Screaming children on Regent

[tripperva]

A recent cruise on Explorer was marred by the many young children yelling and running around the ship. Several large families brought kids, from infants to teenagers, and they certainly effected the high quality normally expected on Regent. This may be unique to the holiday season cruises, but many guests were unhappy with the noise and disturbances. Imagine dining in the Compass Rose with screaming infants nearby. Or reading at the pool area with young kids constantly running past and jumping around. Regent organized supervised activities for the children on the upper decks and also turned the card room into a play camp which effected guests in the suites above on 12. Is Regent encouraging children on their cruises by offering free fares and organized events ? I hope not, because it diminishes the otherwise excellent Regent experience.

[forevertravel]

We had children on our Mariner cruise this past December and had no issues. The children were well behaved. In fact, one four year old became the darling of everyone. As far as I know, Regent does not encourage or discourage children, however, families traveling together will want their children with them. On Summer and holiday cruises you will encounter some children.

[UUNetBill]

53 minutes ago, tripperva said:

A recent cruise on Explorer was marred by the many young children yelling and running around the ship. Several large families brought kids, from infants to teenagers, and they certainly effected the high quality normally expected on Regent. This may be unique to the holiday season cruises, but many guests were unhappy with the noise and disturbances. Imagine dining in the Compass Rose with screaming infants nearby. Or reading at the pool area with young kids constantly running past and jumping around. Regent organized supervised activities for the children on the upper decks and also turned the card room into a play camp which effected guests in the suites above on 12. Is Regent encouraging children on their cruises by offering free fares and organized events ? I hope not, because it diminishes the otherwise excellent Regent experience.

We’re currently on Explorer and it’s pretty much kid-free.  In speaking to the crew, though, the last cruise was pretty kid-heavy and there were a few issues with misbehavior.

 

Lax parenting always puts Regent in a tough position...if crew members don’t address unruly children, other passengers complain.  If they do, the parents complain.  It’s a no-win situation that I blame 100% on parents not being parents.

 

For that reason alone we avoid any cruises - even Regent - over holidays or during school breaks (if possible).  We’ve only had any minor kid issues on 2 cruises and I don’t want to increase that number.

[Hambagahle]

13 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

We’re currently on Explorer and it’s pretty much kid-free.  In speaking to the crew, though, the last cruise was pretty kid-heavy and there were a few issues with misbehavior.

 

Lax parenting always puts Regent in a tough position...if crew members don’t address unruly children, other passengers complain.  If they do, the parents complain.  It’s a no-win situation that I blame 100% on parents not being parents.

 

For that reason alone we avoid any cruises - even Regent - over holidays or during school breaks (if possible).  We’ve only had any minor kid issues on 2 cruises and I don’t want to increase that number.

We do the same.  Not that we cruise often but we make sure to cruise when children are, for the most part, in school.  However we have not encountered any "little brats" on Regent.   The few children we have seen were very well behaved and really a pleasure to have around.  I do not deal with bad behaviour in children (or any age really!) very well so I hope our experience continues the way it has been so far.

[RJ2002]

We do as UUNetBill and Hambagahle - avoid any cruises over fall/winter/spring school holidays - regardless of the cruise line.  Thankfully, we've not experienced any unruly children on Regent.

Edited January 10, 2020 by RJ2002

[gnomie1]

We often travel during school holidays due to vacation schedules - have never experienced any unruly children, unfortunately cannot claim the same for adults.

[tnt10]

10 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

We’re currently on Explorer and it’s pretty much kid-free.  In speaking to the crew, though, the last cruise was pretty kid-heavy and there were a few issues with misbehavior.

 

Lax parenting always puts Regent in a tough position...if crew members don’t address unruly children, other passengers complain.  If they do, the parents complain.  It’s a no-win situation that I blame 100% on parents not being parents.

 

For that reason alone we avoid any cruises - even Regent - over holidays or during school breaks (if possible).  We’ve only had any minor kid issues on 2 cruises and I don’t want to increase that number.

Agreed!  Especially the " It’s a no-win situation that I blame 100% on parents not being parents."

[ronrick1943]

I agree, it's really up to the parents to keep children in line.  Kids will be kids and that's OK, how on a ship, hotel or in any restaurant there is no excuse for bad behavior period.  A friend of mind owns a pretty high end restaurant, I saw him once go up to a table with poor behavior (children)--he asked them to leave, he'd pick up the check and told them if they could afford his restaurant they could afford a baby sitter net time.  He couldn't have one table upsetting the whole restaurant.   

[purpleally]

If the cruise is advertised reduced fare for children or children club available (forgot the official name), I steer clear. If I wanted to sail with children, I’d bring my grandkids. Wait, no I won’t.  Unfair to them to sail on Regent. 

[tripperva]

Two of the family groups on that Explorer cruise had nannies along. How do you tell a two year old to stop screaming and how do you tell a five year old to stop running ?  Some cruise lines discourage or prohibit children. A brochure from Viking says no

children under 18 allowed.

[wripro]

On 1/11/2020 at 10:25 AM, tripperva said:

Two of the family groups on that Explorer cruise had nannies along. How do you tell a two year old to stop screaming and how do you tell a five year old to stop running ?  Some cruise lines discourage or prohibit children. A brochure from Viking says no

children under 18 allowed.

You don't tell the children anything, You tell their parents to remove them from any public space to their suite so they can yell and run in their own accommodations. If you bring kids that age on a luxury line thats both your obligation and your responsibility. If you're not ready to that call Royal Caribbean or Disney.

[Kwaj girl]

47 minutes ago, wripro said:

You don't tell the children anything, You tell their parents to remove them from any public space to their suite so they can yell and run in their own accommodations. If you bring kids that age on a luxury line thats both your obligation and your responsibility. If you're not ready to that call Royal Caribbean or Disney.

 

Would hate to be in a suite next door to those kids! We avoid 'kid special deal' voyages at all costs.

[tripperva]

Virtually all of the responders have expressed substantial dislike for traveling when children are aboard.

So, why doesn't Regent discourage children the way some other lines do ? Many of us really do wish to travel over holidays but we suffer the noise and disturbances! How about a response from Regent ?

[mellapl]

We were on the fateful trip and have never see this many children in my life.  There were about fifty to sixty children screaming constantly throwing footballs nocking over dishes the keyboard of the singers and damaged it. I never saw one parent say lower your voice, don't run, respect other people, stop screaming ever.  Worse than that on the first day we see parents changing diapers on the chase lounges, and the same people take the diaper off the baby and put them in the pool. You would not want to swim in that or in the hot tubs and the kids took over the both. The rest of us were shocked and many made complaints in person and in mid cruise questionnaire. I spoke to one of the Officers and he said there was not anything they could do and it is about the money. We have taken this cruise two years ago and it had about ten children no infants and were very behaved. This new deal that the children go for free or a much lower rate will bite Regent in the pocket. It is wrong to bring that many infants and young children on this size ship when the oldest kids are under ten. We have many cruises booked with Regent and so did the people we spoke two said they will be looking to another cruise line and canceling booked cruises. If this goes on I will join them.  We love Regent but this can not go on. Are you Listening Regent ?

[mellapl]

We were on the fateful trip and have never see this many children in my life.  There were about fifty to sixty children screaming constantly throwing footballs nocking over dishes the keyboard of the singers and damaged it. I never saw one parent say lower your voice, don't run, respect other people stop screaming ever. Worse than that on the first day we see parents changing diapers on the chais

Edited January 12, 2020 by mellapl
remove

[rcandkc]

1 hour ago, mellapl said:

We were on the fateful trip and have never see this many children in my life.  There were about fifty to sixty children screaming constantly throwing footballs nocking over dishes the keyboard of the singers and damaged it. I never saw one parent say lower your voice, don't run, respect other people, stop screaming ever.  Worse than that on the first day we see parents changing diapers on the chase lounges, and the same people take the diaper off the baby and put them in the pool. You would not want to swim in that or in the hot tubs and the kids took over the both. The rest of us were shocked and many made complaints in person and in mid cruise questionnaire. I spoke to one of the Officers and he said there was not anything they could do and it is about the money. We have taken this cruise two years ago and it had about ten children no infants and were very behaved. This new deal that the children go for free or a much lower rate will bite Regent in the pocket. It is wrong to bring that many infants and young children on this size ship when the oldest kids are under ten. We have many cruises booked with Regent and so did the people we spoke two said they will be looking to another cruise line and canceling booked cruises. If this goes on I will join them.  We love Regent but this can not go on. Are you Listening Regent ?

This really is NOT acceptable.  Maybe a compromise of no children under 10.  An earlier poster said how do you tell a 5 year old to stop running.  Easy.,,you do it, explain why, explain consequences.  I did this with my 2 sons and they went on many trips with parents asking how to do that.  My grandsons know there are appropriate places to yell and run and places this is not appropriate.  Communication...they are smarter than you think. Bringing any very young children on Regent is not appropriate for most young kids or for other passengers.  We do not travel Regent in summer as a rule due to kids.  We are this June and hope not a mistake. 

[westmount]

As we all agree, its up to the parents of any child to make sure they behave, and in 90% of cases, the parents are more worried about their kids creating havoc than enjoying their holidays. 

  We were quite a large group, with one baby and one five year old amongst 13 rooms, everyone else over 25. I figured there were about ten kids under ten years old on the ship, most very well behaved, and yes, a couple of boys did seem to have fun running around the ship, so be it. 

  Since we wanted the best, we booked Regent, and i guess if they told us no one under 18, we would have found another cruise line, but all in all, I think the large families all controlled their kids very well, the babies cried a bit and were wisked away, and for a christmas cruise, not really a bad mix. 

If you have the luxury to go Regent though, I would stay away from Christmas time etc if you want to avoid any children, or go Viking i gather, there are choices. 

[SWFLAOK]

17 minutes ago, westmount said:

As we all agree, its up to the parents of any child to make sure they behave, and in 90% of cases, the parents are more worried about their kids creating havoc than enjoying their holidays. 

I agree that it's up to the parents, but based on our experience, it's the opposite, with only 10 percent of parents aware of what their kids are doing. The other 90 percent totally ignore their kids: ignoring a screaming baby ("that's what they do"), letting kids run wild and unsupervised, or leaving their supervision  to grandparents or other family members.

And from our experience, the worse offenders are the large family groups, who all think that someone else in the family is responsibly watching over the kids, or that their kids are helping take care of the grandparents. The grandparents have very often paid for the whole cruise for everyone, but paying for the cruise and babysitting for the grandkids is not normally what happens, and who can blame the grandparents for that. Large tables of families with even a few noisy children in Compass Rose is not what we're paying for. Nor are the large family groups pushing others out of the way to stay together on excursions, which we've experienced on 2 summer cruises (and we'll never book another summer cruise on Regent again because of that).

As the number of large family groups increases, we will stop taking cruises on Regent. We spend too much for Regent to put up with kids who pay little or nothing to take the same cruise we pay so much for. We have single siblings who can't afford to cruise with us since they pay the same amount as a couple, and they don't see the value in that. I would rather see the single supplement eliminated, and have children charged a significant amount, especially teens. Teens are almost never supervised, and tend to form an annoying group of their own when there are more than a few onboard.

So everyone has a different opinion based on their circumstances, and Regent needs to decided which business model works for them. We'll react accordingly.

[FlyerTalker]

On 1/11/2020 at 1:54 PM, drib said:

Nannies no; what they need are Oompa Loompas!

 

Nah....bring on the Flying Monkeys!!

[SWFLAOK]

18 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Nah....bring on the Flying Monkeys!!

The threat of Flying Monkeys was enough to keep me well behaved when I was a child. I still try not to think about them.

[mrstanley]

There was a child about 2 on our last cruise. The night we had dinner in Prime 7 the couple was there with her. It was not early... she was noisy. The night we went to Pacific Rim they were there. They sat them in the middle of the restaurant.

I couldn’t sit where I requested because I would have been next to the baby. I was very annoyed! Everyone in the restaurant could hear her fussing. Did her parents care? NO. Children under 18 should not be allowed in the specialty restaurants. Compass Rose only.... in a designated area as not to disturb the adults who have paid $$$$ for their cruise.

[Hambagahle]

I would have been very annoyed too.   

 

When our daughter was 3 we took the Italian line to get back from the US to Europe once.  In those days this is what you did.   There was a nursery on board with staff and in the evening we put her to bed and then went to dinner.  They had a "baby sitting" system so that if she woke and cried the steward or stewardess would hear her and come and find us.   It worked very well.   When she was 5 we took the same line back home again and by then she stayed up for dinner - but we ate at 1830 and then put her to bed.   IMO 2 year olds should not be in restaurants in the evenings...that is what room service is for.

[Mask-1234]

I find Asian and Europeans have better behaved children IMHO.  Why?  Because they don’t tolerate bad behavior.  Americans not so much especially the wealthy parents who give them too much too soon.

[carlylecat]

On 1/10/2020 at 9:43 AM, tripperva said:

A recent cruise on Explorer was marred by the many young children yelling and running around the ship. Several large families brought kids, from infants to teenagers, and they certainly effected the high quality normally expected on Regent. This may be unique to the holiday season cruises, but many guests were unhappy with the noise and disturbances. Imagine dining in the Compass Rose with screaming infants nearby. Or reading at the pool area with young kids constantly running past and jumping around. Regent organized supervised activities for the children on the upper decks and also turned the card room into a play camp which effected guests in the suites above on 12. Is Regent encouraging children on their cruises by offering free fares and organized events ? I hope not, because it diminishes the otherwise excellent Regent experience.

We were on the holiday cruise with the large families with nannies in tow - we expected children as it was a holiday cruise -  and only a few times really were affected by the families/ children on board - but we also avoided Compass Rose at all costs as the large family tables were hell to sit close by to - also the area of the pool opposite the hot tubs became a playground and just needed to be avoided as well - my only real eye brow upturns were the mother who kept bringing her 12 year old son to the infinity pool aft of the spa (how did she get him there and why I have no idea but he was quiet and kept to himself - maybe he needed relief from the other kids!);  the one nanny who decided to let a toddler play with his grandfathers crutches for a half hour during breakfast at La Veranda - and the five year old who kept peaking over the booth at Prime 7 tossing his bread "overboard"- this is my only real objection, we only got one reservation at Prime7 and I had to share it with a 5 year old, not fun - I would restrict the specialty restaurants to 12 and over if it was my call, they are too good to be spoiled    

Edited January 13, 2020 by carlylecat
added color

[forgap]

Perhaps we have a society now that prohibits commenting on or correcting bad behavior by children and adults alike.  However, if a 5 year old was tossing bread onto my table, I would have no problem politely asking the parents to correct the behavior.  If children misbehave and their parents are not around, adults that are around should give verbal  correction, especially if safety is an issue.  But then again, I’ve seen pretty bad behavior by parents defending their children’s antics.