"Never again in the Haven"

[havoc315]

As someone who's going to be cruising with my 4 yo DD, I can say that she will *not* be spending time making use of the Haven pool/lounge area 'amenities'. With the possible (and completely probably) exception of when I take her there simply to *show* it to her, there's no way that it is an appropriate place for her.

 

She's 4 years old, never been near a real pool (we live in an apartment and don't have access to swimming facilities), cannot swim...and she's FOUR.

 

My kids were 3 and 6 at the time they were in the Courtyard Pool. They were comfortable with pools.... both could swim, the 6 year old pretty well. And it was far easier to keep an eye on them at the nearly empty Courtyard Pool over the main pool. That's actually a huge advantage of the Courtyard for families. I don't have to worry about my kids getting trampled by a massive crowd and losing sight of them.

 

My kids loved the Courtyard area, simply because it was space. They didn't run around like lunatics. But they appreciated the elbow room, as opposed to being cooped up in a cabin. Or instead of fighting against crowds at the main pool.

[Fishbait17]

lol thanks...I think it's because we had her so late (I'm 41, DH is 45 with 2 grown DS's)...once you get to a certain point in life, you're incapable of dealing with ....BS...(I've already gotten a pm from the powers that be here about my potty mouth, I don't want to get in trouble again lol) and that gets incorporated into your parenting style :p lol

 

You'd never know it though to observe here at home vs in the wild. She charms the pants off of everyone she meets when we're out and about but at home....oh God she's a terror.

 

I had to take an unscheduled trip to Texas in April and took the opportunity to take her along. First time traveling with her, her first time on a plane, in a hotel, etc. (it wasn't a pleasure trip so stress level was high to begin with). Sitting in the terminal waiting for one of our flights and this girl came and sat next to her. Early to mid 20's, very 'upper crust' look about her, she had a Coach purse, expensive heels and a pair of sunglasses on her head that probably cost a month or 2 of rent for me. She sat down and immediately started to go into her phone. I'd been doing my best to get DD not to bother people too much, she's a very social child and will talk your ear off (apparently like me when I was her age) so I knew this was going to be a battle because the girl was very pretty and sat right next to DD. Of course, DD immediately said hello. The girl looked at her, said hi, and then went back to her phone.

 

DD looked at her, sort of cocked her head to the side and said 'I like your glasses.' The girl looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, said 'Thank you, would you like to try them on?' and proceeded to hand my 4 year old child (who's burning passion in life is to see how quickly she can take things apart) her very expensive Rayban foldie up glasses. The girl didn't look at her phone the rest of the 20 minutes we sat there, stayed completely engrossed in conversation with DD for the interim, and when I looked around, the other 4 or 5 people in the immediate area were all also focused on DD and the conversation that took place.

 

Then she gets home and a pod person takes over. Or maybe the pod person is the one who comes out in public....:rolleyes:

 

Ok, this is too weird.. What I was trying to say before (that I couldn't quite say right) had to do with having my daughters very young. I was raised on travel to expensive hotels (Dad's business trips, Mobil Oil) and living in other countries in the "Children are to be seen and not heard" world, no swimming in hotel pools, no dining out, unless I was a perfect little lady in public (in a kids' place, home, playground, etc, I was perfectly able to be the beast that I was). Since I had my kids so young (mine were in their teens before siblings and friends had kids), I raised them the only way I knew how - exactly like I was raised. We have also been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit (business and pleasure) and my kids always had the same rules as I did growing up, right down to dressing properly for the theater and plane flights. Since we didn't know about parenting books or have other parents to talk to, I thought we had made some serious mistakes in parenting.. But my daughters (early twenties now) have become amazing young women, who have always been respectful of others, have always been able to have conversations with adults of any age, know how to behave in every social situation, and have won the respect of almost every adult they meet or work for - so I'm pretty much a proud Mama (and yes, they were Pod children themselves when the situation was right lol). There's a blurry line in parenting these days, teaching kids to respect adults while keeping them safe from the "bad ones", but our parents knew a lot about raising good kids into good adults, and I am ever so grateful for my parents' generation for raising us the way they did..

 

Secondly, when I read your story about the airport I started laughing.. If that airport was either Newark or Washington or San Diego, that young twenties traveler may very well have been my daughter - the one in law school - it sounds just like her (the other is a classic tree-loving dolphin trainer by trade, so if it was a Coach purse, it wasn't that one :D). She LOVES kids (pays for law school by nannying), and would be the first to entertain someone else's, so everything in the picture was perfect LOL..

 

Ps - it's no easier having children so young, I am late forties and EXHAUSTED! :D

 

Robin

[psycomac]

My kids were 3 and 6 at the time they were in the Courtyard Pool. They were comfortable with pools.... both could swim, the 6 year old pretty well. And it was far easier to keep an eye on them at the nearly empty Courtyard Pool over the main pool. That's actually a huge advantage of the Courtyard for families. I don't have to worry about my kids getting trampled by a massive crowd and losing sight of them.

 

My kids loved the Courtyard area, simply because it was space. They didn't run around like lunatics. But they appreciated the elbow room, as opposed to being cooped up in a cabin. Or instead of fighting against crowds at the main pool.

 

 

Yah, see completely different situations from mine. Since DD cannot swim and is only 4 years old, there is no way I would be far enough from her at a pool to 'lose sight of her' If I can't reach out half an arm's length and touch her, she's too far away. Even if she *could* swim, at 4 years old I'd still use the half arm's length rule being it's a pool. If she were older, could swim and was used to surroundings like that, it would probably be a different situation entirely.

[psycomac]

What I was trying to say before (that I couldn't quite say right) had to do with having my daughters very young.

 

I hope that I didn't give you the impression that I think all young parents are bad ones or are going to raise their children poorly because that wasn't my intention. I hope you didn't take it that way:o I think as with everything regarding kids, you can't cookie cutter them or their parents.

 

It's kind of a crap shoot lol. By saying that because we didn't have her until late, all I meant was my head is so 'set in my ways' that I'm just not willing to entertain anything 'outside the box' so to speak where respect is involved. It's kind of like the old person on the porch yelling 'GET OFF MY LAWN!!'. When you find yourself on the other side of the 'that music is too loud' debate, you know it's time to raise kids lol.

 

But I have seen plenty of parents who, both young and old, have done wonderful jobs raising their kids. And I've seen just as many of both varieties who should have been forcibly sterilized before they were given the chance to reproduce lol

 

And yah, the girl in the airport was awesome. It was in Chicago on April 27th (maybe she's a cruiser and might read this some day lol) and it was just the funniest most amazing thing to watch unfold. lol :)

[Fishbait17]

I hope that I didn't give you the impression that I think all young parents are bad ones or are going to raise their children poorly because that wasn't my intention. I hope you didn't take it that way:o I think as with everything regarding kids, you can't cookie cutter them or their parents.

 

It's kind of a crap shoot lol. By saying that because we didn't have her until late, all I meant was my head is so 'set in my ways' that I'm just not willing to entertain anything 'outside the box' so to speak where respect is involved. It's kind of like the old person on the porch yelling 'GET OFF MY LAWN!!'. When you find yourself on the other side of the 'that music is too loud' debate, you know it's time to raise kids lol.

 

But I have seen plenty of parents who, both young and old, have done wonderful jobs raising their kids. And I've seen just as many of both varieties who should have been forcibly sterilized before they were given the chance to reproduce lol

 

And yah, the girl in the airport was awesome. It was in Chicago on April 27th (maybe she's a cruiser and might read this some day lol) and it was just the funniest most amazing thing to watch unfold. lol :)

 

No worries, Never got that impression at all, and didn't mean anything about it, just that sometimes parenting from instinct works out best. Sounds like we have the same instincts! :D

 

Robin

[psycomac]

As if to drive the point home (and this is priceless, I wish I would have had the video camera out)....we have a neighbor who constantly slams their door whenever they enter or exit their apartment. Since their door is directly across from ours and is literally 2 feet away from ours, it shakes our door every single time and almost sounds like it's in fact OUR door that is slamming...

 

The neighbor just did that...DD looked up and yelled 'HEY! QUIT THAT YOU BAD NEIGHBORS!!!'

 

I could only smile...:D

[dachengdao]

Very well read myself and have lived in NYC for the past 24 years.

 

Your posts are a clear example of age not denoting wisdom. You have clearly been watching way too much television. I'd love to sit at your table for dinner sometime, if not anything else but for the entertainment value alone. Then again, I may end up rolling my eyes so far back into my head, I'd likely strain myself.

 

How are you love? When's your next trip? Warmest regards to Joe! BTW my daughter starts Russell Sage next year.

Julie

[dachengdao]

I will still allow my children in the pool. Our family always travels in the haven and while we have a beautiful pool in our backyard, the novelty of an indoor pool and hot tub steps from our room, never seems to wear off.

 

It seems that some won't be happy until the Haven is turned into an adult only area.

I see you have already booked another suite in a haven that is even larger than the GEM. Odds are you will be unhappy as there will be twice the amount of children in the Breakaway Haven.

 

I hope you enjoy your future in the Haven and that the children behave properly in your presence.

 

My family follows rules and our children do their best to behave like ladies in public. I NEVER expect anyone else to. Unless someone physically harms someone in my family, I don't care what anyone else does or even how loud they are. If it ever becomes unbearable, I walk away.

 

My girls are looking forward to meeting yours in August! We have similar attitudes-to each his own. I think the OP endured some extreme behavior though. There shouldn't be young, unsupervised children running around and jumping into a pool, splashing food items and oxygen machines for sport. Mine like to practice swimming and the Haven pool is ideal. If they want to run around, splash and slide they will go to the main pool with one of the adults. If they need to let off steam, they can go to the kids club or sports court. When they are in the Haven they will act accordingly, but they have every right to be there as do yours. It's going to be an awesome trip!

[bplazo]

All cruise lines need more adult only venues.

[luvtheships]

Very well read myself and have lived in NYC for the past 24 years.

 

Your posts are a clear example of age not denoting wisdom. You have clearly been watching way too much television. I'd love to sit at your table for dinner sometime, if not anything else but for the entertainment value alone. Then again, I may end up rolling my eyes so far back into my head, I'd likely strain myself.

well I have encountered the type of person that the poster Maggie is referring to and believe it or not it was just last Saturday as we were waiting across from the Gem on 48th and 12th avenue waiting for our ride home just like everyone else.

 

The man I overheard and actually spoke to:eek:was on the phone with his prearranged driver.

The driver apparently had gone to the Brooklyn terminal rather than the NYC terminal and was very late in picking up his pax.

 

The pax was on the phone with the driver screaming and yelling and saying some of the nastiest things imaginable to him. Questioning his brainpower and language skills to mention just 2 of the insults this pax was hurling at the lost driver.

 

The extent of my interact with this pax was to ask if it was a prepaid transfer or not.

 

His wife was standing there and seemed ok to me, but her DH was screaming ridiculously at the man that was soon to be driving them home.

 

I never encountered these pax on the ship, but it would not surprise me if he acted this way on the ship as well.

 

so yes, I do believe that the type of pax described by the OP and a few posters does exist as I have seen them in action. I am no child and with age has come wisdom. A wisdom that allows me not to keep my head in the sand and to be able to acknowledge that these characters do exist. I do not watch much TV myself, but I do believe that TV does gather their scripts from reality at times and to think all pax are high end descent folks is just silly.

 

Anyone that can book a cruise is allowed to cruise, there are no personality checks.

[RickinNYC]

well I have encountered the type of person that the poster Maggie is referring to and believe it or not it was just last Saturday as we were waiting across from the Gem on 48th and 12th avenue waiting for our ride home just like everyone else.

 

The man I overheard and actually spoke to:eek:was on the phone with his prearranged driver.

The driver apparently had gone to the Brooklyn terminal rather than the NYC terminal and was very late in picking up his pax.

 

The pax was on the phone with the driver screaming and yelling and saying some of the nastiest things imaginable to him. Questioning his brainpower and language skills to mention just 2 of the insults this pax was hurling at the lost driver.

 

The extent of my interact with this pax was to ask if it was a prepaid transfer or not.

 

His wife was standing there and seemed ok to me, but her DH was screaming ridiculously at the man that was soon to be driving them home.

 

I never encountered these pax on the ship, but it would not surprise me if he acted this way on the ship as well.

 

so yes, I do believe that the type of pax described by the OP and a few posters does exist as I have seen them in action. I am no child and with age has come wisdom. A wisdom that allows me not to keep my head in the sand and to be able to acknowledge that these characters do exist. I do not watch much TV myself, but I do believe that TV does gather their scripts from reality at times and to think all pax are high end descent folks is just silly.

 

Anyone that can book a cruise is allowed to cruise, there are no personality checks.

 

Pardon, but what you are telling us is nothing like what that other poster mentions. You are talking about one single person. The other poster I quoted was making very broad, sweeping generalizations about entire groups.

 

So of course there are self entitled, incredibly rude half wits in the world and on NCL. I'd be a fool to not be aware of that. But I'm not going categorize entire groups based upon single experiences.

[luvtheships]

Pardon, but what you are telling us is nothing like what that other poster mentions. You are talking about one single person. The other poster I quoted was making very broad, sweeping generalizations about entire groups.

 

So of course there are self entitled, incredibly rude half wits in the world and on NCL. I'd be a fool to not be aware of that. But I'm not going categorize entire groups based upon single experiences.

 

It only takes one person. Cabin. Family in the haven. The mdr. The pool. The private island. Etc. to get someone's attention. Be it positive or negative. To not understand that certain groups of people tend to cause issues for others by their actions is silly. All of the threads about smokers teens kids charter groups etc. prove this point. Why all the fuss then about those groups? Simple those groups are categorized. But that is ok here on cc isn't it? But to question the type of person causing trouble in the haven is not right? Interesting isn't it?

A new flavor of kool aid I guess

 

 

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[RickinNYC]

How are you love? When's your next trip? Warmest regards to Joe! BTW my daughter starts Russell Sage next year.

Julie

 

Hi Julie. Been a long time!

 

All is well. Looking forward to a week long trip to Provincetown this July. Only other vacation is a solo on the Breakaway in December.

[Bobbye]

Yes that is one tiny flaw (IMHO) of the Breakaway. There is wasted pool space in the Haven. If you remove those 6 lounge chairs from the water, NCL could have had quite a nice large Haven pool for the hundreds of Haven guests. Instead they have the standard Jewel class sized haven pool. It makes no sense since 50x more Haven guests will be using it on Breakaway compared to Jewel class ships.

 

When we were on the Breakaway every day but one the Haven Pools had parents with their young children. No childress older adults. Not much noise because the children were little -- too little to be in the pool. Swim diapers under the bathing suites were ignored. The little ones were using the parents loungers in the pool as small sliding boards.

[bellebud]

RCCL has a wonderful adult pool section (Explorer of the Seas out of NJ). I am so surprised every cruise line doesn't have this standard.

 

On Celebrity, a few teens started jumping in the family pool, and a pool deck attendant (looked more like a butler) couldn't have been swifter or more firm in his 'response' to this behavior. The kids stopped immediately. I was SO impressed. The only thing on his mind was stopping the dangerous behavior, not the feelings of the unruly teens, or their parents. NCL could take a lesson from this.

 

On the Gem, I've witnessed parents throwing their kids around the pool for fun, and the kids landing on top of other kids, and the parents not caring at all, and NCL staff not caring at all.

 

I find the pool layout on the Gem very funny actually... the ADULT pool is right next to the family pool, with only a small sign stating it's an adult only pool. I saw kids in both pools, as well as very annoyed older people in both pools (the older people were in the family pool, getting splashed, etc). I bet they didn't know the other pool was adults only... I'm sure they would have picked that pool if it was obvious. NCL does a lot of things wonderfully, but policing dangerous behavior is not one of them.

[bplazo]

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and it was wonderful, we saw maybe ten children on the cruise. It was very nice and relaxing.

[psycomac]

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and it was wonderful, we saw maybe ten children on the cruise. It was very nice and relaxing.

 

I think (though I'm not an expert by any means) that comparing Celebrity to NCL is kind of an apples to oranges thing in the kid department. Does Celebrity even have a dedicated kid's program? (again, not an expert because I've not done any research on Celebrity, but it doesn't seem a very family or kid friendly line)

[Aurora2143]

Just for funzies, what do you all think would happen if I ended up with the Clampetts in the haven and my hubby and I started making out?

Do you think that might clear the haven area really quick?

[1witchydiva]

Just for funzies, what do you all think would happen if I ended up with the Clampetts in the haven and my hubby and I started making out?

Do you think that might clear the haven area really quick?

 

OMG lol I just choked on my crystal light...:)

 

My first suite is next month and the potential horrors of the haven have me concerned to say the least. :confused:

 

That might not deter the Clampetts... Kids might move closer for a better view...lol ????:confused::rolleyes:

[Aurora2143]

OMG lol I just choked on my crystal light...:)

 

My first suite is next month and the potential horrors of the haven have me concerned to say the least. :confused:

 

That might not deter the Clampetts... Kids might move closer for a better view...lol ????:confused::rolleyes:

 

Oh I'm not talking about getting all steamy and stuff. But enough affection that might make the parents feel a little uncomfortable.

In my observation, it seems that (NOT ALL) but usually the parents that allow their kids to be obnoxious allow their kids to play violent video games or watch violent movies, BUT don't like their kids to see loving affection displayed even between married people. It's "inappropriate". Sounds silly, I know.

 

It was just for fun anyways! :)

[psycomac]

Oh I'm not talking about getting all steamy and stuff. But enough affection that might make the parents feel a little uncomfortable.

In my observation, it seems that (NOT ALL) but usually the parents that allow their kids to be obnoxious allow their kids to play violent video games or watch violent movies, BUT don't like their kids to see loving affection displayed even between married people. It's "inappropriate". Sounds silly, I know.

 

It was just for fun anyways! :)

 

You might have better luck if your SO had the same naughty bits you do. Seems people aren't so opposed to PDA's provided that your 'parts' don't match :rolleyes:

[Aurora2143]

You might have better luck if your SO had the same naughty bits you do. Seems people aren't so opposed to PDA's provided that your 'parts' don't match :rolleyes:

 

I don't know what a SO is. :)

 

OMG lol I just choked on my crystal light...:)

 

My first suite is next month and the potential horrors of the haven have me concerned to say the least. :confused:

 

That might not deter the Clampetts... Kids might move closer for a better view...lol ????:confused::rolleyes:

 

Don't worry about it. You're going to have a lot of fun. The stuff on here happen, but I'm sure it's not a regular thing. Most kids I've encountered on the cruise ships are pretty awesome.

[1witchydiva]

Oh I'm not talking about getting all steamy and stuff. But enough affection that might make the parents feel a little uncomfortable.

In my observation, it seems that (NOT ALL) but usually the parents that allow their kids to be obnoxious allow their kids to play violent video games or watch violent movies, BUT don't like their kids to see loving affection displayed even between married people. It's "inappropriate". Sounds silly, I know.

 

It was just for fun anyways! :)

 

 

:) Thank you. I needed the laugh....:):D

[psycomac]

I don't know what a SO is. :)

 

 

*S*ignificant *O*ther ;)

[Aurora2143]

*S*ignificant *O*ther ;)

 

Oh...*blush*