Any cruise lines NOT particularly kid friendly?

[kyriecat]

I think families are drawn to the short cruises. I haven't cruised in December, but I did in January this year. Short 4-night cruise on RCI Majesty. Biggest mistake ever! The ship was completely overrun with children, and they were completely out of control. I can ignore alot of things (I'm on vacation!) but the rude children (admittedly there were several drunk adults who were also out of control) were horrible! The staff did absolutely nothing about them or the adults. I can't figure out what those kids were doing out of school on weekdays, especially since Christmas break was only 3 weeks prior to that.

 

I've cruised in June (7 day from San Juan), October (7 day from Galveston), and October (12 day from Barcelona, Spain). There were plenty of kids on the June cruise (obviously!) but the two in October were fabulous! Very few children and all well behaved. A little fussing, but no roving packs of teens and pre-teens. I don't think very many Texas schools have an October break. I know we don't have it in the Houston area. Most of the cruisers on Rhapsody out of Galveston were from Texas (about 85%). The Med cruise was also almost completely kid free. It has several deterrants (price, air fare, time of year, and length) so while the ship (Brilliance) was "family friendly" the cruise itself wasn't.

[EmJakeBubbie]

We just got back from a 5 day on Carnival Elation....LOVED the ship, crew, food, etc, but on this cruise the number of kids reached a critical mass for Husband and myself, and put a real damper on the trip for us. And that's fine...people can vacation where and how they want. So if Carnival is targeting families with kids, that's cool, we're just wondering where to look for our next vacation if we'd like a more grown up crowd to cruise with?

 

Thanks!

You were probably kid-enhanced due to only 5 days; clearly from a heavily propulated No Fly port; hugely affordable pricing (normally typical on an older vessel). We just returned from RCI SERENADE. The kid population was noticeably small (we were traveling with a 6 and 8 yr old) - the "kids club" was practically empty more often than not. Reason for this cruise being not "too many kids": one had to fly to SanJuan; SERENADE is still on the new side (= $$); schools still in session (pre-checked to be sure SJU would still be in session); RCI has a fantastic Adventure Ocean (kids club) program including special water activities area for just the kids, so what kids did cruise they had very special programs to keep them entertained and outta sight. I noticed that earlier curfews for the tweens 'n teens have been implemented - overall, I believe that while RCI does target families, they have a keen eye to controlling the under 21 crowd. We had no kid-related problems and it was a lovely family cruise;)

[michmike]

take a look at Holland America but as someone else pointed out, avoid Zuiderdam, Westerdam and Oosterdam as those are the newer. larger HAL ships that are targeting families more. Also helps to go for a 10 day cruise as that agin will limit the number of kids.

 

We've been on 5 HAL cruises now and have never seen more than a dozen or so kids on them. The idea of sharing a ship with 100+ of the little darlins strikes me as a week in hell.

[comfixit]

I think to summarize what most people have said, the following are the factors used to limit your likelyhood of exporsure to kids on cruises:

 

* Price - The higher the cost the less family friendly it is

* Air Required? - Ships sailing out of ports where a good percentage of people don't use air travel will encourage families. Air travel is yet another good barrier. So travel from Spain, Alaska or San Juan your probably in the clear. LA, Miami, NY, Galveston all seem like family friendly embarkation ports.

* Days - The more days (especialy during school periods) the less convienient it is for families with kids.

* Time of Year - Avoid school holidays, summers.

* Family Ammenities - The more ammeneties for familes the more children will be attracted to the ship.

* Size - The larger the ship the more likely it will have ammeneties for families.

* Average Age - The younger the average cruiser the more likely kids will be on there. Look for cruises where the average age is deceased (Makes for a quiet cruise.

 

Have a great child free experience.

[Nancynurse]

To the poster who is cruising in May...watch out many schools in the southeast are already finished in May. You might be surprised to find that many children will be on board. We cruised to Alaska last year and even though school continued for 2-3 more weeks for most, there were a good number of school aged children (somewhere around 75 to 100) on board. Better look at April instead if you want to avoid the young ones...

 

By the way this was on Celebrity...I would look at Holland America...(p.s. I would watch out for the adult diapers there though:o )

 

Nancy

[colz85]

So is the consensus that a longer cruise on Carnival would probably have fewer kidlets? Because I'm lookin' and our funds just aren't going to cover a longer voyage on a more upscale line....

[wrp96]

So is the consensus that a longer cruise on Carnival would probably have fewer kidlets? Because I'm lookin' and our funds just aren't going to cover a longer voyage on a more upscale line....

 

Any Carnival cruise is going to have a lot of kids, unless it is say a 14 night cruise.

 

You can get some cheap deals on Celebrity and HAL which will have few kids on their longs sailings. I know that or the end of February I could get a 10 night sailing on Celebrity for less than $700 per person in an inside.

[Mark]

Let me know the names of those cruise lines and I will book with them tomorrow. I love kids but do not want them on my cruise ship with me when I go on vacation...too much noise...too much of a mess...and too little supervision...send me those cruise line names!:cool:

[comfixit]

Here are a few ideas. You should still call the line and ask them how many kids they expect.

 

Check out:

11 night Mexican Riviera April 17th to 28th on the Celebrity Mercury. (RT San Diego)

You can get a cabin for roughly ($800 inside / $900 outside)pp. Before taxes that works out to as little as $72 a day.

 

If your on a tighter budget or timeline you can try this 5 night sailing which may appeal less to families.

Feb 25 - Mar 2 Sailing of the Celbrity Zenith ($300 inside / $350 outside) Western Caribean out of Miami

 

Call your travel agent of preference and see what they can arrange for you.

 

Have a great trip.

[caviargal]

I have had as many as 900 kids on an RCI cruise. It was truly a week in hell!

 

That being said, I think you will find fewer on the older RCI vessels as the new megaships with all the bells and whistles really attract the families.

 

Overall, you will likely find far fewer kids on Celebrity and HAL, especially the non Vista class as already mentioned. On X, check out Zenith for fewer kids as well as Mercury, an older vessel with less to attract the little ones.

 

Carnival is going to have kids and IMRE, they were everywhere. There was no adult pool or adult area to take refuge in. I STRONGLY suggest whatever you do, make sure the ship does have designated adult only areas. On Carnival, diapered and undiapered babies were in the pool. I personally find this unsanitary and gross.

[cathi]

Methinks you get what you pay for - short cheap cruises attract families, longer more exotic cruises don't! Just the way it is. Rarely cruise these days less than 12 days - anything less is hardly worth packing for!!

that said HAL and Celeb "tend" to attract less "kids" but on the downside rarely come home with the same #of passengers as they sailed with!!!

[comfixit]

Given how many ships sail on similar itineraries maybe some vessel should put an age limit to differentiate themselves. Might be a market for it and perhaps they could even charge a few extra bucks for the privilage of peace and quiet.

[caviargal]

Given how many ships sail on similar itineraries maybe some vessel should put an age limit to differentiate themselves. Might be a market for it and perhaps they could even charge a few extra bucks for the privilage of peace and quiet.

 

And many of us would be happy to pay the premium!

[caviargal]

You were probably kid-enhanced due to only 5 days; clearly from a heavily propulated No Fly port; hugely affordable pricing (normally typical on an older vessel). We just returned from RCI SERENADE. The kid population was noticeably small (we were traveling with a 6 and 8 yr old) - the "kids club" was practically empty more often than not. Reason for this cruise being not "too many kids": one had to fly to SanJuan; SERENADE is still on the new side (= $$); schools still in session (pre-checked to be sure SJU would still be in session); RCI has a fantastic Adventure Ocean (kids club) program including special water activities area for just the kids' date=' so what kids did cruise they had very special programs to keep them entertained and outta sight. I noticed that earlier curfews for the tweens 'n teens have been implemented - overall, I believe that while RCI does target families, they have a keen eye to controlling the under 21 crowd. We had no kid-related problems and it was a lovely [i']family[/i] cruise;)

 

 

Both of my bad experiences with RCI were on 7 night cruises. They did nothing to control the presence of kids and teens in adult only areas, just kept saying that the parents needed to control their children.

 

On Enchantment, it became such an issue that the Pursers Desk put up a sign on the third day acknowledging the problem and explaining the steps they were taking to correct it. This basically consisted of putting a letter in the cabins of everyone with kids asking that they please control their children, keep them out of the adult Solarium and other adult only zones and not allow them to roam the hallways late at night.

 

Did it have any effect? No. And the cruise staff aboard did nothing to support the many adults who simply wanted to have the kid free spaces they were promised.

 

I was on Serenade in Feb and we had few kids on board. However, at cocktails one evening with a senior staff member, he said the week before had been a nightmare and that they could not handle the number of complaints received about the kids and teens onboard.

 

It is the parent's who need to supervise their kids, but, if they refuse, the problems should be handled by the cruise line.

[colz85]

It is the parent's who need to supervise their kids, but, if they refuse, the problems should be handled by the cruise line.

 

Yeah, and I can see the pickle they are in. On the one hand, those of us who want some kid free areas, (if not the whole ship! :) ). On the other the parents of the kids who are runnnig rampant. Who do they risk alienating? The minority...those of us without children. So what if we go elsewhere? They'll still have people bringing their kids. The ships run at 100+% occupancy, and that's not going to change if a few of us decide to look for less child-ful vacation venues.

 

A few adult only voyages here and there would be nice, though.

[kitty9]

Just returned from a 7 day cruise on Celebrity Millennium and there were less than 10 school age kids on board, with a few infants. If you cruise right after Thanksgiving and right before Christmas, there are many less kids.

[Sassy Chassis]

I've taken 2 RCI cruises, 7 days each on Vision & Rhapsody, both in the interval between Thanksgiving & Christmas, and did not really experience problems with children. If I had to guess I would say there were about 20 kids on either ship, if there were more I never saw them. I would book this time slot again for any cruise!

[gone_cruisin]

We have traveled mostly in late summer early fall and had different experiences (all on Carnival 7 plus days).

[B]last full week of August [/B]- not a bad cruise, had a little bit of everyone; 100 kids total?, not too unruly.

[B]3rd week of September [/B]- it was the snooze cruise; average age was 70; was nice because we got the run of the pool and most didn't get off at the ports; night life lacked though.

[B]2nd week of August [/B]- total nightmare! had a sweet 16 party of 75 teenage girls and their boyfriends (drunk and loud all week).

Hoping this Feb cruise will yield a few less kids. Don't mind them as long as they are well-behaved.

[Happy ks]

Don't automatically assume that other cruise lines are more expensive. There have been times that I've priced several lines for the same type of itinerary and Carnival sometimes ends up more costly than other lines.

Carnival, RCCL and NCL pretty much market to a family audience, so you will always find more family onboard those ships. Try Celebrity or Princess, both nice lines that you can sometimes find great deals at off peak times of the year.

We cruise with our kids and they know how to behave in public, no running, screaming, hanging out on stairwells or in elevators, no getting out of their chairs in the dining room, no whining allowed. We have always been proud of them and will take them anywhere with us. I attribute their behavior to teaching them how to behave in public even before their first birthday, if you start later than that, you have already lost the battle.

I have to agree it's not pleasant to have ill mannered children or adults in your presence, but I disagree it is up to the cruise line to discipline or monitor the behavior of any of the passengers, unless they pose a danger. We all have to find patience and tolerance for the uneducated and unexperienced.

[VentureMan_2000]

[quote name='Happy ks']We all have to find patience and tolerance for the uneducated and unexperienced (parents).
[/quote]

I'm thinking the brigg... :D

[Mark]

I think as a person(s) spending saved money on a well-deserved cruise vacation, we have the right to expect any cruise line to POLICE all of their passenger regardless of age...adults, children and teens. I recently was on Enchantment of the Seas and they made a point of informing all passengers that they had a code of conduct for passengers and that they would enforce it...how I do not know.

My suggestion is that the cruise lines authorize their security personnel and ship's officers [B][U]to issue tickets for any violation of any code of conduct rule[/U][/B]. The tickets would have a charge ranging from $50 to $250 depending on the type of violation and the number of violations. And YES, if the person is a teenager r a child who is not being supervised by his or her guardian or who was not trained to behave in public, the guardian should receive a ticket. All tickets would be charged to their onboard accounts. I bet that most people on a cruise do not want to see the violation charges and would take action as soon as one was received.

If you or yours break the law, you pay the price.

Problem would be solved or at very least minimized!:cool:

[kitty9]

There is no way on God's green earth that they will issue tickets to any passenger. They don't handle kid problems now for fear of angering the passengers and losing their business.

[Mark]

Kitty,

Why would not the cruise lines be as worried about angering and losing customers who do not appreciate the inappropriate behavior by teens adn kids?

It seems to me that all they have to do is make sure the kids are supervised and trained by their parents and guardians and everyone can have an enjoyable time.

If the parents have to pay fines for inappropriate actions or behavior they will make sure their kids behave. And if they don't, they do not belong on any cruise ship that states it has a passenger code of behavior.

Mark:cool:

[jsmeeker]

[quote name='caviargal']And many of us would be happy to pay the premium![/QUOTE]


In the past, Celebrity has run a few adults only cruises. you might want to look into that and see if they continue to do this.

[colz85]

[quote name='Mark']Kitty,

Why would not the cruise lines be as worried about angering and losing customers who do not appreciate the inappropriate behavior by teens adn kids?

[/QUOTE]


Because there are more of them than there are of us. Bottom line. They get more money from families traveling with children, so if they are going to risk alienating a group, it's gonna be those of us who would prefer no/fewer/well behaved children. Do you think they will give a rat's behind that my husband and I won't travel with them any more? Nah. It's not like the stateroom will sail empty....