WHERE is that "middle of the road" cruise line?

[Texarribean Chick]

I have been on many cruises over the years and really have only tried 2 lines. CCL and Royal Caribbean. I am definitely a CCL fan because they have always been the "Fun Ships".

And not that big of a fan of RCCL because the couple I have been on, it seems I was surrounded by folks quite a bit older than me.

 

NOW - it seems CCL is marketing families and most of the trips I have been on, I cannot even enjoy a lot of areas - i.e. hot tubs, lounges, dining areas because of the "families" - I LOVE CHILDREN - have one of my own who just turned 17 and (ya, I already feel your sympathies, LOL) I am just looking for that vacation where DH and myself can be ourselves.

 

I do not need children crying and whining, I do not need pre-teens occupying the elevators because they are bored with the ship and I certainly do not need to go to the Serenity area late at night to catch the starry sky with DH and have to deal with 16, 17, and 18 year old hormones.

 

I do not want this to turn into a "make your children behave" thread - I'm just looking for suggestions.

 

I am 46 and DH is 49.

[ChefSusan]

It all depends on what time of year you are cruising.

 

If you go on cruises during school breaks, holidays, and summertime, then yes, they will be full of parents suffering from entitlementitis and children who run amok.

 

If you travel during the "off" seasons (while school is in session and either before or after holidays), then you will not run into that many children whose parents suffer from entitlementitis and let them run amok.

 

On all of our cruises, we have run into very few children, and have had an awesome time.

 

We're both 47 btw...

 

Best of luck finding the "middle of the road"!

[buddyjo143]

When I first cruised in the late 1980's the big 3 seemed to be: Carnival, Royal and Norwegian. Carnival was the party. Royal was that middle of the road and Norwegian seemed the pricier, older crowd. Don't remember where Princess and Holland America were in the mix :rolleyes:.

 

If it is the parents and kiddies you want to avoid, I would think Royal would be your choice. Obviously, there are some times of the year when there are less children and some itineraries with less children.

 

Have you considered some of the other lines? I'd also recommend checking out their message boards and asking the same question over there. If you find your answer, let me know. :p

 

Actually, DH and I are doing a Carnival repositioning cruise through the Panama Canal in December. For a few reasons, I am expecting less children....it is a 2 week cruise, it is 2 weeks before Christmas and it is not a typically family type cruise.

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

I agree with timing...my first cruise was the first week of October and there were not many kids at all...maybe you can find something during school times, so most of the kids will be in school.

 

I don't really think RCCL will be any better during school breaks.

[kroozers]

If you cruise when kids are in school (beware of March, December and the summer months) there will be fewer families around. I cruised out of San Juan in January once and there were unsupervised kids EVERYWHERE! I have three reasonably well behaved kids of my own...but they are thousands of miles away from me while on a cruise.

[frednsb]

We cruise in Septmeber, December (before the holidays) and April. We miss the kids! If we cruise in the summer it is to take our grandkids with us.

[ksm77]

In order to get away from the kids you will need to take longer cruises. We have found if you go on the 10 day or longer you will find less children. When we first started cruising 20 years ago you had very few children on ships. Now many families are finding it is a good vacation for their family. I understand where you are coming from to a degree I feel the same way. That is why we usually take a longer cruise or go in the fall October or November. We did a 7 day Princess the 2nd week of November last year very few children.

[ferfoodle]

Perhaps Princess or Celebrity. We cruised Princess and loved it. I found our cruise demographics to be perfect with just enough children to remember to feel young and just enough elderly to behave ourselves. We are mid 40's (although I only claim 25) and it seemed to me, most people were travelling as couples and most were in their mid 30's to mid 50's. But remember, travelling during Holidays and Spring break time will skew the demographics of most lines.

[Sauer-kraut]

Have you thought about Sandals or one of the adults only Club Med all-inclusive places?

 

You'll have people your own ages there or a nice mix of ages, no kids and a place to truly relax and enjoy your spouse/partner as well as things to do apart if the activity doesn't intrest both of you.

 

Longer cruises of at least 10 days will limit the younger crowd as stated above.

[foxesden1]

I think families are the new market. heck, the 3/4 person in room has gone up... so middle of the road would be a cruiseline without a kids club, and that might be just a tad $.

 

I have a young child, RCL, Disney, and Carnival are my go to lines, I am sure that NCL would also fit for other families.

 

Hal not so much, and Princes - no only because they just don't push the kids stuff in their adds, so I don't think of them first.

[spunkie4]

We cruise Princess (Elite) as our major cruise line; however, we love Carnival.

 

With any cruise, the time of year is important as well as the length of cruise. During the summer and spring break you will have lots of kids. During the holidays you will have lots of families on the shorter cruises. We cruise at Thanksgiving; however, we always book at least 10 days.

 

We cruise Carnival (the shorter cruises) during the winter months as there are fewer kids. Just took our family cruise on Carnival in July and the kids on that cruise were very well behaved. Only encountered two that were rude and unruly.

 

I love children, but, as my parents always said, there is a time and place for everything. You just need to pick the cruise line and chose the time.

 

Shirley

[janetz]

Princess. ;) Try them all!

[okwriter]

Time of year + longer cruises = less children.

 

Can't avoid them completely...but this combination can minimize their numbers. :)

[crusinpsychRN]

September right after kids go back to school far fewer kids.

[Texarribean Chick]

Thanks everyone. We tend to cruise in the summer because our daughter is out of school and it's just easier on everyone and we LOVE it when it's HOT! I have been looking into a couple of other options; but by and large, CCL is the lowest priced with the best itineraries.

We'll just tough it out a little longer, our DD is a Senior in high school this year and will be going off to college next fall which will open up a lot of still hot summer dates for us. Thanks again!

[needabreak64]

Wondering if the first week in June can be considered "summer". I know from my past Disney World experiences that a great portion of the country (especially the northeast) is still in school at this time. We're from the south where school seems to let out sooner (before Memorial Day if there's been no snow).

 

We've booked June 3 on Carnival Legend, and I'm hoping there is a decent number of teens onboard for my own kids (14,15) to meet new friends, but not so many that the ship feels "overrun".

[mousey]

I have been cruising since I was 19 and I'm 64 now. Times have changed and there does seem to be more and more kids cruising. I have a 16 yr. old DS who has been cruising with us at spring break since he was 9. We have always taken 7 day cruises and even at spring break we have never had a problem with kids on any of the cruises. However, we just got off a 5-day cruise summer cruise which we will never do again! It was summer and there were too many unsupervised kids running around. At one point there were a bunch of younger teenagers all sitting on the floor of the atrium elevator, playing and listening to music on a computer, and not allowing anyone to get on. So many people complained that finally someone came and made them get off. There were kids, young ones, 7. 8, 9 yrs.-old running up and down the hallway at night. There were just lots of kids running around everywhere being unruly and bumping into people.

 

I blame the parents.:mad: There are way too many parents these days taking cruises and lounging around, or playing games in the casino, or doing whatever they do and just letting their kids do whatever the heck they want as long as they stay away from the parents. This stinks! I just don't know what the cruise lines can do about this. It really irks me because I love kids and I think these lazy parents are giving kids a bum rap. I would not in a million years allow my kid to go crazy on a cruise. We have rules and there are consequences for breaking them. Just ask my kid, he broke 2 of our rules, getting back to the room past curfew and letting a couple of kids into the room while we were not there. We just got home and guess what, no driving privileges for a week and grounded for the weekend. Do you know what a bummer that is for a 16 year-old!:eek: Guess he'll think twice about breaking rules next cruise! We also told him that for the first time ever, we might not be cruising with him next year! OOH, that one really got him promising to do better!:D

 

Come on parents, do your jobs and supervise your kids. You're not doing them a favor by letting them run wild.

 

To the OP, just avoid, if possible the times when kids are out of school. Like you I too am waiting for the day we can cruise at times when the kids aren't around. I feel a little guilty about that cause my DS is a really great guy and I will miss him when he goes off to college.:(

[halos]

I have been on many cruises over the years and really have only tried 2 lines. CCL and Royal Caribbean. I am definitely a CCL fan because they have always been the "Fun Ships".

And not that big of a fan of RCCL because the couple I have been on, it seems I was surrounded by folks quite a bit older than me.

 

NOW - it seems CCL is marketing families and most of the trips I have been on, I cannot even enjoy a lot of areas - i.e. hot tubs, lounges, dining areas because of the "families" - I LOVE CHILDREN - have one of my own who just turned 17 and (ya, I already feel your sympathies, LOL) I am just looking for that vacation where DH and myself can be ourselves.

 

I do not need children crying and whining, I do not need pre-teens occupying the elevators because they are bored with the ship and I certainly do not need to go to the Serenity area late at night to catch the starry sky with DH and have to deal with 16, 17, and 18 year old hormones.

 

I do not want this to turn into a "make your children behave" thread - I'm just looking for suggestions.

 

I am 46 and DH is 49.

 

Middle of the Road turned out, for us, to be NCL :)

[LittleMissMagic]

For middle-of-the-road lines, I was going to recommend Princess, Celebrity, or Disney. Since you're trying to avoid kids, I'd say that Disney is out! :D

 

However, I think your better bet for avoiding kids is sailing when kids are in school (you also get better prices that way!). January and February are almost entirely kid-free. Also, as mentioned above, usually the longer the cruise, the less kids onboard.

 

And - typically the smaller the ship, the less kids. Families with kids are drawn to the mega ships with rock walls and waterslides.... and a bunch of other fancy "playgrounds." On Royal Caribbean, the Grandeur, Monarch, and Majesty have very little children onboard.

 

I remember on our Christmas cruise on the Grandeur back in 2009, the staff was freaking out because they had 100 kids (ages 0-17) onboard. "There are so many kids!" :D If 100 is a big number for them, then cruising in the off-season must be virtually kid-free.

 

Also, I think that the Alaskan cruises draw more adults than kids. We went on an Alaskan cruise on the Radiance of the Seas back when I was a kiddo, and there were only about 10 of us in my age group in the kids' program. We got so much attention from the staff because there were so few kids onboard - and this was in June!

[eroller]

It seems to escape the kids one must upgrade to a more expensive line or cruise while kids are in school. Neither option is an ideal solution depending on your individual situation.

 

As cruising has become more popular, it seems almost every line is now catering to families with elaborate children's facilities and incentives like "kids cruise free". As an adult with no kids I frankly don't want to sail on a ship loaded with kids. We have all read the reviews or experienced it ourselves. In many cases the kids run wild and the parents are nowhere to be found. Seems many parents feel that vacation means taking no responsibility for their own children The cruise line itself can only do so much.

 

What I would like to see is some major cruise lines designating certain ships in their fleets as "adult only". P&O Cruises in the UK (owned by Carnival) does this and I believe they are quite successful with it. Certain ships in the fleet are branded as family friendly and others as adult only.

 

In the meantime I will only cruise on Carnival for cruises that are 7-days or longer and only during the time that kids are in school. This strategy applies to other major lines as well, but to a lesser extent. Based on my personal experience and having sailed all the major lines, Carnival seems to have the most unruly behavior by kids and parents that have a blind eye. I don't know why that is but it's been the case to me.

 

Carnival used to be the "party line". I sort of miss the old Carnival. It was more fun back then, at least for me. Carnival also had a non-smoking ship based on demand, so why not an adults only ship?

 

Ernie

[Duncarob]

I would never, ever, ever, ever cruise during a school break period! :eek:

[SNJCruisers]

Thanks everyone. We tend to cruise in the summer because our daughter is out of school and it's just easier on everyone and we LOVE it when it's HOT! I have been looking into a couple of other options; but by and large, CCL is the lowest priced with the best itineraries.

We'll just tough it out a little longer, our DD is a Senior in high school this year and will be going off to college next fall which will open up a lot of still hot summer dates for us. Thanks again!

Besides cruising...all-inclusives are your best bang for the buck. Check out the Riviera Maya area south of Cancun. You can get cheap airfare from Houston to Cancun. The only drawback is that you only visit one place, but, it does give you the option to go to an ADULTS ONLY resort and your alcohol is included. You can find some great resorts (4-5 star) that will run you under 2500 for the week for the two of you including your airfare. There are even resorts that are for 16+, so your DD could go with you.

[H82seaUgo]

I have been on many cruises over the years and really have only tried 2 lines. CCL and Royal Caribbean. I am definitely a CCL fan because they have always been the "Fun Ships".

And not that big of a fan of RCCL because the couple I have been on, it seems I was surrounded by folks quite a bit older than me.

 

NOW - it seems CCL is marketing families and most of the trips I have been on, I cannot even enjoy a lot of areas - i.e. hot tubs, lounges, dining areas because of the "families" - I LOVE CHILDREN - have one of my own who just turned 17 and (ya, I already feel your sympathies, LOL) I am just looking for that vacation where DH and myself can be ourselves.

 

I do not need children crying and whining, I do not need pre-teens occupying the elevators because they are bored with the ship and I certainly do not need to go to the Serenity area late at night to catch the starry sky with DH and have to deal with 16, 17, and 18 year old hormones.

 

I do not want this to turn into a "make your children behave" thread - I'm just looking for suggestions.

 

I am 46 and DH is 49.

 

i think it's either waiting to evolve or be created.

 

i think a perfect cruise based on my experience is a carnival based experience before they downgraded, on an rccl type ship. i would pay a pro rated fare on par where carnival rates would be before they became a motel 6 type economy line.

 

the funship philosophy is very important to me, as it turns each sailing into a unique community experience. no two ccl sailings are alike. if that experience can be replicated on a rccl ship, rccl has their foot in the door. they are probably on their way to becoming the next best thing.

 

ncl is still trying to find out who they are.

[JerseyshoreBruce]

I would agree with most longer cruise's during school time = less children. Also agree on the NCL line...my sister cruise's NCL mostly and says after 8pm its so quiet not much going on.....mostly older folk on NCL too which is what your looking for.:)

[halos]

.my sister cruise's NCL mostly and says after 8pm its so quiet not much going on......:)

 

That's not exactly true...

Late night deck parties, White Hot Party, The Quest...late night adult comedy.

For us, I find more to do on NCL at night.

But...you can definitely find quiet areas, no doubt.

 

In my experience the passengers on NCL range from late 20's up...most being in the 40 to 65 range. Times of year that I cruise tend to have less kids, but there are some families for sure. We had a few families with kids on our roll call last January :)

This is why I found it to be 'middle of the road'...We get to have our fun, but the atmosphere is a bit different than CCL