Wow. Lots of kids.

[PrincessLuver]

Everyone else's kids are brats, but mine are perfect? :rolleyes: Didn't you just confirm your own theory?

 

There are good kids. There are bad kids. Just like everyone else in the world, no group is just one kind of person. Stereotyping.

 

Isn't the official definition of a "kid" on Princess someone who is in their 40's? :D

[caribill]

Isn't the official definition of a "kid" on Princess someone who is in their 40's? :D

 

The Ultimate Kid's Package (former name for the Unlimited Soda & More Package) said it was intended for kids up to age 102.

 

Edited August 16, 2015 by caribill

[notentirelynormal]

Yup, we were on this cruise as well and witnessed some pretty bad behavior. Young ones (like 3 to 5 years) up until 11:00 in crooners and other entertainment spots with parents seemingly unconcerned about screaming/shrieking. The worst were the unruly groups of pre-teens and teens just turned loose to run rampant. There was a whole lot of bad parenting going on.

 

Bad behavior from a 3 YO up at 11:00. No 3 YO should be up at 11:00 but since they are incapable of putting themselves to bed I think the blame falls firmly on the parents shoulder.

 

Same goes for the teens. The parents were/are lousy parents. I can guarantee you I always knew where my kids were at any age. At 12 and 8 they shared their own cabin and h*ll would have broke loose if they were not in there cabin at curfew or where they said they would be at any time - period.

 

I would be very annoyed as well but I would, because I have a big mouth, said something to the parents. Or I might have talked rather loudly to my table mate so that the parents overheard. Chances are though - yup my big mouth would have asked them why they would let their 3 YO be up at 11:00 in a bar. Don't get me wrong, I take my grandkids to a bar (well it is a bar in a restaurant but still) but we are out of their by 8:00 :D. I also would have gone to a crew member and asked if kids so young were allowed to be in the bars so late at night. Then complained at the Pursers Desk. Then gone up the latter until someone decided 3 YO were not acceptable in a bar at 11:00 at night. That's just me and I know others could/would never do that. I really loves kids too.

 

I was once on the 2nd floor of a hotel. There was a family living in the room above me for a month. They had a small child. He liked to jump. A lot. I got tired of hearing it. I called the front desk and asked if they could do anything (I was also a repeat customer that they knew never complained about anything). It stopped for a while but 30 minutes later, yup he was jumping again. I call again. It stops. It starts. I do down to the front desk and this guy is standing next to me. He says "are you the one complaining about my son". I said, "no, I'm the one complaining about the parents". I get the little guy needed something to do but at 10:00 at night, he needs to be in bed and quiet needs to exist for the people underneath. The manager told me he had had many complaints about the situation. Bottom line - the parents are at fault not the little ones.

Edited August 16, 2015 by notentirelynormal

[PrincessLuver]

The Ultimate Kid's Package (former name for the Unlimited Soda & More Package) said it was intended for kids up to age 102.

 

 

Awesome find!!

[emmak8]

The secret is to sail at least on a 10 day cruise. Kids are a rarity on cruises we take--- TAs and longer than 10 days.

[Fofalola]

This scares the hell out of me! We're booked on a B2B our of Fort Lauderdale starting 29 Nov (which I think falls just outside of Thanksgiving holiday). Will we be OK in terms of hoards of kids? Can anyone advise?

[shredie]

This scares the hell out of me! We're booked on a B2B our of Fort Lauderdale starting 29 Nov (which I think falls just outside of Thanksgiving holiday). Will we be OK in terms of hoards of kids? Can anyone advise?

 

If it's outside the holidays, then there will be fewer kids since most of them will be back in school. (I guess I didn't realize kids were so scary.)

[Fofalola]

Absolutely frightening!

 

Thanks for your answer, Shredie

[skedaddle43]

Complicating the "kid" problem are the parents who buy them the "ultimate kids package" and don't monitor how much Coke the little darlings are chugging! An overload of caffeine and sugar would have a Type B adult bouncing off the walls.:eek:

[nukesubsailor]

I wonder if it would be economically feasible for a cruise line to have one of it's ships do March cruises that are advertised as Adults Only?

What surprises me about so many kids on a ship is that parents that age can afford it. When my children were young, I was saving all I could to pay for their college. I hope college does them more good than a cruise would have.

[dickinson]

I wonder if it would be economically feasible for a cruise line to have one of it's ships do March cruises that are advertised as Adults Only?

What surprises me about so many kids on a ship is that parents that age can afford it. When my children were young, I was saving all I could to pay for their college. I hope college does them more good than a cruise would have.

 

Many people CAN afford it. However, there are a lot of people who can't but don't know they can't so they put it on a credit card :(

[SadieN]

I wonder if it would be economically feasible for a cruise line to have one of it's ships do March cruises that are advertised as Adults Only?

 

What surprises me about so many kids on a ship is that parents that age can afford it. When my children were young, I was saving all I could to pay for their college. I hope college does them more good than a cruise would have.

 

 

I believe P&O has a few adult only ships.

[shredie]

I wonder if it would be economically feasible for a cruise line to have one of it's ships do March cruises that are advertised as Adults Only?

What surprises me about so many kids on a ship is that parents that age can afford it. When my children were young, I was saving all I could to pay for their college. I hope college does them more good than a cruise would have.

 

I don't think it's an either/or proposition. There is an adults only cruise isn't there?

[PoppyandNana]

I just think it's sad that the concensus is that people should book to avoid school break times. Instead of, people should discipline their kids a bit better. I guess it's the world we live in, though.

 

No kid is perfect and their behavior is 100%, entirely the result of their parenting. I've got a ton of kids in my family. I can assure anyone that they would never in a million years behave the way some of these kids were. Of course, they're children, so technically they WOULD behave that way if we adults allowed it. So, I guess I should rephrase... There is no way in heck any of them would be allowed to roam the ship unattended, providing every opportunity for injury or disruption.

 

I will say, the family next to us in MDR was a total delight every night. Their children were exceptionally behaved. They dressed up, sat at the table, spoke at appropriate table volume, ate cleanly and the parents actually interacted in conversation with them. It was nice and refreshing.

 

I have no problem letting over 13 year olds have more freedom onboard. However, the kids I hung out with in the hot tub one night informed me that they'd been allowed to leave the ship in port alone and that was scary. They were all mannerly and behaved. I just was appalled that they were fending for themselves off the ship when so many horrible stories are out there (especially pertaining to young women).

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

 

Fond memories from a couple of years ago on a Med cruise. Huge "packs" of rampaging Kids. Squirt gun fights in the buffet (while mommy and daddy looked on with amusement), the elevator button thing, runnning up and down corridors in the middle of the night banging on doors. No point going into the nightmarish impact the little darlings had on the pools and hot tubs.

 

What made a bad situation worse was that for the most part the parents were turning a blind eye as they were too occupied with pounding down beers and reserving five, six and more lounge chairs by the pool early in the morning.

[Elevatorman]

I like kids.. I really do. But lots of really bad ones get on your nerves after seven days.

 

I thought I did my research after being on a Thanksgiving cruise. I searched for Spring breaks for Texas and surrounding states and saw I was in the clear but it was certainly spring break somewhere. Our 3/29 sailing had a reported number of 600 children.

 

I did meet some great families and kids but there were other kiddos that were not so great (like running and screaming types). The worst was a melt down in Club Fusion at 10:30p. I would have a melt down too if I was in there that late and eight years old. Another was a toddler running back and forth in front of our seats during a late MUTS showing.

 

I did see that the staff was somewhat responsive. There were a couple of loud kids in the Terrace Pool (adults only) and I overheard a woman find a deck attendant and he asked the children to leave.

 

I google and print out the Broward and Miami Dade school calendar, the NYC and Ohio, and I also check out Quebec. Schools close here and there for spring break and from Feb (winter recess) to the week after Easter. There are plenty of weeks that are mostly child free, but it takes research! The best weeks are right after Labor Day and the month of Jan.Since Easter is a different date each year I check on that too. If you like to spend your days at the outdoor main pool , kids can make or break your day!

[minniem]

I believe P&O has a few adult only ships.

Princess are you listening?

 

Perhaps an adult cruise or 2 during March and April might be a good idea. I would be willing to bet lots of people would book an adult only cruise.

[Coral]

This scares the hell out of me! We're booked on a B2B our of Fort Lauderdale starting 29 Nov (which I think falls just outside of Thanksgiving holiday). Will we be OK in terms of hoards of kids? Can anyone advise?

 

You will be fine! Thanksgiving week can have more kids but you will be after that.

[NoLifeDGenerate]

So spring break has gone from a time for college students to party to everywhere getting overrun by kids instead? How did this happen? What idiot decided to start giving grade schoolers spring break, anyway? What do college kids do nowadays? I guess most probably can't afford cruises anyway. I wonder if all-inclusive resorts end up the same way that time of year. I definitely agree with whoever suggested each cruise line provide an adults only cruise.

Edited September 1, 2015 by NoLifeDGenerate

[Cruisin' Chick]

I wonder if it would be economically feasible for a cruise line to have one of it's ships do March cruises that are advertised as Adults Only?

What surprises me about so many kids on a ship is that parents that age can afford it. When my children were young, I was saving all I could to pay for their college. I hope college does them more good than a cruise would have.

 

We don't go on vacation every year and try not to buy expensive things (both of us drive sedans that we bought in 1999 and 2003). But we would not begrudge taking our daughter on a cruise when we go -- I know how much school work the kids have nowadays (not anywhere near what we had back in the 60s and early 70s). But after our last cruise (2012/13), she reminded us that college is fast approaching. Fortunately we've been saving, and fortunately she selected a state college that she just started at last week. Unfortunately her dorm/meals is higher than her tuition/fees, but still everything is less than just the tuition for a private school (one of her kinder classmates' tuition is about 1/6 my daughter's tuition).

 

As for adults' only cruises, those who are "frightened" by the presence of anyone under 18 on a ship should consider lines such as Crystal, Regent, Oceania. Or else go when most kids are in school (but you still run the risk of being terrified by a homeschooler). Personally, I've only seen misbehaving kids on one cruise, and they were all from the same extended family (and passengers shared many stories about how the parents treated crew members terribly).

[Cruisin' Chick]

So spring break has gone from a time for college students to party to everywhere getting overrun by kids instead? How did this happen? What idiot decided to start giving grade schoolers spring break, anyway? What do college kids do nowadays? I guess most probably can't afford cruises anyway. I wonder if all-inclusive resorts end up the same way that time of year. I definitely agree with whoever suggested each cruise line provide an adults only cruise.

 

Even when I was a kid in grade school in the 60s, we would get the week leading to Easter off. While at UCLA, we would get the week off following spring semester finals, but I always went home to my parents that week. While in grad school, I heard about the trips to Cancun, Florida that many college kids would go to but I visited relatives and then a former college roomie. So I never did the traditional go-wild spring break. But I don't think it was idiotic to give kids the week off. Especially nowadays when the level of work they're giving in school is incredible even in kindergarten.

 

As for being over run? Other than places like South Beach or Cancun, there are places you as a non-student can easily avoid (or else book your vacation in late April or in January or any other time that kids are in school).

 

Again, there's not a reason to expect a mass market cruise line to have adults-only cruises. There are premium lines that don't market to kids. There was even an adults only cruise line some years ago that went out of business. Just do a little research and you won't have to share your ship with kids.

[shredie]

So spring break has gone from a time for college students to party to everywhere getting overrun by kids instead? How did this happen? What idiot decided to start giving grade schoolers spring break, anyway? What do college kids do nowadays? I guess most probably can't afford cruises anyway. I wonder if all-inclusive resorts end up the same way that time of year. I definitely agree with whoever suggested each cruise line provide an adults only cruise.

 

Maybe you should research that.

[riclop]

We go mid to end Feb and mid to late April.

[caribill]

So spring break has gone from a time for college students to party to everywhere getting overrun by kids instead? How did this happen? What idiot decided to start giving grade schoolers spring break, anyway? The teachers need the break.

 

 

What do college kids do nowadays? I guess most probably can't afford cruises anyway. I wonder if all-inclusive resorts end up the same way that time of year. Not the adult only all-inclusives.

 

 

 

see above in red

[volmoma]

I definitely don't mind children on cruises, well behaved or other wise. What my DH and I have witnessed, and I'll NEVER understand, are young children, 1-2 AM, running in packs!!! What parents let their children run like this? To me, IMHO, if something were to happen, and you know what I mean, these parents would be the first to ask, ' How could this happen?' I guess I'm just from a different time.

[Coral]

I definitely don't mind children on cruises, well behaved or other wise. What my DH and I have witnessed, and I'll NEVER understand, are young children, 1-2 AM, running in packs!!! What parents let their children run like this? To me, IMHO, if something were to happen, and you know what I mean, these parents would be the first to ask, ' How could this happen?' I guess I'm just from a different time.

 

I agree - it is the pack mentality that I see that causes problems.