kids program

[panurse]

I was wondering if there was a way to find out about how many kids will be on the boat during a particular cruise. I have read so many things about not a lot of kids, I want to prepare my 4 kids (16,13,6,6) for our 4/29 cruise on the golden.

thanks

[Cruisin' Chick]

Some people have been successful in getting this info at the customer service number. But I wouldn't be surprised if you try asking the question and get an audio "blank stare". The reps at the 800 number are often unfamiliar with the workings of Princess. This has been happening more and more.

 

I would guess that late April cruises would have a very low number of kids -- maybe more homeschooled kids. It's getting harder nowadays to get permission from schools to take out your kids, and if they're like California and have testing in early May, probably even more harder.

 

If you want a high number of kids, many elementary and secondary schools are out in mid-April, either the week before or the week after Easter.

[Shelly97060]

If you call princess and tell them the date of your sailing they will tell you how many kids on board and how many are in your childs age group.

 

I have done this with no problem what so ever. They did ask for my booking number at the time so you may want to have that handy when you call.

 

Have a fun vacation! :)

[mrchris11731]

I just got off the phone with customer service at princess. they provided all the information or in my case the information i didn't want to hear. we are sailing dawn princess aug 26 to aaska out of seattle. Right now there 1 infant 4 children and 9 teenagers on the cruise. My daughters 12 and 14 won't like that but sorry its the only time i can go. so call them they will provide the information for you good luck

[panurse]

thanks everyone....i will give it a try

[tiggyfrank]

Well mrchris, I think Alaska would never have many children. I went when I was young with my family (different cruiseline) and it was like all seniors, even my parents were younger than everyone else. The disappointing part was that even the activities were all geared for seniors (for example, the hardest part of the aerobics was lifting up your arms halfway). So, I guess we won't be going on that route for at least 20 - 30 yrs. :(

[mrchris11731]

thanks Tiggyfrank i knew alaska was for older people. i was hoping there would be a few kids. my kids are pretty social so even if there is a few they should be alright. I wasn't willing to wait 15 years to go to alaska so i know i will like it and with a few shore excursions they should be entertained happy sailing

[lbcrosby]

One thing I noticed was that if you call two different times you will get two different answers. I would call a few times until you get consistent answers. Some are very knowledgeable and others are a little confused. We went to Alaska the end of June and there were maybe 30 kids in my sons age bracket. There were more than that on board but we never saw them all in the kids program. He had a blast with a smaller number.

[lbcrosby]

A quick response regarding the older people on board for Alaska. We went last year (my husband and I are in our late 30s) and our son was 6. Yes, there were a lot of older people on board but we did not feel uncomfortable at all and did not feel like we were out of place. It was a blast and we would do it again. I did note that a lot of the adult activities were probably geared more to the older crowd but we didn't participate in that many as we were involved in the excursions and then just watching the scenery go by. One advantage to maybe having an older crowd was that every comedian we saw had pretty much "G rated" shows with no vulgarity or swearing included and they still were hilarious to hear.

 

Enjoy

[Cruisin' Chick]

I just got off the phone with customer service at princess. they provided all the information or in my case the information i didn't want to hear. we are sailing dawn princess aug 26 to aaska out of seattle. Right now there 1 infant 4 children and 9 teenagers on the cruise. My daughters 12 and 14 won't like that but sorry its the only time i can go. so call them they will provide the information for you good luck

 

We went on the Sapphire to Alaska on 8/15/04 and there were many children (don't remember the exact number). There's still over five months so it can be quite possible those numbers will change before then (cancellations, etc). Some school districts (esp. in the east) may start the fall semester in August but many on the west coast start right after Labor Day.

[Cruisin' Chick]

As Alaska gets more and more popular as a cruising destination, you'll see some younger folks onboard too. I didn't feel like it was an AARP cruise. Also Princess and Carnival will tend to attract younger demos than say, Holland and the other more heeled lines.