Wow. Lots of kids.

[RetiredNTraveling]

If you want to avoid kids some simple rules

1) Avoid the mass market lines, rule of thumb the more expensive and exclusive the cruise the fewer kids.

2) If you aren't rich enough to have your own private Yacht and have to sail the mainstream lines, avoid holidays; Thanksgiving, Last two weeks of Year, and pretty much the last two weeks of March thru the 1st week of April and ALL of the summer.

3) Take the longer two week plus cruise on the smaller ships...

 

:D

 

Well said! However, longer (14 & 15 day) cruises late March & April out of Calif. are a bummer. We booked a Hawaiian Cruise in 2013 and found out that CA had a 2 week spring break which included Easter (over 600 kids). :( We actually kidnapped kids several time! :eek: Several would get on the elevator and push the button for the next deck, but before getting off the would quickly punch all buttons and then jump off. ;) People started boxing them in and make them ride all the way to the top even if they were going up that far. :rolleyes:

Another issue was youngsters rolling around on the floor in front of the elevator doors or at the bottom of the stairs.

We raised our kids and have no desire to raise theirs. Never again during spring break or the summer! :D

[jeffdal]

I knew it was getting bad when i stepped on one.

[LO-LO]

I have not posted before, but also just got off the Emerald. I was shocked :eek: by the behavior of the kids on board while parents either allowed the behavior in their presence or were not present. We witnessed a child tell his parents that he was going to run down the hall. They both shrugged their shoulders and let him do it. This is the same hallway where our cabin was and constantly heard kids running down the hall, at all hours. We have 2 teenagers that have cruised many times before and they were even annoyed by this behavior. It is the expectation of our kids that if they want to continue to cruise, they must follow our family rules and the ship rules. As simple as that :)

[jeffdal]

LO-LO.. I experienced the same thing...worst is when I saw parents let their son yell at the dining room hostess over and over that he wanted to be seated right away. The hostess had to tell him to calm down. I was so embarrassed.

[shredie]

It is the expectation of our kids that if they want to continue to cruise, they must follow our family rules and the ship rules. As simple as that :)

 

Our grandchildren love to cruise and know it's a privilege. They are always well-behaved on the ship (and on shore) and several times have received compliments about how good they are. They spend most of their time on board in the kids' club, so they aren't really free to run amok. We have never had a call from the kids' club about their behavior. This Emerald cruise sounds like a nightmare, and it's sad for everyone who wasn't a kid running amok.

[Cindy]

We cruised out of Galveston at Spring Break for many years because I was an elementary school principal and couldn't take off while school was in session! (But I really wanted to!:rolleyes:) While the ships were full of vacationing families, the ONLY time we had any problems on the ship was the year our Spring Break coincided with Holy Week. We vowed "never again" after that cruise, so I have a good idea what it was like on the Emerald last week.

 

On the flip side, our non-Holy Week cruises on Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival were all just fine. We had our strategies for having an adult experience, and had a lovely time on all the cruises. I don't have a problem with kids being kids and having a great time -- laughing, swimming/splashing, and enjoying the ship like everybody else. Most of the kids I've encountered on ships were respectful and pleasant. It's was only when disruptive or destructive behavior was ignored by the "responsible" adults that our enjoyment was impacted.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Cindy

[drgrinch]

The great thing about being the parent of a very well-behaved child on a cruise with few kids is that people (crew and paxs alike) fawn all over them. I was on the Royal TA last year to the Baltics and several times a day people came up to me to tell me what an adorable and well-behaved child I had. My daughter liked to dance in the piazza along with the string quartets, etc., and I had soooo many people stop in the halls, elevator, Horizon Court, etc., to tell me how much they liked having her around. Paxs even approached her with gifts!!!! The cabin steward treated her like a princess, leaving bags of chocolate for her and making her towel animals, etc. I didn't detect anybody who was displeased with her presence (except for one couple who thought they owned the entire piazza floor when they danced). It was a wonderful trip with wonderful paxs who couldn't see to get enough of my daughter. I guess if you raise them right, hopefully (not always), they'll act right.

 

So true...This is perhaps one of the greatest rewards for putting in the effort at being a good parent - the near continuous positive feedback you get.

[Granny DI]

What did the sign actually say? I can't believe it said "no children" for late seating.

 

This was on the Adventure of the Seas. The sign said No children under 18 allowed in this restaurant after 9:00 PM. This message was prominent in the daily news next to booking specialty restaurants. If you are not going to enforce a rule then why have one.

The children in question were about 4 and 7.

[goofy559]

So just for contrast, we took a 10 day on the Royal leaving March 9. There were virtually no kids. there were no kids. I had 3 teens and they never went to the club because it was dead. Had a great time!!! 10 days is the way to go!

[Rosethorn40]

Years ago we booked a true 14-day (Not 2 seven day b2b) Caribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale on the Sea Princess. We had done a 10-day Caribbean a couple of years earlier and almost no kids. We thought with this being a 14-day, no kids. WRONG! It was spring holiday in the UK and unknown to us this particular cruise was marketed very heavily in the UK. The number of kids was staggering. They took over the entire ship including all the pools and hot tubs, including those in the adult area, they ran screaming up & down the corridors all hours of the day & night, yes, would push all the buttons on the elevators. It was horrible.

 

Worst of all was about 3 days before we set sail we had received a move over offer, which I had turned down because the date offered was October (Hurricane season), and we were sailing in April. If only....

 

The positive? Lovely ports and beautiful weather.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Rosethorn40

[Granny DI]

Halloween is also UK school holiday time. We thought a Halloween cruise out of Malaga would be great fun. I've never seen so many kids on a ship! We were told many UK families book this cruise every year.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Granny DI

[c-cruise]

Trust me.. next year it's October, February and April!

 

Make sure you avoid President's Day week in Feb, that is a big school break week. April is no guarantee either - our Spring Break isn't until the 3rd week of April this year.

[jeffdal]

Make sure you avoid President's Day week in Feb, that is a big school break week. April is no guarantee either - our Spring Break isn't until the 3rd week of April this year.

 

I need to put all these breaks in a spreadsheet! I think some breaks are fine but I have now learned that I am overwhelmed with big breaks. Too bad since I like to vacation during Thanksgiving.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

I need to put all these breaks in a spreadsheet! I think some breaks are fine but I have now learned that I am overwhelmed with big breaks. Too bad since I like to vacation during Thanksgiving.

 

Actually there aren't to many kids on the longer Thanksgiving cruises.

[BeachinBeauty]

We took a Thanksgiving cruise where roughly half the pax on board were children. It wasn't totally bad. So, when we got a good deal on last week's cruise, dead smack in the middle of spring break season, we didn't think much of it.

 

Oh boy.

 

It's like parents get on cruises and say, "Bye kids!" They were everywhere! Unattended, unsupervised and out of control. There was one little boy who just had that menacing brat look on his face all of the time. He was wearing a hat every time I saw him and his favorite game was, run up and down the stairs and press the elevator button on each floor. One day, on our way up to Lido, we stopped at every single floor. When the doors would open up, we'd see this kid huffing up the next flight of stairs as fast as he could.

 

We were in the art gallery auction. A man behind us had a walkie talkie with him, very rudely communicating with his children (instead of stepping away-- he wasn't bidding). Eventually, the kids came and found him where they proceeded to talk loudly for most of the duration of the auction.

 

There was a group of kids on balloon drop night who managed to get ahold of some of the balloons. They brought them into Princess Theater and proceeded to pop them in attempt to startle a room full of people.

 

I was just astounded at the lack of discipline and supervision I witnessed. Bad things happen to kids and even adults on cruise ships and on the islands. I sat in a hot tub with a big group of teenagers and they told me their parents had let them roam the islands alone. Guess nobody watches the news.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[TWOFERTWO]

The great thing about being the parent of a very well-behaved child on a cruise with few kids is that people (crew and paxs alike) fawn all over them. I was on the Royal TA last year to the Baltics and several times a day people came up to me to tell me what an adorable and well-behaved child I had. My daughter liked to dance in the piazza along with the string quartets, etc., and I had soooo many people stop in the halls, elevator, Horizon Court, etc., to tell me how much they liked having her around. Paxs even approached her with gifts!!!! The cabin steward treated her like a princess, leaving bags of chocolate for her and making her towel animals, etc. I didn't detect anybody who was displeased with her presence (except for one couple who thought they owned the entire piazza floor when they danced). It was a wonderful trip with wonderful paxs who couldn't see to get enough of my daughter. I guess if you raise them right, hopefully (not always), they'll act right.

 

May my wife and I, add our compliments to you and your daughter! We always go out of way to say something nice to the parents, when we share a cruise with well behaved youngsters. They other ones, well......:mad:

 

 

As we have learned the hard way over 30+ years of cruising, the OP has now experienced on of the times not book a cruise! The booking times to avoid are well mentioned in this thread. IMHO. :D

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I need to put all these breaks in a spreadsheet! I think some breaks are fine but I have now learned that I am overwhelmed with big breaks. Too bad since I like to vacation during Thanksgiving.

 

It is really hard to keep track of, since many cruises are marketed internationally. I had no idea that coastals from LA to YVR would be marketed as party cruises for Canadians. I never saw them marketed to SoCal residents that way, or at all for that matter.

[CI66774]

May my wife and I, add our compliments to you and your daughter! We always go out of way to say something nice to the parents, when we share a cruise with well behaved youngsters. They other ones, well......:mad:

 

 

As we have learned the hard way over 30+ years of cruising, the OP has now experienced on of the times not book a cruise! The booking times to avoid are well mentioned in this thread. IMHO. :D

 

Why - thank you! It really did surprise me how many people approached us. I don't parent her in any special way. However, she knows to behave and she knows Mommy will not be happy if she's out of line. I don't allow her to run, talk loudly, or go anywhere unattended. She says "please" and "thank you" and doesn't make a mess at the table. If she spills something, I clean it up completely. We leave our cabin nice and tidy and she puts her clothes, toys away. She understands this is an extreme privilege and if she blows it, it will be the last cruise for her. We have another long ta cruise coming up and she's so excited she can barely sleep!!!!!

[pcsunlover]

We took a Thanksgiving cruise where roughly half the pax on board were children. It wasn't totally bad. So, when we got a good deal on last week's cruise, dead smack in the middle of spring break season, we didn't think much of it.

 

Oh boy.

 

It's like parents get on cruises and say, "Bye kids!" They were everywhere! Unattended, unsupervised and out of control. There was one little boy who just had that menacing brat look on his face all of the time. He was wearing a hat every time I saw him and his favorite game was, run up and down the stairs and press the elevator button on each floor. One day, on our way up to Lido, we stopped at every single floor. When the doors would open up, we'd see this kid huffing up the next flight of stairs as fast as he could.

 

We were in the art gallery auction. A man behind us had a walkie talkie with him, very rudely communicating with his children (instead of stepping away-- he wasn't bidding). Eventually, the kids came and found him where they proceeded to talk loudly for most of the duration of the auction.

 

There was a group of kids on balloon drop night who managed to get ahold of some of the balloons. They brought them into Princess Theater and proceeded to pop them in attempt to startle a room full of people.

 

I was just astounded at the lack of discipline and supervision I witnessed. Bad things happen to kids and even adults on cruise ships and on the islands. I sat in a hot tub with a big group of teenagers and they told me their parents had let them roam the islands alone. Guess nobody watches the news.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

 

People are nuts. It's a shame that they think other cruise guests will "babysit" their kids for them. They'd probably be the first ones threatening lawsuits if their kids were injured or worse on the cruise. I would have no problem telling the kids to knock it off although it would probably fall on deaf ears. On my CB cruise a few weeks ago I was disgusted when I saw parents letting their little boys snorkel and dive under the water in the hot tub. So gross!

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

People are nuts. It's a shame that they think other cruise guests will "babysit" their kids for them. They'd probably be the first ones threatening lawsuits if their kids were injured or worse on the cruise. I would have no problem telling the kids to knock it off although it would probably fall on deaf ears. On my CB cruise a few weeks ago I was disgusted when I saw parents letting their little boys snorkel and dive under the water in the hot tub. So gross!

 

There should be no snorkeling allowed in the septic tank. :cool:

[pcsunlover]

There should be no snorkeling allowed in the septic tank. :cool:

 

Haha! :)

[mek]

I need to put all these breaks in a spreadsheet! I think some breaks are fine but I have now learned that I am overwhelmed with big breaks. Too bad since I like to vacation during Thanksgiving.

 

We took a 14 day cruise to Hawaii several years ago over Thanksgiving and there were almost no kids, so it is possible to cruise during breaks and holidays without them. As someone else mentioned, 10 night cruises tend to have fewer children also.

[AZbeachboy]

If it is not tipping that people are complaining about, it kids. Maybe bad food as well.:D:)

[Saffir]

I don't allow her to run, talk loudly, or go anywhere unattended. She says "please" and "thank you" and doesn't make a mess at the table. If she spills something, I clean it up completely. We leave our cabin nice and tidy and she puts her clothes, toys away. She understands this is an extreme privilege and if she blows it, it will be the last cruise for her.

 

You must all be unicorns. You must. Because it's been YEARS since any kid I've interacted with has used "please" or "thank you" or hasn't generally been shrieking their heads off and running around like someone set them on fire while in public.

 

Please, please, PLEASE keep doing what you're doing. The world desperately needs more amazing parents like you.

[shredie]

You must all be unicorns. You must. Because it's been YEARS since any kid I've interacted with has used "please" or "thank you" or hasn't generally been shrieking their heads off and running around like someone set them on fire while in public.

 

Please, please, PLEASE keep doing what you're doing. The world desperately needs more amazing parents like you.

 

How sad. I know quite a few well-behaved kids, mostly friends of my well-behaved grandchildren. My grandsons are in Little League, and all the kids on their team are polite.