Holland America Deluxe Verendah vs Regent and Alcohol Policy

[cusyl]

We cruised last November on the Regent Navigator. There were a few children onboard, but they had no room of their own or organized activities. Everytime I saw the children they were in the library playing board games.

I believe that all drinks were included, at least the wine that we drank was. We loved being able to take most of our meals in our cabin from the TV dining room menu. Also, a smaller ship and not as many passengers was a plus.

We have sailed on HAL in the veranda suites several times and there is no comparison.

[Travelcat2]

We cruised last November on the Regent Navigator. There were a few children onboard, but they had no room of their own or organized activities. Everytime I saw the children they were in the library playing board games.

 

Was your cruise during school vacation? The Navigator can handle children, but, is the least equipped to do so of the three ships. When children play board games in the library, they are right next to the computer room -- both places are typically "quiet" areas to read, etc.

 

I remain puzzled as to why people go on a luxury cruise ship with almost nothing to do (again, except during school breaks) when they can be on a ship (HAL for instance) with wonderful facilities for both adults and children.:confused:

[pvgal]

I must say that I love kids. Have two grown daughters and four wonderful grandchildren. We have taken the two older granddaughters on two cruises. One Disney, which is the best for kids, and one Carnival which did a terrific cruise for them. I feel that when a parent wants to take children on a Regent cruise, they are only thinking of themselves. There is a time and place for children and Regent is not one of them. If you want to sail with children, then choose a line that has the facilities for them. RCCL is terrific for children. Granted there will be lots of people on those ships, but what is your purpose? A great vacation for you or wonderful memories for your children? Think about it.

[RachelG]

Actually some kids are different--my sons loved quiet times, eating really nice food in nice surroundings, visiting interesting and historical places. They never liked all the loud rambunctious behaviour. They liked (and still enjoy) reading books and being around adults, provided the adults were nice. We have had some great cruises on Regent (and Radisson). But they were taught how to behave appropriately from an early age. Now they are young adults, but they still prefer an excellent meal to one of less quality, and they can tell the difference. They would have tolerated Disney, but they would have hated Carnival.

[Travelcat2]

I have seen children like yours on Regent. In fact, on the last night, we had to go to their table to compliment them. This is a very unusual situation (but, one that I wish were more common). Still, I prefer children not being on cruises when school is in session:)

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I've had almost uniformly great experiences with the few children who have been on cruises with me. Well behaved, friendly, quiet. The exception was our second PG trip, which was over Easter, with about 10 kids, who weren't bad at all, but hogged the tiny pool for the whole week. It just showed how little there was for them to do on board--they just played in the pool, when they weren't off on excursions. But I don't mind having a few kids around, no matter the time of year.

[RachelG]

I agree, Travelcat--you wouldn't have seen mine on a cruise when their school was in session because they would have been in school. Travel is educational, but they need to go to school also. However, some schools have really weird schedules. My oldest son went to one that had a whole week off in fall for teacher conferences and big arts festival thing, so we often went on vacation then--cheaper airfares and less crowds then too.

[PaulaJK]

Joeohl,

I was in the room category you describe on Oosterdamn for a New Year's cruise about 4 years ago. As another poster noted, the attire and behavior of many of the guests was below expectations. Food was just ok, better in the Pinnacle. Service stretched too thin. Loads of kids, many of them running around unsupervised, shrieking into their walkie talkies.

 

Regent offers a far more upscale package, in all respects..........although as noted, there will probably be few offerings for your children. If they are in the middle ages, the Mariner's Club,if offered,may keep them partially occupied with games, supervised pool games, treasure hunts,etc.

 

Some people don't like children on their vacations...most respond positively to nicely behaved kids.