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A Thanksgiving Cruise . . . Never Again

IrishCC

By IrishCC,
in Royal Caribbean International

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satxdiver

satxdiver

Posted
Posted

As the OP found out, Tday is not a good time to cruise. In our area all the schools are out for the full week making an opportune time to take the kiddies cruising. On most of our cruises which are during the fall/winter/spring and not a school holiday there have been few kids aboard. We did have one where there seemed to be an abnormal amount and the older ones congregated on the stair ways plus playing on the elevator. The staffer that told the OP there would be few kids aboard did not know what they were talking about.

 

As for the comment about HAL. We went on one several years ago and found out being in the early 60s made us among the youngest aboard! Never again on HAL. BTW HAL's meal times:

 

early dinner seating: 4:00 PM

late dinner seating: 5:30 PM

midnight buffet: 8:00 PM

all activity ceases at 8:30 PM

 

There is a really good reason young people have kids and old ones do not.

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SharkCruiser24

SharkCruiser24

Posted
Posted

They say I am old for my age... I am graduating from UCF this Dec. and opted for a Dec 10th cruise. Schools in FL end a week and a half later. The cruise is technically before graduation, but the amount of children sailing will be drastically lower than our alternative. I have found elevators extremely troublesome when plenty of children (unsupervised) are on board.:o

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cello56

cello56

Posted
Posted
they say i am old for my age... I am graduating from ucf this dec. and opted for a dec 10th cruise. Schools in fl end a week and a half later. The cruise is technically before graduation, but the amount of children sailing will be drastically lower than our alternative. I have found elevators extremely troublesome when plenty of children (unsupervised) are on board.:o

 

Go Knights!!

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kaykels

kaykels

Posted
Posted
I did a thanksgiving cruise in Nov 2009 on the Carnival Dream out of NY and there were 1300 children on the ship!! I said to myself NEVER again a thanksgiving cruise for me.

 

Hey, I was on that cruise too! That was the worst cruise I ever took, not because of the kids but because of the rude adults and nasty food! And it was cold.

 

As far as cruising over a major holiday, it seems like common sense that a family holiday will fill up cruise ships with , well, FAMILIES. The schools are closed most of the week, so its to be expected.

 

I just got off of Allure in early November and there were only 500 people onboard a ship that holds over 5500 passengers. My friend went over halloween and there were only 250. And in May there were only 90 kids onboard !

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RedHeadTexan

RedHeadTexan

Posted
Posted

My first cruise was a Thanksgiving Cruise on Holland America in 2007. For those that think HAL would be an older crowd for Thanksgiving, I have one thing to say...WRONG. The Zuiderdam had 800 kids that week. I knew going into the cruise that kids would be onboard, but had no clue there would be that many. We had 3 kids in our group of 11.

 

While most of the kids were fine (not angels, but fine), it only takes a few to leave a bad taste. We had to deal with the screaming teens running up and down the halls at 3am slamming doors. I called security several times, but it did not help. I finally lost it by the 3rd night and went out in the hall and had a word with them. Next thing I know, we are getting prank calls in our cabin. We unplugged the phone at night after that.

 

By the end of the week I didn't think I would ever be able to get DH on another cruise again. Luckily I convinced him to try a cruise outside of school holidays and we loved it! Since we don't have kids it's easy for us to avoid school holidays. I totally feel for IrishCC.

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parrotfeathers

parrotfeathers

Posted
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I was on Eurodam last fall and the dinner seatings listed below are not accurate. Late dinner seating was 8:00 p.m., same as RCL. It is very true there aren't many "planned" activities after 9 p.m. But some people like it that way and I don't believe it is necessarily a reflection of someone's age. I went to the Quest game on RCL and thought it was rather silly--others thought it was wonderful.

 

 

As for the comment about HAL. We went on one several years ago and found out being in the early 60s made us among the youngest aboard! Never again on HAL. BTW HAL's meal times:

 

early dinner seating: 4:00 PM

late dinner seating: 5:30 PM

midnight buffet: 8:00 PM

all activity ceases at 8:30 PM

 

There is a really good reason young people have kids and old ones do not.

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pcur

pcur

Posted
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That is unfortunate that 1,200 kids would ruin your cruise. I'm surprised at your dismay as you are Diamond status. I can't believe that you got to that point without encountering a few kids along the way.

 

Did you not know that Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is favorite for families (mainly families with young to teen aged children) and that they have won many "Best for Families" awards along the way? There are normally many daily activities that are geared to children and their families.

 

As others have said, anytime there is a possibility of school break, kids will probably be onboard. I've cruised in September when school started and encountered children onboard that (otherwise) should have been in school. I noticed a lot of families form Europe who had been onboard for many weeks. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your Thanksgiving cruise. I'm currently thinking of booking Oasis for Thanksgiving 2012 and I think I will still keep my plans the same.

 

I think 1,200 kids on board would pretty much bother anybody not accustomed to being around large numbers of children, and even those that ARE around them a lot!! We are in the same age group as the OP and also like to avoid large quantities of children (my DH sounds a lot like hers; love the fetal position comment!). However, we always sail on RCCL, but never sail during school holidays.

 

I don't know what we would have done if we had been "surprised" like the OP: probably spent a lot of time in the Diamond and Concierge Lounges during the day!!

 

I believe some of the advice is great, too! Taking Holland America during school holidays is good, and then switching to RCCL the rest of the year.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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Hey, I was on that cruise too! That was the worst cruise I ever took, not because of the kids but because of the rude adults and nasty food! And it was cold.

 

As far as cruising over a major holiday, it seems like common sense that a family holiday will fill up cruise ships with , well, FAMILIES. The schools are closed most of the week, so its to be expected.

 

I just got off of Allure in early November and there were only 500 people onboard a ship that holds over 5500 passengers. My friend went over halloween and there were only 250. And in May there were only 90 kids onboard !

 

Allure probably had more than 500 people aboard when it was out on sea trials.

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fdthird

fdthird

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I just got off of Allure in early November and there were only 500 people onboard a ship that holds over 5500 passengers. My friend went over halloween and there were only 250. And in May there were only 90 kids onboard !

 

I find this hard to believe. Are they talking about number of kids??? The Allure does not sail with either 500 or 250 passengers anytime!

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smoosh21

smoosh21

Posted
Posted
:eek: We just got off of Liberty of the Seas for Thanksgiving. Let me give you some background: We are Diamond members . . .

Please don't tell me to try Celebrity . . . we did and didn't care for it.

 

I don't keep compasses but will try to answer any questions I can.

 

If you sail the week AFTER Thanksgiving, you will find almost no children onboard. Here in Atlanta, most schools are off for the entire week of Thanksgiving, so lots of families take vacation. But the week after Everyone is back in school.

 

Next time try the week after.

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Phillies14

Phillies14

Posted
Posted
Hey, I was on that cruise too! That was the worst cruise I ever took, not because of the kids but because of the rude adults and nasty food! And it was cold.

 

As far as cruising over a major holiday, it seems like common sense that a family holiday will fill up cruise ships with , well, FAMILIES. The schools are closed most of the week, so its to be expected.

 

I just got off of Allure in early November and there were only 500 people onboard a ship that holds over 5500 passengers. My friend went over halloween and there were only 250. And in May there were only 90 kids onboard !

You said the food was "nasty"?? and cold???. What food are you referring too???? Just curious??....K.O. Near Philly:confused:
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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

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Posted
Is March 11-18 considered spring break? I'm booked on the Grandeur that week.

According to a travel website I can't link you to because of the rules here, you are on vacation the same week as over 1 million college students! You are sailing one of the peak weeks of college spring break. Doesn't mean you will have a lot of college kids but if you are on a shorter cruise, I would expect some.

 

Edit: Based on the fact you aren't leaving from the US, you might be ok. Had you been leaving from Florida, then it would be a different story.

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Onessa

Onessa

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Posted

We've cruised American Thanksgiving week five of the past seven years (three Med, one Hawaii, one Panama Canal/South America). Lots of kids, but no problems with unruly kids. Not sure if this is primarily an issue with Carribean cruises.

 

The Med cruises have more kids at this time of year than you might expect because US ex-pats serving in Europe or working for US companies in a European office typically have extended holiday time for T-giving.

 

Most of the ships gear up their crews in anticipation of the higher occupancy and greater demand for kids clubs and kid-friendly recreational activities.

 

Yes, US Thanksgiving week is going to have more kids on board. But I've never had a problem with that and have found a cruise (and the turkey dinner they serve in the MDR) to be a great way to spend T-giving!

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