Cold feet on Grandeur

[kz920]

Im about to make my final payment for our cruise in May on the GOS but am having second thoughts. Im worried that there wont be other children on board my DS's age (12). I originally chose the grandeur because of the fantastic price and the port is 2 blocks from my house. As all of you with children know, a bored teenager can make for a miserable vaca for all. Thoughts anyone??

ps. I called an RCI agent but they wouldnt tell me how many other children were on board our sailing:confused:

[bus man]

All of my cruises thus far have been during times when most schools are in session, yet I've never been on a cruise that has been completely devoid of kids. There have always been a few, here and there. My cruise two years ago was in late April, after most peoples' spring breaks; yet I do recall seeing a few tweens aboard.

 

That said, your DS is at an age when most parents don't want to pull their kids out of school. So it's more likely that most (all?) of the other kids would be younger than one's he'd want to play with.

 

It's always possible that you'll get a few homeschooling families, or one or two who were willing to pull their kids out of school to get a good rate on the cruise.

 

Failing that . . . have you cruised before? If so, then at least your DS will know what to expect of the experience, and be prepared accordingly. Personally, I can't imagine ever being bored on a cruise ship . . . but then again, I'm a few years north of age 12. :)

 

You can always bring his favorite electronic device, and if he's bored out of his mind, just let him sit in the cabin and play on it all day. Not much of a vacation, IMO, but it sure beats a surly teenager!

[cb at sea]

Oh my...there will be PLENTY of kids...no worries about that! Not all schools let out at the same time...and there are plenty of families who DO take kids on vacation regardless of when it is!

 

No cruiseline will divulge that info...but you have nothing to worry about!

Edited March 13, 2014 by cb at sea

[kz920]

thank you for the responses!

We are homeschoolers, which is why we can take vacation in May. We have cruised Carnival before in July and there were plenty of kids, but it was summertime. I know my husband and I will have a great time but I want my son to enjoy himself too. Maybe Im just a worrywart.....

Ive heard so many mixed reviews about this ship that it has made me second guess myself. On the other hand, I just priced out the Allure and between the prices on balconies and airfare I have sticker shock!!!!:eek:

[onthelake]

No cruiseline will divulge that info...but you have nothing to worry about!

 

Princess used to tell me. My DSis 20 now so it is some years since I called but there was no problem asking for that info.

 

Schools do start letting out in May so I would not worry too much about having other kids.

[kz920]

No cruiseline will divulge that info...but you have nothing to worry about!

 

Princess used to tell me. My DSis 20 now so it is some years since I called but there was no problem asking for that info.

 

Schools do start letting out in May so I would not worry too much about having other kids.

 

I called RCI and they told me they didnt have access to the manifest so they couldnt tell me about any other children.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I am home schooling as well. We did a cruise in May of 2013 from LA- Seattle. It was an eight night cruise and there were only three children on board. This was on Celebrity not Royal.

 

My son was 12 at the time and we had an absolute ball! In a way it was good that the youth program wasn't a big draw because he enjoyed getting off the ship for excursions. While on board I was his playmate. We swam, played ping pong and Uno. Even though there were no kids his age to hang out with- we enjoyed the cruise and even did some of our schoolwork here and there.

 

I would imagine there will be more kids on a Royal cruise though. My guess will be about 20.

[homeschoolmama]

I homeschool and my girls have been on 12 cruises. Never a problem with finding kids. There may not be alot but there will be some. Because we homeschooled we used time on the ship for education. Go to guest services and tell them you teach your children and ask them if you could get any special tours of the behind the scenes areas that you could take for educational purposes. Also I have created scavenger hints for the girls to learn about the ship. They have to talk with crew members to get answers. They love the hunt!

 

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[sweetpea1714]

Princess used to tell me. My DSis 20 now so it is some years since I called but there was no problem asking for that info.

 

Schools do start letting out in May so I would not worry too much about having other kids.

 

I called RCI and they told me they didnt have access to the manifest so they couldnt tell me about any other children.

 

 

Lol. No maryland school is letting out in May. Mid June at best given the snow days this year.

[RSLeesburg]

Im about to make my final payment for our cruise in May on the GOS but am having second thoughts. Im worried that there wont be other children on board my DS's age (12). I originally chose the grandeur because of the fantastic price and the port is 2 blocks from my house. As all of you with children know, a bored teenager can make for a miserable vaca for all. Thoughts anyone??

 

ps. I called an RCI agent but they wouldnt tell me how many other children were on board our sailing:confused:

 

 

We sailed on Grandeur in late Sep, and there were probably less than 20 kids under 15. In May I would expect some kids, but it won't be tons of kids - there may be even more if it's Memorial Day weekend.

 

If you are in a suite, you can email concierge and they will check with AO manager to see how many kids will be on board, but unfortunately, they do not have this info until a week or so before you sail.

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

I am home schooling as well. We did a cruise in May of 2013 from LA- Seattle. It was an eight night cruise and there were only three children on board. This was on Celebrity not Royal.

 

My son was 12 at the time and we had an absolute ball! In a way it was good that the youth program wasn't a big draw because he enjoyed getting off the ship for excursions. While on board I was his playmate. We swam, played ping pong and Uno. Even though there were no kids his age to hang out with- we enjoyed the cruise and even did some of our schoolwork here and there.

 

I would imagine there will be more kids on a Royal cruise though. My guess will be about 20.

 

 

Google guess :). This was roughly what we saw on Grandeur in off season.

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

Google guess :). This was roughly what we saw on Grandeur in off season.

 

 

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That should have been "good" - iPad is wonderful tool but auto-correct is terrible.

 

 

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[Carnival_Brides]

I called RCI and they told me they didnt have access to the manifest so they couldnt tell me about any other children.

 

 

Lol. No maryland school is letting out in May. Mid June at best given the snow days this year.

 

I work for a Maryland public school and our last day is June 16th because of all the snow (15 days this year!). I know historically there are some surrounding states that let out in mid to end of May, but Maryland is usually in school until at least June 1.

 

OP, I'd say to your cherub. We sail the other line out of Baltimore in the off-season (like super off-season) and there are always kids for my niece to play with. I agree with others to let your son bring his favorite electronic just in case.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[gettyfam]

We sailed on the same ship 11/8/13 with our 2 boys 13 &16... The ship had only 20 kids on the whole ship.. The kids had the time of their life.. They made friend that they still talk too.. And came home with 16 pairs of free Royal Caribbean flip-flops..

 

 

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[Athankfulheart]

Oh my...there will be PLENTY of kids...no worries about that! Not all schools let out at the same time...and there are plenty of families who DO take kids on vacation regardless of when it is!

 

No cruiseline will divulge that info...but you have nothing to worry about!

 

Carnival will give you info about kids on an upcoming sailing. Just needs to be within a couple weeks of embarkation.

[kz920]

I homeschool and my girls have been on 12 cruises. Never a problem with finding kids. There may not be alot but there will be some. Because we homeschooled we used time on the ship for education. Go to guest services and tell them you teach your children and ask them if you could get any special tours of the behind the scenes areas that you could take for educational purposes. Also I have created scavenger hints for the girls to learn about the ship. They have to talk with crew members to get answers. They love the hunt!

 

Sent from my SCH-I915 using Forums mobile app

 

Those are fantastic ideas that I never thought of. How did you come up with the scavenger hunt?

[kz920]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. You all have definitely put alot of my fears to rest. I expected that most would tell me to cancel and try another ship. I think I might make that final payment after all!! Ever grateful to my CC community......

And thanks to all the Homeschoolers who gave me some great advice too!

[bus man]

Ive heard so many mixed reviews about this ship that it has made me second guess myself.

 

I've sailed on the Grandeur twice now, and loved her both times. I'd go again in a heartbeat. She's been recently refurbished, so she should be better than ever.

[kassimer1]

we went on granduer the first week in january and we spoke with the teen activities directer, she said only 2 kids showed up each day. unfortunetly this ship doesnt have the extras that others do to keep your teen happy. that doesnt mean there wont be many on your sailing. the arcade had ony 3 games, there is no ice rink. the ping pong tables are on an open deck so if its windy you cant use them. the covered pool is in the adult area. things she might like to do. movies on the big creen, learn to dance, they had how to make a rose out of ribbon, cooking demonstrations, trivia ( it was really hard) I guess it depends on how your daughter is. Is she the kind of kid that needs lots of kids to be happy or would she be happy if it was you and her for most of the time.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

If it makes the OP feel any better, my son (now 13) and I are doing back to back cruises in May and I have a very good idea that there will be few, if any, children his age. I think if you go prepared for this reality- then you won't be bummed if there aren't any kids his age.

 

12 is a good age. They are still interested in hanging out with parents and you will have a good time.

[MardiGras316]

Which week are you going in May? We will be on the May 23rd sailing. Our daughter's 10th birthday is May 26. We are in North Carolina and have an option of year round schooling so she will be tracked out for our cruise. Some schools in North Carolina end the last week of May, although with the snow/ice craziness this year some traditional calenders are tacking days on the end. So the later part of May might have more kids than earlier in May.

[kz920]

Which week are you going in May? We will be on the May 23rd sailing. Our daughter's 10th birthday is May 26. We are in North Carolina and have an option of year round schooling so she will be tracked out for our cruise. Some schools in North Carolina end the last week of May, although with the snow/ice craziness this year some traditional calenders are tacking days on the end. So the later part of May might have more kids than earlier in May.

 

We are going May 16.

[giselleacttwo]

Princess used to tell me. My DSis 20 now so it is some years since I called but there was no problem asking for that info.

 

Schools do start letting out in May so I would not worry too much about having other kids.

 

Princess will still tell you. We cruised in October and I called to ask about numbers of kids then. They just require your booking number first. Once I got someone who told me they couldn't give out that information, but I told him sweetly, "I promise, you can" then he placed me on hold to confirm and came back with a number. :cool:

 

OP, we homeschool too and we went on a cruise that was unlikely to have ANY kids on board (28 days in October) and even on that cruise there were like 11 kids, including a couple of teens.

[sharse]

Im about to make my final payment for our cruise in May on the GOS but am having second thoughts. Im worried that there wont be other children on board my DS's age (12). I originally chose the grandeur because of the fantastic price and the port is 2 blocks from my house. As all of you with children know, a bored teenager can make for a miserable vaca for all. Thoughts anyone??

ps. I called an RCI agent but they wouldnt tell me how many other children were on board our sailing:confused:

 

 

I haven't finished reading the thread so forgive me if you've already said which date you're sailing… we will be on the GOS on May 2 and I have two boys and was also worried there might not be enough kids for them to play with!

[sharse]

I haven't finished reading the thread so forgive me if you've already said which date you're sailing… we will be on the GOS on May 2 and I have two boys and was also worried there might not be enough kids for them to play with!

 

Ah … I should have finished reading. Looks like we won't be on the same sailing.