Children misbehaving on Voyager

3 months have passed since this cruise and still no contact from RCI. This was an absolutely dreadful example of RCI's onboard security just not caring about the safety of its elderly passengers. We were confronted by what can only be described as a gang of roughly 10+ children aged from about 9-16 who made the cruise an absolute misery. It was impossible to watch the 10pm late night movie as these children quite deliberately yelled, swore and carried on in and around the pools and spas. They would come down en masse and take over the spas either not letting others in or making it impossible to remain in the spa. Many people gave up watching the movies due to the noise and intimidation. Elderly passengers in particular were sworn at if they asked for quiet or were intimidated in other ways. The situation escalated after several of us complained to Security. The group would literally surround us in the Theatre, sitting next to us, behind and in front of us, constantly talking and making disgusting comments about the elderly. One elderly passenger was 'accidently' hit in the back of the head, another was threatened with a bashing while an elderly couple were jostled causing the woman to fall over. There were many,many like incidents. This group roamed the ship at all hours with no regard to a curfew. Several reports were made to Guest Services who contacted Security. We saw a Security Officer sitting at the bar across from GS and asked him about curfew times. We were told there was no curfew which is not what was advertised in the Cruise Compass. After a few more incidents we got to talk to the 'suit' Security who told us that they had already spoken to the parents and were too busy with other incidents onboard to be able to monitor the situation as they didn't regard it as a high priority. Eventually, on the last 2 nights, Security did start taking some notice but many of us were still harassed by having our photos taken, being followed around the ship and even being abused by one of the parents. I want to point out that there were some lovely children onboard who absolutely did the right thing. I was extremely unhappy with the ineffectiveness and uncaring attitude of the Voyager's security team. Some of them actually seemed sacred of the group of children. My safety, and that of other elderly passengers, was compromised by the inability of the Security staff to control the behaviour of this group. Why was that?

I am sorry this happened to you and fellow passengers. Not really sure what you expect RCCL to do though.

Thank you. What we wanted was for Security to enforce the curfew and take our complaints seriously. They told us that they had spoken to the parents so there was nothing else they could do. The lady who was knocked over was quite frail and in her 80s.

That's awful. Especially shameful if other passengers failed to jump in and correct the kids and protect the older folks.

Probably best thing you can do next time is avoid cruising in summer and during the spring break season.

Can't beat an early January cruise when out of 3,000 passengers, only 200 are kids. ;)

What horrible little ****es! They should have been either locked in their cabins or the whole family put off the ship at the next port.

I would be horrified if my child even considered behaving like that.

I am sorry this happened to you and fellow passengers. Not really sure what you expect RCCL to do though.

If it was a group of older people causing trouble they would have been kicked off, and yes I have seen if happen.

RCCL have a duty towards all passengers.

Sorry that you had an issue on your vacation. There is no excuse for poor behavior like you mentioned.

In the future you may want to consider going when most children are in school and less likely to be on a cruise. We typically go right after Thanksgiving and have had really great trips. Our 8 night cruise last year in December on the Navigator had 165 children on board. Longer cruises in non peak times are the best for a great relaxing vacations.

Its too bad Royal did not address the problems you mentioned properly. It also should not have been an issue if children where taught to be respectful to the elderly.

Hope you have better luck in the future.

If it was a group of older people causing trouble they would have been kicked off, and yes I have seen if happen.

 

RCCL have a duty towards all passengers.

Oh, I agree...which is why we usually travel September/October. Hardly any kids at this time of year. :eek:

If it was a group of older people causing trouble they would have been kicked off, and yes I have seen if happen.

 

RCCL have a duty towards all passengers.

I agree. Doesn't this type of behavior violate the guest code of conduct?

Lucky for us I have never seen anything like this in my 60 cruises, but we stopped cruising in summer and holidays years ago.

Serious question...could they have gone to security and swore out a criminal complaint? What does international law say about threats of violence.

I know in the US, it is referred to as a terroristic threat. I also know from personal experience, law enforcement takes them very seriously...especially when kids are involved.

If the elderly passenger had been injured after security was notified of the actions of the "gang" seems the line would be liable for any damages (medical treatment, shore excursions missed, etc.) given THEIR security team did virtually nothing.

I am sorry this happened to you and fellow passengers. Not really sure what you expect RCCL to do though.

Enforce their own rules!

Sorry that you had an issue on your vacation. There is no excuse for poor behavior like you mentioned.

 

In the future you may want to consider going when most children are in school and less likely to be on a cruise. We typically go right after Thanksgiving and have had really great trips. Our 8 night cruise last year in December on the Navigator had 165 children on board. Longer cruises in non peak times are the best for a great relaxing vacations.

 

Its too bad Royal did not address the problems you mentioned properly. It also should not have been an issue if children where taught to be respectful to the elderly.

 

Hope you have better luck in the future.

Sorry...if we want to take a cruise we will take it when we want. If the employees of the line refuses to do their job properly then we will deal with the line, take our business elsewhere in the future and let as many people as possible now at least some representatives of the company do not take passenger safety seriously.

I refuse to be a whimp. While I won't be the type of guest to make unreasonable request/demands...I will insist that the company honor their commitment to us and their employees do their d@mn job.

This is a harrowing story as it would seem this band of mistfits stalked you (or you stalked them ) as they were everywhere you were throughout the entire cruise and you were present to witness their disruptive behavior across the ship.

What a shame security didn't do more to protect those involved.

I'm very sorry this happened. There were probably a couple bad, but influential seeds, that brought down the group.

My GUESS is that security gets lots of complaints during spring break and likely didn't see, until too late, that the situation was worse than usual. How horrible these parents were - but, I guess it shows that the apple doesn't fall far. Like someone said, sounds like they should have been confined to their cabin.

Hoping this doesn't happen to anyone again. Perhaps taking video would have shown security how bad the situation was.

I was on a New Year's Eve cruise once, (never..ever again! :eek:) when a group of

children ranging from age 8-12 were parading around and around in the WJ while

folks were trying to eat. This was two days before New Year's Eve and at 8 in the evening.

One child was constantly blowing on his noisy New Year's Eve horn and shouting with

the others when they passed our table again, once again making it impossible to carry on

a conversation. Having had enough I shouted to the darling child "Enough!! Please save

that for New Year's Eve". He stopped, glared at me, turned to come toward me....when

most of the diners in that part of the WJ stood up, clapped, and cheered.

The young man and his gang slunk out of the WJ. I watched to see if he or any of his

gang would rejoin his parents in there, but they continued straight out. Parents were

apparently unaware of their behavior, or just did not care. :( Sad.

I did take a bow and wave to my adoring fans. ;) :D

This is a harrowing story as it would seem this band of mistfits stalked you (or you stalked them ) as they were everywhere you were throughout the entire cruise and you were present to witness their disruptive behavior across the ship.

 

What a shame security didn't do more to protect those involved.

We most certainly did not stalk these children. The problems occurred during the evenings when they seemed to have little to do. We weren't even a group travelling together. We became aware of one another's situations as we were at the same venues or met at Guest Services while reporting incidents. We were the 'oldies' that refused to 'hide' in our cabins as some chose to do.

As a couple without kids, I'm right with you on the demon children. Yuck. Hate it. Really hate the parents that refuse to control or even believe their precious little snowflakes could do wrong.

My only questions are...

1. What are you waiting on? It's been 3 months. Let it go or take action yourself. Poop or get off the pot, as my great-grandmother used to say.
   
2. What are you expecting? A personal apology? Free stuff? A notice of policy change? A training video?
   
3. How does this translate to your wallet? Have you stopped cruising with Royal? Are you letting your $$$ show your displeasure?
   

We most certainly did not stalk these children. The problems occurred during the evenings when they seemed to have little to do. We weren't even a group travelling together. We became aware of one another's situations as we were at the same venues or met at Guest Services while reporting incidents. We were the 'oldies' that refused to 'hide' in our cabins as some chose to do.

So sorry for your experience. In Florida that would be considered ELDER ABUSE which is a crime. For future reference, don't waste your time with Guest Services. Demand to meet with Hotel Director, Head of Security, Head of Guest Services and if all else fails, speak with the Captain. I know you are supposed to follow the "chain of command" from bottom to top, but I find it much more effective to start at the top and work down.

I have seen out of control children on cruises but fortunately have not had a negative experience like you. I taught grades 7 thru 12 for 30 years and have little or no tolerance for children who do not behave in public. As a super senior citizen this is an example of out of control children and agree Security did not do the job they are paid to do, protect all passengers.

We most certainly did not stalk these children. The problems occurred during the evenings when they seemed to have little to do. We weren't even a group travelling together. We became aware of one another's situations as we were at the same venues or met at Guest Services while reporting incidents. We were the 'oldies' that refused to 'hide' in our cabins as some chose to do.

There is no reason you should be hiding in your cabin, or having to deal with people behaving badly, children or not.

I'm all for kids being on cruises, it's a great way for families to vacation together. BUT, they have to behave appropriately. I don't expect kids to act like older people, they're kids, but I DO expect them to act like well behaved kids, and that by any measure is not appropriate behavior. We take our DD on many cruises, and she knows that if she acted like that she would be grounded, lose her electronics, and be sitting with granny and papa at home with future cruises.

It's sad RCL didn't respond to complaints sooner and take care of it. I get they probably do get a lot of "annoyance" complaints during busy seasons, but that's beyond an annoyance and into harassment. If the parents are told and can't control them, then they all need to be sent packing. Maybe they'll learn to control them while trying to get home from a foreign port.

As a couple without kids, I'm right with you on the demon children. Yuck. Hate it. Really hate the parents that refuse to control or even believe their precious little snowflakes could do wrong.

 

My only questions are...

1. What are you waiting on? It's been 3 months. Let it go or take action yourself. Poop or get off the pot, as my great-grandmother used to say.
   
2. What are you expecting? A personal apology? Free stuff? A notice of policy change? A training video?
   
3. How does this translate to your wallet? Have you stopped cruising with Royal? Are you letting your $$$ show your displeasure?
   

What we were told is that Head Office would be appraised of the situation and that we would receive acknowledgement of our complaints. This was offered to reassure us that Royal Caribbean was taking the matter seriously. What we're expecting is that acknowledgement. We haven't booked any further cruises with this line. We'll forgo our Diamond+ and try another line. i can't speak for the others.

Enforce their own rules!

No reason to jump on me. It was a legitimate question. This happened 3 months ago and I wanted to know what the OP expected to be done now.

No reason to jump on me. It was a legitimate question. This happened 3 months ago and I wanted to know what the OP expected to be done now.

Not jumping. Merely explaining :)

Not jumping. Merely explaining :)

No no no. I wasn't speaking to you. I was speaking to the person I quoted. I feel terrible you and fellow pax had to endure this.

I am sorry this happened to you and fellow passengers. Not really sure what you expect RCCL to do though.

I would expect security personnel to enforce rules. Harassing other cruisers to the extend of causing someone to fall and verbally abusing them must be serious enough to warrant being put off ship if parents refuse to co-operate in controlling the children. Bullies. Wonder how many peers they make miserable at school and on social media?