cruises for adults without kids

[dreamer13]

Are there cruise lines that are sensitive to adults who don't want to be around a bunch of kids? (like seperate pools, or other areas on the ship) I plan to cruise in the summer, but don't want to feel like i'm in a daycare surrounded by screaming kids.

[jewopaho]

We have an oxymoron here - summer cruising/no unruly kids. Yes, virtually all newer ships have pools and hot tubs reserved for adults only (this doesn't rule out children being in the area; they just aren't allowed to use the facilities - yeah, right) - but what about the rest of the cruise? Save for late dinner seating (and sometimes not even then) it's impossible to avoid the little urchins who hold the elevators (or press every button), sprint through the hallways at all hours, leave their table manners at the entrance to the buffet lines, whine and carry on when an adult finally realizes that their behavior is inappropriate (or just whine for whatever reason) ... one cruise during school vacation cured me! I genuinely believe that their parents just checked them in, then went home. They were certainly nowhere to be found.

 

Celebrity attempted to cater to adults by limiting several cruises a year to persons 21 and over - but that fizzled out after a couple of years. Funny; people screamed for it, but the ships sailed at far less than capacity.

 

I genuinely hate to paint such a picture - and I apologize to those parents who have the courtesy and good sense to keep their children under control (and there are indeed many). But if it's your desire to have a relaxing, stress-free, enjoyable experience, away from a daycare atmosphere, I suggest that you cruise sometime between late April and mid-May, if at all possible.

 

Al

[LEESRE]

Fly to the Uk and you can sail on an all adult ship with P & O. Both the new Arcadia and Artemis will be all adult.

You can then sail around the Med for a change.

[kitty9]

Dreamer, in the US, you will not find any cruise line with low number of kids during the summer. Every cruise line that sails in the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera and Alaska will be loaded with kids. While some ships have hot tubs for adults only, good luck finding a cruise line that will kick kids out of those areas. Your only choice is to go with one of the luxury lines who don't specifically cater to kids, but those ships go to Europe for the summer. If you can find a cruise longer than 10 days, there tend to be less kids, but if you can only go for a week, you can count on having 500 to 600 or more kids on the ship depending on the size of the ship.

[ronjj66611]

We looked at the Raddison Seven Seas, Paul Gaugauin, that sails through Tahiti, but didn't sail it because of the LACK of children, we wanted our 8 yr old to have someone her own age, but according to TA, there weren't any other kids booked during this summer at the time of our inquiry. This is probably true of any of the upper tier cruise lines, plainly due to the cost. So if your willing to pay a little more and not go with the mass market crowd, your needs will probably be better served. IMHO:)

[cruisingmimi]

We did a Celebrity Adults Only cruise a couple of years ago & it was absolutely fabulous. I think that Celebrity was testing the waters & the ship was full but I haven't seen too many since then. It was a Caribbean cruise out of Tampa & we have never felt so pampered in our lives at a great cruise price.

 

I don't dislike kids (have 3 daughters and 2 grandsons) but I consider my cruise time to be very special. We have cruised w/ children aboard and they have all been well-behaved. On the other hand, we cruised on Carnival a few years ago & it was spring break for 4 states. 800+ children onboard. Not a pleasant experience.

 

Perhaps if we let the cruise lines know there is a desire for adults only cruises several times a year, they will comply.

[Robby_Christopher]

This is one of the reasons (okay, it's a BIG reason) we are considering booking a cruise for the first week in May. Not only are the kiddies in school, but many families are gearing up for graduations and proms. Let's hope so. :D

[jewopaho]

You're right on the money, Robby! We're cruising 5/8, and sailed last November just before Thanksgiving (a minimal number of children, all of whom were exceptionally well-behaved).

 

Crusingmimi - I believe you sailed on the Horizon out of Tampa. We cruised in December of '02 (the week before Christmas) - absolutely wonderful, given the age and size of the ship. Unfortunately, the deal was too good to last (we paid about $350 for 7 nights in an outside stateroom - couldn't afford to stay home at that price). Celebrity has since discontinued the adults-only cruises.

 

Timing is everything. We found the best windows to be from the third week in April through the second week in May; from just after Labor Day to the week before Thanksgiving (albeit hurricane season), and after Turkey Time to the week before Christmas. I'm not a high-end kinda guy (I love the new ships, and found my one experience on a high-end cruise too sedate - OK, boring), and take my two annual cruises between these times - no major problems with kids in years!

 

Al

[Schplinky]

Just a thought but you could take a gay cruise. Not too many kids there (except on Rosie's gay family cruise). The gay cruise company, Atlantis, chartered Navigator earlier this year and some straight folk went on for just that reason.

[kryos]

We have an oxymoron here - summer cruising/no unruly kids.

All cruise lines offer essentially adults-only cruises ...

 

Just go when the little ones are in school. There will be very few children onboard during those times.

 

But, if you cruise during summer months, school breaks, etc. ... forget it. There are going to be hundreds of kids aboard.

 

I made the mistake of cruising the last week of August last year. Kids up the wazoo. The pool was a madhouse, forget about getting a seat in the Lido ... and the older ones tied up all the front seats at every show. But, fortunately, none of them (at least to my knowledge) were unruly on that cruise. They were just a bunch of kids being kids.

 

Now, I'm cruising to Hawaii in the middle of April this year. Someone on our rollcall group checked the status of kids onboard, and I think there are something like 12 total. And, I'll bet with a 15-day itinerary, those 12 will probably be mostly pre-schoolers. Not bad at all.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[bplazo]

We always cruise when school is in. However, you do see alot of people who bring toddlers and infants. When we were on RCCL we did see crew members tell children that they were not allowed in the adult on pool area. Now, if only they had late dinner sitting for adults only. Nothing worse than trying to have a nice dinner and having a baby crying and screaming and the parents ignoring it.

[cruisingmimi]

Hi Al,

 

Yes you are correct. We said in November of '02. I booked the cruise the week b4 also. Saw it advertised & said to my DH, let's go. Booked a flight to Tampa & had a great cruise. Too bad Celebrity doesn't do it again. They would have to use 2 ships so many people would be interested.

 

We usually pick cruises where their will be a limited number of children onboard, except for the nightmare Carnival cruise. We learned our lesson there.

 

Mary

[vivian02]

I went on a Mediterean Cruise last June and did notice the lack of kids. Don't get me wrong there were kids but not in big volumes. I think parents taking there kids to the Mediterean think twice as to what they might experience on the beaches of the French Rivera. Most Adults can handle it. Tim