Millennium 7/8--not pleased with Celebrity

[ocngypz]

Bull..............perhaps Guest Relations ought to read the navy blue notebooks which are located on each passenger vanity about proper behavior onboard the ships. No where does it say that the rules do not apply to Europeans or anyone else.

 

It's a cop out, pure and simple.

[Jacqueline]

So far I have been lucky to avoid this sort of problem in the summer. I have three kids and we do about two cruises a year- on near like Bermuda or Caribbean and one distant.

Four years ago, we sailed Princess in the Med. Even though there were 500 kids on board you would never know it. It was soo port intensive everyone seemed tired at night.

When we did the Baltic (same time in August) not a whole lot of kids. I deliberately chose RCL over X as we wanted MORE kids. It seemed like there were only a few dozen despite the fact we were on a 100gt ship.

Go to Tahiti on the TP and there will not be very many kids, even in summer.

Next week we are sailing HAL to do a London to Athens cruise (mostly Med). Frankly, HAL never seems to have the problem- at least not yet. They are still trying to get more people under 70 or so onboard ! I have been told that there are 200 kids age 10-16 on our trip which should be fine given the size of the ship - about the same as the M ships- but with a lower capacity. Since I have three kids I like there to be a few (how many friends do they need?) but I really like PEACE and Quiet. I live on a quiet dirt road in the country !

The problem is often, as been pointed out, when there is a big marketing push in certain European countries and the ship becomes loaded with nationals that have a different philosphy (ie -its vacation let the kids run wild, and we wont be much better).

Last summer the board had several posts outlining not just the kids being a problem but the adults as well (things like taking whole trays off the buffet, smoking everywhere, etc)

[Shangrilq]

Hi

We will be on the Century on Oct 30th and we chose this date to hopefully avoid a lot of children onboard. We love well mannered kids but there is just too few of them now so we always try to avoid them by traveling when kids are in school. Unfortunately, now so many people choose to take their kids out of school even though there is so many other times they can travel so not so sure there is any really good times to travel to avoid kids anymore.Unfortunately, many parents think their kids are angels and they probably are around them? If we should have any problems with kids on this or any other cruise I will definitely bring it to their attention and I am not beyond saying something to these kids myself if they are bothering me and their parents don't wish to control them. I would also say for the parents that do keep a close eye on their kids and keep them under control they are to be commended. I know I never cruised with my children when they were small but others may choose to do that and that is their perogative.

 

Be happy!

[rocktheboat]

This has nothing to do with cultural differences. Parents and children here in the states act the same way as they do in Europe. I don't agree with the statement that they must act like angels when they are with their parents These are children who are out of control at home also, a child doesn't turn into a devil because they are on vacation.

 

I don't think a child should ever be beaten, but I do think it's ok to spank a child on his bottom. More today than ever before, children are controling their parents when it should be the parents controling their children. I guess I am from the old school, where children should be seen not heard.

[mom2three]

Go to the Princess board, you'll hear the same complaints.

:rolleyes:

[trcori]

(a) parents MUST control, and be accountable, for their children

(b) Celebrity should not in any event permit any of the outrageous things the original poster mentioned -- soda pouring on carpet -- kids lingering in casinos.

 

However, since several posters have veered into that direction, I have to also say, the suggestion that it takes physical violence to keep a child "in line" is offensive.

 

And yes, "spanking" -- aka hitting; you would not call it spanking if the same hit was delivered to a non-child, you would call it physical assault and a call to the cops could be in order -- IS physical violence.

 

We have a lively, strong-willed 8-year-old. He has a mind of his own but he knows the rules and he obeys them. We have never hit him and will never hit him.

 

Again, I am on the soapbox because others brought it up, and it seems important to speak out in defense of those who can't, when a subject like this arises.

 

Back off the box now and on the boat ...

[newfimom]

Hello,

 

We too had a similar problem - When we were on Millie last year (April 2003)

which happened to be Easter week, we sailed with almost 500 children on board.

 

I too brought my teens 17 & 13 at the time. However, I can agree when there are so many children on board, there is bound to be problems. The teens were not the problem, they had a place to hang at night (the management dedicated the sports bar for that week - to be the teen club) This way they had their own place to hang.

 

However, the children from the ages of 8 - 12 were the biggest pains in the ***. They were laying in and riding the glass elevators, like a ride in an amusement park. They ran up and down the halls, and anywhere else they could. I believe that the problem is that the parents feel that they are contained on the ship and they can't get into any trouble. I disagree.

 

If you don't put your child into the camp program, they ship's staff cannot contol them. Now with that said, Celebrity should require you to keep your child with you if they are not in the day camp. Not just for the passengers

happiness, but for the child's safety. And if that child gets hurt, a lawsuit happens. So it would be in the best interest for Celebrity to require supervision of these children or refuse to keep them on the ship.

 

Also, in the summers and during holiday breaks, there should be some limit on the amount of children on these ships. Not all that travel during these times have children. Not that they should be punished for picking these weeks, but rather all should be able to enjoy the beautiful cruises that they have purchased.

 

I think that you should ask for compensation from Celebrity for the trying week that you had on Millie. The reason why is that if it starts costing them for these children, they will start to rethink their policy of unruly children and think of other ways to correct the situation.

 

Fran

Newfimom

[CruisingChick]

Unfortunately for those of us that have school aged children we cannot avoid traveling in the summer or when school is out. That's the ONLY time we can travel. I have to say I have been on 5 cruises and the only one we had a problem with children is the one in the Meditteranean last year.

 

There were plenty of kids on our cruise this April on Infinity. We had an entire table of children right next to us at second seating dinner. We also had a table behind us that was 1/2 children. There was not one problem at all with any of these kids at dinner. There were also no other problems throughout the ship.

[Tatka]

Hello,

 

The teens were not the problem, they had a place to hang at night (the management dedicated the sports bar for that week - to be the teen club) This way they had their own place to hang.

 

However, the children from the ages of 8 - 12 were the biggest pains in the ***. They were laying in and riding the glass elevators, like a ride in an amusement park. They ran up and down the halls, and anywhere else they could. I believe that the problem is that the parents feel that they are contained on the ship and they can't get into any trouble. I disagree.

Newfimom

We were on Century last summer with our 11 years old boy. After reading this topic I've talked to him and asked about what they were doing after 11 pm (time when kids under 18 were asked to leave a disco). He said they were talking with the girls etc. He also said teens were drinking vodka...they had big bottle.:mad: This cruise I will make sure this cruise he will be in our cabin early enough to avoid seeing this.

[Desertbelle]

Ok guys, you are scaring me! I never dreamed a 12 day cruise to Europe would be heavy with children running amok. I don't mind children around at all, and our experiences on other summer cruises have always been very positive, but what the OP describes is awful.

 

Will my first Celebrity cruise and me first trip to Europe, be a disaster?? :(

[flyaway]

Mark my words, with this many children running around unsupervised, it's only a matter of time before we hear of accusations (true or not) of another passenger, or more likely a crew member, preying on them, if you catch my drift. Then, and only then, will cruiselines crack down on requiring supervision. The cruiselines will probably also suffer loss of revenue due to bad PR for awhile.

[CruisingChick]

Dessertbelle,

 

You trip is in June, correct? I think you'll be okay. Most of the trips that are overrun by kids tend to be July and August. We did the August 2, 2003 Trip and it was really only bad at the pool area (that we saw). They did have trouble in the dining room, but luckily it was on the other side and did not affect our dining. But the trouble wasn't with children it was with this French group that insisted they could come to dinner any time they wanted and sit anywhere they wanted. What a mess. The poor Maitre D's. The crew HATES the Meditteranean cruises. Our servers told us they have to work twice as hard and get stiffed for tips allot.

[amanda blake]

flyway, I agree with you but isnt it awful that it may take a child being hurt and a lawsuit being brought before Celebrity enforces rules, limits amount of those under 18 aboard and generally upholds their 5 star image of travel?

 

until then, please bring to their attention anything that takes away from the way they advertise their cruise experience....understated class, elegance, peaceful vacationing without a care, those of us who enjoy this type of travel need to also put pressure with our dollars that unless we get this we will go elsewhere...

 

it is false advertising if what is promised is not delivered...take them to task on it...that is the only power we have...

[BB5953]

BB5953

What options and how would you apply then to the topic! This IMO is just that, yours. This sounded like the ship was over run with kids that the options just wern't working for, or perhaps not tried. Celebrity was using a hands off policy, this is the topic.IMHO.

 

My comment was toward G Man regarding physical punishment the other option for that is COMMUNICATION!!!!! It can take different forms (time out, telling the child why he/she was wrong, taking something away from them that they enjoy, no snacks, pool time) too many to list. Hitting your child is easier for a parent them correcting the behavior.

 

trcori - I agree 100% "it seems important to speak out in defense of those who can't"

 

As for what X should have done - they should have notified the passengers that duringthe summer weeks their are large numbers of children on board so that you can decide if that is somehtign you wantto deal woth or not - I personally probably would not.

[Catnip]

This thread is most disturbing to read. I booked on the Summit for next April on a 10-day caribbean cruise, as my last 2 RCCL cruises have been over-run with ill-mannered and bratty kids running amouk all over the ship at all hours with no parental supervision. I thought a longer cruise on Celebrity would be the way to go, but now I read that I may end up with screaming, undisciplined kids on that cruise, too. :(

I don't have kids (by choice) and while I don't mind good kids on a cruise, a bunch of running, yelling kids can certainly make for an unpleasant cruise. I try to cruise non-holiday times and never in the summer.

It's too bad that the cruiselines are so afraid of offending the parents of these kids, that they let them disturb other paying passengers. Oh well, I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that I'll be blessed with good, well-mannered kids on my next cruise. :rolleyes:

[Tatka]

This thread is most disturbing to read. I booked on the Summit for next April on a 10-day caribbean cruise, as my last 2 RCCL cruises have been over-run with ill-mannered and bratty kids running amouk all over the ship at all hours with no parental supervision. I thought a longer cruise on Celebrity would be the way to go, but now I read that I may end up with screaming, undisciplined kids on that cruise, too. :(

I don't have kids (by choice) and while I don't mind good kids on a cruise, a bunch of running, yelling kids can certainly make for an unpleasant cruise. I try to cruise non-holiday times and never in the summer.

It's too bad that the cruiselines are so afraid of offending the parents of these kids, that they let them disturb other paying passengers. Oh well, I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that I'll be blessed with good, well-mannered kids on my next cruise. :rolleyes:

They are talking about Med cruise overrun buy French, Spanish and Italian kids. I don't think you'll have big problems on you cruise. We did 7 days Century last July and didn't have any problems!

 

Have fun! :D

[BB5953]

Catnip - I think we may be on the same cruise 4/1/05... Being that this is the week after Easter (big family time) be prepared there may be some children (probably not 490) I am sure we will have a great time!

[Catnip]

Thanks for the reassurances!! I was getting worried! ;)

The reason I booked the week after Easter was I thought most families would cruise at Easter and the kids would be back in school.

Well, hopefully, at least most of the kids will be back in school!! :rolleyes:

It should be a really fun cruise. I read where it's the last of that 10-day itinerary for the Summit.

[toniwoods]

I'm really sorry to hear of your experience. I know several people who were on this cruise with you and I am anxiously awaiting their report. I am going to be on the Millennium on the August 13 sailing and I have the same concerns. I chose this date because I was originally going to bring my daughter (14 y/o). She then decided she would rather stay in camp. So I am now going with a friend. Fortunately, I am a mother and my friend is a mother and a grandmother, so hopefully we will be able to withstand the "kid factor." I think it is such a crapshoot with these cruises. I know you can try to beat the odds (i.e. by avoiding vacation times etc), but sometimes it just doesn't work. I will say that we did a 2 week cruise last year on the Constellation in July and it was absolutely lovely. There were only 250 children aboard and a majority of them were teens who you hardly ever saw (my daughter included - once they discovered the teen club, it was all over). I think part of the problem is that parents are not realistic in their expectations on a cruise ship. On other cruises, I've watched the parents drag their kids around on long shore excursions, then take them to late seating dinner -- things like that. Of course your kids are going to be cranky! I never did that. I always took my daughter's well being and feelings, and the well being of others on the ship, into consideration. If she was tired, I made her rest. I scheduled shore excursions later in the day so I did not have to drag her out of bed early in the morning when alot of them leave. I also did "kid" things that I knew she would enjoy (last year when we were in Copenhagen, several families got together and spent the day at Tivoli Gardens and it was wonderful). I always try to remember -- if I bring her along, it's her vacation too. We've cruised together 3x and it has always been great.

 

Toni

[ABoatNerd]

Good cruising to everyone:

 

Re: Out of Control Kids on Millie 7/8

 

Responding to "bethcollins". GET USED TO IT. The issue of out of control kids (and adults, check the Cunard Mothers Day cruise on QM2) on cruise ships is a common issue and is endlessly debated. The pro-kid crowd calls everyone else child haters and those cruisers who demand decorum are astonished by those parents who always say they have perfectly behaved children.

 

IS NOT THE REAL ISSUE -.............

 

THE CONDUCT OF EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON A CRUISE SHIP irregardless of age, gender, cultural/sexual/income affiliation??????????. Do not get focused on kids only because that excludes the horrible behavior I have seen by adults.

 

The cruise lines will DO NOTHING to create a reasonable environment to create a win/win for everyone as they are not interested in a) defining their product offering consistently and b) ENFORCING IT (whether it is dress code, conduct etc). This is no different than the out of control behavior in movie theatres, camping parks etc. People are increasingly disrespectful and organizations and governments are hesitant to define and enforce rules of conduct in our politicially correct, do as you please society.

 

Remember, the cruise lines market to the masses which generally is trending towards a larger and larger % of individualistic, permissive, selfish, moment centred, consumptive, have a good time and no one will stop me individuals. There is a growing awareness that the permissive parenting approach of today's folks have resulted in loud, selfish uncontrolled children with their parents following behind.

 

RE: CHILDREN ON CRUISES. The fact is that children are high energy and need space to roam. This always means noise. But the issue escaping many parents is that it is the PARENTS job to assess the context and determine their child's behavior. Loud children are expected in city parks, water parks, DisneyWorld, some child centred restaurants - But, in my assessment, not in most resturants, residential backyards, national parks in camping areas etc. And at no time should children be running free. But then, many people who have children are out of control themselves and have no idea what civil behavior is which = out of control kids. It is a vicious circle.

 

I have had the pleasure of being with many parents on cruises and elsewhere where their children and teens are well behaved for the context and are a joy to be with. These parents CONTINUE to parent while on vacation and do not allow their children to impact others.

 

My husband and I are child free by choice and conservative, quiet and private in our approach. We are increasingly taking our $ and purchasing vacations in adult venues with low crowds in order to avoid exposure to today's increasingly loud, out of control people (kids and adults). When we cruise it is in non holiday times and increasingly on non-mass market cruise lines (Celebrity you are losing our business).

 

Most people do not agree with my assessment above and my husband and I have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse when we try to defend our expectations of service, environment etc.

 

I hope that the issue of CONDUCT is resolved by cruiselines then we will all be more comfortable about what to expect when we lay our $ down

 

Happy cruising to all

 

ABoatNerd

[amanda blake]

very well said .....

[Desertbelle]

Good cruising to everyone:

 

...RE: CHILDREN ON CRUISES. The fact is that children are high energy and need space to roam. This always means noise. But the issue escaping many parents is that it is the PARENTS job to assess the context and determine their child's behavior. Loud children are expected in city parks, water parks, DisneyWorld, some child centred restaurants - But, in my assessment, not in most resturants, residential backyards, national parks in camping areas etc. And at no time should children be running free. But then, many people who have children are out of control themselves and have no idea what civil behavior is which = out of control kids. It is a vicious circle....

 

ABoatNerd

Whoa! Are you saying children should be quiet in their own backyards??

 

Many people who have children are "out of control themselves"?? Yikes!

 

OK, there just isn't a response to something like this! You have stunned me into silence, no doubt it will make many people happy! :)

[Senga]

On our March Summit cruise there were a small number of wild young boys who thought it was hilarious to buy Skittles in the gift shop and then throw them all over the main staircase making it extremely dangerous for unsuspecting passengers. They were also the same group playing on the elevators. We never did see them with any adults at any time. We saw a t-shirt that, in our opinion, explains the problem with many youngsters today. It reads, "My Dad is a boss, my Mother is his boss, I am their boss".

[Catnip]

Senga,

That t-shirt says it all!!! When I see these out-of-control kids on the cruise ship, I shake my head in amazement. It's clear that the parents have no control over their little darlings and the kids evidently "rule the roost" at home. I shudder to think what their home must be like, if the kids are so ill-mannered & out of control in public. EEK!

Another surprising thing I see a lot is the large number of kids that disrespect their parents and yell back at them. I've even seen some that will hit their parents.!! I could not beleive my eyes!! :eek: Talk about a little discipline needed...sheesh.

[1stimekruiser]

I cringe when I read this. And the sad thing is, it's the parent's fault that the kids act this way. Please don't flame me, but that is exactly the reason I always said a license should be required to have children. You should have to go through character evaluations and such before hand. They make you do this to adopt, why not for bearing your own? Hmmm?