Rambunctious kids on Oceania

[Paulchili]

None from me, Paul. In fact, during the next dry dock I think they should install a plank for those unruly kids. AND THEIR PARENTS!!!!!

 

I like that idea - a little more humane than throwing them overboard :D

[ruppert18]

Do you think the guilty parties even pay attention to our "requests" , or do they even recognize themselves??

[lyndenfa]

Unless you are traveling during a holiday period (or on one of those Alaska cruises with a Kids Program) I would not be concerned about seeing kids on O. We just got off a 16 night European cruise -- not a kid in sight. Nor were there kids on my Marina Transatlantic or my Asia cruise. There was one infant on my first O cruise. The infant was great. The parents and grandparents were obnoxious.

 

It is still not the cruise line of choice for families. Let's hope it stays that way.

 

We took our teen age grandsons on a recent San Diego.Hawaii.San Diego RT. This was spring break for them. We had a written contract for them to read and sign that spelled out all the rules and expectations ahead of time.

They were very well behaved.

The sad part was the poor weather and the lack of any other children their ages onboard. There were activities scheduled but no turnout or the weather interferred/ prevented such.

So it is not just time of year or children's programs or how many children, it is all of this plus an agreement before hand how to be responsible yet fun.

[no fuss travel]

What an excellent idea. When we cruised with our children and we started them at a young age, they were told before what behavior standards were expected and they obeyed. They also knew that if they did not behave, there would be no more trips for them.:D

[Paulchili]

What an excellent idea. When we cruised with our children and we started them at a young age, they were told before what behavior standards were expected and they obeyed. They also knew that if they did not behave, there would be no more trips for them.:D

 

You and lyndenfa are to be commended for your exemplary handling of these situations. I can only wish that all parents were as responsible as you were with your children/grandchildren - then we would not be having this discussion.

[no fuss travel]

You and lyndenfa are to be commended for your exemplary handling of these situations. I can only wish that all parents were as responsible as you were with your children/grandchildren - then we would not be having this discussion.

 

Don't laugh, but the last cruise we took our children with us on (they are now young adults), they were the ones complaining about the parents who were letting their children misbehave on the ship. We had some real sweethearts who were making it impossible to enjoy the pool deck and their parents just sat there with their drinks and ignored all the shenanigans. My response to my children was, now you know why your dad and I set boundaries for you when you were younger and can understand why the cruise staff used to spoil you. They got taken all over the ship by the cruise staff and saw things other children didn't because they behaved themselves. It was quite an incentive for them to behave as they knew they would get a special treat each night for dessert or extra helpings of shrimp cocktails. :D

[Senior Citizen]

We were recently on the MV of the Riviera and there were children of all ages. Not a lot. Not misbehaved. I especially noticed one girl who was around 5 years old because it seemed she was always in the pool or the jacuzzis with one of her parents. Her mother stood out more than she did because she wore her robe as a swim suit cover-up and would eat lunch in Horizons.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Don't laugh, but the last cruise we took our children with us on (they are now young adults), they were the ones complaining about the parents who were letting their children misbehave on the ship. We had some real sweethearts who were making it impossible to enjoy the pool deck and their parents just sat there with their drinks and ignored all the shenanigans. My response to my children was, now you know why your dad and I set boundaries for you when you were younger and can understand why the cruise staff used to spoil you. They got taken all over the ship by the cruise staff and saw things other children didn't because they behaved themselves. It was quite an incentive for them to behave as they knew they would get a special treat each night for dessert or extra helpings of shrimp cocktails. :D

 

This is so true. You'll probably figure out my age range by this post, but I first sailed when I was in 6th grade. It was on the SS Independence. There was a husband and wife (crew members) who took me to a secluded area of the ship when in one of the ports off of Hawaii. I got to fish off the cruise ship when in port! I'll always remember that I caught a Humuhumunukunukuapuaa (at the time it was the state fish and we threw it back). I spent hours learning how to pronounce the name of the fish. I'll never forgot how nice the crew was to me.

 

A couple cruises later with Celebrity (ship Meridian), they had crew that were paid to dance with cruise guests. I was in high school at the time. I danced my heart out! I learned so many types of ballroom dancing, it was a blast. Of course, I didn't want to take away from others that wanted to dance with the dancers, so I tried to only go early and late and sometimes got to dance for a couple of hours a day. This wasn't like the dance classes you see today on mass lines. This was one on one with the dancers... it was a form of entertainment in the lounges. Some couples would dance and these two dancers would select women out of the crowd to dance with them.

 

I do think if children are well behaved then some crew members go out of their way to do things special for the children. Although, it may not be as great or grand as my memories.

[cathi]

You all are making rethink our booked holiday cruise on Riveria!!! We've done several holiday cruises but always on the smaller ship that "usually" have few if any children. Try to avoid the larger ships that attract large family reunion holidays. Sure hope we luck out again with no or few kid on this years holiday cruise!!

We did one Princess cruise over Easter that had a horde of Mexican families on board and that was a nightmare!! They even quit putting the buns on the table at dinner 'cause the kids would start bun fights!! Not a pretty sight!

[TKS]

 

I do think if children are well behaved then some crew members go out of their way to do things special for the children. Although, it may not be as great or grand as my memories.

 

 

Many of the crew have children or younger siblings of their own. While as passengers we may appreciate having no children around, I'm sure many crew members miss their young family members.

 

When well mannered children appear, the crew likely enjoys interacting with them to be reminded of their own loved ones.

[eskie]

Do you think the guilty parties even pay attention to our "requests" , or do they even recognize themselves??

 

Never ruppert, that would mean those families would have to OWN up to the bad behaviour that has happened, which is a reflection on them.

 

Unfortunately, I was on the Marina last Christmas/New Years with all the children. There were a LOT of posts after that cruise regarding the number of children cruising and their behaviour. Also, some of the adults should be shamed of their behaviour as well. From the father who dropped the F word at a senior because she told the young children to stop cannon ball jumping into the pool (okay granted she said it rather grumpy), but still, let's give the Dad a star for a great teachable moment there! :( All the way to a regular O cruiser having a conniption fit at two young teen girls who happened to splash a little water and it got on him. He was sitting right next to the ledge on his lounger and as the girls entered the pool, one playfully splashed a little water at the other. Yes, it caught him by surprise, but he is next to the pool, come on! The foul words that came out of this senior, I blushed. The young girls were shocked, then got out of the pool and told their parents. That is the two extremes, then we had a "boat load" of kids in between. Being the first time sailing with Oceania, I was surprised as I thought it was for adults with maybe an occasional family here or there....NOT at Christmas!

 

Having said all that, I am going to try it one more time on the Riveria this year. I am hoping that Oceania is more prepared this year. Because, there WILL be children on the cruise, there always is for the holidays, so maybe they don't have to advertise the programs, but they have to have something prepared, so the rest of us can enjoy our holiday...Please!

[GITC]

Mura,

 

In fact, the staff captain tried knocking on her door many times but she wouldn't let him in and absolutely refused to attend. They said the husband did attend but there was no record of his being there. Even if they had attended the drill on the first leg of the b2b it is now a rule of the sea that you have to attend each segment. Claiming you are sick does not exempt you unless you are under the care of the ship's doctor. imo the captain was absolutely right to put them off. Age is not a disqualifier. And Seabourn even refunded the unused portion of the cruise.

[sarcasm]I didn't realize that the safety drills varied from week to week or that they shuffled the muster stations around. :rolleyes:

 

[/sarcasm]

 

Seems a little heavy-handed to disembark them but I guess if those are the rules, then those are the rules.

 

Not sure how long this "rule" has been in place but we have done back-to-back cruises and skipped the drill on the second leg. It seems to me that if you know where your life jacket and muster stations are that you should be good to go but apparently not.

[wripro]

A lot more attention is being paid to safety drills since the Costa Concordia incident.

 

Those people caused the ship to stay in port late, pay extra port fees, lose their position with the pilot and in general inconvenienced the rest of the passengers while the crew tried to get them to attend the drill. I think putting them off and giving them a refund for the unused portion of their cruise was more than fair.

[Boreus]

One of the reasons I like Oceania is that it is an adult experience with no children's programs, but there were a few children on my Marina cruise ending in Dover on June 6, 2012, and they made no problems that I saw. I also noticed that the adults on board paid little attention to the children so I suspect that most passengers feel as I do. We love our children and grandchildren, but on a cruise we want adult company.