Seabourn Encore NZ to South Pacifik on the 20th december with children

I’ll be on this cruise. At 40 and 38, DW and I thought WE might be the youngest guests on the ship...

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Sage advice provided by all.

We have nearly 300 days on SB and have only twice experienced children on board.

A 5 year old from Europe travelling with his mother - beautifully mannered and quite the young gentleman. We only saw him twice a day - at 5pm for 30 minutes to have a quick swim while his mother had a quick champagne before spiriting him off to dress for dinner, then seated in the dining room in his beautiful suit with mother. She kept him well away from other guests and would only have a quick conversation here and there with one eye on him. All day they would be in the conference room playing games or doing lessons.

The other was a toddler of about 2-3 who had the run of the ship and was into everything, closely supervised, but did raise more than eyebrows being put in the pool wearing a nappy and resulted in quite a kerfuffle with some "older" American passengers when she accompanied her parents into the club area at 6pm. The argument was about children and bars.

I would think you would be spending most of your time keeping the young one entertained. Having just spent this last weekend trapped indoors due to wet weather with two well behaved and reasonably self-entertaining 5 year olds due to wet weather (with their books, toys, dvds etc) and 4 adults to keep on eye on them - it was pretty exhausting!:o I wouldn't even think about Seabourn, but would investigate a line with kids activities so you can have a break as well.

Hope all the comments help with your decision.

Michaela - you asked and we've given you honest answers which evidently you don't like. It's nothing to do with "hating" children, in fact I'd say almost everyone is a loving parent or grandparent, and for that reason our advice may be worth heeding? If your child's needs come first then Seabourn is not the right choice because she will quickly become so bored that even laughing, jumping and playing won't keep her occupied for long, but it will antagonise other passengers, many of whom cruise to take a break from the considerable demands of being a parent. Since you will be your daughter's full time carer/entertainer it certainly won't be a relaxing vacation for you. If you're happy to accept that responsibility then go, it's your choice, but don't then complain that Seabourn doesn't provide for the needs of your child. This is why there will be few, if any, other children on board. There are plenty of alternative cruise lines which do a great job keeping kids busy and happy while you enjoy your holiday too.

Obviously Michaela wants to sail on Seabourn. For HER own pleasure, not that of her so coveted children. If they were her priority Seabourn would never even enter her mind.

I tend to agree with this, but did want to say it outright. As a mother and a grandmother, I just cannot imagine thinking that a Seaboard cruise was just the holiday magic my six year old needed. Our oldest grandson is now 8 years old. In recent discussions, we have decided to consider taking him to Washington DC when he is 12. A lot of this is common sense and making the travel experience fit the age and development of the child.

Last Year we were aboard for an 11 night cruise in the Med and there were 3 families. One had a 3 year old we rarely saw but the other two families monopolized the pool and spa with cartwheels and pool games much to the consternation of many guests.

One little girl was an "only" whose parents sought refuge in the poolside covered couch and rarely attended to their daughter- it was almost as if they were hoping to have "alone time" while she tried to meet everyone on deck- young or old. She was 5 years old- younger than the other children, and clearly bored.

I just don't understand the concept of children on this cruise line- gosh knows my husband and I spent many vacations in child and young-adult settings knowing that our daughter would have a great time and we need not worry about offending anyone. She is now grown and we have lots of time to indulge in adult-only vacations but at least we spent time with her in age- appropriate (and Fun) environments during her youth. My message is that children grow up quickly- enjoy them and let them enjoy their family time in the best setting.

Our last two Seabourn cruises were cursed with unruly children. First we had the “screaming Mexican kids” with mother, grandma and nanny to supposed look after the kids. It was awful, the mother had no respect for others despite many passengers and hotel management speaking to her.

Then this summer we endured the “Spanish armada” of large families with young children. Equally as awful. They took over the ship and pool. I was appalled at the pool deck “epicurean event” to see the kids putting their hands into the food stations and dropping the food back into the serving dishes. I told them not to do that, but the crew serving them stood by and smiled., doing nothing.

We will think carefully about booking another Seabourn cruise during summer or Holidays where there will be more children on board. No matter how cute and well behaved you think your young kids are...nobody thinks the same. Best to keep them off Seabourn and on another more appropriate cruise line or a different vacation where they will be happier.

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It's NEVER the kids' fault. As the OP said kids need to be allowed to be kids. It's ALWAYS the parents' fault, either for disregarding the needs of their kids in the first place by bringing them on a ship with no provided entertainment and distraction, or for ignoring the kids once onboard and allowing them to act out because they're bored.

Michaela,

I think that the crew will be most responsive and kind to your daughter. Assuming that she is charming and well behaved I think that you will also find some responsive fellow passengers.

You do need to anticipate a lack of child oriented activities but you may be quite interactive w her. Also there is no life guard for the pool so you will want to accompany her. On a recent luxury line cruise we saw a girl (perhaps about 8-9) doing her gymnastic routine between the ship rails...so there is a need for supervision as kids can do the darkest things!

The South Pacific is a pretty area. We rented a boat in Bora Bora and did a little fishing. The view from the water was fabulous. Have family fun wherever you go. Paula

of course that was 'darnest' things ,not darkest

So , are you booking the cruise ?

p.s. Boarding on Sunday in Miami , yee ha !

Here is my opinion if it matters.While we where aboard last month on Sojourn we called on Santa Barbara California.My son and three grand children ages 5,11,13 came on board for a visit.After a tour of the ship and great lunch in Colonade with pizza from Patio Grill the children were bored.The next few hours where spent in our Wintergarden suite

Watching Disney channel,they said they had fun time but “they wish we had a kids center or more fun things to do”.So make your decision based on the fact that it is not a product that is designed for the AVERAGE young person.These young people love to cruise,we have taken them on three cruises that cater to young people and they can’t wait to go again.Hope this will help you make the right decision based on your knowledge of your family.

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Having done 4 Christmas cruises now we've never seen a youth programme and the bridge players would go ballistic if you took away the card room :)

 

Leaving aside crew members children there have been times when Emily was the only one, last year on Encore there were maybe half a dozen or so teenagers. No child activities that I can remember.

 

Henry :)

We were on a Med cruise with quite a lot of youngsters and they converted one of the conference rooms on Deck 5.

I think it does take 'quite a lot of youngsters' for a Seabourn ship to be prepared to have a special room put aside for them, presumably with some input from staff.

We have never seen this happen, but have never been on board with more than probably 4 to 6 children max.

For what it's worth there are currently 2 young brothers(?) aged around 6-7 on the Odyssey in the Caribbean (review to follow). We've only seen them hanging out in the small pool on deck 5 Aft but never the main pool or elsewhere. I guess it's a measure of their good behaviour that they are so unobtrusive but their parents watch them like hawks!

For what it's worth there are currently 2 young brothers(?) aged around 6-7 on the Odyssey in the Caribbean (review to follow). We've only seen them hanging out in the small pool on deck 5 Aft but never the main pool or elsewhere. I guess it's a measure of their good behaviour that they are so unobtrusive but their parents watch them like hawks!

Their parents watching them like hawks is the key. Unfortunately, too many parents relinquish reponssibility for their kids' behavior one they board the ship.