Children

[Peelsh]

Do any cruise lines accept children/grandchildren on their Christmas market cruises?

[Elaine5715]

4 minutes ago, Peelsh said:

Do any cruise lines accept children/grandchildren on their Christmas market cruises?

Don't understand the question.. Are you asking if children are permitted on cruise lines during Christmas?  The answer is always absolutely. 

[Essiesmom]

Christmas Market cruises are usually river cruises.  So far as I know, river cruise lines do accept children, but have no facilities for them.  If this is what you are asking, I suggest you ask on the board here for River Cruising:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/115-river-cruising/

EM

[Peelsh]

Viking does not allow children under 18. I would like to take my 6 year old grandchildren, but I know that not all lines allow children to cruise.

[davekathy]

6 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Don't understand the question.. Are you asking if children are permitted on cruise lines during Christmas?  The answer is always absolutely. 

No, the Christmas Market cruises are annual river cruises in Europe. The so called mass market cruise lines don't do them. Cruise lines like Viking cruise do.

[Essiesmom]

2 minutes ago, Peelsh said:

Viking does not allow children under 18. I would like to take my 6 year old grandchildren, but I know that not all lines allow children to cruise.

Viking River cruises, or Viking Ocean?  EM

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, Peelsh said:

Viking does not allow children under 18. I would like to take my 6 year old grandchildren, but I know that not all lines allow children to cruise.

Ask your question on the cruise line forum you are considering the Christmas Market cruise. 

[Roz]

19 minutes ago, Peelsh said:

Do any cruise lines accept children/grandchildren on their Christmas market cruises?

 

What line are you considering?  I've sailed Uniworld in Europe, and they have their "Generations" cruises that encourage grandparents, parents, children, etc.  

 

Join us over on the River Cruising forum.  There aren't separate forums for the various river cruise lines.

[donaldsc]

49 minutes ago, Peelsh said:

Do any cruise lines accept children/grandchildren on their Christmas market cruises?

 

I would decide which lines you are interested in and ask them directly.  Just make a few phone calls.

 

DON

[ducklite]

52 minutes ago, Peelsh said:

Do any cruise lines accept children/grandchildren on their Christmas market cruises?

Keep in mind that just because they are allowed, it doesn't mean they'll be particularly welcomed.  If they have no facilities for children, no clubs, high chairs, children's menu, or children's activities, you might want to find a different line.  If you choose a cruise with no facilities for children and choose to bring them anyhow, don't be surprised if your fellow cruisers aren't particularly pleased.

[Roz]

2 hours ago, Peelsh said:

Do any cruise lines accept children/grandchildren on their Christmas market cruises?

 

Ignore the Nervous Nellies, and check out Uniworld, Ama Waterways, and Tauck.  All of them offer sailings geared to families.  

[jocap]

Some UK based cruise ships have Christmas Market  sea cruises out of the UK, but I think they are often the smaller ships, so the P&O ones will all be adult only; Cruise and Maritime also, but Fred Olsen usually allow children on board. I don't know if Cunard do these cruises.

[Roz]

Here's a link to Uniworld's Generations Cruises:

 

https://www.uniworld.com/en/themed-cruises/family-friendly-cruises/

 

Don't know if any include Christmas markets.

[jocap]

I've just found some cruises out of the UK for LAST Christmas in an article-

There was a Cunard cruise to Bruges out of Southampton- children are welcome on all their ships.

I found a cruise on P&O's Ventura, one of their larger ships which allows children, to Amsterdam. One of their smaller ships, Oceana, is also child friendly, but the other small ones are adult only.

Fred Olsen allows children, although passengers are often older. I have met happy children on board their ships, and there is a small kid's club.

Cruise and Maritime- adult only... usually sail out of Tilbury, near London.

Those are for last year, but they're fairly common,  and there will be other ones not mentioned in the article I found.

[jocap]

P&O's brand new ship Iona, which is very family friendly (and very large!) is doing a 7 night Christmas Market cruise to Hamburg, Rotterdam for Amsterdam, and Zeebrugge on December 11th to 18th, 2020. Sailing out of Southampton, UK

[ducklite]

17 hours ago, Roz said:

 

Ignore the Nervous Nellies, and check out Uniworld, Ama Waterways, and Tauck.  All of them offer sailings geared to families.  

And those specific sailings are clearly marketed to families so people can make an educated choice knowing there will be children on board and programs for them.  Big difference.  

[ducklite]

17 hours ago, Roz said:

Here's a link to Uniworld's Generations Cruises:

 

https://www.uniworld.com/en/themed-cruises/family-friendly-cruises/

 

Don't know if any include Christmas markets.

Uniworld typically has one Christmas Markets sailing for families.  The rest of their sailings discourage children and a few don't allow them at all.

 

 

[Roz]

13 minutes ago, ducklite said:

And those specific sailings are clearly marketed to families so people can make an educated choice knowing there will be children on board and programs for them.  Big difference.  

 

I know there's a difference, that's why I pointed them to the Generations sailings.  

[CPT Trips]

On each of the several Christmas Market cruises we did on GCT there were multigenerational family groups on board. Youngest kids were tweens. While there were no kids clubs, the Program directors organized activities that all ages could participate in. 

The kids seemed to enjoy the trip and the other pax seemed to enjoy the kids. 

[cb at sea]

Children are allowed on ALL of the mainstream lines.    There are a few, like some Viking cruises, where under 18 is not allowed.  And even on the "luxury" lines, where there are NO special events or "clubs" for kids, they still allow them.

[ducklite]

36 minutes ago, cb at sea said:

Children are allowed on ALL of the mainstream lines.    There are a few, like some Viking cruises, where under 18 is not allowed.  And even on the "luxury" lines, where there are NO special events or "clubs" for kids, they still allow them.

And then they become bored and disruptive.  Not fair to the kids, not fair to fellow cruisers.   We were in a museum in Vienna last month and were very angry with inconsiderate parents who had their audioguide headphones on and only took them off to yell at their bored to death three year old for being a three year old.  They were being downright emotionally abusive to that child because of their selfish wants, and disrupting everyone else's visit in the process.

Edited January 5, 2020 by ducklite

[Bizmark'sMom]

AmaWaterways allows children, and there were a few teens on my Christmas Markets cruise last year.  There's no kids club or anything, but every day we were off of exploring the towns we docked in. 

 

Be aware that there is one seating for meals, and dinner is at 7:30.  Also, dinner is a multi-course thing. The dress isn't formal, but the service is. Some of the teens got fidgety with that, so their parents made sure to feed the kids in town before coming back to the ship. 

 

Breakfast and lunch are buffets, so a bit easier to manage with children.

 

Will your children enjoy this? It depends on the kids.  Are your kids cool with exploring castles and old churches - and respectful about it? Are they ok with wandering through museums?  A lot of the Markets are small, so that isn't the only draw.

 

You might be happier just spending a week in Nuremberg - home to a huge Christmas Market complete with rides for the kids. Along with being full of deep WWII history and a beautifully rebuilt town center. Vienna is another good bet. Markets all over the place, some with skating rinks, along with heaps of things for adults to poke through and explore.

[Roz]

Thank you for posting about your experience with children onboard.  It doesn't have to involve screaming toddlers in a museum. 😁  For certain children, especially those interested in history, culture, and geography, it can be a great experience.  

 

You've presented a very realistic view of what's involved.  

[Bizmark'sMom]

I was a medieval history nerd as a child. Very bookish and totally happy poking through museums. A hike to the castle ruins where Richard the Lionhearted was held captive would totally have been my cup of tea when I was in my teens.  But not every child is going to be ok with that.  And I definitely did not have the attention span back then that I do now.  I definitely would have had a hard time sitting through a long dinner service.

[ducklite]

2 hours ago, Bizmark'sMom said:

Vienna is another good bet. Markets all over the place, some with skating rinks, along with heaps of things for adults to poke through and explore.

Agreed!  A land based trip to Vienna could be a great option.  We visited at least nine Christmas markets--some were enormous while others were 20 or so stalls.  We also went to a Krampus parade about an hour outside of Vienna which was crazy fun for all ages.  There is a ton of history, ice skating, and some of the markets are more like a festival with rides and performances.  There are many beautiful flats to rent and rents are very reasonable.  We looked over one of the Christmas Markets and were a five minute walk to the Natural History Museum and Heldenplatz.