Travel with a 5-year-old

[wanderingnsw]

Hi was wondering if anyone has ever traveled RSSC with a younger kid. I've never been on a cruise before and I'm considering booking an Alaskan cruise and I like that this company has smaller ships. I will however be traveling with my (then) 5-year-old daughter. I've gone lots of places with her and we don't do typical 'kid' things when we travel, but I just wanted to see if she (or I) would feel out of place. I'm also looking into a cruise on Silversea, so I'm going to ask the same question on that forum. Any insight would be amazing. 

 

Thanks!

[mrlevin]

I think your daughter will absolutely love the cruise on Regent.  I don't think she will feel out of place at all.  

[Carol From California]

6 minutes ago, wanderingnsw said:

Hi was wondering if anyone has ever traveled RSSC with a younger kid. I've never been on a cruise before and I'm considering booking an Alaskan cruise and I like that this company has smaller ships. I will however be traveling with my (then) 5-year-old daughter. I've gone lots of places with her and we don't do typical 'kid' things when we travel, but I just wanted to see if she (or I) would feel out of place. I'm also looking into a cruise on Silversea, so I'm going to ask the same question on that forum. Any insight would be amazing. 

 

Thanks!

Normally there are not many kids on Regent, but Alaska is the exception. Our first cruise on Regent was to Alaska. We did not have kids with us but there were kids. They even have some kid's programs and activities. Try to go in June, July, or August (as opposed to May or September) and there are bound to be other kids who are on school break. 

[irishwitchy]

One thing I would ask Regent about is the age limit for some of the excursions.  For example there could be a minimum age/size for a rib boat whale sharing, for example. Otherwise,  go enjoy your cruise.  

[Pcardad]

Love to see kids on board - family first!!!!!

[SWFLAOK]

Our first Regent cruise was an Alaska cruise. There were quite a number of children and they seemed to be having a good time. We did see a group activities for them.

We've also been on a Silvesea cruise, from Barbados to Manaus Brazil to Barbados. There were no children onboard, but that was a very different itinerary, and in November when many of them are in school.

Silversea has a much more formal dress code for dinner than Regent. On the smaller Silversea ships, there are only a few restaurants, and they have quite a few formal nights (more than most of us want but we dress up).

So, if your daughter likes to dress up for dinner, she might really enjoy Silversea. As mentioned, the destination and time of year will determine whether there are other children onboard. If she doesn't need other children onboard to have a good time with you, then don't worry about it. We have been on a number of cruises where there were only a few children who behaved well,  and they fit in just fine with everyone else onboard.

[wanderingnsw]

Thank you all so much! I've had a much bigger positive response on this forum than on the Silversea one. 

 

My kid doesn't need lots of other kids (she's an only child and pretty used to hanging with adults most of the time). My daughter does absolutely love to dress up, but I think a few less 'formal' nights would work for us. 

 

We are planning to go in July. 

[RELS]

Make sure you check the special offers section of any cruise you're interested in. For example, the July 12 2023 Vancouver to Seward has a kid price of $999. I bet a lot of the Alaska cruises have a kid special offer.

[bitob]

I am not discouraging you from regent but

 

have you considered Disney to Alaska?  Greatest for kids and lots of stuff for adults too. 

[lincslady]

36 minutes ago, bitob said:

I am not discouraging you from regent but

 

have you considered Disney to Alaska?  Greatest for kids and lots of stuff for adults too. 

Have to  agree with this, but, having said that, I have travelled on Regent and Silversea, and am fairly impartial about them - neither is my favourite line - but from experience a young child would be more welcome and have a better time on a Regent ship.  Certainly a very good way to see Alaska, though,  and in the summer months there would pretty certainly be other children on board, if she does like mingling some of the time.

[European_CruiseGirl]

I guess whether a child would be happy with Regent depends very much on the child. There are no kids pools or slides on Regent for example. And even though for Alaska there is a kids club during summer it us obviously much more subdued and smaller in scale than on the mass market cruiselines. 
 

Another topic to think is dinners. Would the child in question be happy with longer dining, not just a quick dash to eat. Etc. 
 

I do believe op’s child could very well like Regent. Or then she might be bored out of her mind. Depends totally on the child. I btw have a child too (ok already a teen) with whom we have cruised since she was two (mind you not on Regent though from that age) so I do not object in any way of bringing children to a cruise. But it is good to always think things through and from the child’s perspective. Even though Regent is more relaxed than SS (op I think SS would not be a good experience for you) you still have to think about it through. Is your daughter on the quieter side? Would she be ok with a dinner of 1,5+ hours? Would she be happy with no kids pool (and no splashing by the adults pool)? Would she be happy with the more subdued environment without an extensive kids club or kids facilities? 
 

I am sure that on an Alaska cruise people will welcome well behaved children on Regent. You just need to think if your daughter would be enjoying herself too. 
 

Edited January 30, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[Techno123]

There was a lady enquiring on another Regent social media site as to whether children would be onboard a Regent cruise as she wasn't keen on the idea of hordes of badly behaved children rampaging around the ship. I have copied my reply to her below (this is my opinion) and in fairness you sound like you fall into the first category of parent 😁.
 

Our continental cousins take their children out for long meals and even the young ones tend to be well behaved - it all depends on the expectations the parents hold of their children's behaviour, and as all children have their off days, how parents deal with that so others aren't disturbed.

 

if you do bring your daughter onto Regent I hope you both have a wonderful time and maybe you will find cruising is for you 😁

 

'To be honest you could have children on board who are properly supervised and well behaved with parents/ carers who play with them onboard and take them off ship in ports to burn off their beans so to speak. Then there are the other parents who are on vacation so lie by the pool with a book and a cocktail and let their children run riot. It is the luck of the draw which type of parent the children bring with them 

[HotRoot]

There is no reason she cannot dress to the nines every night.  That is the good thing about Regent - dress up or down.  Nobody cares.

[slidebite]

Regent ships just don't have activities on board for the little duffers. There are some puzzles and that in the games area, but I would kinda feel bad for them. Sounds like a recipe for playing by themselves on their Nintendo or something in the cabin.

 

If I had a little guy up to, maybe tweens, I'd probably look at a suite on one of the larger ships that do have kid activities, but that's just me. Many of those have adult areas so the older folks can have refuge.

 

Or give the little guy $100 and tell him to go nuts in the casino lol

(just kidding of course)

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, Techno123 said:

There was a lady enquiring on another Regent social media site as to whether children would be onboard a Regent cruise as she wasn't keen on the idea of hordes of badly behaved children rampaging around the ship. I have copied my reply to her below (this is my opinion) and in fairness you sound like you fall into the first category of parent 😁.
 

Our continental cousins take their children out for long meals and even the young ones tend to be well behaved - it all depends on the expectations the parents hold of their children's behaviour, and as all children have their off days, how parents deal with that so others aren't disturbed.

 

if you do bring your daughter onto Regent I hope you both have a wonderful time and maybe you will find cruising is for you 😁

 

'To be honest you could have children on board who are properly supervised and well behaved with parents/ carers who play with them onboard and take them off ship in ports to burn off their beans so to speak. Then there are the other parents who are on vacation so lie by the pool with a book and a cocktail and let their children run riot. It is the luck of the draw which type of parent the children bring with them 

 

The same could be said about some adult Regent passengers. I have seen horrific examples of behavior over the years. The kids are, by a wide margin, better behaved.

[Techno123]

20 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

 

The same could be said about some adult Regent passengers. I have seen horrific examples of behavior over the years. The kids are, by a wide margin, better behaved.

The worst behaviour I have seen was from some very drunk, youngish (early 30s) women from New York on a Seabourn cruise 😱

 

[wanderingnsw]

5 hours ago, lincslady said:

Have to  agree with this, but, having said that, I have travelled on Regent and Silversea, and am fairly impartial about them - neither is my favourite line - but from experience a young child would be more welcome and have a better time on a Regent ship.  Certainly a very good way to see Alaska, though,  and in the summer months there would pretty certainly be other children on board, if she does like mingling some of the time.

I'm not really a "Disney" person. We looked into it, but the ship just seems SO BIG. Plus you honestly get more space on a Regent ship. I feel like the Disney cruise line seems to nickel and dime and it will end up costing the same. 

[lincslady]

My guess is that they were on a freebie from their employer,  a TA.

[wanderingnsw]

2 hours ago, Techno123 said:

There was a lady enquiring on another Regent social media site as to whether children would be onboard a Regent cruise as she wasn't keen on the idea of hordes of badly behaved children rampaging around the ship. I have copied my reply to her below (this is my opinion) and in fairness you sound like you fall into the first category of parent 😁.
 

Our continental cousins take their children out for long meals and even the young ones tend to be well behaved - it all depends on the expectations the parents hold of their children's behaviour, and as all children have their off days, how parents deal with that so others aren't disturbed.

 

if you do bring your daughter onto Regent I hope you both have a wonderful time and maybe you will find cruising is for you 😁

 

'To be honest you could have children on board who are properly supervised and well behaved with parents/ carers who play with them onboard and take them off ship in ports to burn off their beans so to speak. Then there are the other parents who are on vacation so lie by the pool with a book and a cocktail and let their children run riot. It is the luck of the draw which type of parent the children bring with them 

Good to know. Yes, I often take my daughter out to fine dining. I travel a lot and don't want to miss some of the best restaurants around. My kid is almost always well behaved (or quietly watching PBS kids on a tablet with headphones). I've taken her to Michelin star restaurants and she orders off the adult menu (or shares with me). I think it sounds like Regent might be a good choice for us. 

[Pcardad]

16 minutes ago, lincslady said:

My guess is that they were on a freebie from their employer,  a TA.

One way to tell who is travelling as a TA is that they don't earn SSS nights for doing so.

[Pcardad]

14 minutes ago, wanderingnsw said:

Good to know. Yes, I often take my daughter out to fine dining. I travel a lot and don't want to miss some of the best restaurants around. My kid is almost always well behaved (or quietly watching PBS kids on a tablet with headphones). I've taken her to Michelin star restaurants and she orders off the adult menu (or shares with me). I think it sounds like Regent might be a good choice for us. 

I agree with you!

[Got2Cruise]

If it weren’t the Alaska cruise, I’d say reconsider. But Alaska sailings attract families. 
 

We were on a Regent cruise to the Mediterranean and there was a Grandma traveling with her daughters and a few grandchildren 5-10 years old. Wellllll before the cruise was over, the sisters had a loud argument by the pool with 2 sisters saying that they shouldn’t have gone along with what the one sister insisted on, they should have taken the Disney cruise. 

[cruiseej]

3 hours ago, Pcardad said:

One way to tell who is travelling as a TA is that they don't earn SSS nights for doing so.

 

And how can you tell who is not earning SSS nights on a cruise?? 😉 

[fizzy]

4 hours ago, Pcardad said:

 

I am continually amazed at how this topic keeps coming up. Since when do the kids call the shots? In our house it was "here is where we are going. here is what you will wear and here is how you will behave" Long before the electronic stuff.... no way would there be crayons and puzzles and doodads brought to a dining table.  I agree with Pcardad about a lot of adult behaviors that are offensive. Kids aren't the ones saving pool chairs. They aren't saving theatre seats and trivia hour seats. I don't see kids walking out of the bathrooms right past the sinks. They probably don't have the tvs blasting in the cabin next door to me because of hearing problems. Whiners cover all ages. I crack up at the adults that drag around a cutesy bunch of stuffed animals into the dining rooms and put them on the table. To the people who keep suggesting  Disney or Carnival, maybe someone should suggest Holland America. That is just as useful, pointed and unhelpful.

[Pcardad]

35 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

And how can you tell who is not earning SSS nights on a cruise?? 😉 

I can only tell you that you only get SSS nights if you pay regular prices...