A little concerned - kids during Thanksgiving cruise

[azjacque]

The only week we can take our 10 year Anniversary cruise is during this upcoming Thanksgiving. We are leaving our three kids at home. Looking at all the past Thanksgiving reviews on The Rhapsody, it seems like there are tons of kids everywhere. Now again, I am a lucky Mom of three, but this trip is for me and my DH alone. We were never able to have a honeymoon and always bring our kids with us on vacations. Needless to say, we are excited :D

 

Anyways, Is the later seating for dinner a good pick for some adult time? Do they allow kids in the bars?

I guess I wasn't thinking about all this when I booked the cruise. I hope I didn't offend anyone by my post. I just want to get a feel of the crowd we'll be around for our cruise.

[crusinmama06]

Hmmmm, don't know about Thanksgiving. I am assuming there will be alot of kids. But here's what you can do.

 

Late seating. Adult pool. And no, the kids can't go into the bars (at least I don't think they can)

 

The thing about these cruises are many of the kids are in the kids clubs, not really running the ship. Or they are at the main pool.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time either way, especially if that's the only time you can go.

[sandbag7]

Why don't you try thinking about a cruise on a cruise line which doesn't encourage children, like Oceania? Or a smaller ship with a more romantic or exotic port schedule, like Windstar or Star Clipper? There are many options which you could consider to achieve your goals if you think outside the RCL box.

[superjerryw]

You might consider cruising with Celebrity which is owned by Royal Caribbean but is a more adult oriented cruise line.

[Fang]

Normally my family takes a cruise over Thanksgiving on Celebrity. This year they are not offering a cruise durning this week, except the Constillation from Monday November 20 to November 27. Not good for familys with kids.

 

I never noticed a lot of kids on our four Thanksgiving cruises. However, we had ours with us, so I really wasn't looking. There will be more kids than a normal winter week cruise, I am sure.

 

I would second the opinion, that if kids would be a problem, I would go on a cruise line that does not cater to children.

 

I would agree, that while Celebrity is more of an adult cruise line, they do have a fantastic kids program. But with no rock climbing wall, golf, etc. I am sure there would be more kids on a RCI cruise than Celebrity, which does not offer these items.

 

Either way, go and have fun. Request late dinner, less kids and make the most of it.

[vacationhappy]

We were on VOS last Thanksgiving with our extended family - 7 kids, 8 adults. There were TONS of unruly kids on the cruise and vowed we would never take a holiday cruise again. I agree with the previous poster, select a cruise that does not cater to families - Thanksgiving is all about extended families on Carnival, NCL, Princess, RCCL and Celebrity and even though you are not bringing your children, you may have some ambiguous feelings if you are surrounded by families during the holiday.

[Steamboatin]

Have previously posted this on other threads but it is again approiate to be mentioned once again here. So be warned.

 

We sailed on the Carnival Destiny the week before Thanksgiving one year and on board the vessel it was the cruise from "hell".

 

For us it was the damn little ill mannered non English speaking youth ages 4 to 7 that got aboard the Carnival Destiny with us in San Juan, Puerto Rico with their could care less parents. It was a 7 day Southern Caribbean cruise. This cruise was a week before Thanksgiving.

 

Besides the normal problems a 100 plus non English speaking youth ages 4 to 7 can bring upon the cruise there were several major problems in addition to the parents caring less how their children acted.

 

1. Youth constantly going up to food bar and grabbing handfuls of food out of food bowls. Than they proceeded to their tables dropping the food from their hands along the way. No they did not use plates or bowls. Just carried a handful of food to the table one trip at a time. This drove the crew and passengers crazy over the health issues. The crew was extremely mad with them for 2 major reasons. One they had to constantly remove those bowls of food and replace it with a new bowl of food only to have it pounced upon a few minutes later by another youth grabbing a handful out of the new bowl of food. Second the crew was constantly cleaning up the food that dropped on the floor. This went on for 7 days. Security tried to control the situation but after a while even they gave up attempting to control it. The crew were extremely mad over the conditions they were forced to work under.

 

2. At the ice carving event several youth were putting their hands within 2 to 3 inches of the carver's knife sharp cutting edge in an attempt to catch the chipped ice. The carver stopped carving and complained to the MC. The MC asked the children to leave the area and for the parents to please take control of their children. Nothing happened. Security just kept leaning against a near by post watching everything. Finally carver out of safety reasons gave up and quit carving.

 

3. The parents partied all night loudly talking and singing while running up and down the halls or in one of their interior cabins. After a while even Security gave up attempting to control them.

 

An the list could go on.

 

Fortunately on the port tours the parents could not afford them and thus we and the other passengers were free from those damn kids for a few hours at a time.

[ccletzgo]

We cruised Rhapsody last thanksgiving. I have never, ever seen so many kids on one cruise ship.:eek: When you looked down at the pool from the deck above you could not even see water for all the body's and floaty toys in the pool. thank god we had a Jr.suite with an aft balcony. It was a safe haven.

 

I honestly don't understand why they don't have some kind of child to adult ratio on holiday sailings. Cruise lines should specifically offer one adult cruise during holidays. Also, sailing out of Galveston means alot of family's that drive to the port.

[sailingawaysoon]

My husband and I were going to cruise last Thanksgiving or Christmas. After talking to several people who typically cruise at this time of year, they told us that there were a lot of kids on the cruise. My TA even advised me to go at another time if we were wanting a "quieter" cruise. I don't mind children on cruises, however, like another poster mentioned, there are often children that are left unattended to run around and act like wild animals...not only in the food area, but around the pool, etc. I think you'll be able to find quiet spots for just you and your husband, don't let it worry you that much. I'm sure it won't be bad. Happy

Anniversary!

[airbysea]

If it was me, I would find another time to cruise to not cruise, do a land vacation. I have two kids, and I don't even cruise during the peak times, WAY TOO MANY KIDS!!! We are doing a July cruise to Bermuda with two other couples, while I want to go, I am dreading it!! Its hard enough to get your own kids to behave, but when others don't it just makes it worse!!

 

If its babysitting issues, go during a non peak/expensive time and bring the kids along with a "nanny", whether its grandparents, cousin, etc, sure more costly, but you could have the best of both worlds!

[Travelgrrl]

Sometime I travel with my kids, so I'm not anti kid. And generally, in more than a dozen RCI cruises, I have seen very few unruly ones. The Solarium is a nice haven, and usually the Viking Crown Lounge is quiet during sea days.

 

But on the Vision in Feb, there were PACKS of kids RACING around the Viking Crown Lounge all afternoon, several afternoons. That really bugged me. The bar was not open, so kids are 'allowed' but it was very annoying.

 

Usually, kids can enter bars (when not with their parents) to get a coke from the bar, but they can't hang around, or sit on a bar stool and tarry, etc.

[Straughn]

Based on our experience on Galaxy a couple of years ago, I would not say that Celebrity is likely to have fewer kids. We were on a cruise the week of Labor Day, thinking that the kids would mostly be going back to school that week. Nope-a lot of schools do not go back until the week after Labor day. We had over 600 children of all ages and it was chaos.

 

As for kids in the bars on RCCL- if the are with a person over 21 (note I didn't say "grown-up" or "parent"), they can be in the bar. If they are unescorted, they can get a soda and are supposed to leave. The enforcement of that depends on how busy and how diligent the bartender is!

 

About the only place on RCCL that kids cannot go, with or without an adult, is the casino. They do keep them out of there.

 

Second seating dinner is also going to have kids, probably fewer than first seating, but still a number of them. However, unless you are vey unlucky, and end up sitting next to a table full of kids, that shouldn't be a problem. In my experience, even with the 600 kids on Galaxy, they were less of a problem in the dining room than anywhere else on the ship.

[cruzlvrs]

We were on the Navigator last Thanksgiving. It was our 18th cruise and we swore we would never do another cruise Thanksgiving week. There were so many unruly children on board it was absolutely horrible. Children were constantly in the hot tubs they also had sand buckets which they were using to empty out the water in the hot tubs. I even saw one child with a cup DRINKING the water from the hot tubs. Children and teens were constantly running around the ship. Racing up and down the steps...hitting all the buttons for the elevators on different floors. I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the message. If you think children will bother you and you can change your cruise, you should definitely do it.

[horsefeathers75]

Last Thanksgiving there were 900 kids on the Navigator, fortunately, my husband & I went the week after. The cruise staff was still talking about the little darlings from the previous cruise. As a matter of fact Graham (CD) even stated he doesn't know what is wrong with the parents of today letting their kids run free on a ship. The parents think it is a controlled environment, DAH! Where is the controlled environment. He was just amazed. I personally don't understand why people think everyone else should be responsible for their children when they don't even care for them. I wish that RCCL would make adult only cruises from time to time. We were on the Brilliance in 2003 when a family was put off because of their unruly children who tripped the elderly and the wait staff. The wait staff would have trays with glasses and these kids would just trip them. They broke the rotating doors and other expensive stuff. The captain called the parents to his office 3 times to tell them to control their kids. The parents refused so the captain had their bags packed and put off in Aruba. The crew cheered. Pretty sad isn't it? Another cruise kids were throwing plates at people and smashing fries on the stairs to trip people. Then the jumped up and down in the elevators enough to make the elevator break between the floors. Pity on the folks stuck on the elevator with these 7 brats. Security had to chase them through the windjammer to apprehend them. Another time a kid put an ice cream cone upside down in the elevator hand rails on formal night. Many men got melted ice cream on their tux's and mercy if you touched the hand rail inside the elevator. The sad part of all this is those "darlings" think it is a hoot and where are the parents. My husband & I do not do holiday cruises, spring break cruises or summer cruises for that reason.

[Onessa]

A lot may depend upon your itinerary as well. Most of the issues posted seem to be with Carribean or Mexican itineraries.

 

We were on a Hawiaan cruise over Thanksgiving this past year. There were a lot of kids, but none causing any problems. The kid's program had brought in extra help for the week. The only inconveniences we encountered was a pair of 20-somethings harrassing some pre-teens playing table tennis, and the really loud obnoxious chain-smokers in the cabin next to ours They would have 7 or 8 people on the balconey all smoking, drinking, and being VERY loud - but hey they were all in their 60's! :D

 

Also, to those who indicate that perhaps changing to a land-based vacation would be preferable - remember there are just as many famillies doing land-based vacations so choose wisely if that is your alternative.

[windjamming]

We were on the Navigator last Thanksgiving. It was our 18th cruise and we swore we would never do another cruise Thanksgiving week. There were so many unruly children on board it was absolutely horrible. Children were constantly in the hot tubs they also had sand buckets which they were using to empty out the water in the hot tubs. I even saw one child with a cup DRINKING the water from the hot tubs. Children and teens were constantly running around the ship. Racing up and down the steps...hitting all the buttons for the elevators on different floors. I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the message. If you think children will bother you and you can change your cruise, you should definitely do it.

Wow- I was on that cruise too (Navigator Thanksgiving 2005). I knew Graham made some comments about teaching the kids how to snorkel near the rudder but I hadn't realized how bad the problem was. I honestly didn't notice the kids, maybe because we stayed mostly in "adult" areas like the casino, Schooner Bar, or the spa.

 

I guess the moral is to stay away from Thanksgiving if you think you're going to be spending time in areas of the ship (like the hot tub) that may be occupied with kids. If you think you'll be in other areas, then go for it. The ship's large enough.

[shellie100]

The only week we can take our 10 year Anniversary cruise is during this upcoming Thanksgiving. We are leaving our three kids at home. Looking at all the past Thanksgiving reviews on The Rhapsody, it seems like there are tons of kids everywhere. Now again, I am a lucky Mom of three, but this trip is for me and my DH alone. We were never able to have a honeymoon and always bring our kids with us on vacations. Needless to say, we are excited :D

 

Anyways, Is the later seating for dinner a good pick for some adult time? Do they allow kids in the bars?

I guess I wasn't thinking about all this when I booked the cruise. I hope I didn't offend anyone by my post. I just want to get a feel of the crowd we'll be around for our cruise.

 

Consider booking a longer cruise if you really must travel at Thanksgiving. We were on the Dawn Princess for a 10-day cruise during Thanksgiving of 2004 and although there were kids on the cruise (of course), there weren't very many. I couldn't tell you how many, but my son was one of few. That was also the case on our 10-day Celebrity cruise in early November 2005. Even fewer kids on that cruise (I think a total of 28 passengers under 18 years of age).

 

If you are on a 7-day cruise, you should expect many many kids on the ship. Late seating would be ideal for you, but don't expect a kid-free dining experience, though it would probably be older, quieter kids. Frankly, I wouldn't want to take a 7-day cruise during a holiday even though I do bring my son. We are booked this Thanksgiving, again, with extended family, on an 11-day cruise and I expect that there will be some kids, but the ship won't be overrun with kids. Know what I mean?

 

Shellie

[Belle2002]

Shellie is right about booking a longer cruise. It seems that the shorter cruises at Thanksgiving will attract alot of families with kids. No matter what time of year you cruise in the Caribbean or Mexico there will be some kids, but hopefully not to overrun the ship. Belle

[Patty in NC]

My extended family will be sailing on the Navigator this Thanksgiving. There will be 6 adults and 4 kids ranging in age from 10 to 15. This will be my son's 5th cruise (he's 10). One of the reasons my family chose this ship and sailing is because there would be a lot kids and activities for them. My son loves Adventure Ocean...and he knows there will be he^% to pay if he misbehaves AT ALL on the ship. We have never had any problems with him.

 

I would agree with many of the previous suggestions...second dining, adult only pool, etc. One other suggestion is if you really want to sail RCL, try to delay the trip by just 1 week...go the week AFTER Thanksgiving. The cruise will be considerably less expensive, airfare probably less expensive, and definitely less kids.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Patty

[Lyncruiser]

As others have said -- you can plan on tons and tons of kids and teenagers and all that entails. You may want to consider a different line -- Celebrity, Holland America or Cunard.

[Nliedel]

Never saw a kid in a bar on a cruise ship now that I think of it.

 

Honestly I am not bothered much by kids, what I mean is overrun by them. I eat at the late seating (there were some kids, including mine but quite well behaved) hang out in the Solarium Pool (not a kid in sight, ahhhh) and just have not had a problem at all.

[azjacque]

Thank you so much for all your replies. I wish we were able to take a longer cruise or at a different time, but due to work and babysitting issues, a 7 day Thanksgiving cruise is all that will work.

I looked into other cruise lines, but they don't seem to have the activities and fun that we crave. Celebrity and HAL seem to have an older more sedate crowd, or am I wrong?

When away from our kids, we do like to drink, dance and socialize! Not go wild, but definitely let our hair down!

I think if we just keep to the places that are less kid friendly, we should be fine.

Thank you again for all your responses. I'm so glad I found this board before our first cruise!!!