texasnewcruiser Posted December 31, 2015 #1 Share Posted December 31, 2015 As a lurker I have learned so much on this site before I booked my first cruise with my husband over the Christmas hollidays on the Navigator. The cruise was outstanding except for one thing way too many kids now my husband is telling me no more cruises. It's not that we do not like kids just not that many on our vacation. I really want to take another cruise but my husband refuses unless I can find one with far fewer or no kids and he also wants more late night dancing and partying. Are there any RCCL cruises that are more adult oriented? I have heard Carnival is more of a party atmosphere so I plan on posting there also. Does anybody know if that is accurate? Thanks for any help so hopefully I can get my husband back on a cruise with an experience he will enjoy more and I can go on a cruise again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted December 31, 2015 #2 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) The longer cruises during the school year typically have many fewer children. For example, on our Oct 30 Legend transatlantic two years ago, there were a total of two children on board. Of course, if you want to ensure absolutely no children, you can always take one of the swingers cruises. Edited December 31, 2015 by clarea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare printingchick Posted December 31, 2015 #3 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) I would add, in addition to the longer cruises, 7-day or longer voyages leaving from less typical ports and those on smaller ships tend to draw fewer children. I've cruised twice from San Juan, during the school year, on a Radiance class ship and there were no more than a dozen kids on either cruise. Families tend to cruise from Florida, rather than Puerto Rico and also tend to gravitate toward the larger ships, assuming their kids will find more to do on board. (Ironically, my kids - who are kids no longer - have always tended to PREFER smaller ships!) Edited December 31, 2015 by printingchick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaAtlCruiser Posted December 31, 2015 #4 Share Posted December 31, 2015 I would not mind seeing an adult only cruise (not a swinger cruise!). But given RCCL is the "family friendly cruise line" I am not sure that will ever happen. Having said that - with the new ad campaign - do you think being the "family friendly cruise line" has changed? Is there a chance?????? I don't mind kids when they are well behaved. But I find most adults definition of well behaved is not the same as mine. And nothing bothers me more than an adult that brings their child to the Solarium. I wish RCCL was better about managing that! But some people are just nasty mean so I don't blame the staff for sometimes wanting to just not deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted December 31, 2015 #5 Share Posted December 31, 2015 We try to avoid cruises that may have a lot of children, we stopped cruising in summer or during school breaks, I wish some cruise lines would offer some adults only cruises. We like Sandals resorts for that reason adults only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheerMom15 Posted December 31, 2015 #6 Share Posted December 31, 2015 We have 5 kids but I scoured trying to find an adults only cruise. Its not that I don't like kids (obviously) but if I want to go on vacation without mine, I don't really want to deal with other peoples kids either. I wasn't wanting to take a swingers cruise and we are restricted to when we can travel, so I am guessing we will have lots of little people on our cruise. Maybe when the husband retires we can take vacation when we want, not when he boss says he can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted December 31, 2015 #7 Share Posted December 31, 2015 As Bob mentioned, TAs are sure to have very few kids. If you would have gone on the Navigator after the holidays, the number of kids would have dropped dramatically. As others have said, smaller ships, out of the way and longer cruises will have fewer kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba83 Posted December 31, 2015 #8 Share Posted December 31, 2015 The longer cruises during the school year typically have many fewer children. For example, on our Oct 30 Legend transatlantic two years ago, there were a total of two children on board. Of course, if you want to ensure absolutely no children, you can always take one of the swingers cruises. :D this was the first thought that came to my mind on a cruise where there wouldn't be any children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba83 Posted December 31, 2015 #9 Share Posted December 31, 2015 I agree that the longer cruises during the typical school year and not around school breaks/vacations would be the best time to go to decrease the children encounters... We are going on a 10 day here in april and its 2.5 weeks after Easter so schools should all be back in by then...HOWEVER, in our group we will have 3 children with us and I hope they aren't the only children on board, although they will still have lots of fun.... As far as late night dancing and such, there is usually a designated area on the ship that has a DJ playing past midnight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookwife Posted December 31, 2015 #10 Share Posted December 31, 2015 As a lurker I have learned so much on this site before I booked my first cruise with my husband over the Christmas hollidays on the Navigator. The cruise was outstanding except for one thing way too many kids now my husband is telling me no more cruises. It's not that we do not like kids just not that many on our vacation. I really want to take another cruise but my husband refuses unless I can find one with far fewer or no kids and he also wants more late night dancing and partying. Are there any RCCL cruises that are more adult oriented? I have heard Carnival is more of a party atmosphere so I plan on posting there also. Does anybody know if that is accurate? Thanks for any help so hopefully I can get my husband back on a cruise with an experience he will enjoy more and I can go on a cruise again. there are o AO cruises on Royal. HOWEVER it is possible to MINIMIZE the number of rug rats. one: take only cruises that are LONGER than 7 days two: choose an itinerary that does not appeal to the family beach set three: cruise when most schools are in session our GR 8 day New England and Canada cruise in mid September had a whopping 6 kids on board. 3 of which were infants, the others toddlers. the only time we saw them was in line to get off the ship in ports. if anything, Carnival is as family friendly as Royal is and only the 3 -4 days cruises are 'party' cruises. ANY major holiday will be OVERRUN with the 'little darlings' we will NEVER EVER EVER under ANY circumstances do another Christmas sailing on any ship or line. thats's when multiple generations board together and spend as much time as possible in large groups catching up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marys350 Posted December 31, 2015 #11 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Our Alaska, Canada/New England, and Pacific Coastal cruise itineraries had very few children onboard. We've also noticed fewer children on our Celebrity Caribbean cruises and on Royal Caribbean Radiance class ships. We also avoid cruises during the holidays and school vacation weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaytonCruiser Posted December 31, 2015 #12 Share Posted December 31, 2015 I know Celebrity used to do them a few years ago. They always had to slash prices to fill them. Seems like a interesting idea on paper, but they couldn't get enough people that wanted to go on that particular ship on that particular itinerary during that time frame to command a premium price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreadnought101 Posted December 31, 2015 #13 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Holland America had very few kids when we sailed on westerdam in Caribbean in November 2014 Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaytonCruiser Posted December 31, 2015 #14 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Holland America had very few kids when we sailed on westerdam in Caribbean in November 2014 Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk I don't think HAL would be a good fit for the OP based on this need. I really want to take another cruise but my husband refuses unless I can find one with far fewer or no kids and he also wants more late night dancing and partying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted December 31, 2015 #15 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Nightlife is totally dependent on the passenger mix....if the majority of folks are "early to bed" types, the nightclubs will be dead. If you have a large number of partiers onboard, the nightclubs will be rocking'....it's really up to the passengers...not the ship! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaK Posted December 31, 2015 #16 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Try to cruise in September, after school is in session. Our Canada/NE cruise had very few children onboard. Also, try cruising in January or the first week of February, before winter break. Our New Year's cruise was also relatively kid-free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonj Posted December 31, 2015 #17 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) Christmas week traditionally has many more children sailing. School breaks = lots more children onboard If you can stay away from school holidays you will have fewer children. Make sure you check when Easter is and when Passover, if it is a year when they are at different times, some states / cities will have one or the other as their school break. Also avoid shorter cruises over a weekend which will have more children Edited December 31, 2015 by jonj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docdan48 Posted December 31, 2015 #18 Share Posted December 31, 2015 As a lurker I have learned so much on this site before I booked my first cruise with my husband over the Christmas hollidays on the Navigator. The cruise was outstanding except for one thing way too many kids now my husband is telling me no more cruises. It's not that we do not like kids just not that many on our vacation. I really want to take another cruise but my husband refuses unless I can find one with far fewer or no kids and he also wants more late night dancing and partying. Are there any RCCL cruises that are more adult oriented? I have heard Carnival is more of a party atmosphere so I plan on posting there also. Does anybody know if that is accurate? Thanks for any help so hopefully I can get my husband back on a cruise with an experience he will enjoy more and I can go on a cruise again. Tell your husband he would rather have children on board instead of the Quinceanera girls from Argentina who travel in packs and are extremely rude. They push their way in in front of everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karter Posted December 31, 2015 #19 Share Posted December 31, 2015 You may want to do a search for couplescruise They are a lifestyle cruise that we have been on several times and have really enjoyed the late night partying and no kids. Here is a link to my old post. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2040273 I agree with most of the posters here try for when the kids are out of school but unfortunately that is also when older people tend to cruise limiting the party atmosphere. You may have to strike a compromise with your husband on the kids aspect. Good luck and hope you find what you are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39august Posted December 31, 2015 #20 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Also, don't cruise out of Texas or Florida during Holy Week, as that is school holiday for all schools in Mexico, thus, lots of kids. Christmas week cruises are probably the worst as far as number of children on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobnfl Posted December 31, 2015 #21 Share Posted December 31, 2015 My wife and I cruise carnival mostly but late last year we took a 11 day celebrity cruise and it was mostly adults. they do not have all the activities on deck like carnival so people with kids tend to go to another cruise line. They are geared toward the adults not kids. We loved it and plan on cruising with them more. Check them out you might be surprised at what they have to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted January 1, 2016 #22 Share Posted January 1, 2016 I was on the December 12th sailing on Navigator, so we were on the week BEFORE kids got out for winter break). That sailing was completely sold out, and there were only 260-some minors on board out of 3,500ish passengers. Definitely avoid school breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Spring Break, Summer Break) if you want to avoid kids. Remember, too, that different areas of the country have "spring break" at different times, anytime from February to April (almost the entire state of Michigan is on school break the first full week of April every year). Your experience was ENTIRELY due to traveling over Christmas holiday. Also, the nightclub was playing dance music until at least 2am every night, sometimes didn't close up until closer to 3am... I know, because I closed it down every night of the 8-day cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BND Posted January 1, 2016 #23 Share Posted January 1, 2016 We tend to cruise during off peak times while school is in and on longer cruises which usually means less kids. Our Vision cruise Nov 30-Dec 10 had 11 children onboard. I think we saw all of them over the course of the cruise and most were under 10, but a couple were teenagers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted January 1, 2016 #24 Share Posted January 1, 2016 My sister just returned from a 3 night on Enchantment yesterday. Ship was FULL of children running wild with no adult supervision. I warned her...but... :( Her new fiance was with her, being his first cruise. He told he would rather not cruise ever again. Shame. Hope he changes his mind, as I reminded her it is best to cruise a longer cruise, no holidays, no spring break, no summer cruises..... if they want a more relaxing cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plunkebe Posted January 1, 2016 #25 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Our Dec 5 cruise on Oasis didn't seem to have many kids. I didn't see many. Those kids I did see were well behaved and didn't bother me at all. I remember some kids got in the hot tub while we were in there. They just acted like perfect little angels. The ship seems to have areas for teens and kids so that they don't have to be with us old folk. There is a pool that seems to be more geared toward children. Some used the other pools but so few that I barely noticed. We picked Dec 10 to cruise this year on Harmony. Seems like a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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