Connecting with Families on lines not 100% geared towards kids

[sduprie]

Hi~

Is there a dedicated forum (i.e. roll call) where people who are sailing with children can connect? I don't have specific questions about cruising with kids. I would just like to connect with others who are cruising with kids (particularly on lines like Celebrity, Holland, Azamara, Oceania). I've registered on the Roll Call for our cruise. I'm just trying to figure out if there is another place for this type activity...Thanks. S.

[cb at sea]

I think the Roll call board is the only place on this site.....I guess, once you "connect" , you could start some sort of e-mail thing with your fellow family cruisers!

[just_us_three]

Hi~

Is there a dedicated forum (i.e. roll call) where people who are sailing with children can connect? I don't have specific questions about cruising with kids. I would just like to connect with others who are cruising with kids (particularly on lines like Celebrity, Holland, Azamara, Oceania). I've registered on the Roll Call for our cruise. I'm just trying to figure out if there is another place for this type activity...Thanks. S.

 

Hi. I read your post and have wondered the same thing. I would love to know if you've found another place where travelling families can connect online, especially on non-kid focused cruises. We are travelling Celebrity in a month and would love to know of another family going too. Thanks for your post.

[crusinmama06]

I can't think of another one. We tend to travel on cruises that don't have many children sailing so our roll calls are full of people traveling without children. We rarely meet people with kids on our roll calls. :(

 

My current roll call has one other person. Period. I've already told the kids we won't have many kids on this one.

[HappiTravels]

I can't think of another one. We tend to travel on cruises that don't have many children sailing so our roll calls are full of people traveling without children. We rarely meet people with kids on our roll calls. :(

 

My current roll call has one other person. Period. I've already told the kids we won't have many kids on this one.

 

Our roll call for the Celebrity Millennium was the exact same but we tend to forget that only a very small percentage of people on the cruise are Cruise Critic members. My 8 year old made lots of friends in the Fun Factory but absolutely none of the other parents that I talked to were on Cruise Critic.

[fisherhum]

I can't think of another one. We tend to travel on cruises that don't have many children sailing so our roll calls are full of people traveling without children. We rarely meet people with kids on our roll calls. :(

 

My current roll call has one other person. Period. I've already told the kids we won't have many kids on this one.

 

My experience is the same as Michele... We have 80+ people registered on our roll call on Oasis in Feb and I am the only one registered with kids. I am sure there will be other kids on board but not hooked up on this site:confused:

Kathy

[beachchick]

Before I begin, let me state that I am a parent and grandparent, and I love both my daughter and granddaughter to pieces. We will be taking our granddaughter on her first cruise in about a year (post-potty training!) and we're looking at our "usual" lines of RCI, NCL, and Princess. So here goes:

 

Exactly which lines are considered to be geared "100% toward kids" and how is that determined? Even the most child-friendly cruise line, Disney, has plenty of stuff geared toward adults and even sets aside substantial space for adults. All lines market to many demographics, including but not exclusively families with minor children. I have long been irked by the notion that families with children "own" modern mainstream cruising and are merely allowing others to cruise on "their" ships.

 

I honestly don't understand which lines are designed for kids (and their parents) only, but I'm more than willing to learn.

 

beachchick

[dijid]

I think Disney, Carnival, RCCL and NCL attract more families on average. However, that does not guarantee that any particular ship/itinerary will have lots of families/kids. We cruised on the Carnival Fantasy in 2009 out of NO just after Labor Day. My kids didn't start school until mid-Sep that year and we took advantage of off-season rates. Unfortunately, it came with low #s of children. In one way it worked to our advantage as my youngest got to move up (it was a week before her birthday) and be with her brother. Sometimes the attendance at the kids clubs was so low that they combined age groups more, and all three got to be together, but the oldest was bored. They still had fun, but I think my oldest would have had more fun if there'd been more kids to participate in the scavenger hunt, or dance parties, etc.

 

Next month we're going on NCL's Jade 12 day Eastern Med. cruise. There's close to 100 for the meet & greet, and besides one family with a 15yo, I've got the only other kids. I'm afraid that with the itinerary and time of year (it is my kids' winter break, but not a break time for many) there won't be many kids onboard at all. Fingers crossed that they still want to go to the kids club!

[just_us_three]

Before I begin, let me state that I am a parent and grandparent, and I love both my daughter and granddaughter to pieces. We will be taking our granddaughter on her first cruise in about a year (post-potty training!) and we're looking at our "usual" lines of RCI, NCL, and Princess. So here goes:

 

Exactly which lines are considered to be geared "100% toward kids" and how is that determined? Even the most child-friendly cruise line, Disney, has plenty of stuff geared toward adults and even sets aside substantial space for adults. All lines market to many demographics, including but not exclusively families with minor children. I have long been irked by the notion that families with children "own" modern mainstream cruising and are merely allowing others to cruise on "their" ships.

 

I honestly don't understand which lines are designed for kids (and their parents) only, but I'm more than willing to learn.

 

beachchick

 

um, IMHO, I don't think this thread has anything to do with famillies 'owning' certain cruises. I think its about the exact opposite. Its cruisers with children sailing on lines that don't scream "family cruise line" as a company moto. But again, TJMHO.

Actually, I've just never encountered the notion that famillies with children "own" modern mainstream cruising. (I'm also not sure I know what you mean exactly by modern mainstream cruising) I agree with you that most cruise company's promote to broad demographics, families being one of them, but I do believe that there are certain cruise lines that do not come across as family-friendly, the luxury lines for example.

 

So to answer your question, and this is only my opinion, I see Disney as the only truly family oriented cruiseline, much like the resort. But I also see Celebrity and Cunard (to name two) that while they might offer kids programs (on some sailings) they are certainly not pulsing with fun family activities. Again, MHO.

[Kerry's Girls]

 

Next month we're going on NCL's Jade 12 day Eastern Med. cruise. There's close to 100 for the meet & greet, and besides one family with a 15yo, I've got the only other kids. I'm afraid that with the itinerary and time of year (it is my kids' winter break, but not a break time for many) there won't be many kids onboard at all. Fingers crossed that they still want to go to the kids club!

 

We did the same Jade cruise during a non-holiday time and there were lots of English-speaking kids on board from other countries (Americans stationed in Germany, Australians, English living in Spain) who weren't on Cruise Critic. It's a pretty inexpensive trip for families living in Europe (one family we met had done the same cruise many times) so I bet yours will be like ours.

 

Best,

Mia

[sduprie]

um, IMHO, I don't think this thread has anything to do with famillies 'owning' certain cruises. I think its about the exact opposite. Its cruisers with children sailing on lines that don't scream "family cruise line" as a company moto. But again, TJMHO.

Actually, I've just never encountered the notion that famillies with children "own" modern mainstream cruising. (I'm also not sure I know what you mean exactly by modern mainstream cruising) I agree with you that most cruise company's promote to broad demographics, families being one of them, but I do believe that there are certain cruise lines that do not come across as family-friendly, the luxury lines for example.

 

So to answer your question, and this is only my opinion, I see Disney as the only truly family oriented cruiseline, much like the resort. But I also see Celebrity and Cunard (to name two) that while they might offer kids programs (on some sailings) they are certainly not pulsing with fun family activities. Again, MHO.

 

I have to agree with "just the three of us"...when I posted this link, I was truly trying to find a way to connect with other cruisers who tend to lean towards the luxury cruise lines who may have children in tow. It has been our experience that the more upscale you go on cruise lines (ie. Holland, Celebrity, Azamara), the fewer kids you see and the older the cruisers tend to be. Additionally, on every cruise that has a kid program there has been a threshold number that must be reached in order for the ship to implement kids programs. In March, we are to cruise in Asia on Azamara and regardless of the number of kids on board (which I have no way of knowing since Azamara doesn't track demographics) there is NO kids program of any kind. Therefore, I am doing my mommy best of trying to find other kids for socialization with my kids in advance of arrival.

 

Of the lines you mentioned, I believe all have kids programs. That is the beauty of cruising--multi-generational fun in one place.!

[just_us_three]

I have to agree with "just the three of us"...when I posted this link, I was truly trying to find a way to connect with other cruisers who tend to lean towards the luxury cruise lines who may have children in tow. It has been our experience that the more upscale you go on cruise lines (ie. Holland, Celebrity, Azamara), the fewer kids you see and the older the cruisers tend to be. Additionally, on every cruise that has a kid program there has been a threshold number that must be reached in order for the ship to implement kids programs. In March, we are to cruise in Asia on Azamara and regardless of the number of kids on board (which I have no way of knowing since Azamara doesn't track demographics) there is NO kids program of any kind. Therefore, I am doing my mommy best of trying to find other kids for socialization with my kids in advance of arrival.

 

Of the lines you mentioned, I believe all have kids programs. That is the beauty of cruising--multi-generational fun in one place.!

 

Thank you sduprie, I thought were on the same track;)

 

I totally agree with you about what you've noticed, that the more pricey the cruise, the lesser number of kids will be on board. I think its a fact of life and yet, I think there will always be people like us that choose luxury cruises for ourselves and our kids, with or without kid-programs.

Have a great time on your Asian cruise BTW, I honestly think seeing the world is a darn good kid-program in itself! ;)

[mrs.mobster]

Hi. I read your post and have wondered the same thing. I would love to know if you've found another place where travelling families can connect online, especially on non-kid focused cruises. We are travelling Celebrity in a month and would love to know of another family going too. Thanks for your post.

 

Darn, we are 2 sailings behind you on Eclipse. Ive often wondered the same thing, and often feel vastly outnumbered because we have DD with us. Not that it bothers me in the least, it would just be nice to have a centeral location for families looking to connect.

[just_us_three]

Darn, we are 2 sailings behind you on Eclipse. Ive often wondered the same thing, and often feel vastly outnumbered because we have DD with us. Not that it bothers me in the least, it would just be nice to have a centeral location for families looking to connect.

 

Hmmm, maybe we should start one? ;)

[Deebs2]

I'm sailing with an 8 and 10 year old Roman Empire cruise on HAL in August. I too, would love to find other families!

[alj1208]

We're on Celebrity Eclipse March 5 with our 4-year-old DS. I am thinking maybe families will be more open to connecting since there won't be crowds of kids. There's safety in numbers (even small numbers)! I am also hoping they seat us with another family with a child or two in the main dining room. Fun Factory orientation might also be a time to meet.

[kitty9]

I disagree with the comment about Celebrity and HAL not attracting families. That's not the case especially for their shorter cruises and ones during the summer and holidays. And, they have very good kid's programs. I've been on X where there have been over 500 kids on board, and that's a lot considering that X's ships are a lot smaller than the current behemoths.

 

Now, I have a lot of experience with the premium lines like Azamara and Oceania, and with the luxury lines, and I can tell you that regardless of how many kids are on board, which are VERY few, if any, they never have anything for kids. sduprie, the chances of another child on your cruise is very small. Most parents don't take children on those more exotic cruises, on the smaller ships that have nothing for kids to do, especially when school is in session. Your child will most likely be the only child on board, with the average age of the passenger being over 65. I do have a word of warning to you. You may very well find a certain element on your ship that will not be happy that a child is on board. Most who cruise on lines like Azamara and Oceania do so to avoid kids. While I'm not one of those people, I just wanted to warn you that you might not feel welcome by some passengers. It sucks, but it's a way of life with those small ship cruise lines. Actually, Azamara was initially set up as a line that didn't accept anyone under age 18.

[just_us_three]

We're on Celebrity Eclipse March 5 with our 4-year-old DS. I am thinking maybe families will be more open to connecting since there won't be crowds of kids. There's safety in numbers (even small numbers)! I am also hoping they seat us with another family with a child or two in the main dining room. Fun Factory orientation might also be a time to meet.

 

We just got off Eclipse and I wanted to report that sadly we were not sat with any other family at dinner. We noticed other tables of parents with children were also sat basically alone. It was sad and we got quite lonely as the cruise went on. We didn't meet any other famillies at orientation either, but then again, there were only 15 kids on board from ages 3-12. We noticed a couple toddlers and teens that didn't fit into that tally, but I'm sure there weren't more than 20 kids on board. We met other famillies randomly in the pool (very adult pool BTW) and in port. And my DS 3 made friends with a girl his age in the factory, although we didn't see them hardly at all. We had fun but definetly felt alone the entire cruise. Of course, we weren't bold enough to ask another family to sit with us, and maybe that's what it would take. We would have loved it! Have fun and be bold.

P.S. While no one frowned at us (thank heavens) we did notice some frowns at some louder children in the pool and the oceanview, but they were loud and rowdy. ;)