Number of kids in our cruise

[vamom2003]

Hello,

 

It's about 30 days before our cruise and I called Princess today to find out how many kids will be traveling on it.

We are doing an 11 day Panama Canal trip the week of Thanksgiving and the following week..

My kids are 7 and 10 yrs old and they said there are 6 other kids their age and 8 in the 13-17 age range..

 

I then asked if the Youth Centers were going to run as scheduled and after a bit, I got a confirmation that they will.

 

I was hoping that traveling over Thanksgiving break would increase the number of kids but was also aware that any thing over a week would also drop the numbers..

 

For those that have done this cruise before.. Do these numbers look to be the average??

 

Thanks!

[seashinesunshine]

Hello,

 

It's about 30 days before our cruise and I called Princess today to find out how many kids will be traveling on it.

We are doing an 11 day Panama Canal trip the week of Thanksgiving and the following week..

My kids are 7 and 10 yrs old and they said there are 6 other kids their age and 8 in the 13-17 age range..

 

I then asked if the Youth Centers were going to run as scheduled and after a bit, I got a confirmation that they will.

 

I was hoping that traveling over Thanksgiving break would increase the number of kids but was also aware that any thing over a week would also drop the numbers..

 

For those that have done this cruise before.. Do these numbers look to be the average??

 

Thanks!

 

I haven't cruised Princess before but that seems pretty low to me. However it is an 11 day cruise and even though it's over a holiday, it still is a longer cruise, so it may be more older people. The kids will have fun regardless! :)

[Lerin]

Haven't done this cruise but those numbers look nice to me.

With a smaller group the kids(and their parents) may get more opportunity to get to know each other.

 

Have fun and let us know how it goes in the kid club. :)

[Mistyhon]

I'm curious how you got this information. Did you just call up the 800 number and talk to a representative?

[Keith1010]

Yes, because the issue is that it is an 11 day cruise and most children have to be back in school and only get off the week of Thanksgiving so I would have assumed as much. If you were booked on a seven day cruise that would be different.

 

I am sure you all will still have a great cruise.

 

Keith

[vamom2003]

Haven't done this cruise but those numbers look nice to me.

With a smaller group the kids(and their parents) may get more opportunity to get to know each other.

 

Have fun and let us know how it goes in the kid club. :)

 

Good point! Thanks!!

 

I'm curious how you got this information. Did you just call up the 800 number and talk to a representative?

 

I had called a while ago when I saw a post about someone finding out the number of kids in their cruise and was told they couldn't get the numbers until after the final payment was due. Forgot to do it when we made the payment and was reminded by the kids yesterday...

[sherryf]

Yes, because the issue is that it is an 11 day cruise and most children have to be back in school and only get off the week of Thanksgiving so I would have assumed as much. If you were booked on a seven day cruise that would be different.

 

Most don't even get the full week. Mine only get the 4-day weekend.

 

I am not at all surprised by the low number of kids on your cruise.

[RSLeesburg]

We are planning to take an 8-day Thanksgiving Day cruise on Grandeur with our 5 y/o son, and were wondering if there would be a lot of kids on board. The cruise starts the Friday before and returns the Sat after. I would think that for just a few days, parents may take kids out early. Any thoughts?

[Keith1010]

We are planning to take an 8-day Thanksgiving Day cruise on Grandeur with our 5 y/o son, and were wondering if there would be a lot of kids on board. The cruise starts the Friday before and returns the Sat after. I would think that for just a few days, parents may take kids out early. Any thoughts?

 

I am sure there will be some children, particularly some younger ones.

 

Keith

[RSLeesburg]

Hello,

 

It's about 30 days before our cruise and I called Princess today to find out how many kids will be traveling on it.

We are doing an 11 day Panama Canal trip the week of Thanksgiving and the following week..

My kids are 7 and 10 yrs old and they said there are 6 other kids their age and 8 in the 13-17 age range..

 

I then asked if the Youth Centers were going to run as scheduled and after a bit, I got a confirmation that they will.

 

I was hoping that traveling over Thanksgiving break would increase the number of kids but was also aware that any thing over a week would also drop the numbers..

 

For those that have done this cruise before.. Do these numbers look to be the average??

 

Thanks!

 

Just a note - I emailed the concierge on our last cruise to find out how many kids were going to be onboard, and he told us only 10 kids on board and only 3 in my son' age group. But when we boarded, there were more like 40 kids on board and maybe 8-10 kids in his age group. So, these estimates can be off a bit. Not sure how, as they collect this data when you do your online check in, but it did happen it our case.

 

Also, our son did make friends with the few kids on board, and so everything worked out fine. Enjoy your cruise.

[RSLeesburg]

I am sure there will be some children, particularly some younger ones.

 

Keith

 

Oh, I am sure there will be some. I was just curious if there would be lots - I am more concerned with hundreds, as you might find on other holiday cruises. But when I read the OP's comments I began to wonder if our cruise, being a bit longer would fall into same category...

[Ashland]

I too am surprised that a cruiseline would give out the #'s & ages of minor children passengers expected to be onboard :confused:...Thought this was a demographics/privacy issue...So I guess not.

[katiedidthat]

I too am surprised that a cruiseline would give out the #'s & ages of minor children passengers expected to be onboard :confused:...Thought this was a demographics/privacy issue...So I guess not.

 

I don't see why this would be an issue. We asked and were told there were currently 215 children booked on our sailing, and only 7 age 2 and under. They didn't give us the exact ages and said they could only tell us the age groupings (16 between 5-12, etc) not how many 6 year olds there would be. I would see it as an issue if you could call and find out what rooms held children. As a heads up for any parents concerned about it however- the name tags for camp carnival (which hang in the doorway of cc in public view and are worn when the kids are out and about on the ship) have both the child's first name and room number on them, as well as being grouped by the child's age.

[RSLeesburg]

I don't see why this would be an issue. We asked and were told there were currently 215 children booked on our sailing, and only 7 age 2 and under. They didn't give us the exact ages and said they could only tell us the age groupings (16 between 5-12, etc) not how many 6 year olds there would be. I would see it as an issue if you could call and find out what rooms held children. As a heads up for any parents concerned about it however- the name tags for camp carnival (which hang in the doorway of cc in public view and are worn when the kids are out and about on the ship) have both the child's first name and room number on them, as well as being grouped by the child's age.

 

Yes. When we called, the RCI rep said that they did not have access to total numbers, so we emailed the concierge. He only gave us numbers based on the age groups for AO based on the numbers he got from the AO manager.

[cb at sea]

For the itinerary you're doing, it sounds normal....not too many families can swing a cruise over 7 days.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Most don't even get the full week. Mine only get the 4-day weekend.

 

I am not at all surprised by the low number of kids on your cruise.

 

It's only been the last few years that schools in the Los Angeles school district has been taking off more than Thursday and Friday, but I think it's more because of the budget crisis. My daughter's school is one of the few that isn't taking off the whole week.

[kitkat343]

vamom, this information might be too late for you, but for others interested in children's numbers on the roundtrip panama canal princess cruise there were 150 children on the cruise that sailed on December 29, 2012. There were only 11 children on the next cruise, which sailed on January 8, 2013. I was on that cruise with my 2 year old son and I asked the kid zone employees about the numbers, since it is important for me to sail when there are very few children on board since my son is so young and needs more individual attention. When he is older, I'd want more children on board.

 

My review might be a little helpful for you, but it is more geared towards taking the panama canal tour with a young toddler than a 7 and ten year old

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=114972

 

We had a wonderful time on the trip, and hope your family does too!

Edited November 25, 2013 by kitkat343