doing basically the same itinerary as the Ocean did last year. I found it was by far the oldest skewed cruise I've taken on Princess. There were at most a handful of kids, and quite frankly most of those were related to officers. I'm not convinced there were 100 people under the age of 50 on the ship.

[Ferndale Girl]

I called Princess this morning and asked how many kids were booked so far. She said none under 4; 3 from 4 to 8; 1 from 9 to 12, and 2 from 13 to 17. So....unless a lot more book from now until December it looks good. I guess I'll have to book it.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Wow, that's great info.; thank you for calling!

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

I was on the Princess in July in Alaska. Saw one infant and two kids. That was it. Middle of summer and almost no kids because of the lack of activities for them. Which is what we were looking for. Smaller ship and I loved it and think the Pacific Princess is great.

 

Am now scheduled on the much large Regal in October, but have no choice as it's the only boat doing the east coast fall colors. However, they do have an IC and PP does not, so I am looking forward to that!

 

If you want to cruise at Christmas, I think that the PP is your best bet. Enjoy!

[piper28]

In Alaska we did the b2b on the Pacific. The northbound there were some kids, but not really a huge number. There were noticeably more on the southbound, but still not a huge number. Both directions were heavy on first time Princess cruisers (surprised me even though it was Alaska, thought the small ship might cancel that out some). Both directions were around 120-140 returning passengers. (And southbound, at 175 days, we were #3 on the most days.)