People with children love to cruise like me & my family: my kids are well behaved but they are still kids. If you want a child-free experience, travel on a cruise line that doesn't allows children. To say that the HAL crew at times re "surrogate parents" is preposterous: most parents just want a break from raising children and booking a cruise is a great option. For me, getting my kids into a "kids club" and being able to spend with my DH is priceless. You mentioned that HAL's base is for an older demographic but then you mentioned that revenue is important. What do you want? Adults only with the chance that HAL (and maybe the parent company) goes bankrupt, or accept the fact that raising children and vacationing with them is actually okay?
I guess I should cancel my HAL cruise? Another notch onto bankruptcy though. Pick your poison.