Did we make a HUGE mistake?

[ggprincess2004]

Princess is not what I would consider stuffy - a few posters tend to spend time on soapboxes and not an acccurate reflections of most of the passengers.

Especially over a holiday, there will be lots of kids on board - your kids will have a great time. Princess does a great job with kids, especially when there are a lot of them on board.

Don't be intimadated by some of the posters here - honest. You have made a great vacation choice!

Also, passengers on board tend to be relaxed, friendly, and interested in an enjoyable experience. Therefore, the vast majority of passengers are nice and easy to get along with.:)

[Kerry's Girls]

We are cruising on the Coral Princess holiday cruise in December. We will be traveling with 9 people in total. DH, myself, MIL, SIL and 5 kids ranging in age from 5-13. For my immediate family this is our 4th cruise. We travelled on Royal Caribbean and Carnival in the past and we liked both.

 

We booked this cruise with a TA with whom we are very familiar. We have used her for years. I know her because our oldest sons (13 years old) are friends. When I asked about Princess and kids she said she has travelled on this ship and her kids had fun. Her son was pretty enthusiastic about the ship when my son mentioned it to him.

 

HOWEVER-the comments on this board are scaring me a little. I am afraid it will be a bit to stuffy for our family. My kids are experienced travellers and have been all over the US and Caribbean. They are well behaved and they love crusing becuase they meet great people.

 

I am a little concerned that the Princess clientele is stuffy and intolerant of young people. I can still get my money back.

 

Have any of you had any good family travel experiences with Princess?

 

Jenna

 

When I found these boards, I had a Princess cruise booked for myself and my twin toddlers (!). After reading a lot of the comments, the best I hoped for was to be politely tolerated, but I wouldn't have been surprised with being treated much worse. Instead, we were warmly welcomed by crew and passengers alike, and had so much fun that we've been on another and have our third Princess cruise booked for the twins 3rd birthday. We also have tried one of the cruise lines more known for being family friendly, and the girls had a great time, but mommy prefers Princess.

 

In any case, I've been cruising since I was a child - and wayyyy back then, cruises really weren't family friendly, but I always had a great time.

 

Your entire family will have fun.

 

Best,

Mia

[UT-Volsfan]

Don't worry at all about it. We've cruised several times with our kids on Princess (they are now 18 and 19) and they have had great experiences. They have met other teens on board and made their own plans to occupy their time when they weren't hanging out in the teen areas.

 

And you'll be fine changing after dinner into more relaxed clothes. My wife and I do that on our cruises - we'll do the formal dinners, but we also like to change into some more casual clothes before going to the theatre or up to Explorer's Lounge for the late shows.

 

Just go and have a great time!

[Cruisin' Chick]

We have been on three Princess cruises so far (when the girl was 5, 7, and 8) and I would definitely say, go for it. Our last cruise was during the holidays and there was plenty for the kids to do. Some of the "adult" activities (trivia, ukelele classes -- it was the Hawaiian cruise, and dance classes) are great for kids who are interested.

 

Just check your Patters every night and you'll probably find things for your kids and yourselves to do.

[Brian Raine]

3GR8sons. Not to worry Princess is no different to the other lines (NOW) children are accepted .That is what the lifeboats are for, any miscreant children can go and sleep in them,however, there have been some adult passengers I would like to have seen banished into the lifeboats, so bairns are no problem.

[vmom]

Thank you all for your comments. I have an add on though-It's not just the kids that I worry about. Dh and I are both 41, SIL is 37. We consider ourselves sophisticated. All of us have graduate degrees and have travelled quite a bit, with our kids, and before we had kids.

 

I'm not that worried about the kids after reading your comments. My kids don't care much about formal kids programs. They usually go the first day to meet people, and then make plans with the people they meet. My little one will go to activities he likes. The 11 and 13 year old will have fun either together, or with other kids their age in the pool, game room, etc.....They are close and usually meet people easily. They like to go onshore with us when the ship is in port.

 

I am also not worried about the dining room. My kids like real food and will not want to eat dinner at the buffet. If the older ones want to eat dinner with other kids their age they can hit the buffet and just keep in touch with us via walkie talkie. They usually eat with us though. They like good food.

 

We are on the 12/20, not the 12/27.

 

What about the adults? Will anyone really blow a gasket if I change out of my dress after dinner on the formal nights??

 

Jenna

 

I have been on cruises with both Princess and RCCL...we alternate between the two since we enjoy both equally.

 

Don't worry. You didn't make a mistake. We loved the people we met on our Princess cruises and found just about every one to be very warm and friendly. Not much different than on our RCCL cruises. We saw many people change after dinner.

[Jill SC]

You will have a great time. I am one of those adults who has no children and would complain if I see gangs of unruly children running around misbehaving. But I have yet to encounter any kids who were doing anything other than having normal fun. I do think most of the complaints on this board have dealt with specific instances involving bad parenting or with young adults partying to excess. Those who absolutely don't want to deal with lots of children won't take a holiday cruise for that reason.