O just keeps getting better or NOT

[Oville]

I'm another who thinks there's no such thing as a free lunch. If the kids are sailing free then all of the adults are subsidising them. I'd feel obliged to find a child to bring along so that I got my money's worth :).

 

It is the hope of many Oceania cruisers that the only time that children will be onboard is maybe during the summer or on school holidays. Speaking for myself, we don't want facilities for them - there are so many, many cruise lines where other passengers welcome children. Oceania is not one of them. If this changes, IMO, Oceania will be for children and families and the rest of us will leave.

 

It's 7 cruises in a Penthouse cabin. I hope you realize just how expensive that is. For instance a 7 day Alaskan cruise $ 15,000 before fees and no O Life benefits.

[Glaciers]

It is the hope of many Oceania cruisers that the only time that children will be onboard is maybe during the summer or on school holidays. Speaking for myself, we don't want facilities for them - there are so many, many cruise lines where other passengers welcome children. Oceania is not one of them. If this changes, IMO, Oceania will be for children and families and the rest of us will leave.

 

I agree, there were only 4 kids on the Regatta last summer. It was very nice. O seems to be pushing this, however. Somebody at O is thinking this is a good idea.

[LHT28]

Ah, maybe my use of the term children's facilities was a bit strong. When on the Regatta in Alaska last summer they do have a room set aside specifically for children's activities. We wandered past it.

 

Just curious

Where was the room ??

[Robjame]

There are no children's facilities on O ships

 

i recall recently the tale of the small child running around Jacques & crawling under the tables etc...

just multiply that by a dozen of little ones

Maybe they have a quota that is allowed per the cabin accommodations not all cabins will be suitable for 3 or 4 pax

 

Can hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches in Jacques be far behind? Kiddie cocktails in Horizons? Booster chairs available for afternoon tea? Babysitting services in Canyon Creek? Culinary centre turned into an arcade?

 

Wonder if Oceania will tell us the quota (number) of children for a particular cruise before we book?

 

I emailed Oceania to comment on this change of policy but have not yet received a reply.

[Glaciers]

Just curious

Where was the room ??

 

Ha! No idea. I asked my wife who remembers it too but not where. I called O reservations and asked about it and they confirmed there was a room for them.

[LHT28]

Ha! No idea. I asked my wife who remembers it too but not where. I called O reservations and asked about it and they confirmed there was a room for them.

 

Maybe it was the card room cannot think of another location that would be suitable to contain the group

[Paulchili]

Maybe it was the card room cannot think of another location that would be suitable to contain the group

 

That sounds right.

[azam71209]

The kids program in Alaska was quite good. Our grandsons loved it. They used the back of Toscana for some activities and the card room at other times. Games, crafts, met the captain, got a bridge tour, decorated cookies in the Terrace Cafe with the chef, pizza party, circus practices and performance. Seemed very well-organized and the leaders were good. Programming every afternoon, mornings at sea, and evenings 7:30-10:30, for parents who wanted to enjoy the shows.

 

That said, it is definitely a program for well-behaved kids who enjoy quiet activities and can amuse themselves. For children 5-12. There were 19 on the ship so obviously the kids program isn't a big draw and the ship won't be overrun with kids. The kids go free offer seems to only apply to the 7 day cruises and only to higher level cabins. Anyone under 18 must be in a room with an adult, which would also limit the numbers.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

The kids program in Alaska was quite good. Our grandsons loved it. They used the back of Toscana for some activities and the card room at other times. Games, crafts, met the captain, got a bridge tour, decorated cookies in the Terrace Cafe with the chef, pizza party, circus practices and performance. Seemed very well-organized and the leaders were good. Programming every afternoon, mornings at sea, and evenings 7:30-10:30, for parents who wanted to enjoy the shows.

 

That said, it is definitely a program for well-behaved kids who enjoy quiet activities and can amuse themselves. For children 5-12. There were 19 on the ship so obviously the kids program isn't a big draw and the ship won't be overrun with kids. The kids go free offer seems to only apply to the 7 day cruises and only to higher level cabins. Anyone under 18 must be in a room with an adult, which would also limit the numbers.

 

Thank you for adding real-world perspective to this.

The level of "sky is falling" response to this is completely laughable.

There seems to be an impression among many posters that all children are out-of-control beings with parents who ignore them.

Just like with any other group of people, there are a variety of personalities. I have seen a number of extremely well-behaved children on Oceania sailings who seem to prefer reading and sightseeing to running rampant through a restaurant.

On my last sailing (Adriatic) there were two kids from Alaska who gave up their seat, without prompting, on a crowded bus to an older couple. I overheard them talking intelligently about books to two other adults who seemed unable to keep up intellectually with those kids.

I love the "I saw kids running rampant through Jacques" kind of story to try to create a narrative that fits these biases. I could easily respond that I have seen plenty of inebriated, messy adults talking loudly and staggering about on Oceania. So I guess that's a reason to ban the serving of alcohol on board, right?

[pete_coach]

Thank you for adding real-world perspective to this.

The level of "sky is falling" response to this is completely laughable.

There seems to be an impression among many posters that all children are out-of-control beings with parents who ignore them.

Just like with any other group of people, there are a variety of personalities. I have seen a number of extremely well-behaved children on Oceania sailings who seem to prefer reading and sightseeing to running rampant through a restaurant.

On my last sailing (Adriatic) there were two kids from Alaska who gave up their seat, without prompting, on a crowded bus to an older couple. I overheard them talking intelligently about books to two other adults who seemed unable to keep up intellectually with those kids.

I love the "I saw kids running rampant through Jacques" kind of story to try to create a narrative that fits these biases. I could easily respond that I have seen plenty of inebriated, messy adults talking loudly and staggering about on Oceania. So I guess that's a reason to ban the serving of alcohol on board, right?

Well said.

I too think children could add to a cruise. Misbehavior is not a realm of only children or young folks.

As I mentioned before, Oceania recruiting younger families is most likely an economic one. Get people aboard that will spend money while on the cruise.

[Mura]

We've not had a problem with unruly children on any of our Oceania cruises, but I've read enough stories about those who DID that I'm not exactly happy to see the expansion of "children friendly" cruises. I don't doubt that where you have unruly children you have negligent parents. (Our Coop in NYC banned dogs a number of years ago simply because of the behavior of the dogs' owners, not the dogs themselves. Not equating children and dogs, of course. :D)

 

I had read here I believe that the card room was used for the childrens' activities ... I have no problem with that since I'm not a card player, but I bet the bridge fans would!

 

Mura

[LHT28]

Thanks Mary I do remember you posted where the children were kept for the crafts

 

One thing to point out is I believe Mary paid for her grandsons to be on the cruise so that in itself limits the number of parents/grandparents willing to pay O prices

 

As for the child in Jacques ..people that were on the cruise complained here about the fact that nothing was done about the bad behavior

 

We have not had many children on our cruises on O I think the maximum was 8 on 1 cruise & some were teens & ALL were well behaved

Not the case on NCL, Princess & Carnival that we have sailed with

 

As for families spending more $$ on the cruise ..not sure what they would do differently than just adults

The kids will not be in the casino or in the bars drinking

nor will they be having spa treatments

so no revenue there for the cruise line

Maybe they will buy something in the shops ??

 

I do not have a problem with kids onboard as long as they limit the numbers

20 is manageable on the R ships 50 is not

 

I will be interested in the comments for those that on on these special cruises & see what other itineraries Oceania adds these special promos to

 

JMO

[pinotlover]

On our Baltic cruise, which was in the summer months a few years ago, we only had a few kids, and they were well behaved. We have another summer cruise coming up, a 20 dayer through the Norwegian fjords up to the Artic Sea. It will be interesting to see if any or many are on that cruise. I'm guessing not.

 

I believe the elephant in the room is the winter/spring cruises to the Carribe, especially during the kid's Spring Break season. Let's be honest, Carribe cruises are tough sells for Oceania (as well as the other lines). There is lots of competition and a lot of price cutting to fill the ships. The ships have to go somewhere during the winter, other than dry dock! Could I see FDR creating special packages, for those cruises, that would attract a younger crowd along with those with children, if it could bring in more revenue overall? Absolutely! My brother, and his wife, living in Florida, got a 7 day O Carribe cruise last winter for just over $650 each. O needed bodies on the ship. I believe that if FDR thinks he can do packages that includes kids and beat those give away fares to fill the ships, he will do it in a heartbeat, and probably well should for strictly revenue purposes!

[Glaciers]

O has been promoting kids programs for years. I found an ad for the Alaska Explorer Youth Program from 2013. If I was a parent taking my child to Alaska for the best experience it wouldn’t be on Oceania, free or not. This may have little effect.

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

As a parent of five kids, let me put people's minds to rest. Teens do not want to be on this ship. Outside of one who wants to sit in a room and read, there are no teen type activities. Children 5 to 12 would be bored. I can't see more parents wanting to bring them on this cruise. A grandparent who has a well behaved child, maybe. And there's always the occasional parent bringing a younger child, heck I've seen it even on Silverseas. Oceania appears to have always had something trying to cater to those wanting to bring kids, but I can't imagine you will ever see a large number because there are so many choices of other cruise ships that have so much more for kids to do. Speaking for myself, who has been on more than 40 cruises, I couldn't imagine bringing kids on a lux cruiseline. They wouldn't like it, they'd be complaining all the time that they were bored, it would ruin my time, and I'd have a paid a lot more for this lovely experience. Don't sweat it, it will be few and far between.

[JimandStan]

I totally agree with Cruiseswithfamilyornot.

 

Here is where we differ:

 

If six or eight "boring old people" like us sail on a Family Cruise with you, it effects your cruise NOT ONE IOTA.

 

Yet if six or eight "no neck monsters" (Tennessee Williams reference) sail on an Oceania Cruise with me, my twenty thousand dollar investment is at risk.

 

The question is, would you be willing to roll those dice?

[MarkieMarkNYC]

I totally agree with Cruiseswithfamilyornot.

 

Here is where we differ:

 

If six or eight "boring old people" like us sail on a Family Cruise with you, it effects your cruise NOT ONE IOTA.

 

Yet if six or eight "no neck monsters" (Tennessee Williams reference) sail on an Oceania Cruise with me, my twenty thousand dollar investment is at risk.

 

The question is, would you be willing to roll those dice?

I honestly have no idea what this post means.

[JimandStan]

I honestly have no idea what this post means.

 

Doesn't matter.

The people who are concerned will ;)

[RJB]

I totally agree with Cruiseswithfamilyornot.

 

Here is where we differ:

 

If six or eight "boring old people" like us sail on a Family Cruise with you, it effects your cruise NOT ONE IOTA.

 

Yet if six or eight "no neck monsters" (Tennessee Williams reference) sail on an Oceania Cruise with me, my twenty thousand dollar investment is at risk.

 

The question is, would you be willing to roll those dice?

We agree 100% with you. Do not need to wait until we board the ship to find what we are up against.No roll of the dice. NO KIDS.. PERIOD.

[Oville]

I honestly have no idea what this post means.

 

We agree 100% with you. Do not need to wait until we board the ship to find what we are up against.No roll of the dice. NO KIDS.. PERIOD.

 

Yikes, I didn't realize O bans children other than the summers in Alaska and 3 cruises to NE/Canada.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

Yikes, I didn't realize O bans children other than the summers in Alaska and 3 cruises to NE/Canada.

 

O doesn't ban children on any cruise.

But it sounds like this is supremely important for some and, in their minds, if there are no kids you are pretty much guaranteed a great cruise and if there are kids the odds are that your cruise will be bad.

 

So the bottom line is that an O cruise with kids is a crapshoot for the emotionally and intellectually fragile.

[Paulchili]

What does intellectually fragile mean?

Surely you do not mean this:

http://www.nchpeg.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=426

This, and others like it, is what comes up on Google when searching for "intellectually fragile"

Edited January 19, 2017 by Paulchili

[Oville]

What does intellectually fragile mean?

Surely you do not mean this:

http://www.nchpeg.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=426

This, and others like it, is what comes up on Google when searching for "intellectually fragile"

 

But does O ban children on all other cruises other than the summer ones?

[Paulchili]

But does O ban children on all other cruises other than the summer ones?

 

No - not on any cruises.

I am not sure how your question relates to my post that you are quoting about "intellectually fragile" people. :confused:

[Oville]

No - not on any cruises.

I am not sure how your question relates to my post that you are quoting about "intellectually fragile" people. :confused:

 

I knew you would give me a straight answer, and your response was in response to my question. Thanks

Edited January 19, 2017 by Oville