Carnival has lost control

[bigdaddyyo]

I’ve been on 14 cruises from Carnival to Disney to RCCL and what I saw last week on the Carnival Vista blew my mind.  I have never seen kids behave so badly on a cruise ship.  From food fights to throwing ice cream on the walls in hallways and stairwells.  One kid was beaten so badly by another that part of his ear ripped from his head.  I saw kids opening access hatches near the arcade and were climbing in those hatches and were walking in between the walls of the ship. I was told of other kids pushing over carts that crew were moving.  Kids cussing out crew members and other guests.  It was absolute chaos.  When I mentioned the behavior of the kids to Guest Services, I was told that they are a little rowdy, but they are young and to keep that in mind.  I had two kids onboard and if either acted like these kids it would be their last cruise.  I was told by crew members that this is how the kids act on every cruise.  Sometimes it is better but for the most part it is awful. The kid that assaulted the other kid was told to stay with his parents for the remainder of the cruise but that only lasted a day.  The Mom said she was pressing charges on him.  
 

Again I’ve been on many cruises before and I’ve never seen anything like this.  I’m just wondering if it is Carnival or are all cruise lines experiencing the same craziness.  One thing is for sure, Carnival does not have control of the Carnival Vista ship. 

[espitze]

I can't believe they said that's how kids act on every cruise....where?  Wow...I've been lucky. I guess....I have been on many cruises and many cruise lines. I have only encountered the running through the halls and elevator kids. Which can be annoying. How horrible to have kids attacking others. I went on a spring break Carnival Cruise with many kids out from Long Beach  (Panarama)...no major problems. I also went out of Miami (Horizon,New Celebration) ..no problems either.

Curious to see what others say...

I hope you don't encounter this again...

 

[BoozinCroozin]

If a person was assaulted the way you state, they would have been in the brig or the entire family confined to their cabin with security. The entire family disembarked at the next port. This would be all over the news.

[Itried4498]

I’ve been on many more cruises than you and I have never witnessed this behavior.  And I love people watching, so l wouldn’t mind seeing it :). 

I have seen rowdy behavior amongst adults, which is inevitable when you mix large amounts of alcohol with weekend cruises and/ or cheap pricing.  But never anything destructive and quite honestly, I feel people should have their fun if they want and don’t impede on other passengers.

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

If a person was assaulted the way you state, they would have been in the brig or the entire family confined to their cabin with security. The entire family disembarked at the next port. This would be all over the news.

Yup.  On one of my cruises last year (Panorama), a group of females got upset that it was taking too long to get their pizza (in the middle of the night, mind you) and started throwing things at the employees who were cooking.  Security told them to go to their rooms and calm down or risk being removed at PV and having to get back home at their own expense.  I never saw those women the next five days and I saw a lot of them the first two.

[pe4all]

We were on Magic out of NY last summer, and it was the worst-behaved group of kids AND adults I have ever cruised with.  As a native NY-er I was embarrassed at some of the things I saw.  Groups of kids running full-speed through the casino chasing each other, adults yelling to each other in the hallways at 2 a.m., groups sitting totally blocking stairways and giving the hairy eyeball if asked to move a little to let people through, etc.  Luckily never saw an assault.  After 3 days - yes, it took 3 days- Carnival posted security outside the teen club, which seemed to settle things down a bit. 

[TravelBluebird]

I’ve never seen a more polite, quiet, good natured bunch of kids as I’ve seen on my current cruise.

 

May have something to do with the long itinerary and the fact that there are only 250 kids aboard (I’m on the Venezia transAtlantic).

 

But, I was on the Mardi Gras for Spring Break, and the kids were everywhere, but had a GREAT time and perhaps were a little exhuberant, but overall they were well behaved.

[ZoeyVictoria]

11 minutes ago, pe4all said:

We were on Magic out of NY last summer, and it was the worst-behaved group of kids AND adults I have ever cruised with.  As a native NY-er I was embarrassed at some of the things I saw.  Groups of kids running full-speed through the casino chasing each other, adults yelling to each other in the hallways at 2 a.m., groups sitting totally blocking stairways and giving the hairy eyeball if asked to move a little to let people through, etc.  Luckily never saw an assault.  After 3 days - yes, it took 3 days- Carnival posted security outside the teen club, which seemed to settle things down a bit. 

There was still (or again) security outside the teen club on the Magic in mid-April 2023. We never noticed bad behavior from kids on that particular cruise.

[ItsADryHumor]

4 hours ago, espitze said:

I can't believe they said that's how kids act on every cruise....where?  Wow...I've been lucky. I guess....I have been on many cruises and many cruise lines. I have only encountered the running through the halls and elevator kids. Which can be annoying. How horrible to have kids attacking others. I went on a spring break Carnival Cruise with many kids out from Long Beach  (Panarama)...no major problems. I also went out of Miami (Horizon,New Celebration) ..no problems either.

Curious to see what others say...

I hope you don't encounter this again...

 

We just got off the Celebration, and while there were a ton of kids being kids (running, being loud, etc.), I saw none of these things. They were messy in the Lido, but they’ve always been messy in the Lido.

[LatinaInTexas]

I cruise when kids typically don't so I haven't experienced bad before thankfully. But I don't doubt it goes on and is not fun to deal with. Doesn't matter how many say they have never seen it, if it happened to you it happened to you.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

I think it is more like America has lost it's control. Parents don't discipline their kids anymore... but don't get me started on this subject. 

[Frank12]

10 minutes ago, Gamecock_Cruiser said:

I think it is more like America has lost it's control. Parents don't discipline their kids anymore... but don't get me started on this subject. 

100% nailed it!!! It is the decline of the American family and discipline, etc.  I see it everywhere, not just cruise ships....but don't get me started either!😡

[Joebucks]

Carnival hasn't lost control, America has. Not only this, but the worst offenders have been conditioned to think of themselves as victims.

[EngIceDave]

55 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I feel a Walmart line coming……

I was thinking Target'

 

 

[mz-s]

Carnival can't help the wild kids, that's on the parents. I agree I have never seen so many wild kids in public as I have since COVID in particular. I call them "iPad kids" - kids that were raised by iPad and have no social awareness or social skills because their parents just shove a screen in their faces and let them raise themselves.

 

What Carnival can do is enforce their rules but that gets into a much bigger discussion and a lot of people play ostrich about it so it's not worth expending the energy to discuss.

Edited June 5, 2023 by mz-s

[Aplmac]

16 minutes ago, Frank12 said:

100% nailed it!!!

It is the decline of the American family and discipline, etc.

I see it everywhere, not just cruise ships....

but don't get me started either!😡

 

Visitors to my island Barbados

often comment on how very polite and well disciplined

our island kids are!

Of course we take it for granted (it's just how we are!!)

but it's true: a strongly-British-Colonial social trend

for the last 300+ years helps!

 

A few evenings ago,

a small group of us older folk were chilling out in the breeze

on the Hastings Boardwalk, when three boys aged about 10-12

passed us on their way to the sandy beach,

and they all said Good Evening as they passed our senior presence.

I turned to my wife and mentioned

how nice and mannerly the boys were.

So it's not everywhere: there are still a few holdouts!

 

Here's a regular Sunday evening grouping of Ye Elderly!

 

 

[havanadaydreaming]

I havent noticed any different behavior onboard recently as opposed to a decade ago. 

 

Except some adults seem to want to walk 3-4 wide in common areas...expecting me to turn sideways to avoid them. 

 

Nah gunna do it (as dana carvey says).  

[sparks1093]

26 minutes ago, Aplmac said:

 

Visitors to my island Barbados

often comment on how very polite and well disciplined

our island kids are!

Of course we take it for granted (it's just how we are!!)

but it's true: a strongly-British-Colonial social trend

for the last 300+ years helps!

 

A few evenings ago,

a small group of us older folk were chilling out in the breeze

on the Hastings Boardwalk, when three boys aged about 10-12

passed us on their way to the sandy beach,

and they all said Good Evening as they passed our senior presence.

I turned to my wife and mentioned

how nice and mannerly the boys were.

So it's not everywhere: there are still a few holdouts!

 

Here's a regular Sunday evening grouping of Ye Elderly!

 

 

To be fair the previous poster did say a decline in the American family and the seeing it everywhere part of that goes hand in hand- we see it frequently "everywhere" in America. We just finished our annual Dairy Festival and I saw my share of kids acting out a little, although not to the same degree as the OP described. The unfortunate reality is that when families go on vacation they are all too often willing to let the ship's staff be responsible for their kids' behavior and that doesn't help matters at all.

[sammee]

25 minutes ago, havanadaydreaming said:

I havent noticed any different behavior onboard recently as opposed to a decade ago. 

 

Except some adults seem to want to walk 3-4 wide in common areas...expecting me to turn sideways to avoid them. 

 

Nah gunna do it (as dana carvey says).  

Yeah, I thought I was in the mall a couple times, lol.

[wemjam]

There have been several posts in last couple months on this very thing (bad behavior), I myself have witnessed out of control behavior as well.  It is becoming more and more prevalent unfortunately.

 

It seems like parents "check out" because they are on vacation.  YOU are NEVER on vacation from being a parent.  Do your @&*%!# job!

 

For those that always come back with "I have never seen this" you are lucky, because I guarantee it is happening and it disrupts the cruise for everyone that has to deal with it. Why do you think Carnival had to actually institute a written policy and curfew for kids?

Edited June 5, 2023 by wemjam

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

4 minutes ago, wemjam said:

There have been several posts in last couple months on this very thing (bad behavior), I myself have witnessed out of control behavior as well.  It is becoming more and more prevelant unfortuneatley.

 

It seems like parents "check out" because they are on vacation.  

I'd wager the parents are checked out at home also. 

[Butterbean1000]

I work in a major department store and I have stories.  It's depressing to see how parents refuse to see what their children are doing. We see babies,  yes babies in strollers with their faces in a cell phone.  Usually this cell phone is at maximum volume.  These kids will never learn discipline or how to interact with society.   

[Butterbean1000]

8 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I'd wager the parents are checked out at home also. 

Absolutely, using  electronic babysitters. 

[Aplmac]

Some more advanced countries offer Parenting Classes

to prepare  idealistic newly-weds for the grim reality

of their future with brats!

 

It's a great idea, actually -bcoz most young ppl

of reproductive age and the attendant urges .. are quite clueless.

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, Aplmac said:

Some more advanced countries offer Parenting Classes

to prepare  idealistic newly-weds for the grim reality

of their future with brats!

 

It's a great idea, actually -bcoz most young ppl

of reproductive age and the attendant urges .. are quite clueless.

 

What is that supposed to mean? They have parenting classes in the US too, if you're implying they don't.