Future first-time Carnival cruiser. (Fall of '19, Caribbean.) How awash in children?

[H. Manfredjinsinjin]

Going to use my past Walt Disney World experience to answer this, as it probably is still helpful.

 

The previous poster was correct about Labor Day. That week and the few weeks following will have the least amount of kids compared to the entire rest of the year. Good for WDW, not so good for cruising as it's prime Hurricane season.

 

Going forward on the calendar from there, you will want to avoid the week leading into and out of Columbus Day, as many schools have a new balanced school year with a week off for a "Fall Break", and it's also Canadian Thanksgiving and many will take their kids out of school for the remainder of that week.

 

There are a lot of factors (like homeschooling) that have made figuring out that sweet spot more difficult. Good luck and remember, no matter how many kids are on the ship....so are you! Have fun!

 

The irony, avoiding ocean travel because of Columbus Day.

[H. Manfredjinsinjin]

It somewhat depends on where you are cruising to, as well. For example, we were on a CA/NE cruise with only 100 total under 18 on board. Vacationing families with kids tend to head toward the Bahamas and Caribbean.

 

Perhaps a cruise north on my 2nd go, if all goes well with the 1st. (I hope.)

[H. Manfredjinsinjin]

It's become a tradition for us to do Canada/NE the week of Labor Day. Hardly a kid in sight. It's probably a good time for other itineraries as well, since the majority of parents know that skipping school at the beginning of the year could be problematic.

 

Heck, where I live, it's not uncommon for quite a few public school parents to not pay much heed to their kids' school attendance.

[H. Manfredjinsinjin]

Yes definitely, as others have said any time after Labor Day week and avoiding Thanksgiving. And for comparison with at least one other cruise brand we have usually noticed actually a little less mingling presence of children overall on Carnival cruises than on Royal. Please take whatever you may read on this board that Carnival is somehow 'worse' for kids than other cruise lines with a grain of salt. I would defo say that Carnival does an excellent job of caring for and entertaining kids in their own kids' worlds and keeping them isolated from the 'misbehaving' adults on their ships :p

 

NOT meaning to be critical of either adults or kids, just saying :)

 

Salt at the ready, thank you.

[H. Manfredjinsinjin]

October thru Feb. excluding holidays and school breaks is a really good time.

 

Right-o!

[H. Manfredjinsinjin]

We often sail in April (NOT spring break week!!) and usually get good prices and great weather. And as kid-free as fall :)

 

Spring is, sadly, no-can-do for me.

[H. Manfredjinsinjin]

Went this past Halloween week and there were a ton of young kids. Who would’ve thought? My kids would’ve never let me take them away from home over Halloween.

 

Thanks Jerseygirl! I was, in fact, contemplating a Halloween cruise. Not now, I think.

[rpyne]

I'm hoping there will be enough kids on our October 14-21 cruise on Magic for my grand kids and the kids in the family we are cruising with to make some friends. There will be nine kids ranging 2-17 in our group. I could happily spend all my time with them, but I'm sure they would prefer hanging out with people closer to their ages.

[rpyne]

Heck, where I live, it's not uncommon for quite a few public school parents to not pay much heed to their kids' school attendance.

 

What better education than exploring distant places?

[watermelonqueen99]

You'll be okay as far as the number of kids, but you're sailing during peak hurricane season, so don't have your heart set on your itinerary. And contrary to what another poster said, we sailed this past Halloween and there were very few kids aboard. We're sailing on Halloween again this year, as it's a blast. Whatever you choose, have a great cruise!

[SNJCruisers]

If you are worried about the possibility of a hurricane and you want to save more money, then the first week of December would be your best bet. It's usually the cheapest week of the year for many itineraries and with it being sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the possibility of rug rats is lessened except for those pre school age and those that are home schooled.

[Drose716]

Going to use my past Walt Disney World experience to answer this, as it probably is still helpful.

 

The previous poster was correct about Labor Day. That week and the few weeks following will have the least amount of kids compared to the entire rest of the year. Good for WDW, not so good for cruising as it's prime Hurricane season.

 

Going forward on the calendar from there, you will want to avoid the week leading into and out of Columbus Day, as many schools have a new balanced school year with a week off for a "Fall Break", and it's also Canadian Thanksgiving and many will take their kids out of school for the remainder of that week.

 

There are a lot of factors (like homeschooling) that have made figuring out that sweet spot more difficult. Good luck and remember, no matter how many kids are on the ship....so are you! Have fun!

 

Also in Sept/Oct you may want to keep an eye on the Jewish holidays. We are not Jewish but my kids often have 2-3 days off in either September or October in observance. Since we don't celebrate, we did a mid October 6 day one year since it meant them only missing 2 days of school. There was a decent amount of kids on the cruise with parents that had the same idea as me. Less than spring break, but more than typical school months.

[MissesB4409]

I think you will be safe as far as children go by going mid september-mid october. Although it is hurricane season, so thats also something to take into consideration. And I often find most of the time its the adults behaving worse than the children on board a carnival cruise. I'd be worried about people going too HAM on the cheers package than some kids running on board. But thats just me...to each their own! :)

[ReikiontheRun]

Haha! My kids never miss school, but I'm pulling them out the last week of April to go on our cruise for the same reason...I don't want it to be overrun by kids! I think this makes me some type of hypocrite!

[Silent Penguin]

I'm hoping there will be enough kids on our October 14-21 cruise on Magic for my grand kids and the kids in the family we are cruising with to make some friends. There will be nine kids ranging 2-17 in our group. I could happily spend all my time with them, but I'm sure they would prefer hanging out with people closer to their ages.

 

No worries! Eight of the ten cruises we've taken were in the fall, and there were always enough children for ours to make friends. A couple years ago, we took our last at-home child, who was 15 at the time, with us on a 15-day Hawaiian cruise during the school year. If there was ever a cruise a person would not expect teenagers to be on, it was that one. In truth, there were not many school-age children on board and even fewer teens, but how many kids does there need to be, certainly not hundreds.

 

When you consider the homeschoolers (that's our group), the kids who could be on some kind of break, and the fact that your family is not the only one willing to take the kids out of school to take advantage of the lower fares, there are bound to be sufficient playmates for the children in your family.

[KmomChicago]

Thanks for clarifying, not snide at all.

 

 

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[SNJCruisers]

Haha! My kids never miss school, but I'm pulling them out the last week of April to go on our cruise for the same reason...I don't want it to be overrun by kids! I think this makes me some type of hypocrite!

Aren't schools in Florida done before Memorial Day? So you're taking your kids out for a week when they will then have about 3 weeks of school left? :confused::confused::confused:

[ReikiontheRun]

Aren't schools in Florida done before Memorial Day? So you're taking your kids out for a week when they will then have about 3 weeks of school left? :confused::confused::confused:

Judge away!

 

I'm a single parent. Prices double when they get out. Florida schools only teach for the tests anyway, and they will have taken them by then. Side note. My kids have only missed one day of school...ever. A sick day.

[SNJCruisers]

Never mind. I get it. You hate little children. The sight of them, the sound of them, maybe the smell of them. That's okay. I feel the same way about certain drunk people.

But, from my experience on 18 Carnival cruises over the years there are far more parents that take vacationing from parenting so their beloved little angels can run amok all over the ship, than there are adults who end up being drunk. Parents have to realize that parenting is a 24/7 thing for 18 years and they just can't sit back with an umbrella drink in their hand while little Johnnie and Mary go do their own thing. Besides taking over hot tubs, sometimes with masks and snorkels, to making a mess at the frozen ice cream station, to splashing water......it just never ends.

Because of this, our next two cruises are in the Havana area.....where no one under 12 is allowed till 700 PM and at that time I will be enjoying dinner, so they can take over the two hot tubs there for all I care.

[SNJCruisers]

Judge away!

 

I'm a single parent. Prices double when they get out. Florida schools only teach for the tests anyway, and they will have taken them by then. Side note. My kids have only missed one day of school...ever. A sick day.

If pricing is an issue, then cruise the first week of December, when it's the cheapest week of the year. Or cruise at the beginning of the school year over Labor Day, when it's still cheaper than April and they will only miss four days of school.

[ReikiontheRun]

If pricing is an issue, then cruise the first week of December, when it's the cheapest week of the year. Or cruise at the beginning of the school year over Labor Day, when it's still cheaper than April and they will only miss four days of school.

Brrr! I'm a Florida girl! Haha!

 

They are only missing four days. Wow. I'm surprised this is a concern to others...I thought I was a super n a z i about making sure they were in school every day, and it's surprisingly not bothering me.

 

I won't be letting mine run free, though. No way Jose. I considered allowing them only to walk for ice cream together, but the last comment has me rethinking this idea. While my kids are respectful and not brats, they don't have much experience using soft serve machines, and I could see this ending badly...

 

This is a family vacation for me. I won't be getting drunk while they snorkel around the hot tub! Although now I want to snorkel around the hot tub!

[riclop]

Hi everyone,

 

Taking my first cruise in Fall of '19. Budget considerations dictate it will likely be Carnival. I'd like to reduce the kid quotient as much as possible.

 

I'm already figuring on a 7-day cruise, since I understand that to be a kid-minimizing factor, as opposed to cruises less than a week.

 

But, will a Sep/Oct/Nov cruise knock down the total of kids substantially more? Is one month better than the other two? Under the best of autumnal circumstances, how massive will the kid count still be, in all likelihood?

 

Thanks very much.

For those months much less kids.

[Silent Penguin]

there are far more parents that take vacationing from parenting so their beloved little angels can run amok all over the ship

Too darn true. I would go so far as to say, I think you might agree that parents don't take a vacation from parenting so their beloved angels can run amok but, that their little angels run amok because their parents are vacationing from their parental responsibilities. It's like people who say vacation calories don't count or anything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Not true. There are consequences for our actions. If you don't put your time in with your kids and train them to be civilized, you get brats. They run amok. Funny you should use that phrase A long, long time ago, that is exactly what my sister and I did. Because..... my parents were not on the job 24/7. Not even close ;) Too busy trying to do their own thing.

 

That being said, I'm with you on the booking the Habana area. Dh and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary next year, and while I like kids and know that the majority of the children on cruise ships are conscientiously parented and behave relatively well, I want that exclusionary area.

[MissesB4409]

Brrr! I'm a Florida girl! Haha!

 

They are only missing four days. Wow. I'm surprised this is a concern to others...I thought I was a super n a z i about making sure they were in school every day, and it's surprisingly not bothering me.

 

I won't be letting mine run free, though. No way Jose. I considered allowing them only to walk for ice cream together, but the last comment has me rethinking this idea. While my kids are respectful and not brats, they don't have much experience using soft serve machines, and I could see this ending badly...

 

This is a family vacation for me. I won't be getting drunk while they snorkel around the hot tub! Although now I want to snorkel around the hot tub!

I am taking my son out for a week in May...its the 2nd to the last week of school. I don't care one bit if he misses school. If you communicate with your school and your child's teacher, it shouldn't be a problem for anyone, except for someone who likes to blindly pass judgement! Enjoy your April vacation!! And don't worry if your children make a mess at the soft serve. Its their vacation too, and they are still learning. Adults make messes at the soft serve machine too! :) I would also much rather have some kids run past me through the promenade laughing and playing than some drunk person yelling obscenities, which seems to happen just as frequently.

 

For anyone who is about to ask, or judge me for the dates I chose for our cruise...before you ask, I will just say its my husbands one and only week of vacation for the year. He can't take off summer breaks/spring breaks/Christmas, etc. So we make the most of what we have and enjoy life. :)

[Quilcruisers]

We cruised in October last year, the first week. We saw very few children. We used to sail during times where families didn’t cruise because prices were lower. We have a teenager again so we are getting to where we can leave him with friends or family to travel during off peak times. We still travel with him during the very expensive summer months too as he loves to cruise.

 

 

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