Rant - "too many kids on board"

[rodenboy]

86.7% of statistics are made up on the spot. :rolleyes:

 

 

I thought it was 85.7? ;)

 

 

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[Familygoboston]

That's a distinct possibility.

 

But one thing I've learned over the years is real life is hardly ever as bad as it is made out to be on Cruise Critic. :)

 

That's absolutely true! When people bow out of a dress code battle zone thread they'd started with an innocent question - I always remind them, they will find none of this strum and drang on board:rolleyes:

 

Actually though, wouldn't it be a blast to have a ship wide "color war" just like at summer camp? You know, pit the dressers vs the shorts, or smokers vs non smokers, CHOGS vs pool patrollers. It would be a riot (literally and figuratively! ;))

[Guest maddycat]

Cruises with to many kids are much more fun then cruises with to many whiny seniors. With kids you have active parents around the ship contributing to the fun with seniors you have clogged halls piss and moan attitudes that everyone is rushing them. That is until it's time to disembark all of a sudden they all move like gazelles to exit. Love kids dislike seniors.

 

If you are lucky, one day you too will be a senior.

[Yorkvillain]

86.7% of statistics are made up on the spot. :rolleyes:

 

I don't believe 76.2% of the stats that people post.

[runner2013]

While I do agree children have just as must right to cruise as adults, I will say it is frustrating when they are not disciplined by their parents or have forgotten their manners .

I try to go with the flow, and am all for everyone doing their own thing, but my concern is when they run through the halls or up/down the stairs with no regard for anyone else's safety.

Other than that, I say live and let live-they're on vacation too:cool:

[TheDivineMrsM]

I'm going on my first cruise soon.

 

I work with elementary school kids and am quite accustomed to large groups of loud, noisy kids having fun. No problem. I am very adept at at seeing oncoming kids who look like they don't see me but might plow into me and swerving expertly out of their way. I do it about every work day and take it in stride.

 

What I observe with some kids is they want/crave adult attention. My son is grown. When I'm on vacation, I just don't want to be entertaining someone else's children. Some parents think that just taking their kids with them on vacation is good parenting. They don't interact with their kids. They want their kids to find their own things to do. It's not up to me to fill the void. Kids are great, but I am on my own vacation and want to spend it the way I want to. Some outgoing kids have no problem striking up conversations with strange adults. Sometimes I think kids sense I am a kid friendly adult; I've learned to smile politely and ignore them. I spent endless hours having fun with my son and his friends while they were growing up and now the torch has been passed to the next generation of parents raising children.

Edited August 2, 2014 by TheDivineMrsM

[KansasK]

Cruises with to many kids are much more fun then cruises with to many whiny seniors. With kids you have active parents around the ship contributing to the fun with seniors you have clogged halls piss and moan attitudes that everyone is rushing them. That is until it's time to disembark all of a sudden they all move like gazelles to exit. Love kids dislike seniors.

 

What time of year do you cruise that the ship is full of whiny seniors? I am approaching retirement this year, so I must be a senior, but I walk a typically normal speed down the hall and I happily yield the right of way to anyone running, complaining or clearly in a hurry. I enjoy my cruises and don't find time to whine. Whining seniors started whining when they were young.

 

I like kids fine and have cruised with the ship full of kids and with very few kids on board, depending on the time of year. A few of them misbehave, but they are kids and there is more hope for them than for rude adults.

 

Do you think you will never be a senior? Time catches up with all of us.

Edited August 3, 2014 by KansasK

[dorisis]

Cruises with to many kids are much more fun then cruises with to many whiny seniors. With kids you have active parents around the ship contributing to the fun with seniors you have clogged halls piss and moan attitudes that everyone is rushing them. That is until it's time to disembark all of a sudden they all move like gazelles to exit. Love kids dislike seniors.

 

If you dislike seniors, I hope you will never become one.

[Adayatatime]

If you dislike seniors, I hope you will never become one.

 

To be fair, moaning about seniors is no worse than moaning about kids. I think that's the point the poster was making.

 

There are good and bad kids, good and bad parents, good and bad seniors, good and bad people.

 

I hate categorising kids as bad, most are delightful, and most don't moan.

 

I am also happy with seniors, as they tend to have the emotional freedom to behave like kids :D

[babyher]

To be fair, moaning about seniors is no worse than moaning about kids. I think that's the point the poster was making.

 

There are good and bad kids, good and bad parents, good and bad seniors, good and bad people.

 

I hate categorising kids as bad, most are delightful, and most don't moan.

 

I am also happy with seniors, as they tend to have the emotional freedom to behave like kids :D

 

 

 

 

*LOL* So true.

I love talking with seniors who come from a time looooooong before political correctness and just tell it like it is and just don't care. They are the greatest.

 

 

My mom , now in her 80s is just like that . She is the original Sophia from The Golden Girls :)

 

A couple years ago she was in the hospital and the lady from geriatric services was talking to her and asking her questions and giving her a little test on her sharpness and mental alertness . She passed with flying colors :)

 

During the interview she misunderstood what the woman said and (she didn't have her hearing aids in) and gave an answer that would have the PC crowd in a dead faint.

 

I just put my head down and mumbled "forgive her she's old "

 

The woman laughed like hell, gave my mom a big hug and told me her dad was just like her "The original Archie Bunker" . He passed away a few years before. What she loved the most about working with seniors was that when she had someone like my mom, it was like having him back with her another day . *LOL*

[ReneeFLL]

I blame the parents for the unruly kids. The kids will push the limits when they are young because they don't know any better. If the parents teach them manners and not let them run wild then there wouldn't be so many upset people. There was one kid that had been running from section to section in the buffet area. He wanted to see everything there was and he was barely tall enough to see. The mom was somewhere off getting food. The rug rat ran right in front of me and I stumbled. I dropped a plate of food on his head. He was so lucky that the plate didn't break until it hit the floor. He could have sliced his head open. Good thing I didn't fall or I might have landed on him. I am definitely heavier than a plate of food. When the mother came yelling I let loose on her. Others did to. Never saw them again and this was a 14 day cruise.

 

I would be so embarrassed if I was one of the irresponsible parents and my kids (if I had any) acted like that. I do understand that kids won't behave 24/7 since it's not in their DNA, but at least the parent should take them out of the room, away from the pool, etc instead of letting it effect others. I don't care if your food gets cold or you don't feel like getting up from your lounger, but you wanted them so take care of them!

BTW, I don't mind kids at all if they behave.

 

Some adults can be just as bad if not worse. They probably had irresponsible parents growing up. :rolleyes: The ones that get drunk, obnoxious, loud, stumbling, etc are also very annoying.

 

There are probably more threads about disruptive kids because they act up more hours in the day then a drunk and are harder to get away from. So for the people who get mad at others for commenting about ill mannered kids, don't suggest for us to eat somewhere else, take a different cruise, etc. Next time you are enjoying yourself stop and think of where are they and what are they doing? It's simple BE A RESPONSIBLE PARENT AND TAKE CARE OF THEM. As for the drunks, that's a whole other problem. :eek:

[Adayatatime]

Suddenly so many experts.

 

I have taught and have been involved in numerous youth groups etc and have my own kids. I cannot comment on any parent or child, except to say that the huge majority are decent folk.

[DCT61]

Not claiming expertise...just giving an opinion.

[griffy116]

We are booked on what I believe will be our 17th (maybe 18th) cruise. We travel often as a family that has, on past cruises, encompassed four generations, so we've had seniors and children, stoller, walkers and wheelchairs. We also have several teachers in our family. The VAST majority of toddler, children, tweens and teens we have encountered have been great. When you have large numbers of any group, you are going to have the one or two that are disruptive and annoying. We have gotten so many compliments on the manners of our children. My Grandson was 3-4 when we started cruising. He's now 20 and Diamond on his own. We've also been in the Main Dining room with children dressed beautifully with the sneakers with rollers in the soles, who were close to taking out people as they skated between the tables and waiters with large trays. We had two children who left their table and were crawling underneath our table during dinner and the parents never noticed. We even had one child under the table who reached his arm up, felt around in my son-in-law's plate and took a roll off the plate during our dinner. These are the kind of problems that people remember and dread. It's not normal and it doesn't happen on the average cruise. We've had seniors run over our feet, push us out of the way at the buffet and tell us to move to other seats in the theater. It's not normal and seldom happens. It has never ruined a cruise for us and when we've looked back, we've laughed at the extreme rude behavior, simply because it is so out of the ordinary. You just have to take it in stride and look around to see that this is not the way the VAST majority of passengers act...old or young.

[tanzer22pilot]

"Not my circus. Not my monkeys."

 

Awesome!

[CruiseGuy76]

I hope you all will find this as "funny" (jaw-dropping?) as I did...

 

I was cruising the Crystal Cruises board last night, just to see how the "other half" think they live when I stumbled across a person filling in the privileged few about taking kids on a Crystal ship.

 

This is her quote:

 

"Kid's Club Rules

- a parent or guardian MUST be on the ship if the kid is in kid's club. This could be frustrating for some, and would have been for us if not travelling with grandparents. A solution is to hire a babysitter - I saw a couple of families do that"

 

Is she serious? Why even take your kids if you're "frustrated" that you cannot leave your kids on the boat while your private excursion into town? Thank GOODNESS they dragged the in-laws along to babysit. I'm sure Mee-maw and Papa would much rather watch over little Chasden and Mun-bun than actually get to see any of the ports that they are spending the inheritance on.

 

Her SOLUTION? HIRE someone! Yes! When you're too lazy to be a good parent on vacation, hire someone else to do it. I mean you only paid about 5 grand to drag them along, what's another few hundred to have them cared for by someone you don't know?

 

Money never could buy sense...

 

Okay, I'm done.

 

Cheers!

[tanzer22pilot]

These wise words, though we prefer the terms "ankle biters" and "diaper fillers". If we cared to be around children, we'd have had them. We purposely schedule our cruises to be on board when kids tend to be in school. Means we've basically sworn off any Holiday and most Summer itineraries, but such is the path we've chosen. As a result though, no cruise yet where we felt the kid ratio was at all high.

 

Agree, however as a child-free couple, our two term for kids are a bit harsher than yours.

[Adayatatime]

I hope you all will find this as "funny" (jaw-dropping?) as I did...

 

I was cruising the Crystal Cruises board last night, just to see how the "other half" think they live when I stumbled across a person filling in the privileged few about taking kids on a Crystal ship.

 

This is her quote:

 

"Kid's Club Rules

- a parent or guardian MUST be on the ship if the kid is in kid's club. This could be frustrating for some, and would have been for us if not travelling with grandparents. A solution is to hire a babysitter - I saw a couple of families do that"

 

Is she serious? Why even take your kids if you're "frustrated" that you cannot leave your kids on the boat while your private excursion into town? Thank GOODNESS they dragged the in-laws along to babysit. I'm sure Mee-maw and Papa would much rather watch over little Chasden and Mun-bun than actually get to see any of the ports that they are spending the inheritance on.

 

Her SOLUTION? HIRE someone! Yes! When you're too lazy to be a good parent on vacation, hire someone else to do it. I mean you only paid about 5 grand to drag them along, what's another few hundred to have them cared for by someone you don't know?

 

Money never could buy sense...

 

Okay, I'm done.

 

Cheers!

 

I get your point in this context. However, having your child in nursery or hiring a babysitter does not make you a lazy bad parent, and there is a difference in the way we all parent.

 

My daughter is older now but when she was little I worked and she went to nursery, so during the holidays I liked to spend time with her. Conversely, some parents have their children all year long at home and they choose an environment with a holiday club so that they can have some time for themselves - and also the kids can play with other children.

 

I'm not saying either is right or wrong, blimey I had to make some tough decisions because of personal circumstances, but caring for your children properly on a ship can be both when they are with you and when they are at holiday club.

 

Lazy parenting isn't about them going to kids club or hiring a babysitter. It's about allowing them to misbehave, not ensuring their safety and happiness, and spoiling other people's holidays.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Adayatatime

[Lionesss]

Having sailed the Disney Magic years ago with kids galore (including mine), yeah sometimes you notice them more than others.

 

Takes one screaming kid at dinner time to catch everyones attention.

 

But, after awhile, you just go on with your own vacation, make the most of it and ignore what you can.

 

I have never had a vacation ruined because of kids, I have always found something fun to do to keep me busy.

 

All of our vacations have been on school breaks, the busiest times.

 

Sea Ya

[dancinman66]

Parents are on a cruise for a break too and the kids club is a great experience for the kids

Mine would drag me there to sign them in straight away on boarding they loved it so much

 

 

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[The_Big_M]

I hope you all will find this as "funny" (jaw-dropping?) as I did...

 

I was cruising the Crystal Cruises board last night, just to see how the "other half" think they live when I stumbled across a person filling in the privileged few about taking kids on a Crystal ship.

 

This is her quote:

 

"Kid's Club Rules

- a parent or guardian MUST be on the ship if the kid is in kid's club. This could be frustrating for some, and would have been for us if not travelling with grandparents. A solution is to hire a babysitter - I saw a couple of families do that"

 

Is she serious? Why even take your kids if you're "frustrated" that you cannot leave your kids on the boat while your private excursion into town? Thank GOODNESS they dragged the in-laws along to babysit. I'm sure Mee-maw and Papa would much rather watch over little Chasden and Mun-bun than actually get to see any of the ports that they are spending the inheritance on.

 

Good pick-up.

 

It seems odd to go on a family holiday, but not do family trips when you're visiting towns, let alone being "frustrated" by it.

[TheDivineMrsM]

Yeah, I don't see the point in taking kids along on a cruise if you also take a babysitter with you as well. It never in a million years occurred to me that some parents would leave the ship for excursions while allowing their children to remain on the ship. It's certainly nothing I would have ever been comfortable doing, even if a babysitter was watching them, and I never would have imposed upon grandparents to keep watch over them while I did my own thing.

 

Everyone has their own tolerance level I guess. I believe I heard a figure of 750 kids on the cruise we just took. Never phased me, but I do work at an elementary. In fact, dh and I swam in the solarium pool once or twice at the start of the cruise and while it was beautiful, we spent the last two days in the lido deck pool surrounded by craziness, activity and energy. It seemed that was where the action was and we preferred it. I had a brief conversation with another woman in that pool and she complained about the number of kids on the cruise. To each their own.

Edited August 19, 2014 by TheDivineMrsM

[Paulette3028]

So often I see threads about "too many kids" on board a ship.

 

Well ya' know what - I don't drink but I never see threads about "too many drunks" on board; I'm not old and don't complain about all the seniors on board; nor would I ever post about it. :rolleyes:

 

We were all kids once! Sure the child's behavior will depend on the parents and the way their child has been raised. But what about these adults that over drink and act very childish? Who is responsible for their behavior? I don't care to be around those types, so we steer clear of the bars and avoid those people if at all possible.

 

We do cruise with our son - always have and always will take him. We home school and usually cruise during the off season. I am always hoping there are lots of kids on board so he won't be alone :D

 

It just seems to me that if you want a vacation without children - then take that vacation (an all adult, all inclusive perhaps - it's what we did when we wanted a kidless vacation).

 

Clearly a cruise is family friendly and affordable so there will always be kids on board - especially during holidays and summers.

 

Sorry - that is my rant - I don't post much but I just don't "get" it and felt the need to rant :o

 

Happy Cruising!

 

You are complaining about 'kids' on board -- yet you NEED 'kids on board' because you write: "We do cruise with our son - always have and always will take him. We home school and usually cruise during the off season. I am always hoping there are lots of kids on board so he won't be alone."

 

You can't have it both ways....if you cruise during a time, when very few kids are on board (because you home school and don't have to worry about taking you son out of school) then he may not have many his age to be with......and you will have a different problem.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Thus far, I've cruised Disney (Bahamas x2) and HAL (Alaska x1), and while I'm positive there were more children on Disney, I found that by and large I was far more aware of them on HAL than I ever was on Disney. I attributed it to a couple of things: 1) HAL's kids' club appeared to be far smaller than that on DCL and had much more limited hours and 2) the lack of an "adult zone" (other than the spa).

 

And parents not wanting to parent on vacation - which can happen anywhere - didn't help either on the Alaska cruise. One afternoon I decided to go and swim for a little in the Lido pool. I could barely make it from one side to the other without being jumped on or into as several children (boys in this case - not being sexist, but there weren't any girls at the pool at this point) jumping off the sides and swinging off the sculpture at the pool. Apparently unsupervised. I got out after less than 5 minutes and attempted to just relax on a chair next to the pool. Ended up moving 3 times trying to avoid the splashing as did some other women just trying to enjoy the beautiful weather we were getting on that day. Finally some of the ship's officers were walking by and saw a launch off the sculpture. They immediately asked the boys where their parents were, and the boys pointed to a table of men sitting, talking and drinking beer and completely ignoring their offspring (no judgment on the actual drinking of beer; just the ignoring of the offspring), and went to speak with the men. What resulted was a sigh and "boys will be boys" attitude with a half-hearted scolding to "Come on, stay off the art" and the boys just redoubling their efforts off the side of the pool. At that point, I decided I'd had enough and left to shower and change. I'm not sure how long the boys stayed off the sculpture, but it couldn't have been that long after the officers had gone as when I walked through the pool area 30 minuted later, it was the exact same scene - which boggled my mind. If ONE ship's officer let alone three had said something to me about behavior (mine as I'm single and kid-free or my child's if I had a child), I would be mortified and ensure that it never happened again. These guys weren't remotely phased.

[Adayatatime]

I avoid the pool at all costs. In fact, I avoid the whole pool area. Not because of kids, but because of crowds. My biggest pet hate isn't the kids, it is the adults drinking alcohol and then getting in the pool. So I avoid it so that I don't get worked up :D