Kidless Cruises

[twoputt.plusone]

I find it interesting that no one seems to think it is insulting that the replies to the OP are somewhat "kid bashing" yet the comment about "older" cruisers sparked a reaction.

 

I'm not kid-bashing by any means. Been there, done that, don't want to deal with other people's kids. While I agree that the vast majority of kids are well behaved, I personally believe that there are venues where they don't belong. Yes your little angel may be well behaved but there are certain places where they don't belong and aren't appreciated.

[ChiMimi69]

Sorry, I got a bit worked up but, I can't help it sometimes. :( It just really burns me to see that people mind having kids around as if it was the WORST possible thing that can ruin one's vacation. 

 

Well, for some of us: it is the worst possible thing. Sorry it that "burns you" but different strokes, for different folks.

 

No worries LadyQuasi! Guess what!?! I just booked the Liberty for 10/17. Isn't that the one your going on??? I'll make sure my little one gets extra sugar at breakfast! :eek::D:cool:

[ryano]

I dont have children but I guess I will never understand the child "hatred" that abounds in this particular forum when Royal Caribbean is clearly a cruiseline that caters to families. :confused:

 

Im just a newbie at this cruising thing but I am much more annoyed by ADULTS that choose to drink themselves into a drunken stupor and then make "bible word for donkey" out of themselves than I am any child I have encountered on board.

 

If you dont like kids, then "why not" choose a cruiseline that does not cater to them? :confused: Seems pretty simple to me.

[ChiMimi69]

I understand, really, My DD is now a single parent and the prices for her to go in school holidays are well out of her reach, its scandalous how much they hike it up, like I said, thats another story alltogether, best not get started on it, LOL.;)

 

You'll get no argument from me on that topic my dear! :)

[ChiMimi69]

I dont have children but I guess I will never understand the child "hatred" that abounds in this particular forum when Royal Caribbean is clearly a cruiseline that caters to families. :confused:

 

Im just a newbie at this cruising thing but I am much more annoyed by ADULTS that choose to drink themselves into a drunken stupor and then make "bible word for donkey" out of themselves than I am any child I have encountered on board.

 

If you dont like kids, then "why not" choose a cruiseline that does not cater to them? :confused: Seems pretty simple to me.

 

 

DITTO!! Did you read this post LadyQuasi?

[LadyQuasi]

No worries LadyQuasi! Guess what!?! I just booked the Liberty for 10/17. Isn't that the one your going on??? I'll make sure my little one gets extra sugar at breakfast! :eek::D:cool:

 

Hehe. I sat beside 2 tables of monsters in the MDR in the 6 cruises I've been on and asked to be changed locations ASAP and were quite happy after this. After that, the parents of the "little angels" gave us dirty looks all week long. We just giggled and waved.

[LadyQuasi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryano

I dont have children but I guess I will never understand the child "hatred" that abounds in this particular forum when Royal Caribbean is clearly a cruiseline that caters to families. :confused:

 

Im just a newbie at this cruising thing but I am much more annoyed by ADULTS that choose to drink themselves into a drunken stupor and then make "bible word for donkey" out of themselves than I am any child I have encountered on board.

 

If you dont like kids, then "why not" choose a cruiseline that does not cater to them? :confused: Seems pretty simple to me.

 

 

DITTO!! Did you read this post LadyQuasi?

 

I did. If I was seated beside a drunken lout I would ask to change locations, the same as if I was seated beside screaming hellions. What's your point? Neither are acceptable.

[Traveling Bob]

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough, but many seem to have missed the point of my original post. I didn't say that there were no children on Oceania or Seabourn. There were. It is just that there was nothing to complain about. They swam in the pool, went to the shows, ate in the dinning room and could even hold a conversation. Most of the time, they were in the company of their parents, but not always. In fact, we even sought them out to enter the trivia contests with us because they knew all of the pop entertainment answers!

 

My point was that you don't have to go on cruises that bar children; you can find those that have great kids on board. And furthermore, many times it's the parents lack of supervision that allows some kids to run amuck. The former seems to be the norm on lines that don't cater to children and the latter on lines that do.

[ChiMimi69]

Hehe. I sat beside 2 tables of monsters in the MDR in the 6 cruises I've been on and asked to be changed locations ASAP and were quite happy after this. After that, the parents of the "little angels" gave us dirty looks all week long. We just giggled and waved.

 

Again, no worries! If I happen to sit next to someone like you, I wouldn't think twice about it. :cool: I'm on vacation and in my own zone. Not at all worried about who's sitting beside me today and not there tomorrow. I just don't care enough about that (or people like you) to notice. So, you won't have to worry about getting dirty looks from me. :p

[crusinmama06]

I dont have children but I guess I will never understand the child "hatred" that abounds in this particular forum when Royal Caribbean is clearly a cruiseline that caters to families. :confused:

 

Im just a newbie at this cruising thing but I am much more annoyed by ADULTS that choose to drink themselves into a drunken stupor and then make "bible word for donkey" out of themselves than I am any child I have encountered on board.

 

If you dont like kids, then "why not" choose a cruiseline that does not cater to them? :confused: Seems pretty simple to me.

 

YES! Even a cruising NEWBIE gets it! I am very proud of you. :D You have grasped a concept that seems to escape even the most veteran cruiser.

 

Do you see Celebrity in my signature? No? Really? Why is that? Could it be that there is no H20 zone. No rock wall. No cartoon characters running around (Shek, anyone). No ice skating rink. No pirate parade through the promenade and into the main theatre.

 

Do you see Freedom and Independence in my signature? Why?

 

Because THOSE things are on those ships. So my kids are on THOSE ships. Helloooooo Lady Quasi...don't do Liberty of the Seas and then COMPLAIN ABOUT KIDS! :eek:

 

That would be like going to McDonalds and complaining because they didn't serve you a WHOPPER WITH CHEESE! Wake up and smell the targeted demographic. :p

[amybeth4]

Again, no worries! If I happen to sit next to someone like you, I wouldn't think twice about it. :cool: I'm on vacation and in my own zone. Not at all worried about who's sitting beside me today and not there tomorrow. I just don't care enough about that (or people like you) to notice. So, you won't have to worry about getting dirty looks from me. :p

 

I am NOT trying to start anything with you Mimi, I'm just curious about your statement.

 

Do you mean that if you're at a table in the MDR with strangers and your kid starts running around in circles (don't come back with, "he'd never do that," I'm just using an example here), or banging on the table, you wouldn't care about the people at your table and how your kid is annoying them?

 

OR are you saying you WOULD tell your kid to stop annoying everyone around him, but if the others at the table decided to change, you wouldn't care about the fact that they changed?

 

Just wondering which one..

[ChiMimi69]

I did. If I was seated beside a drunken lout I would ask to change locations, the same as if I was seated beside screaming hellions. What's your point? Neither are acceptable.

 

My point? If you don't want to deal with the latter, it looks to me that you're outta place on RCCL. On a "Family" oriented cruise line, I don't think you'll have much luck avoiding the "hellions"! But, good luck trying! :rolleyes:

[ryano]

. We just giggled and waved.

 

how cute...........so in other words, you acted rather "childish" about the whole situation?

 

nice!

 

lol

[amybeth4]

Boy is this a touchy subject that's going a bit overboard (pun intended).

 

I'm not a fan of kids and I wanted to KILL the 5-yo in the pool on the Majesty who would NOT STOP SCREAMING (in THE most high-pitched voice), "MIRA, MIRA MIRA MIRA, DAAAAAADY" even though daddy was 2 feet from her...

 

I hated the teens on the Liberty who walked into me and COMPLETELY ignored me because they were never taught to say, "excuse me," or I'm sorry, and just congregated on the stairs.

 

I hate the 13-yo on the Youtube video who spent god-knows-how-long riding up and down the centrum elevator with his friend videotaping everyone who got on the elevator and screamed, "How y'all enjoying y'all's creeeooooooze?!" Clearly annoying 75% of the people.

 

I LOVED sitting in the adults-only solarium on the Enchantment and watching a pile of kids come at my friend and me because they were in the middle of a scavenger hunt and needed us to do something for them.

 

I LOVED the two kids who were under 12 at my MDR table on some ship years ago.

 

I LOVED the kid who had problems with the Sprinkles machine and I helped him and he said thank you.

 

It's not kids...it's kids who are bored or have crappy manners.

[amybeth4]

how cute...........so in other words, you acted rather "childish" about the whole situation?

 

nice!

 

lol

 

lol :)

[crusinmama06]

I am NOT trying to start anything with you Mimi, I'm just curious about your statement...

 

Amy...

 

I'll answer, I once was waiting for Adventure Ocean counselors to load the kids into elevator after the Pirate Parade when 2 older women stepped out of the adjacent elevator. One look at the other and said "I came on this cruise to get away from THAT and here they are!"

 

So I responded "Funny, I came on this cruise to get away from cranky old biddies and yet, here YOU are!"

 

The kids were doing nothing, the counselors were loading them onto an elevator, yet that woman felt the need to make a snide comment -- for no reason.

 

The reason I tell this story is, it goes both ways.

 

If my children are misbehaving -- and with my youngest-- there WILL be times, I will remove her from the situation immediatly. I will not allow her to bother another diner. She is not allowed to get up from her seat -- period. So it would never escalate to the point where another person would feel the need to move. Ever.

 

But some feel that the mere presence of a child is enough to interupt their meal -- that is ridiculous. :rolleyes:

[LadyQuasi]

Originally Posted by LadyQuasi

I did. If I was seated beside a drunken lout I would ask to change locations, the same as if I was seated beside screaming hellions. What's your point? Neither are acceptable.

My point? If you don't want to deal with the latter, it looks to me that you're outta place on RCCL. On a "Family" oriented cruise line, I don't think you'll have much luck avoiding the "hellions"! But, good luck trying!

 

Actually we did enjoy the cruises tremdendously. We acted to remove the annoyances and were quite pleased. If we hadn't been, obviously, we wouldn't return. Better that than to take it all week and then complain endlessly about how cruises are horrible. And trust me when I say that RCI doesn't think I'm out of place on their ship (what with the excursions, bar tabs and speciality restaurants). It's family oriented: I'm sure you'll be surprised to find that my husband and I ARE in fact a family even though we have no kids at this point.

 

Anyways, I'm just about done with this topic. To sum up my points, in my opinion, the original poster didn't commit a sin by asking about childless cruises. And if it does "burn you" that kids disturb some people, well, welcome to a free world. I have to sit next to ill-behaved kids in planes, and you have to deal with dirty looks. 'Tis our lot in life, Mabel!

[amybeth4]

Amy...

 

I'll answer, I once was waiting for Adventure Ocean counselors to load the kids into elevator after the Pirate Parade when 2 older women stepped out of the adjacent elevator. One look at the other and said "I came on this cruise to get away from THAT and here they are!"

 

So I responded "Funny, I came on this cruise to get away from cranky old biddies and yet, here YOU are!"

 

The kids were doing nothing, the counselors were loading them onto an elevator, yet that woman felt the need to make a snide comment -- for no reason.

 

The reason I tell this story is, it goes both ways.

 

If my children are misbehaving -- and with my youngest-- there WILL be times, I will remove her from the situation immediatly. I will not allow her to bother another diner. She is not allowed to get up from her seat -- period. So it would never escalate to the point where another person would feel the need to move. Ever.

 

But some feel that the mere presence of a child is enough to interupt their meal -- that is ridiculous. :rolleyes:

 

I completely see your point and I agree with you. The old biddies were just rude. (BTW I wasn't being sarcastic when I pointed out that I loved being in the adults-only solarium and having kids come at us...not that you said you thought I WAS...but I wanted to clear it up because it looks sarcastic. My point was I was in an area to get away from screaming kids at the pool and the kids that came up to us were fabulous and so excited that we wanted to help them.)

 

I CAN see, however, people walking to their MDR table and saying, "Damn, there are kids here." My friend and I did it on the Liberty when we saw 2 teenagers. But it wasn't because we thought they'd be annoying (they were VERY sweet). It was because there's much less availability of conversation when you have two parents with their two kids, whatever age they are.

 

When I sat with the two much younger kids (and it was at late seating) the kids and their parents were beyond great. But my conversation with an 8-yo boy is much different than an adult, and I DID miss that. So yes, I would go, "Damn" if I saw kids at my table, but obviously I wouldn't change...unless they were running around the table, LOL.

[Jo2310]

My husband and I have been travelling with our two sons (now 15 & 18) since they were 4 and 7 and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. It's quality time together at it's best. Kids also suffer from stress in their daily lives and they too deserve to replenish so to speak. Having said that, we are very hands on parents and would not have tolerated bad behavior from them. Yes kids do scream, run when they are not supposed to, are impatient etc...etc...and when they did that they were removed from the situation pronto! We were always aware of our surroundings and totally respectful of others. We chose to dine in family-oriented restaurants and not fancy ones unless we absolutely had to for a special family celebration. So, I totally understand some posters having issues with parents not taking responsibilities for their kids misbehaving - or their "I'm on holidays - dont bother me" attitude....Have you noticed I used past tense....yeap my little "angels" have grown up to be fine young men and even to this day they have their "moments" lol....and we are going on our first cruise on July 26th and they have been warned "no arguing" or else!! lol....All it takes people is a respect of others; parents doing their jobs; and others being a little more tolerant...

[crusinmama06]

Actually we did enjoy the cruises tremdendously. We acted to remove the annoyances and were quite pleased.

 

I'd say so, reading one of your past reviews, you called security 5 of the 7 nights on your neighbors for the phone/TV. :eek:

 

Maybe chartering your own ship might be a better option. You don't seem to play well with others.

[LadyQuasi]

If you're okay with the TV being cranked up to full volume until 5am, then you are an angel and I'm afraid I can't compete with such perfection.

 

Seriously, though: it'd have woken up your kids :D

[Caliterp07]

As a teacher, I cringe at how many people are saying they take their kids out of school for vacations just because it's cheaper. I hope you're having them do homework on the plane or doing enrichment work on the ship (or that they're home schooled and you can take a break whenever).

 

Whenever students have missed a week of class, they inevitably come back pretty far behind. If the child gets sick, there's not much you can do about it, but when parents deliberately plan for their child to miss a week of instruction, that's hard for me to stomach. (Albeit this is from a middle school teacher perspective...)

[crusinmama06]

Seriously, though: it'd have woken up your kids :D

 

Doubtful, they sleep like the dead on ships. ;):D

[crusinmama06]

As a teacher, I cringe at how many people are saying they take their kids out of school for vacations just because it's cheaper. I hope you're having them do homework on the plane or doing enrichment work on the ship (or that they're home schooled and you can take a break whenever).

 

Whenever students have missed a week of class, they inevitably come back pretty far behind. If the child gets sick, there's not much you can do about it, but when parents deliberately plan for their child to miss a week of instruction, that's hard for me to stomach. (Albeit this is from a middle school teacher perspective...)

 

We talk about this on the CC Family Board (in great detail). Here in my school district, they encourage something called a Family Week. It is one week of excused vacation during the school year. I know, not everyone has this. Other districts in other states are more strict. My kids create their own video documentary of their travels. It was originally created for their own classroom -- but it usually makes the rounds through the entire grade.

 

The last docu DVD had the teacher (a male) in tears. :o lol

 

Don't cringe, my kids are at the top of their class. I assure you, they are fine. ;)

[ChiMimi69]

I am NOT trying to start anything with you Mimi, I'm just curious about your statement.

 

Do you mean that if you're at a table in the MDR with strangers and your kid starts running around in circles (don't come back with, "he'd never do that," I'm just using an example here), or banging on the table, you wouldn't care about the people at your table and how your kid is annoying them?

 

OR are you saying you WOULD tell your kid to stop annoying everyone around him, but if the others at the table decided to change, you wouldn't care about the fact that they changed?

 

Just wondering which one..

 

I'll be glad to clarify AmyBeth. :) This will be my toddler's first cruise. Right now he's almost 2, he likes to loudly say 'hi' and 'bye' to passersby and of course, the dreaded word 'no'. He's quite polite to strangers but, a bully to his big brother :D. Shushing doesn't always work. He'll be 2.5 by sailing. I just don't know what to expect then. So, I'll be trying MTD on my next cruise (so as not to punish the same folks all week by having assigned seating :D). I'll also be requesting to be seated at a small table as to NOT bother anyone at the same table. Needless to say, that I wouldn't want my child to annoy anyone while they are on their vacation too, so yes, I would definitely try to control my child if he's having a "moment". And, if all else fails, I would even leave the MDR.

 

However, on past cruises, a couple of times I broke bread with families that had small kids or sat at a table next to them. It always made for some funny stories post cruise! :D And honestly, I was never that into other people's business to actually notice who is sitting at the table next to me one night and not the next. It's their perogative to move, as was mine, and I never did. Why do something hurtful like that to someone because their baby had a rough day? I just don't have it in me to do that. Kids are not creatures of bad habits or nuisances. Adults have bad days, so do kids. People understand that or they don't. At least, that's the way I was raised. :)