Children on board ** Able Seaman H **

It's my understanding that children aren't a common occurrence on board but I'm imagining, it's more common during the summer months?

A little confused by your thread title.

Do you only want to hear from Henry (Able Seaman H) or do you also want replies from others who have sailed on Seabourn, especially during the summer months ?

Look at June or September onwards and you will find fewer children, July and August short cruises are more popular with families.

A little confused by your thread title.

 

Do you only want to hear from Henry (Able Seaman H) or do you also want replies from others who have sailed on Seabourn, especially during the summer months ?

I'm happy to hear from everyone; it's just that I know Henry has a child from his previous posts (we are bringing our tween on the trip).

Hi there

We have never had "loads" of other youngsters on board and in some cases none but a med cruise during Summer holiday time will usually result in a few others being on board.

Work on the assumption there will be none and no specific youth based activities, that way anything provided will be a bonus. Assume it's family time rather than a mainstream cruise where the kids run off to the kids club and you never see them again.

Seabourn guests can be right grumpy old sods sometimes - and yes, I am a Seabourn guest :) so if your youngster runs round screaming their head off you won't win many friends. However, if as in our case your youngster is happy to sit down for dinner in a more formal setting and talk to adults then you will have a great time.

Staff will go out of their way to make sure youngsters have a good time providing they behave themselves and aren't upsetting guests. This is particularly the case with the entertainment staff, we have always finished our cruises knowing the singers and dancers well :) If they are badly behaved then the staff are caught between a rock and a hard place.

There are loads of board games in the card room and lots of spaces during the day to settle down and play them. Some cruise directors cope with youngsters better than others.

In our case Emily was probably 12 on her first SB cruise and there have been times when we've cruised SB than taken another form of holiday at her request. We certainly aren't "dragging" her onboard with us :)

Being a keen dancer she enjoys the shows. She also enjoys the Trivia when on odd occasions she has pulled one out of the bag for the team.

Hope that is of use.

Henry :)

Yes and thank you! Sounds like we'll do just fine as our tween has always been in grown up situations and venues but it definitely helps to have things like games available and staff that are especially nice.

The staff will be great so no worries on that score :)

The hostility pointed towards kids & Seabourn sometimes shown on these threads isn't reflected on the ship its self, but then to be fair that could be said of many topics.

The only time Ems suffered discrimination that I can immediately recall was whilst popping into the card room to get a board game. That was probably more a reflection of factions within the Bridge playing community though. Having ventured into that dark world on a previous cruise my eyes were opened :)

If there's anything specific you need then just ask.

For us Seabourn has worked well with a youngster and I know others feel the same because we meet the same families year on year.

Henry :)

Our daughter has sailed Seabourn since she was 12 months old. On our next cruise she will turn 18! The worst treatment she has ever received was a few eye rolls:rolleyes: on embarkation day. Being well behaved she blended in and most passengers were complimenting us by the end of the cruise. Regarding bridge, she decided to learn whilst onboard, so now she plays competitively with those passengers. Meanwhile we have never bothered with bridge ourselves and instead concentrate our talents on testing the skill of the Sky Bar bartenders. However, we all play trivia together so sea days are our favorite!!!

We have just finished our cruise on the Ovation. On the first leg there was a little boy about 2 years old with an extended family group. He was perfectly behaved every where and a great favourite with the crew. In fact, it was a joy to see him. On the second leg, a little girl about 7 was with her mother in the pool. She was also perfectly behaved.

I'm happy to hear from everyone; it's just that I know Henry has a child from his previous posts (we are bringing our tween on the trip).

Ok thanks Glittery, I wasn't sure if you were looking for only Henry's input.

There have been children on several of my SB cruises, all ages from babies up.

The one that stands out to me is a Stockholm to Copenhagen cruise in early June which had lots of school age children from the U.S onboard, including two large family groups. "Lots" here meaning by usual Seabourn numbers. Many European countries begin summer break later than the U.S, usually mid July, so there will be fewer European chidren of school age in June.

Outside of the peak times (holiday cruises and July/Augsust) it's quite difficult to predict so Henry's advice to work on the assumption that there will be no other children on board is good advice.

This is all great and very reassuring. Thank you, everyone!

texanaust - I'm impressed your daughter learned to play Bridge! My grandmother was apparently quite the bridge shark and my mom plays but it seems very intense to me.

Henry - Yes, Bridge is a serious world! I play Mah Jong (mediocrely) and it's a very different feel ... and can be quite loud! My tween is quite good at Mah Jong though so maybe if there's a game they'll accept me as her side kick (=