Children on Board - Marina and Riviera

[CorgiNole]

The jacket is fine, but what looks like a Cub's shirt has to go. ;p

 

Actually a Tennessee Smokies minor league shirt. The Cubs shirt is at home somewhere...

[parallax]

You didn't see adults fighting for loungers, getting drunk or smoking in places not designated for this?

I don't see many kids or adults with behavior described by you or me, but they do exist.

More on lower end lines less on higher end of massmarket.

 

I belive that cost of cruising on Oceania or similar lines are prohibitive for this type of adults or families.

 

A jerk is a jerk regardless of what socioeconomic class one falls into. When I was on the Nautica a few years back, I saw the most inappropriate treatment of the staff by a group of people. They treated the staff as indentured servants and used racial slurs. In addition, one night at dinner, a couple got into a big shouting match in which security had to come and escort them out.

[ael123]

Typically there are not a lot of children on Oceania. However, this year I was taken back by O's promotion that children sail free. I thought why would they do this? It is the Kids Sail Free on Oceania Program. I am booked on Riviera but rather than doing my usual 21 days in the summer I booked 9 nights on Crystal and 9 on Oceania. I like Oceania better than Crystal but to be honest this promotion worried me. I like peaceful dining and quiet afternoon tea where I can listen to the string quartet. this program is for children 17 years or younger and guests can take up to two children with two paid adults. If I get on and there are a lot of children this will be my last cruise on Oceania as long as they run this promotion. I have sailed on Seabourn and Regent while I like Oceania the best out of all the luxury lines...I want to be able to relax. Getting kicked in the pool by children or having them jump and splash me is not my idea of fun. Neither is screaming in the dinning room of crying children. Last summer on Insignia there was one child and she was really well behaved. We talked in the pool and she was not a problem. When we went to Scandinavia there were two or three and when we went to Tahiti we didn't see one child on the ship. In any case we will have to see what this new promotion brings. I think the management at Oceania is making a mistake with this promotion. Parents of children should think about the kids enjoyment and take them on a ship that has a lot of fun things for them to do. Kids like the fun activities like the water slides, video game rooms and youth clubs.

[orchestrapal]

AEL 123. I agree 100%. We have been on 13 Oceania cruises and love the R ships. When O started this program for children we tried 14 days on Crystal which will be followed by 23 days this year. Even with a child or two on Cristal we saw them once and never heard them.

 

We have booked two grand sailings on Oceania for 2018

And 2019 which are not children book for free. Hopefully they will be as before.

We continue to look at Crystal with the negative of smaller suites but better food, service and enrichment by far.

Time will tell!

[LHT28]

Typically there are not a lot of children on Oceania. However, this year I was taken back by O's promotion that children sail free. I thought why would they do this? It is the Kids Sail Free on Oceania Program. .

The promo is only on specific sailings .

Are you doing an Alaska or Canada/New England cruise?

 

If not then you may be stressing over nothing

 

 

JMO

[cruisemom42]

Parents of children should think about the kids enjoyment and take them on a ship that has a lot of fun things for them to do. Kids like the fun activities like the water slides, video game rooms and youth clubs.

 

Is every adult the same? Of course not. Then why do some think that all kids are the same?

 

As a child, you'd find me curled up with a book on a lounge chair in the shade reading when on board ship. Off the ship I was a very good traveler; I have always wanted to see and explore things. I still haven't quite forgiven my parents for not taking me with them to Egypt when I was 10...

 

Similarly my son, when younger (or indeed now), has had no real interest in water slides, rowdy pool play, or youth clubs. What he does like is fine dining. Starting from age 7 he has traveled to many countries with me or others on both land and sea vacations.

 

I doubt very much anyone would have taken notice of either of us on board a ship as children. And I just as firmly doubt we would have particularly enjoyed sailing on a cruise line geared toward "family fun".

[CorgiNole]

Each family is different. As each child is different. My family enjoys cruising and we have the previously pictured teen who travels with us. My sister, with her younger children, has not cruised, and Oceania would be very low on her list even with the kids cruise free promotion (for limited sailings) - as they do want the water slides, etc. Though one of my nephews is perfectly happy to curl up with a book, my other nephew is wide open. Extended family gatherings end up at the beach (not my favorite locale, but I cope).

[ael123]

CorgiNole and cruisemom42 I am sorry if I offended you. You are correct all children are different. I work in schools so yes there is a wide range of personalities. Statistically the more children you put on the cruise ship the more likely you are to run into some that are not supervised by parents or some that are very active and bored if you are on a ship that is not designed with activities for children. Given I am spending a large sum of money to be able to rest and relax I look for lines that provide quiet spaces and luxury experiences where hopefully children and adults are respectful and there isn't a lot of loud pool competitions for stuffing ping pong balls in your shorts, seeing how many shots one can do and the like. That is a different market. The promotion of kids sail free I would expect to see on NCL, Carnival, Royal, Caribbean, MSC and the like. It surprised me to see it on O. Although hopefully the parents coming on the ship are looking to give their children the experience of seeing some amazing sites and will care for them appropriately. Alaska and the East coast are nice venues for children but if O is running the Kids sail free promotion in those venues I would be looking at another line to see Alaska and the east coast. LHT28 - thank you for putting my mind at ease. We will be in the Mediterranean. I didn't read which destinations were included. I am feeling much better thinking about laying by the pool and sipping my afternoon tea listening to the string quartet. :D

[CorgiNole]

CorgiNole and cruisemom42 I am sorry if I offended you. You are correct all children are different. I work in schools so yes there is a wide range of personalities. Statistically the more children you put on the cruise ship the more likely you are to run into some that are not supervised by parents or some that are very active and bored if you are on a ship that is not designed with activities for children. Given I am spending a large sum of money to be able to rest and relax I look for lines that provide quiet spaces and luxury experiences where hopefully children and adults are respectful and there isn't a lot of loud pool competitions for stuffing ping pong balls in your shorts, seeing how many shots one can do and the like. That is a different market. The promotion of kids sail free I would expect to see on NCL, Carnival, Royal, Caribbean, MSC and the like. It surprised me to see it on O. Although hopefully the parents coming on the ship are looking to give their children the experience of seeing some amazing sites and will care for them appropriately. Alaska and the East coast are nice venues for children but if O is running the Kids sail free promotion in those venues I would be looking at another line to see Alaska and the east coast. LHT28 - thank you for putting my mind at ease. We will be in the Mediterranean. I didn't read which destinations were included. I am feeling much better thinking about laying by the pool and sipping my afternoon tea listening to the string quartet. :D

 

No offense taken. We all choose our travel based on such a myriad of choices and requirements. For us, this summer, it is the itinerary - my family heritage is Danish/viking. Next summer - we will probably end up at a resort that caters to families of all ages.

 

ETA: I described our itinerary to a friend recently, and how we would expect around 650 people on Insignia this summer. She took a cruise on one of the mass market lines over spring break - there were over 900 CHILDREN on board - so totally on the other extreme and not a ship I could ever see myself selecting.

[CRHeel94]

We took our two sons (age 10 and 12) on Riviera two years ago to the Western Med. We were part of a larger family group that also had a ten year old and a 15 year old. The trip was for my parents 50 year anniversary; they chose Oceania because of the port intensive itinerary and the fabulous food. I had done some research pre-cruise and was a little apprehensive of the anti-kid vibe (largely from this board and guide books).

 

Our experience was actually pretty positive. There was maybe a dozen kids onboard. My kids are pretty nerdy...they spent a good deal of free time onboard reading, playing games on their iPads and chatting with their cousins. Don't think they ever got bored by life onboard. I would also say that the kids in our group were well-behaved in public areas and tried to be polite to their fellow passengers (and I would make that same generalization about other kids onboard). My kids love trivia and tried to participate in every contest; we participated with some fellow passengers and they were good about involving my kids. It had been one of their favorite summer experiences.

[Don P]

I think those who would rather not see children onboard miss the point. While we enjoy the ship and the dining venues it is the ports of call that shape our choice. I do expect my grandchildren to be well-behaved and respectful to adults that are equally respectful. Historically Oceania has catered to a more affluent type of customer. I didn't realize that simply having the ability to pay more entitled a cruiser to determine that children shouldn't be onboard. We will be sailing with our 20 month old grandson and our 11 year old grandson.

 

If one of our grandchildren misbehaves either of our daughters or their husbands would handle the situation in a quiet manner so as not to disturb the naysayers from enjoying their foie gras.

[pinotlover]

I will first say I have never sailed the mega lines, nor those that promote family and children sailing. I have only sailed the more luxury lines. That said, I can't ever recall being negatively impacted by children on any of those cruises. They have been there, just never a problem. Lucky I guess.

 

However, the multiple times I can count having things disrupted because of bad manners in adults. One of the biggest is adults that sign up for shore tours, and purposely lie about their physical condition and bring a tour to a near halt, because they are unable to keep up with the group and/or complete a tour. Missing over a third of the scheduled sights because the day has been spent waiting for someone to stop and rest every 100 yards. Just because you're in the best shape of anyone in your assisted living facility doesn't mean you're in good enough shape to do many of even moderate walking tours!This has happened to us on both ship tours and private tours set up via a roll call.

 

 

That is followed by jerks on meds that insists upon drinking that pot of coffee in the morning, then screaming for a pit stop every 30-45 minutes! Instead of spending one's time seeing all the marvels you came to see, an excessive amount of time is spent outside rest rooms, or looking for one! Bad behavior by adults have had a far worse outcome than anything the children might do.

[robbie21]

Pinotlover - agree completely. We have never been inconvenienced or bothered by children on cruises on any cruise line. Definitely can't say that about adults.

 

Robbie

[Toranut97]

I will first say I have never sailed the mega lines, nor those that promote family and children sailing. I have only sailed the more luxury lines. That said, I can't ever recall being negatively impacted by children on any of those cruises. They have been there, just never a problem. Lucky I guess.

 

However, the multiple times I can count having things disrupted because of bad manners in adults. One of the biggest is adults that sign up for shore tours, and purposely lie about their physical condition and bring a tour to a near halt, because they are unable to keep up with the group and/or complete a tour. Missing over a third of the scheduled sights because the day has been spent waiting for someone to stop and rest every 100 yards. Just because you're in the best shape of anyone in your assisted living facility doesn't mean you're in good enough shape to do many of even moderate walking tours!This has happened to us on both ship tours and private tours set up via a roll call.

 

That is followed by jerks on meds that insists upon drinking that pot of coffee in the morning, then screaming for a pit stop every 30-45 minutes! Instead of spending one's time seeing all the marvels you came to see, an excessive amount of time is spent outside rest rooms, or looking for one! Bad behavior by adults have had a far worse outcome than anything the children might do.

 

Oh, my. My my my. So glad there is enough hatred to go around. We can despise kids, the adults who bring them, and then people who dare to attempt to live and travel when they are older and increasingly infirm. Wow. The anger and vitriol on this thread exceed the usual O board quota.

 

And I include those who refer to O cruisers as foie gras munching elitists also. On our six cruises with O, we have met mostly lovely, urbane, well-traveled adults. We have indeed met some I would rather never meet again. But most are delightful and some have even become lifelong friends.

 

I appreciate this thread because it is conclusive proof that I do not belong on this board and it is probably a good thing that our cruising days appear to be over.

 

Donna

[RJB]

I will first say I have never sailed the mega lines, nor those that promote family and children sailing. I have only sailed the more luxury lines. That said, I can't ever recall being negatively impacted by children on any of those cruises. They have been there, just never a problem. Lucky I guess.

 

However, the multiple times I can count having things disrupted because of bad manners in adults. One of the biggest is adults that sign up for shore tours, and purposely lie about their physical condition and bring a tour to a near halt, because they are unable to keep up with the group and/or complete a tour. Missing over a third of the scheduled sights because the day has been spent waiting for someone to stop and rest every 100 yards. Just because you're in the best shape of anyone in your assisted living facility doesn't mean you're in good enough shape to do many of even moderate walking tours!This has happened to us on both ship tours and private tours set up via a roll call.

 

 

That is followed by jerks on meds that insists upon drinking that pot of coffee in the morning, then screaming for a pit stop every 30-45 minutes! Instead of spending one's time seeing all the marvels you came to see, an excessive amount of time is spent outside rest rooms, or looking for one! Bad behavior by adults have had a far worse outcome than anything the children might do.

We have not seen many children with bad manners( a few) but I think it is because there almost no kids on Oceania. That probably would change it there were a lot of them. As far as the adults you are totally right. There is much bad behavior by some. Should find a way to ban them.

[Floridiana]

 

I appreciate this thread because it is conclusive proof that I do not belong on this board and it is probably a good thing that our cruising days appear to be over.

 

Donna

 

This board does not represent the majority of cruisers - any line.

I must have missed out on all those badly behaved passengers, young and old.

[Don P]

My comments were specific to those fellow cruisers who believe no children should be on an Oceania cruise. Generalizations should not be used for either class of cruiser.....young or old. I took umbrage to the poster who decided that I should not bring my grandchildren on a cruise because most likely they would misbehave. If Oceania had a stated policy that children were not allowed I would adhere to that policy. As for those who wish to see no children onboard may I suggest that you consider adults only cruises so that you can have the kind of cruise you want. Trying to label Oceania for adults only is inappropriate and misinformed as Oceania actually has no ban on children cruising. As for the foie gras comment that was a weak attempt on my part to introduce some humor into the context of this board. If you don't like foie gras may I suggest the snails.