When cruise says family friendly with kids, will it be overrun with kids??

[loveak]

Are there certain ships that are family friendly but aren't over run with kids. I love kids and we will be bringing grand-kids with, but I don't want them to have to be in a over crowded pool/fun area. Let me know your experiences??? Looking at leaving Florida, 5 or 6 night cruise.

[kitkat343]

What are the children's ages?  If they are young enough to be happy with just a good kids club Princess during the school year might be a good option. 

 

I was on the 10 day Panama Canal Roundtrip on the Coral Princess with only 9 kids on board because we left 1/8 (the previous Panama Canal roundtrip cruise left over new years and had 200 children on board).  There aren't a huge number of kids amenities on the Coral Princess but they do have a really nice kids club that did a wonderful job with my 2 year old.

 

Unfortunately, longer cruises to more interesting itineraries during the school year are your best bet, but if you are certain of the 5 to 6 days you can at least sail during the school year.

 

On my last cruise the splash pad was really crowded plus an idiot parent dropped their baby in the splash pad and the poor kid started to choke.  Diapered infants and toddlers aren't supposed to be in most splash pads (and this wasn't a splash pad designed for diapered children) but the parents didn't care and the ship staff didn't do anything about it.  

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by kitkat343

[Woody14]

Time of year you sail also plays a big impact on the number of kids on board.   Sailing around school holidays lots of kids.    

Where you are sailing will play some impact as well.   for instance always seems like less kids on europe, panama canal and south america than on the carribean.

[Essiesmom]

The shorter the cruise, the more kids there will be, especially if it is over a weekend.  And especially if it is over a holiday.  And an interesting observation is that the shorter cruise may be more expensive than a longer, because there is more demand.  carnival runs a 5-5-4 cycle from Jacksonville, and the four day is more expensive as it runs Thursday thru Monday am.  I just got off that one today and there were a lot of children.  EM

[boulders]

My 11 night Disney cruise off season had probably about the same number of kids as my 12 night summer Holland America cruise. Both the time of year and the cruise line will make a difference. 

 

If you are not looking to be overrun with kids, look for sailings in May, September, October, early November or January. IME, family friendly cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean will have older kids and Disney will have younger kids. 

[MississippiMom]

MANY years ago, back when you only booked cruises through travel agents, ours told us to fly to San Juan for a Southern Caribbean itinerary, because it was beautiful and less crowded with kids.  Not sure if that is still the case or not, but the theory is that most larger families aren't flying to that port for a cruise.

[quagmire0]

Many adults are worse than kids, so more or less actual kids may not make a difference. 🙂

[Mum2Mercury]

On 3/6/2023 at 4:45 PM, Essiesmom said:

The shorter the cruise, the more kids there will be, especially if it is over a weekend.  And especially if it is over a holiday.  

Yes, this is one reason we'll never sail over a holiday again. 

 

We don't have anything against kids, but we do hate sailing on an overcrowded ship -- and often if you sail over summer or (especially) on a holiday, that's what you get.  More cabins sail with a 3rd or 4th passenger, and those extras make a difference as they flood the public spaces of the ship.  

On 6/1/2023 at 10:11 AM, quagmire0 said:

Many adults are worse than kids, so more or less actual kids may not make a difference. 🙂

One of my former teacher friends used to say, "Teenagers just can't be a**holes in the same way adults can be a**holes."  She's not wrong.  

 

Anyway, I'd say adults vs. kids is like apples vs. oranges.  Not the same thing, not the same problems.  Kids tend to be fine -- unless they're allowed to run wild in a group, and then they'll come up with trouble that none of them would've considered individually.  The only kids I've ever seen actually misbehaving were teens after dark -- who shouldn't have been allowed that much freedom.