Kid bashing

[lovelyladi]

Unfortunately I have seen drunk staggering kids, kids cutting in line, kids hogging and moving pool furniture, hogging and saving whole rows of seats in theaters, throwing people's possessions off chairs they wanted, throwing pool furniture cushions around and into pool, throwing soap (shampoo) in spas, babies in diapers in adult pools (had to be drained when diaper failed)...and children complaining about how they were treated.

 

I love well behaved children (was a teacher) but some of these kids must come from what we politely call disfunctional families.

 

We are trying a 12 day european summer cruise....we will see how it goes

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Actually, I have cruised on Disney several times and only saw one child not behaving. They have adults only pools and an adult only area on their private island and they strictly enforce it! The kids' programs are so good you have to drag your kids out of them. I have worse experiences on Carnival and on RCCL.

 

We too have had worse behaviour on Carnival than on Disney and that was from adults at the pool:eek: :eek: We haven't been on Carnival since and even my children wanted to tell them to grow up:D

[Julia’s Journey’s]

It's the Circle of Life!

 

You go from being an incontinent, dependent, toothless, annoying child to being an incontinent, dependent, toothless, annoying adult! With any luck, you'll have a few good years in between!:)

 

Luckily the first go round they don't get walking sticks - don't ask me how many times I was 'politly moved' out the way with a walking stick by one of those adults while on the SUN Princess:D :D :eek:

[traveling1969]

I am a father of two, a 10 yr old girl and a 14 yr old boy. We have been cruising with our children for the last 6 yrs. I have noticed alot of kid bashing not only on this forum but on the ships themselves. Now we have taught our children how to act in public and on every cruise we have taken,we have had fellow passengers comment on how well behaved our kids are. However, people that think they are above, better, more deserving or thinking that children should be seen and not heard is rediculous. On the Diamond in March while in the elevator with my daughter a older man was going on about the children, he said out loud that he will rebook a cruise when there are no children on board. As I left the elevator I told him I would rebook when there were no old people on board and he seemed offended.

The fact is on my most recent Diamond 15 day there were only 163 kids and you rarely felt they were on board. Sure there were times at the pool you could hear them playing. However I feel the older folks as a group are far more troublesome, I don;t mean to offend anyone but the fact is more of the older croud were rude to servers, complaining and in general thought they should be waited on hand and foot. Last year durring Easter while on the Diamond there were a record 900 kids on board and too be quite honest was a far better atmosphere on ship. The bottom line is my kids pay the same fare, gratuities and other amenities as anyone else and deserve a little respect!

Yeah, you almost had me agreeing with you there until you engaged in the same sort of generalization that prompted your thread in the first place ("However I feel the older folks as a group are far more troublesome...). Next time, look in the mirror before you post. :(

[sunsurf]

Luckily the first go round they don't get walking sticks - don't ask me how many times I was 'politly moved' out the way with a walking stick by one of those adults while on the SUN Princess:D :D :eek:

 

 

You may just be one of them when you grow up.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

You may just be one of them when you grow up.

 

I think I'm grown up and doubt I will be using a stick to abuse people when I get old!!!:D :D

[beauxdammit]

bjkTX. Sorry if I offended you, But what does one do with a critter that does not know how to behave?

[Kineticoh20]

You want to see grumpy. Have a pack of uncontrolled pre-teens pour a soft drink down the stairwell onto your tux. or maybe see you wife knocked off her feet by wildly running teenagers. or be waked at 2:00 AM by a bunch of kids racing down the hall banging on all the doors. or hear a untrained sixteen year old proposition an attractive girl from the staff. Grumpy!! You ain't seen nothing yet. Granted, well behaved young people are a real delight. I thoroughly enjoy their company. Granted, youngsters are full of exhuberance not available to my seven decade old body (maybe I'm jealous), but if you are bring your youngster on the ship, make sure he/she knows how to behave. Otherwise, leave him/her at home in the kennel.

 

:eek: you must be a real pip!

[Kineticoh20]

Pay the same fare as adults, but they don't get a dedicated regular sized pool for their use... although I've NEVER seen kids hog pool loungers...

 

Of course the children aren't embroiled in smoking politik either. :)

 

On a couple (single) occasions over 10 cruises, I've seen kids misuse elevators. On a couple occasions I've seen kids get TOO loud or unruly... I personally haven't seen in my cruise experience the more egregious complaints others report, but I think my experience is more typical than those reporters.

 

But I've seen adults blatently and offensively cut lines, stagger drunk, get boisterous, hog loungers and theater seats, berate staff, this pretty darned regularly. :(

 

So, to which 'group' should I exclaim "GROW UP!"??? ;)

 

 

DING,DING,DING We have a winner:D Best post so far.

[fireofficer5]

I use a grabbin' stick.

[we2cruze]

Although I do not consider myself elderly, I have to admit this is really puzzleing to me. Something doesn't make sense with those that think it is considered 'kid bashing' to tell of terrible experiences onboard with unruly, or unsupervised children, but in the same breathe they can bash the elderly and not bat an eye. :confused: :eek: :confused:

 

See below where I quoted myself. I said it before and I will say it again. Making mass generalizations about any group is being prejudiced and unfair.

 

I agree. I only take my kids to the pools where they're allowed. But on our last cruise we encountered people at the Calypso pool who complained that our kids were there. They weren't yelling, screaming, running or jumping. But they were occasionally laughing or giggling and let's face it: kids move faster than most adults even when walking. They're just naturally boisterous. IMHO if someone demands total peace and quiet at the pool, they need to go to one of the adults only pools, instead of sitting around grouching about the presence of kids where they're allowed.

--Junglejane

 

I so agree with this. Why would anyone go to the main pool and complain about the kids when there is an adults only pool available. (Assuming the kids are just playing normally and not misbehaving.)

 

Actually I have seen several threads about rude senior citizens. I don't know if the search function is working again yet, but when it is, look it up and you'll find them too.

I find that both the threads/attitudes about children and senior citizens being rude as a whole group are prejudiced and unfair. You will find rude and well mannered people in all age groups, with the exception of babies who have not learned to be rude or well mannered yet.

 

I've seen a few very harsh and uncalled for comments on this thread, but overall it's remained civil. I think placing children in a kennel and euthenizing senior adults are pretty ugly ideas. I hope you were kidding, but even if you were those are not nice things to say.

[pris993]

Obviously you are an exception.

 

Unfortunately, one does not have to look far and wide for examples of families and children who operate as though the world owes them something today.

 

We generally travel during off seasons - we avoid families and crowds. :)

[LCW]

Interesting discussion. Here's my 2 cents:

 

- I've been awakend 5 of 7 mornings on a cruise by a neighboring cabin's children screaming and banging the cabin door. This usually lasted until we got out of bed and told them to keep it down each day, if it helped at all.

 

- I've been knocked to the floor by a large 60+ lady who wanted to prevent me from catching the $1 beads thrown from the atrium balconies by the staff during "Madi Gras" night. Her friends blocked my husband from getting to me to help me up.

 

- I've had a late (after 9pm) romantic dinner ruined by a 1 year old kept up too late and screaching across the dinning room.

 

- I've had a elderly lady keep the entire tour waiting, then blame her tardiness on people of a difference racial background. She also called my husband a name I can't repeat here, because he didn't give up his seat for her because she didn't want the less desirable seat.

 

So, old or young doesn't really matter. Class and manners do. I admit, I booked the Alaska cruise for Sept because I wanted to minimize the chances of unruly kids. Unfortunately, you can't minimize the chances of unruly adults.

[beauxdammit]

kinetekoh20; Not only am I a pip, but also a Pop and Grand-Pop. I have raised seven kids and particpated in raising four grand-children, all of whom knew how to behave in public, were respectful to their elders, and could/can be taken into new social situations without fear. Should I not have that confidence they would have been left behind in the care of someone with the same set of standards that I have employed.

[JandD Mom]

Interesting discussion. Here's my 2 cents:

 

- I've been awakend 5 of 7 mornings on a cruise by a neighboring cabin's children screaming and banging the cabin door. This usually lasted until we got out of bed and told them to keep it down each day, if it helped at all.

 

- I've been knocked to the floor by a large 60+ lady who wanted to prevent me from catching the $1 beads thrown from the atrium balconies by the staff during "Madi Gras" night. Her friends blocked my husband from getting to me to help me up.

 

- I've had a late (after 9pm) romantic dinner ruined by a 1 year old kept up too late and screaching across the dinning room.

 

- I've had a elderly lady keep the entire tour waiting, then blame her tardiness on people of a difference racial background. She also called my husband a name I can't repeat here, because he didn't give up his seat for her because she didn't want the less desirable seat.

 

So, old or young doesn't really matter. Class and manners do. I admit, I booked the Alaska cruise for Sept because I wanted to minimize the chances of unruly kids. Unfortunately, you can't minimize the chances of unruly adults.

 

I love this post and think you hit the nail right on the head!

 

I too have had experiences both ways, though I didn't mind when a teenager told me I was "gorgeous" on my Grand cruise this past Easter week (alas, he was obviously kidding around). :p

 

We normally have no problem with the vast majority of people on cruises we have been on. However, there was one cruise when we experienced terrible, and uncalled for, bashing of our children.

 

The worst experience I had is when a couple (neither elderly nor young) next to our cabin (clearly marked a quad, so they should have known kids would be in it) called security literally any time we tried to take our children out on the balcony (they were 8 years old at the time, and we were always with them on the balcony). This included when we were on the balcony, at noon, as we were pulling into Nassau, and we were waiving and calling out to people on the ship birthed next to ours! We were responding to those people calling out to us:confused:

 

Of course, it was ok for them to be outside at midnight with their friends laughing and being rowdy!

 

I eventually had it and told the guest relations desk that security was to stop calling us, and tell those people to leave us alone, or there would be a problem. Guess what? Guest relations did tell them to leave our children alone, and Guest Relations did apologize to us.

 

FYI, this was on RCCL, not Princess!

[livsea2]

The problem with kids are not kids.....IT'S PARENTS; first, last and always. Parents who think they're on vacation so they let their kids run wild, parents who think their kids ____ don't stink so they don't correct them, parents who don't "believe in" disciplining their precious children, and parents who just don't give a damn about their kids. They (the parents) should be punished! They are the bigger problem than the kids.

[JandD Mom]

You are 100% correct!;)

[josetann]

Remember, the OP was upset because of a remark made towards his daughter, which presumably was not called for (i.e. she did nothing but stand in the elevator). This individual made the remark solely because the lady in question was a child. That's being prejudiced, call it age-ism if you like (like racism, but for a person's age). I think the remark the father made back was appropriate, even in front of his daughter. It's probably the way he'd want her to handle upsetting situations, so she's going to be able to follow his example. It's better than learning to punch the guy out. Plus, the elderly man did deserve it (he actually did something to the father and his daughter, he made them feel bad by the comment).

 

A lot of people stereotype others and probably don't realize it. Be careful what you say and how it's said. Saying that you've seen lots of old people be extremely rude is completely different than saying all old people are mean, rude, and grumpy. Saying that you don't like it when kids misbehave on a cruise by screaming, throwing stuff at you, etc. is different than saying kids have no place on a cruise and should be left at a kennel.

 

I feel the need to respond to some points made in this thread so I'll do so now, sorry I'm not quoting specific parts and am most likely going to hit things out of order.

 

For those who don't want to cruise with kids, that's fine. You should probably be looking at cruises geared solely for adults. I thought I had read about some ships that were adults-only, can't find the info now but they were definitely more expensive than the mainstream lines. Book longer cruises during the off-season. See if there's an Adults cruise you're interested in (like a theme cruise, kids are allowed but it's geared for adults only, so you shouldn't run into many kids).

 

Now, what happens if you book a longer cruise in the off-season and run into someone like me who brought along some kids? Just act like everything's fine unless we give you reason to think otherwise. Don't scream if you get seated with us, unless one of the kids actually does something to provoke that (our son is in the biting stage, but his mom gets the brunt of it and no we don't tolerate it). If you're annoyed, politely ask to be moved. If we have to hear the first part of the conversation, just say that you're going to see if your friends are at another table then when out of our ear-shot explain to the waiter that you don't want to be seated with us. Once in a pizza hut quite a while back (I don't think our son was even crawling yet) he was quite excited and a little loud (not too much so, but still). I noticed that an older couple was being seated behind us and then they quietly asked to sit elsewhere (I didn't hear the request, I simply saw them talk to the waitress and then they were seated elsewhere). Didn't bother us at all, and they didn't have to put up with our son's loud happiness. Win-win for all, no hurt feelings anywhere.

 

If you're in a public area (movies, restaurant, whatever) and you hear a child start to scream, don't get angry right off the bat. Allow for at least a minute or two to pass before loudly exclaiming that you wish you could watch the movie you paid for/eat your meal in peace/whatever. The parents are probably just trying to have a rare nice outing, and are already a bit frazzled. Give them a couple minutes to either calm the child down or leave.

 

If you're the parent in the above situation, do remember that others also paid to watch the movie/eat the meal/whatever. Yeah, it'd be nice if you could stay for the entire thing, but you're a parent now. Try to calm the child down quickly, if that doesn't work then take him/her outside. If he/she calms down, then go back in. If not then looks like you have to leave, sorry. Better luck next time. When on a cruise one of our party is designated as the one who has to leave with our son if he becomes unruly. I think it's only happened once because it was naptime. We paid for my younger sister (17 years younger in fact, she's a kid herself) to come on our last cruise so we could pass this responsibility on to her. Turns out it really wasn't needed, doh! He'll be nearly two for our next cruise, too bad for Nana if his terrible twos kicks in (sorry Nana!).

 

We've been on a Disney cruise, and believe it or not there just weren't a lot of unruly kids there. I think part of it is how they're setup. One entire deck is dedicated just for kids. They really know how to handle kids (come on, which would sound better if you were a kid, Disney or Camp Carnival?). They have areas which are basically kids only (even pools which adults aren't supposed to get in, though they can be next to it to supervise), family areas (again, a family pool is a great example) and lots of adults-only areas. Our son was only three months old at the time so we didn't do a lot of the adult-only stuff (we did go to Triton's twice, but left early twice; it's hard for a new mother to be away from her newborn for much more than a few minutes), but they really had something for everyone.

 

I think complaining about too many wheelchairs and scooters is just as bad if not worse as complaining about too many kids. Why worse? You might kinda be complaining about handicapped people. Now, complaining about all the people in scooters who were rude to you and would run you down, that's fine. Just saying you didn't like all the wheelchairs and scooters, that's wrong.

 

All the elderly folks upset that they're getting singled out, do you ever say things like "kids shouldn't be allowed on cruises" or in any way speak badly of kids in general (not counting speaking badly of a specific kid's specific actions)? While it's still no excuse to single you out...how do you feel with the tables turned? You know how your feel about these comments? That's how others feel with the comments you make.

 

Now, I've been on two cruises with my son, coming up on three in May (technically four since it's a B2B). All were longer cruises in the off-season. With the exception of something said on these forums once (in a roll-call), we've had no problems at all. First cruise he would just sit in his stroller during dinner, not like he was really mobile otherwise. Second cruise he had a ball eating at the restaurants, just make sure he has plenty of milk and food to play with. He was rarely fussy, and we had no complaints. Oh how it would have ruined a whole day if someone walked by and made a smart-**** remark! It took me a while to get over what was said in the roll-call thread. Basically someone said "since you asked" and went on as to why they wouldn't want to be in the room next to us and that a trans-atlantic cruise was no place for children. I never asked, and he had a great time and was very well behaved (as was my little sister, she went to the kids club a few times but mostly hung out with us, so I do know she didn't cause any trouble). Because of that one person's comments I'm not participating in our next B2B cruises' roll-call threads. Don't feel like people telling me off about taking a young kid to Alaska, how it's going to ruin their cruise, etc.

 

Anyways, just because someone's old or young doesn't automatically mean they're going to be rude, or grumpy, or whatever. Just wait and see how they act, give them a chance. We get along great with the older crowd if they give us a chance. Before we moved we'd have a standing Rook game every week with my Great Aunt. We can play dominoes no problem. Sometimes she'd have a friend over who was pretty old too (I think in her 90s) and we'd all have a blast. We also get along fine with younger kids, even before we had one ourselves (my younger sister is not the youngest sibling I have). I try not to assume anything about anybody.

 

In closing, I leave you with these images, taken on the cruise that at least one person thought kids had no place being on:

 

 

 

So in closing (/me hears loud applause, barely overshadowed by snoring), I'm going to take my kid(s) on lots of trips that may not be geared for kids. I'll make sure he's well-behaved and doesn't cause too much of a ruckus. If he's getting a bit loud where he shouldn't, I'll take care of it. If he's a bit loud in the pool, and he's allowed there, and especially if there's an adults-only pool, I may let him be a bit loud (as long as he's not yelling in anyone's ear, and I didn't say he could be rowdy). If you don't want to hear his loud happiness, then go somewhere where it's not allowed (like an adults-only area, inside where he'd be expected to be quiet, etc.). Likewise if we don't want to hear your conversation we'll move somewhere else, we'll make sure he's quiet where he's supposed to be, and will not let him run free in adults-only areas. Lastly, if he does happen to press multiple buttons on the elevator, I apologize. He's not quite two yet and isn't doing it to be mean. He's doing it for the same reason he loves light switches, he's curious and a bit amazed by buttons and all that they can do. We will nevertheless try to keep him from pressing multiple buttons.

 

The End.

 

Edit: Crap, didn't realize this thread had died a couple weeks ago. Seriously I found it while searching for "Sushi", I think it was a couple pages back (maybe some kid threw sushi?). I saw posts in April of this year...oh well. My bad.

[nabby]

I think this is one of those threads that refuses to die. ;)

 

Anyway, you sound like a great, responsible parent. I would have no problem being on a cruise with your family. I love watching kids having a great time. Everything is so new to them and I like seeing things from their viewpoint. I really do think it is up to the parents to keep things under control. From what I can tell, you do a great job. Happy cruising!

[bambidrummer]

People who do not like children should move to adult only communities and go on senior only cruises. Children are our future and we need to have more. My neighbor called the police on the neighborhood kids because they were playing hide and go seek and went behind her a/c unit in the front yard. Move out lady. There are a lot of nursing homes she can move into around here.

[jajohnson]

People who do not like children should move to adult only communities and go on senior only cruises. Children are our future and we need to have more. My neighbor called the police on the neighborhood kids because they were playing hide and go seek and went behind her a/c unit in the front yard. Move out lady. There are a lot of nursing homes she can move into around here.

 

Your attitude is exactly why we have threads like this.

[Toto2Kansas]

Your attitude is exactly why we have threads like this.

 

To me, this can go both ways. We once took our granddaughter on a cruise when she was 5. We choose a kids type of cruise, the Big Red Boat. I wanted HER to have the time of her life without having to have her cruise in an adult world. We all enjoyed it, it was great.

 

Now she is grown, when we take her again, it will be on a ship more gear towards adult activities, such as Princess.

 

From reading some responses, the parents cruise and take the children with them as they have no other choice in the matter. More and more posts are looking for childcare, babysitting, etc. Princess offers a great childrens area, but they lack in things like free drinks that kids would enjoy, connecting staterooms for families are very rare, etc. Personally, I would not sail on a cruise line that was geared towards adults as Princess was in the past, and still is to some extent. They are trying to accomodate for families now because of the cruising market. But they just haven't gotten it to the point where things like 24 hour ice cream, free drinks and adjoining cabins are offered. Kind of tells me something if I think of taking the younger grandkids on a ship.

IMHO of coarse!

[josetann]

People who do not like children should move to adult only communities and go on senior only cruises. Children are our future and we need to have more. My neighbor called the police on the neighborhood kids because they were playing hide and go seek and went behind her a/c unit in the front yard. Move out lady. There are a lot of nursing homes she can move into around here.

Your attitude is exactly why we have threads like this.

 

I agree with the first half of bambidrummer's post. If you don't like kids, there are plenty of senior communities. Just make sure the community is truly a senior-only community, just because only seniors live there now doesn't mean one might move out and a young family move in. Also don't try to move into a community and run out any young people there just so you can make it a senior community. Feel free to make an offer on their house so they'll sell and move out (and then you can make it senior-only), but don't take it too far (I haven't had any of this happen to me, but I've heard too many stories).

 

And your neighbor calling the police if that's all the kids really did was a little over the top, I agree. However she was in the right, and the kids need to learn to stay off her property if that's what she wants. If I didn't want kids tearing up my yard and had already said something to some parents about it (and nowadays, some parents would overreact and take it out on me instead of telling their kids they're not allowed in my yard) I might end up calling the police. Doesn't mean I should pack up and go to a nursing home. And I shouldn't be required to put up a fence to keep people out, though personally that's probably what I'd do instead of causing a scene with the cops.

[iancal]

Never had a problem with children or teenagers on a cruise. But we never cruise during spring break(s), vaction times such as Christmas, Easter, or summer (exception is the Alaska cruise). To my knowledge, Princess does not have any rules about age limits, eagerly accept the bookings, and appear to have some marketing campaigns directed at families. Sure we have seen the odd ill behaved person....in all age categories.

[Moons31]

I'm going to skip the 10 plus pages of comments and just put my 2 cents in. We've taken too many cruises to keep track of. Some with a ton of kids and some with I swear with none. I believe its how these kids are taught respect and manners. We are childless and no longer cringe when we see children on board. I wish all kids behaved as well as we've witnesssed on a cruises. Just my 2 cents.