Children

[flare3192]

We are looking into an Icelandic cruise for 2024. I know that Regent is not Viking with no children but read that they have a program geared to children and I wondered if there would be a lot of children on the cruise. It said they had professional youth counselors overseeing a program with movie nights, dance contests, mini putt putt contests and more. That sounds more like the large cruise ships we avoid. Please let me know your experience. I realize this cruise is in the summer when children have off and is within the 2 week time period most people vacation for. I just want to know so that I can make an informed decision as to whether or not we would like this cruise.

Thank you

[Pcardad]

Just now, flare3192 said:

We are looking into an Icelandic cruise for 2024. I know that Regent is not Viking with no children but read that they have a program geared to children and I wondered if there would be a lot of children on the cruise. It said they had professional youth counselors overseeing a program with movie nights, dance contests, mini putt putt contests and more. That sounds more like the large cruise ships we avoid. Please let me know your experience. I realize this cruise is in the summer when children have off and is within the 2 week time period most people vacation for. I just want to know so that I can make an informed decision as to whether or not we would like this cruise.

Thank you

There is no way of knowing how many children (or adults who act like children) you will get. Generally, in summertime, there are more kids and the shorter the cruise, the more kids you will see. I would be surprised if there are more than 10....and they are generally extremely well behaved. 

[Nachosdelux]

I don't like (cruising with) children.

 

I LOVE Regent.

 

You really have nothing to worry about.

[RELS]

I was on a Voyager cruise (10 days, Mediterranean) in June that had the first kid's program offered. I think there were maybe 50 to 60 kids on board, of all ages. Apparently this was many more than expected.

 

I barely saw the younger kids at all. The tweens and teens on board were perfectly behaved whenever I saw them, including at meals and on excursions. As an added bonus, they added great value if you could snare one for your trivia team.

 

In short, I wouldn't worry too much. If you are very concerned, you can likely find a Silversea cruise with an equivalent itinerary and fewer kids.

[Gpilon]

On 11/19/2023 at 11:23 PM, RELS said:

I was on a Voyager cruise (10 days, Mediterranean) in June that had the first kid's program offered. I think there were maybe 50 to 60 kids on board, of all ages. Apparently this was many more than expected.

 

I barely saw the younger kids at all. The tweens and teens on board were perfectly behaved whenever I saw them, including at meals and on excursions. As an added bonus, they added great value if you could snare one for your trivia team.

 

In short, I wouldn't worry too much. If you are very concerned, you can likely find a Silversea cruise with an equivalent itinerary and fewer kids.

And kids aren't typically chair hogs.

 

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, Gpilon said:

And kids aren't typically chair hogs.

 

Yep - I would rather travel with kids than with people (of any age) who behave poorly.

[Gpilon]

6 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Yep - I would rather travel with kids than with people (of any age) who behave poorly.

We definitely agree on this. Look forward to Grandeur in July.

[DavidTheWonderer]

I hesitate to post something not serious, but will anyway.
As you know, there is usually a jigsaw puzzle or two in the common areas of the ship, and people work on them. Completion usually takes a few days.
A 7-something girl saw a partially completed puzzle and thought it was obviously messy, so put all the pieces back in the box.
I thought that was sort of cute.
The children-haters were outraged.

[SWFLAOK]

We took a Med trip on Voyager pre-covid in July. There were many large family groups on board, and the teens and tweens were not well behaved or supervised. They were taken on the excursions but were uninterested, and acted up while the rest of us were listening to our guides. There were 2 sisters that kept pushing me, and laughing. I told them they were acting childish for their age, and they stopped.

We had some of that on a Mariner Alaska cruise the previous summer, but at least the kids stayed onboard during excursions since there was a program for younger kids, and the teens and tweens hung out in the pool during the day.

After that, we've never cruised in summer again, on Regent or any other cruise line.

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, DavidTheWonderer said:

I hesitate to post something not serious, but will anyway.
As you know, there is usually a jigsaw puzzle or two in the common areas of the ship, and people work on them. Completion usually takes a few days.
A 7-something girl saw a partially completed puzzle and thought it was obviously messy, so put all the pieces back in the box.
I thought that was sort of cute.
The children-haters were outraged.

This place needs more "not serious" posts!

[annmarz]

4 hours ago, DavidTheWonderer said:

I hesitate to post something not serious, but will anyway.
As you know, there is usually a jigsaw puzzle or two in the common areas of the ship, and people work on them. Completion usually takes a few days.
A 7-something girl saw a partially completed puzzle and thought it was obviously messy, so put all the pieces back in the box.
I thought that was sort of cute.
The children-haters were outraged.

Many years ago I was on a cruise with my then 12 year old son.  He loved jigsaw puzzles and completed the one in progress in the common area.  An older grump passed by and made a very rude comment that children should should not  be allowed to play with the puzzles! 

[briar14]

On Grandeur now, two very well behaved, cute babies!

[labonnevie]

19 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Yep - I would rather travel with kids than with people (of any age) who behave poorly.

Four such people were put off the Navigator in Dubrovnik. 

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Four such people were put off the Navigator in Dubrovnik. 

As they should be....at least kids aren't going to get drunk and start fights.

[labonnevie]

Or verbally assault senior staff and crew members. 

[rcandkc]

14 minutes ago, labonnevie said:

Or verbally assault senior staff and crew members. 

Wow! Can’t imagine. 

[Pcardad]

43 minutes ago, rcandkc said:

Wow! Can’t imagine. 

Human nature doesn't change based on how many zeros we have on our bank statement...

Edited November 22, 2023 by Pcardad

[rcandkc]

1 minute ago, Pcardad said:

Human nature doesn't change based on how many zeros we have on our bank statement...

I know but one out of hand comment won’t get you kicked off…so hard for me to imagine.  I’m glad they got kicked off because it must have been out of control.  I was on a Regent ship that a couple almost got kicked off for disregarding smoking policy.  The couple stopped when they realized it was not just a threat. 

[Pcardad]

33 minutes ago, rcandkc said:

I know but one out of hand comment won’t get you kicked off…so hard for me to imagine.  I’m glad they got kicked off because it must have been out of control.  I was on a Regent ship that a couple almost got kicked off for disregarding smoking policy.  The couple stopped when they realized it was not just a threat. 

Regent takes that sort of behavior very seriously. They have a policy manual in place for how to deal with it.

[mrstanley]

  Briar14… hopefully those cute babies aren’t on the cruise from Miami to LA.

They aren’t cute anymore when they’re crying loudly in a restaurant. We had this happen on a Regent cruise with a 2 year old in Pacific Rim. Very annoying and the parents didn’t care. Neither did management.

[Pcardad]

I've always thought it nice when families travel together...and babies don't have exclusive rights to behaving poorly as evidenced by the four guests booted off the Navigator recently.

[Kwaj girl]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

I've always thought it nice when families travel together...and babies don't have exclusive rights to behaving poorly as evidenced by the four guests booted off the Navigator recently.

 

You have proof ?

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

You have proof ?

[irishwitchy]

4 hours ago, mrstanley said:

  Briar14… hopefully those cute babies aren’t on the cruise from Miami to LA.

They aren’t cute anymore when they’re crying loudly in a restaurant. We had this happen on a Regent cruise with a 2 year old in Pacific Rim. Very annoying and the parents didn’t care. Neither did management.

I have also been seated next to old people that can’t hear so well and have a tendency to shout to their spouse,  but we don’t tell them they can’t get on the ship.  Also,  the high squeal voice or very loud laugh.  You just make sure not to sit next to them next time or be asked to move.   We did that one time when the couple next to us had very different political beliefs,  that they are entitled to have, but we didn’t want to listen to it for the next two hours.  
 

As for the baby,  it would be great if the parents were adulting,  but if they aren’t, just stop by and say hello and wish them luck with a big smile on your face!   The kid may stop or the parents may wake up.   We have never had a kid issue while sailing.   

[Pcardad]

45 minutes ago, irishwitchy said:

I have also been seated next to old people that can’t hear so well and have a tendency to shout to their spouse,  but we don’t tell them they can’t get on the ship.  Also,  the high squeal voice or very loud laugh.  You just make sure not to sit next to them next time or be asked to move.   We did that one time when the couple next to us had very different political beliefs,  that they are entitled to have, but we didn’t want to listen to it for the next two hours.  
 

As for the baby,  it would be great if the parents were adulting,  but if they aren’t, just stop by and say hello and wish them luck with a big smile on your face!   The kid may stop or the parents may wake up.   We have never had a kid issue while sailing.   

Good points. Can you imagine if someone posted that they didn't like to sail with people ABOVE a certain age? Let's just agree that anyone on board should behave and respect their fellow passengers.