The best time to cruise without kids is.....

[cb at sea]

I've never noticed other's kids....since they're not MINE...I can safely ignore them.  We have cruised during "spring break" times often....and while there are lots of kids and families....I swear I can't remember any hardships or shenanigans.....I simply choose to "shut out" the kids!  They aren't mine...not my problem!

 

 

[OCruisers]

Normally the longer the cruise (over 7 days) the less kiddos.

 

[foreverh]

Just got home from the Carnival 3 day and it was a NIGHTMARE.. Not a few kids but HUNDREDS.. Screaming, taking over pools and jacuzzis, even the Serenity adult area wasn't safe.. There were kids running around there too! And no one came to stop it.. We stayed on deck 7 not far from the atrium and it was a nightmare of stomp running ALL day and night.. The buffet was constantly filled to the brim of crying bratty toddlers and infants.. Parents ignoring the "I'm not getting enough attention" crying.. Several times we had to take our food to our room because there were no seats anywhere from the buffet, to the balcony, to the deck.. I will NEVER do that again.. 

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, foreverh said:

Just got home from the Carnival 3 day and it was a NIGHTMARE.. Not a few kids but HUNDREDS.. Screaming, taking over pools and jacuzzis, even the Serenity adult area wasn't safe.. There were kids running around there too! And no one came to stop it.. We stayed on deck 7 not far from the atrium and it was a nightmare of stomp running ALL day and night.. The buffet was constantly filled to the brim of crying bratty toddlers and infants.. Parents ignoring the "I'm not getting enough attention" crying.. Several times we had to take our food to our room because there were no seats anywhere from the buffet, to the balcony, to the deck.. I will NEVER do that again.. 

Carnival + 3-days is a bad combination.

 

If you want a relaxed, kid free cruise check out Viking Ocean - minimum age is 18. Generally longer cruises and premium/luxury Lines have minimal kids.

[Chocolate martini fan]

Recently returned from a 15 night Panama Canal Cruise on Princess.  We disembarked Dec 20th.  There were maybe 10 kids onboard.  We try to time our cruises for minimal kids.

It was a great cruise

[EasyGoingGuy]

Oceania... good food, no kids, good ports (nod to LHT). From my sig you can see I've sailed most of the 'mass' cruise lines. Had good experiences on each ( tho after 5 cruises, no NCL anymore). If you want to sail on the larger ships on the bigger lines there is a lot of good advice above. However, to respond to the OP's question, the best time to cruise without kids is anytime on 'O'.(my $.02) But everyone, wish you all great cruises (without loud partying neighbors, crying babies at the next table at dinner or drunk spring breakers).       and (long time ago in this thread, but) boomerSexyK, " Marriage is like a coffin and every kid is a nail..!! ", man, I hope there was something lost in the translation (or the move to the new CC board) 'cause that's a dark thought.

Edited January 16, 2019 by EasyGoingGuy

[Lady Patriot]

We have cruised the week before Thanksgiving, mid January and now early December, all of which seem to be good times. We have no kids and can travel just about anytime, but we have to save up for a cruise, so we also look for the best deals. 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Lady Patriot

[CruisingWalter]

Agree with the two cruise line choices, especially Holland.  We are really looking forward to the new Virgin Voyages though. 18+ only.  Yay!

[iancal]

The best time would obviously be when children are in school.  This varies significantly by geography.  

[Heidi13]

On 1/15/2019 at 10:11 PM, EasyGoingGuy said:

Oceania... good food, no kids, good ports (nod to LHT). From my sig you can see I've sailed most of the 'mass' cruise lines. Had good experiences on each ( tho after 5 cruises, no NCL anymore). If you want to sail on the larger ships on the bigger lines there is a lot of good advice above. However, to respond to the OP's question, the best time to cruise without kids is anytime on 'O'.(my $.02) But everyone, wish you all great cruises (without loud partying neighbors, crying babies at the next table at dinner or drunk spring breakers).       and (long time ago in this thread, but) boomerSexyK, " Marriage is like a coffin and every kid is a nail..!! ", man, I hope there was something lost in the translation (or the move to the new CC board) 'cause that's a dark thought.

Oceania may not have many kids, but they are accepted on all sailings and are actively promoting them on some Alaska sailings with an Alaska Youth Explorer Program. The program is being promoted on the Oceania website for 2019 & 2020.

 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/specialty-cruises/

[LuckyStar]

I learned on my last cruise to book the adult area, in Carnival case, the Havana area.  Nary a child in sight.  

[SargassoPirate]

On 12/24/2018 at 7:57 PM, Heidi13 said:

Carnival + 3-days is a bad combination.

 

If you want a relaxed, kid free cruise check out Viking Ocean - minimum age is 18. Generally longer cruises and premium/luxury Lines have minimal kids.

I'll second the comment about Viking Ocean.  No kids allowed.

 

Also, we've found transocean cruises have fewer children, as well as avoiding any cruise near a holiday or the summer break - be aware of school schedules in the southern hemisphere.

 

We have little patience with feral children on cruises and plan accordingly.

[Albinroo]

I actually do the same thing, even though we travel with children I try my best to avoid itineraries, ships and months when I fear many other children will be on board. 

We cruise with our 3 young children since that is one of the most relaxing ways to vacation, but we are not doing it for just us parents, we are doing it for the whole family. That means we don't drink, we eat early and spend most of the evening in the stateroom. It's still a fantastic holiday when we get to spend time together, watch the beautiful seas, enjoy good food and all the household chores are left at home. Our kids aren't always well behaved but if I suspect they start disturbing others I have no problem to remove them from wherever, including the dining area. 

As our children get older and start school it will get more difficult to sail outside peak periods but right now we have late October planned for 12 days Panama canal and April 2020 will be a 7 day western Caribbean on HAL. Next week we are doing a 9 day Baltic cruise, but I fear there will be a lot of children...

Anyway, I am just saying all this to explain that some of us with juds do enjoy calmer cruises too, and please give us a chance before judging! We and our kids love interacting with seniors but there have been a few times where people have just given us one look and then decided they'd prefer to be anywhere except near us! 

 

[foreverh]

On 12/25/2018 at 6:17 PM, fyree39 said:

The price difference between the two would be laughable.

 

If you're looking to get away for a weekend cruise, don't go during any holiday or over the summer.  Go in the dead of winter.  We've done a bunch of the short cruises and there are absolutely kids, but not to the degree you're describing.

I wish that were possible.. I'm an instructor in a Technical School and we HAVE to take vacation with the students (rare exceptions can be made but not for that long).. So my cruising options are July 4th week or Christmas/New Years week.. We have more time at Christmas.. So boo for us 😭😭

[Lerin]

We have kids, but try to cruise when there are few on board because we don't like "party" atmosphere. With kids, comes teens and college students that create a vibe that isn't too our liking. 

 

The best times we've found (for cruises out of the USA) are right after the standard school year starts (week after labor Day), first week of December and January, near the end of April (state testing), and early May (graduations and parties). 

 

As has been mentioned, longer cruises, educational cruising(Alaska, Panama) rather than beaches, and higher end lines also equal little to no 18 and under crowd. 

[tacoville]

Hi...no offense to children or those traveling with children, we don't travel alot and just prefer to minimize the # surrounding us if possible 🙂

 

Have only been on one cruise (so far) and I believe the one we took had minimal children for several reasons (and that is why we picked it):

• 9 days (like others have said above, cruises more than 7 days tend to have less children)
• Repositioning cruise (added cost of airline ticket)
• November 9-18, 2018 (kids have only been in school a short time and winter break is just around the corner so parents less likely to take them out of school)
• Norwegian Dawn (smaller, older ship without racetracks, slides, climbing walls, etc)

We met a family on one of our excursions who were traveling with two very well behaved teenagers (and I picked this excursion because it was 12+), they even commented to us that they had taken the Dawn to Bermuda out of Boston during the summer and there were alot of kids, so much so that her son remarked "where are all the kids" when they boarded this one...

 

Hope this helps.

Edited July 15, 2019 by tacoville

[CarolinaGirl2010]

We cruise between October and May, but avoid Spring Break time at all costs.  Also, Thanksgiving week and Christmas break are not on our list.  We still see home schooled children, but not as many as there would be when school is out.

[legaljen1969]

Any time is a good time to cruise without kids!!  Well, I know what you actually mean- when is a good time to cruise that may attract less children?  I find the winter months are usually pretty good and any time school is in session.  

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

First 2 weeks of January 

[Lois R]

If you want to try something other than an ocean cruise...….River Cruises normally have very, very few to no children

at all.  I am sailing in 2 weeks on a River Cruise out of Venice, Italy...…….130 guests

[VentureMan_2000]

We've had good luck cruising the 2nd week of May, week long cruises starting Mother's day weekend.  School is coming to a conclusion... finals, graduations, etc., so not many kids.

[SRF]

There is a review here on CC by a couple about cruising Disney.  It seems the kids things are so well organized, you seldom see any kids.

 

But my favorite advice, was a couple here on CC that found how always cruise without ANY children.  They booked nudist, swinger, and LGBT cruises. 😄

 

You do not HAVE to participate.  They said the LGBT cruises were great.  Once people found out you were not, they we happy to just be friendly.  And it seems, that group REALLY knows how to party. 😄