bobpell Posted November 29, 2022 #1 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Whereas we get one day or maybe a long weekend our Neighbours to the south get one week off (school kids) We were on a Holland America back-to-back cruise that started one week before their Thanksgiving then the second week encompassed their holiday. The first week there might have been 10 kids, toddlers and teens. The Thanksgiving week the guest services said there were 400 kids. Normally the aft pool was for adults and the mid pool was for families and persons under 21 but not so on the busy second week. Octogerians abandoned their water sanctuary to the cannonball crowd!! So, the moral of the story is if you go for a cruise to relax and find serenity x out the turkey loving week down south...just saying!! Buoy Bob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted November 29, 2022 #2 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Or go on longer cruise A friend is on a 10 day cruise that started last week , very few children are on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fouremco Posted November 29, 2022 #3 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Neighbours thought that they would avoid the kiddies by cruising the week before the Ontario school March break. Little did they realize that the Quebec school break is a week earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted November 29, 2022 #4 Share Posted November 29, 2022 56 minutes ago, Fouremco said: Neighbours thought that they would avoid the kiddies by cruising the week before the Ontario school March break. Little did they realize that the Quebec school break is a week earlier. That happen to us going to a resort in Cuba once ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senga Posted November 29, 2022 #5 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Another time to avoid cruising if you don't want to be overrun with children; Easter. Our worst cruise was when a HUGE group of girls turning 16, along with their chaperones, took over our Celebrity cruise. Unfortunately, no way of knowing when that can happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted November 29, 2022 #6 Share Posted November 29, 2022 2 hours ago, bobpell said: Whereas we get one day or maybe a long weekend our Neighbours to the south get one week off (school kids) We were on a Holland America back-to-back cruise that started one week before their Thanksgiving then the second week encompassed their holiday. The first week there might have been 10 kids, toddlers and teens. The Thanksgiving week the guest services said there were 400 kids. Normally the aft pool was for adults and the mid pool was for families and persons under 21 but not so on the busy second week. Octogerians abandoned their water sanctuary to the cannonball crowd!! So, the moral of the story is if you go for a cruise to relax and find serenity x out the turkey loving week down south...just saying!! Buoy Bob You can also select one of the cruise lines that don't accept kids, or a cruise line that has a few of their ships adult only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearsthatsail Posted November 29, 2022 #7 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Many US schools start in early August and look forward to their time off around Thanksgiving. Early December is a quieter time for us to cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida_gal_50 Posted December 1, 2022 #8 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/29/2022 at 10:29 AM, bobpell said: Whereas we get one day or maybe a long weekend our Neighbours to the south get one week off (school kids) We were on a Holland America back-to-back cruise that started one week before their Thanksgiving then the second week encompassed their holiday. The first week there might have been 10 kids, toddlers and teens. The Thanksgiving week the guest services said there were 400 kids. Normally the aft pool was for adults and the mid pool was for families and persons under 21 but not so on the busy second week. Octogerians abandoned their water sanctuary to the cannonball crowd!! So, the moral of the story is if you go for a cruise to relax and find serenity x out the turkey loving week down south...just saying!! Buoy Bob Were you on the koningsdam by chance? It sounds exactly like my experience. One I hope to not repeat again.. I’m hemmed in by work deadlines so it’s not like I can go whenever. I always forget about American thanksgiving until it’s too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida_gal_50 Posted December 1, 2022 #9 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/29/2022 at 12:59 PM, Heidi13 said: You can also select one of the cruise lines that don't accept kids, or a cruise line that has a few of their ships adult only. Usually it’s a pretty safe bet hal will not be crawling with kids. It’s not Disney after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobpell Posted December 1, 2022 Author #10 Share Posted December 1, 2022 We have cruised on HAL since 2010 Floridagal50 and just by luck never have booked over American Thanksgiving until this Nov. I am used to a few toddlers but never 400. We were on the Nieuw Statendam. Ironically we berthed next to a Carnival ship at San Juan that had a roller coaster, water park and zip lines!! I have to wonder if the majority of our 400 looked at their parents and moaned about the lack of those amenities on our ship of geriatrics HaHa Take care Bob 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelexpert35 Posted December 1, 2022 #11 Share Posted December 1, 2022 I find right after Thanksgiving and first two weeks in Dec are best for prices and lower crowds. Too many kids for me on Thanksgiving week. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdn_tbird Posted December 2, 2022 #12 Share Posted December 2, 2022 On 12/1/2022 at 6:45 AM, bobpell said: Ironically we berthed next to a Carnival ship at San Juan that had a roller coaster, water park and zip lines!! I have to wonder if the majority of our 400 looked at their parents and moaned about the lack of those amenities on our ship of geriatrics HaHa Take care Bob Not necessarily. Our kids were 10 & 8 when we took them on their first cruise. Intentionally picked an RCL cruise because it would have more kid stuff for them. At the end of the day, they were in the pool, hot tub, and basketball half court, all of which are available on X. They had no interest in the rock wall, flow rider or ice rink. Had we known that we would have booked on X instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted December 2, 2022 #13 Share Posted December 2, 2022 12 minutes ago, cdn_tbird said: Not necessarily. Our kids were 10 & 8 when we took them on their first cruise. Intentionally picked an RCL cruise because it would have more kid stuff for them. At the end of the day, they were in the pool, hot tub, and basketball half court, all of which are available on X. They had no interest in the rock wall, flow rider or ice rink. Had we known that we would have booked on X instead. But they would want the rock wall, flow rider and rink since it was not available 🤣 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida_gal_50 Posted December 4, 2022 #14 Share Posted December 4, 2022 On 12/1/2022 at 4:45 AM, bobpell said: We have cruised on HAL since 2010 Floridagal50 and just by luck never have booked over American Thanksgiving until this Nov. I am used to a few toddlers but never 400. We were on the Nieuw Statendam. Ironically we berthed next to a Carnival ship at San Juan that had a roller coaster, water park and zip lines!! I have to wonder if the majority of our 400 looked at their parents and moaned about the lack of those amenities on our ship of geriatrics HaHa Take care Bob We were next to a carnival ship as well and they were the quiet one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gold1953 Posted December 18, 2022 #15 Share Posted December 18, 2022 On 11/29/2022 at 2:28 PM, Fouremco said: Neighbours thought that they would avoid the kiddies by cruising the week before the Ontario school March break. Little did they realize that the Quebec school break is a week earlier. March break dates stagger across Canada for travel reasons. Quebec is usually first ( the reason that covid hit hard there first) They were away when we shut down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred&Lily Posted December 18, 2022 #16 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Yeah, always check the internet for US holidays. Cruising on a ship that is hosting Quinceanera 16th birthday / debutant bashes is just bad luck. Stay home on US Thanksgiving and watch the football. Most of the 20 odd cruises we've done started on a Full Moon. Just to make it a little bit special for the Babe! I'm not kidding, our next up starts on Feb 5th, 2023 which is a Full Moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted December 18, 2022 #17 Share Posted December 18, 2022 28 minutes ago, Fred&Lily said: Yeah, always check the internet for US holidays. Cruising on a ship that is hosting Quinceanera 16th birthday / debutant bashes is just bad luck. Stay home on US Thanksgiving and watch the football. Most of the 20 odd cruises we've done started on a Full Moon. Just to make it a little bit special for the Babe! I'm not kidding, our next up starts on Feb 5th, 2023 which is a Full Moon. We were on Voyager Arctic TA , it was a full moon out which made it impossible to see the northern lights 😭 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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