A tip for those wishing to sail without " a bunch of kids running around"

[robmac330]

This-100%

I sailed on DCL 16 times over 14 years and watched as adult only spaces and entertainment was whittled away and it got to the point they weren't even enforcing the areas that were left as adult only. That and rising prices sent me to NCL.

I may be over 60, but I still want to relax and have fun and enjoy the ropes courses, slides, etc.

Cruise lines that cater to the older crowd are way more formal and quiet than I prefer. And no fun slides!

I don't mind kids, I had two and now have grandkids. I don't mind cruising with them, I just want the parents to not take a vacation from parenting while on vacation.

And please keep the adult only areas adult only. We aren't allowed in the kids club, right?

 

And the problem with the Haven is that it was never meant to be a quiet place, so the name is misleading. All those two bedroom suites prove otherwise. And you'd think that if they pay those prices to stay in the Haven, people will be more polite and respectful of others, right?

Uh, no.

Those who pay more seem to feel entitled to do whatever they wish, apparently, as I have observed.

The real problem boils down to a lack of consideration for other people's space and experiences. Also seen on elevators, pool chair hogging, and seat saving in theaters onboard.

It's happening in every aspect of life in this day and age.

Me Me Me

 

Seconded to these sentiments. I'm 30 and cruised a good deal as a teenager in the early 2000s and rules were enforced for adult-only areas, but otherwise it seemed the crew had a sense of "don't give us a reason to tell you to quiet down and we won't tell you to quiet down." It was a happy medium.

 

Fast forward to 2017 and the 2 cruises I took were night and day:

 

I was on Breakaway in February (granted not a major school vacation week, so a good deal of the families were from Canada and some private schools) and the crew generally did a good job of enforcing the adult-only areas like Spice H20 and Bliss. At Spice there was a sense that kids could come in if they had to check in with a parent for some reason, but the bartenders and waitstaff did a pretty good job of providing friendly reminders that the kiddos couldn't make themselves at home. Same went for Bliss, where they were swiping the cruise cards of every guest. For other areas (Headliners during Howl at the Moon, 1am curfew enforcement) it seemed like the "don't give us a reason to ask for your cruise card" rule was in effect, and it worked.

 

I was on Dawn in August (I call it the Boston Boat because by Day 3 any time someone was asked where they were from during Bingo, a show, etc. they just said their Massachusetts hometown and that was it) with significantly more families, but the staff seemed disinclined to even enforce rules that put the cruise line at liability. Case in point, Bliss on the Dawn also serves as a show/gameshow space earlier in the night. But after the show was over, security would roll out their kiosk and it became 18+. However they would only sporadically check cruise cards. This led to younger teenagers being in there, along with less ethically inclined 18-22 year olds, feeding them drinks. And then, in a SHOCKING twist, drunk 15 year olds would act like drunk 15 year olds; trying to pick fights, dancing all over everyone, dropping glasses on the dance floor, etc. It just made it sort of uncomfortable for everyone else when this went on night after night with seemingly no attempt to put a stop to it by Security. It's hard to have a good time in those situations when you're not sure if you're in a room with other adults or 15 year olds dressed like adults.

[BostonGal35]

our first NCL was in July. never again.

 

we now only sail when kids are guaranteed to be in school. while there are still kids on board, the amount is significantly reduced and any school age kids are either european or homeschooled, two groups that generally are better behaved.

[cruzn4abruzn]

This-100%

I sailed on DCL 16 times over 14 years and watched as adult only spaces and entertainment was whittled away and it got to the point they weren't even enforcing the areas that were left as adult only. That and rising prices sent me to NCL.

I may be over 60, but I still want to relax and have fun and enjoy the ropes courses, slides, etc.

Cruise lines that cater to the older crowd are way more formal and quiet than I prefer. And no fun slides!

I don't mind kids, I had two and now have grandkids. I don't mind cruising with them, I just want the parents to not take a vacation from parenting while on vacation.

And please keep the adult only areas adult only. We aren't allowed in the kids club, right?

 

And the problem with the Haven is that it was never meant to be a quiet place, so the name is misleading. All those two bedroom suites prove otherwise. And you'd think that if they pay those prices to stay in the Haven, people will be more polite and respectful of others, right?

Uh, no.

Those who pay more seem to feel entitled to do whatever they wish, apparently, as I have observed.

The real problem boils down to a lack of consideration for other people's space and experiences. Also seen on elevators, pool chair hogging, and seat saving in theaters onboard.

It's happening in every aspect of life in this day and age.

Me Me Me

 

You nailed it perfectly. Thank you. I've seen some truly rude people, yes, even in the Haven.

[reaton]

Unfortunately, because of their jobs, some people are limited in the dates they are able to said. My family can only travel in July or August.

 

 

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[realcindylouwho]

Great topic and here is our advice: cruise the week or the week after Thanksgiving. The weather is usually beautiful in the Caribbean with temp between 78-82 degrees and will have very few kids, usually well under 75 on a Jewel class ship. The second option is to book a Garden Villa with two other couples. Unless you choose, you don't have to leave your suite except to see the shows. In the "off season" you may find this price works out close to a Haven 1 BR times three couples.

We were introduced to cruising when our boys were in high school and we gave them our rules for behavior on a ship. We also pointed out to them that all eyes would be on them and they would report to us. I can tell you we have had crew and passengers complement us about the boys. They were also allowed to purchase and consume alcohol at age 18 on the ship.

Kids. Many of us have them. We don't want to be around ill behaved, screaming, running and slamming into people's legs, throwing items in public and fowl mouthed heathens. If you don't reign them in and parent, I have no issue telling them to stop and getting a crew member who has the ability to do so, make you leave the area. We all have to co-exist on a ship and I don't want to parent your kids. I also have been known to praise kids in front of their parents when I see them behaving well, having good manners, or just being a great human being. It makes the parents proud and lets the kids know that others are watching.

[SNJCruisers]

I'm doing this right now for an early June Escape cruise. I thought "the kids" would still be in school, but by page 2 I'm seeing too many "family vacations".

Many school districts in certain areas of the country are done by Memorial Day weekend, so you could see a plethora of rug rats the first week of June with no problem. The best time would be the first week of December for two reasons, one it's one of the cheapest weeks of the year to cruise and two, school age kids will still be in school and parents will rarely pull them out right after Thanksgiving and right before Christmas. And the younger ones are usually a bit better behaved because Christmas is coming and they don't want to be on Santa's naughty list.

[fstuff1]

Here's a tip. A New England cruise from Boston to Quebec.

 

Norwegian Dawn New England demographics:

Total Passengers: 1644

Non-US Passengers: 637

Passengers Under 21: 16

Average Age: 65.4

where did you get these stats from?

stats available for all cruises?

 

and are these stats before sail?

(kinda useless if after sail for those of us that want minimum kids onboard.)

[fstuff1]

our first NCL was in July. never again.

 

we now only sail when kids are guaranteed to be in school. while there are still kids on board, the amount is significantly reduced and any school age kids are either european or homeschooled, two groups that generally are better behaved.

i sailed out of nyc on BA when the kids were still in school.

but it was school break in canada!

 

lots of french speaking kids.:o:o

heard from hotel director that 1/3 of the cruise were kids. (1500 kids :o )

cant win..sigh..

 

edit:

hm.. maybe it was 1/3 of the passengers were from canada, and not kids?

but still lots of kids

Edited March 1, 2018 by fstuff1