Cruising with kids

[karmac]

Hi everyone

Just flicking through the other threads on this site and came across this one. Some of you who are travelling with kids may find some of it interesting. Bare in mind though, most posters (if not all) are American.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=30&f=49

 

Karen

[karmac]

Hi guys, forget what I said about the above forum. I've been reading through a couple of the threads and most of them seem to be nothing more than a b***h session. Sorry I even mentioned it in the first place. I'll stick to just this forum wher everyone is helpful & friendly.

 

Karen

[kaseyoz]

I think most of the posters seem to think thats kids are a no-no on holidays.

I am happy that we can take our children away with us and although as my kids (and myself) get older i find i am getting less tolerant of other peoples kids. Of course mine never acted up and were always angels!!!LOL.

While i am less tolerant i also realise what a gift it to be on holidays together and will go out of my way to help parents with younger children, if i get cranky the only person that suffers is me. I just love to sit by the pool and watch the kids make a noise in the pool as they have fun.

 

i think maybe the other posters are older travellers who have had their share of kids.

Maybe there is a market for akids free cruise who knows. I dont think in the australian market though

[cruiselover96]

I think a cruise as a family holiday if fantastic. We took 2 of our 4 kids 4 years ago and they had a ball. They've been twice now and have wonderful memories. And neither of them have friends who have done any cruising so they are able to share their memories of these beautiful islands with them and also as a school project.

We're doing our first cruise on our own this March/April and it does feel strange leaving them behind, but hey, what the heck we're going to still have a ball!!!! Can't wait.

Kerri

[Truebliss72]

We took our kids than 2 1/2, 11 and 15 and they all had a ball and we would do it again, hence i say that running after the 2/12 yr old was hard so I wouldnt do that again or recommend it. As for cruising what a great holiday! We will be saving to go onto another cruise in 2007 with the kids.

[rockie]

Our trip had a lot of kids onboard, well we did go in the school holidays. It was great, BUT could I make a suggestion to the parents who take theirs. Please please please, set them a curfew. We had kids of ALL ages running round the ship and disturbing everybody at all hours of the night. A lady that sat at our table did the right thing and when her 12 year old did not go back to the cabin when he was told, went to look for him, then made his curfew earlier for the next couple of nights. Yesterday there were 3 7-9 year olds screaming and I mean screaming and running into the Pizza place tearing open sachets of sugar and eating it. One little girl threw her rubbish onto the floor so I gave her a stir up and told her to pick up her rubbish. Of course I got the look but told her again and she did. They were on such a sugar high it was incredible. Not a parent in sight.

[chaz cruiser]

Our trip had a lot of kids onboard, well we did go in the school holidays. It was great, BUT could I make a suggestion to the parents who take theirs. Please please please, set them a curfew. We had kids of ALL ages running round the ship and disturbing everybody at all hours of the night. A lady that sat at our table did the right thing and when her 12 year old did not go back to the cabin when he was told, went to look for him, then made his curfew earlier for the next couple of nights. Yesterday there were 3 7-9 year olds screaming and I mean screaming and running into the Pizza place tearing open sachets of sugar and eating it. One little girl threw her rubbish onto the floor so I gave her a stir up and told her to pick up her rubbish. Of course I got the look but told her again and she did. They were on such a sugar high it was incredible. Not a parent in sight.

 

I 100% agree with Rockie's post above. I agree the cruise holiday is for the kids to have fun too but it is important that parents still set boundaries and "supervise" their children. We had over 300 kids on board the Star which was over 1/3 of the passengers. Normally I don't notice the kids. You get the occasional brat or tired child chucking a temper tantrum but hardly even know they are there. This time we did notice the kids!!!!! Probably mostly because we were early sitting dinner with most of them. They were also running around the ship all the time (very dangerous!), often sitting in the stairwells having conversations and running in and out of the show lounge and talking quite loudly in the shows.

 

Parents please set boundaries for your kids. Set them a curfew (remember tired kids are often cranky), remind them that they shouldn't be running around the ship & know where they are (if you can't trust them to behave around the ship don't give them the power to sign themselves out of Kids Club). If they want to run there is plenty of space upstairs rather than racing down small corridors or around sharp corners where they could easily knock people over and make a heap of noise.

 

Remember your kids should not be in any of the public areas after about 8pm without you including the show lounge. Take the time when you first get on to explain to your kids why it is important that they follow the rules. If you don't know them or can't explain them ask the team in the Kids Club, I am sure they can help out.

 

Don't let your kids ruin someone elses holiday who will then do everything in their power to ruin theirs. I love to see kids on cruises having a great time. My nephews are fanatical cruisers and can't wait to go again but they know the rules and are punished if they break them (knowing that the rule is for a reason most often safety is important).

 

Cheers,

Chaz:)

 

BTW I don't have kids!!