How to AVOID children on cruises?

[two4me]

The thing is my wife and I are TEACHERS... Guess what. The only time we EVER get to take a vacation is the SAME time when kids are off. Every time.

 

I love kids, don't get me wrong. I work with 1,900 teenagers. I just don't want to live with them on vacation.

 

Made me laught,a friend, a teacher and it was just march break here in ontario canada. Both her and her husband just got back from her first cruise so cannot wait for her review. She said she was praying not to run into any of her students. ( she loves kids too)

[ckekjhaze]

Switch to an AI- can work out much cheaper because drinks are included, and many are kid-free or are in a network of resorts and you can stay at the kid-free one and use the facilities of the others if you choose.

 

The Caribbean is hot in the summer but resorts have beautiful pools and a beach to cool you off.

[Onessa]

RULE #4 - Try Celebrity, HAL, Azmara, etc -- I am not saying you won't find any kids on those ships, that would just be silly, but you will find less kids on those ships. . . .

 

Had to laugh! I got home last night and picked up the mail -- low-and-behold a flyer from HAL with a huge headline telling me to take my "family" on a cruise with them. Full colored pic's of :eek: children enjoying HAL cruises. So even HAL (with its more stodgy reputation) is making a concerted marketing effort to the family traveler!

 

So the OP may just have to get used to kids on board -- the cruise lines like to take $$$ for U21YO pax, it seems to work just as well as the $$$ they take for older pax!

[mjkacmom]

Thanks for the replies. I guess in my ignorance, based on my own life experience, my parents wouldn't have taken me on a luxurious cruise vacation in a million years... I'd be left with grandma for the week. The kids don't appreciate it at all and by growing up with such vacations will never appreciate it as adults, either. I went on my first Europe trip at age 33 and if I had done it at age 16, as some do, I wouldn't have appreciated what I was really experiencing.

 

Nonetheless, some parents spoil their kids and take them on cruises... lesson learned :) It doesn't turn me off of cruising, but will make me look into planning more closely or just accepting the number of teens aboard.

 

P.S., this still doesn't excuse the packs of unsupervised kids below age 12, which were common sightings.

 

Maybe it was an expensive vacation back in the day, but now, cruising, especially very family friendly ships, is affordable. We're a family of 7, so flying is very costly, but we can drive to the port. We need 2 cabins, but would need 2 hotel rooms. Plus, childcare (ie - the kids clubs) are free, so we get some alone time. It can cost close to $100 for us to go out to dinner on vacation, a casual meal.

 

Besides a cruise, our other vacation this year will be camping for a weekend. Yep, we spoil them rotten! ;)

[crusinmama06]

Had to laugh! I got home last night and picked up the mail -- low-and-behold a flyer from HAL with a huge headline telling me to take my "family" on a cruise with them. Full colored pic's of :eek: children enjoying HAL cruises. So even HAL (with its more stodgy reputation) is making a concerted marketing effort to the family traveler!

 

So the OP may just have to get used to kids on board -- the cruise lines like to take $$$ for U21YO pax, it seems to work just as well as the $$$ they take for older pax!

 

Oh yeah I know. ;) Even HAL is trying free kid sailings or discounted kid sailings. :D It just hasn't caught on as fast as Carnival, Disney and Royal Caribbean sailings.

 

Gone are the days that cruising is for "newly weds and nearly deads". :eek:

[ZeroTX]

I had a feeling this was going to be an interesting post. :) Seems like CC needs an adult only board. He didn't know where to post his question.

 

Exactly. There is no appropriate forum.

[ZeroTX]

....

You get vacation, right? Take a week off and cruise in October or late April. I bet you have a different experience.

 

Teachers and mid-level school administrators (counselors, assistant principal) do not get vacation. We work 10, 11 or 12 months a year (depending on contract) and there is no vacation time other than times that fall into non-contract time (for a 10 month teacher, this is June-July).

 

If I had discretionary vacation days, this wouldn't be an issue :-)

 

Thanks for all the helpful words. I did not intend to create a flame war here, nor to insult the responsible parents on this message board. Obviously the parents of the packs of kids who were riding the elevators were not those on this board. However, with 3,800 guests aboard, 1,300 of them ages 13-19, there were many frustrations. Thankfully we picked excursions that seemed "boring" to teens (visiting plantations, historical sites, and self-directing our Cozumel port-of-call), so we had only a couple of well-behaved children with us. Those parents of the packs of kids running about are ruining the impression. Perhaps responsible parents should be admonishing the irresponsible ones rather than judging those of us who look down on those people.

 

As a non-parent, I get judgment from you as if I couldn't possibly understand... Any of you parents ever managed 35 kids in a room by yourself? :)

 

Thanks for all the help. As a teacher, I can't afford 5k-10k per person for one of those luxury lines mentioned. In fact, Royal Caribbean was on the far end of our affordability scale. Flying to another city and then going on a cruise also adds a prohibitively large amount of cost when we can leave from Galveston... so we're limited to RC from Nov - April or Carnival year round.

 

I'll be doing my homework next time, though :) I frankly wasn't surprised at the children aboard, but I was shocked at the teens aboard. A cruise just doesn't seem like something teens would be interested in.... But then again, one night we sat by a teen boy and girl with their mother (40-something), and they were talking about how they were going to get wasted at Señor Frogs the following day and mom approved. Some people are just bad parents.

 

-Michael

[quincytoo]

>>>>A cruise just doesn't seem like something teens would be interested in.... But then again, one night we sat by a teen boy and girl with their mother (40-something), and they were talking about how they were going to get wasted at Señor Frogs the following day and mom approved. Some people are just bad parents.<<<<

 

I totally agree with your statement and am glad you came back to post more. I AM the 40 something year old mother of an 18 year old and if he ever said something like that I would be grounding him faster then the servers served the main course:mad:

 

Truly I do think there are bad children and teens out there just as there are bad parents and adults.

 

Our last teen is highly ADHD and mentally is 18 going on 14 and we treat him as such (in a very good positive way, we love him so much and know he will be living at home for a long long time and that is fine it is what it is).He and we have been blessed to have had a great support group of teachers and school councilers as a wonderful support team and we have always been hands on throughout his entire school years, this year he graduates from Grade 12 and plans to go onto collage and I am not sure who will be crying the most come grad night, his support team or us but they will be happy tears :o

 

Also we have a University honour roll 21 year old and a 24 year old both who we have tried to teach the rights are better the wrongs and so far people have always commented how well behaved our children were/are.

 

I do think parenting is hard but wonderful work and some parents lose sight of the parenting and want to be their teens BFF's and sorry but children and teens need parents and can pick their Bff's at school with their parents permission :eek:

 

Sorry I am rambling but honestly try another cruise and see what happens and thanks for coming back and posting!

 

PS The 18 year old has been on three cruises with us and LOVES them.

[schoolinmy3]

We are going on a cruise with our 19, 17 and 10 yr old children to the Mediterranean in May on HAL. We can travel then because our 19 yo will be in between semesters in his 2nd year of collge, our 17 yo graduated in January and our 10 yo is homeschooled. We actually let our 17 yo choose the cruise based on itinerary as he and his brother our very much into Roman history and world history. They are probably not your typical teenagers, actually I am pretty sure they are not. They tasted beer once (while in Germany) and hated it. So there is no drinking or "getting plastered" :D. Anyway, I asked Ship's Services how many children will be on the Eurodam on our cruise. There will be 7 in my daughter's age group and 7 in the 17 yo's. I am pretty sure with 2000+ passengers we will not be over run with kids :D Of course, in May there probably would hardly be any children who are finished with their school year already. But HAL generally would have less children on board at any time of year although they do have Club Hall and the loft for teenagers.

 

diane

[boulders]

Diane

 

I'll also be in the Med in May! I'll be on the Disney Magic though. Just for comparison, based on the composition of our cruise meet, we'll have around 500 children under 18, mostly under 9 - and school won't be out. :eek: Three of them will be mine. :p

 

So there you have it folks, a comparison of the # of kids on comparable cruises for the 2 cruise lines at the opposite ends of the "perceived kid-friendly" cruise line spectrum. 14 on HAL and 500 on Disney. We have solo adult travellers on the Magic too. There aren't too people above 50 though.

[Warm Breezes]

A cruise just doesn't seem like something teens would be interested in.... But then again, one night we sat by a teen boy and girl with their mother (40-something), and they were talking about how they were going to get wasted at Señor Frogs the following day and mom approved. Some people are just bad parents.

 

-Michael

 

You shouldn't judge a book by its cover or a teen for being a teenager.

 

My kids favorite vacations are cruises. DS is 15 and DD is 13. It is a family vacation for us and they enjoy hanging out with Mom and Dad on vacation (I know its a rare thing.) They are the teens you will see on the mini-golf course, on the basketball court, at the ping pong table, at the shuffle board court, in the arcade, playing trivia, going to the shows, eating dinner in the MDR, laying out on the LIDO deck and going on excursions. They will either be doing something together or with us, rarely on their own and even rarer with the teen clubs. They enjoy cruising as a family and doing things together on a cruise as a family.

 

When asked what they want to do for a vacation, every time they say cruise and its not to go hang out a bar. DH and I rarely drink. Our own bar tab never goes over $100 for the entire cruise for both of us. You may catch us in the sports bar during the day so DS can catch up on his sport scores on TV but that would be it. Parents that teach their kids by example and set boundries and responsibilities can raise responsible teens who do not need to run wild to have fun. It makes me wonder how many of the parents of the teens you saw spent their cruise with a drink constantly in their hands with no clue or care where their kids were.

[emjsea]

There's no specific forum that I can find that relates to this specific question. We just took a Royal Caribbean cruise during Spring Break to the Caribbean (7 days) and aboard we were told there were 1,300 teenagers. 1,300. Seriously. Some were 4 to a room and onboard with a "chaperone" couple responsible for 20+ teens.

 

That number doesn't account for the number of families with children aboard, many of whom were allowed to roam throughout the ship unsupervised. On more than one occasion I entered an elevator to find EVERY button pushed and I witnessed children SITTING in an elevator riding it up and down. As elderly guests waited in wheelchairs for elevators that seemed to never come, kids rode in them as amusement. The running in the halls, the unchecked voice volumes, babies crying, AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So, my question: Are there 21 and up cruises or cruise ships that specifically prohibit children from boarding? Because when I go on vacation, I want people who are like-minded and like-matured and I'd rather never go on a Spring Break cruise again if it's going to be like this.

 

-Michael, a.k.a. ZeroTX

You'll have to look at

 

• The line. Obviously Disney is out :rolleyes: and I would avoid RCCL because they have so much stuff geared towards kids and is marketing heavily to families. Carnival is the same though, in my experience, is a bit less so.
  
• The length of the cruise. Longer cruises have fewer children.
  
• The itinerary. Caribbean or Western Mexico cruises have the most kids. Med cruises fewer. Off the beaten path cruises like Australia, China, etc. have the least.
  
• When you go. Don't go during the summer, winter break or spring break as you will be more like to have kids on board. Don't go the week before or after breaks start because parents are more likely to start a break early or end it late to have their kids on a vacation. Late January, February, April, May, September, and October are great times.
  

[Onessa]

Teens like cruise vacations for the same reason many adults like them. DH and I cruise for the itineraries and the convenience (floating hotel that does most of the movement from city-to-city without our help!).

 

DD (now 14YO) has been on cruises at least ten times. In addition we have done several land vacations with her along as well.

 

She enjoys the sights in port -- this past cruise we visited Rome (Colesium, Forum, Spanish Steps, Vatican Art Museum, etc). Messina (we hiked Mt Etna and spent some time with locals in Taomina) Athens (Acropolis, Parliment, national gardens) Kusadasi (Ephesius, the turkish bazzar) Rhodes (walled medivial city) Santorini ('nuf said) Mykonos (Delios, Mykonos town) and the Amalfi coast. She enjoys herself on-board -- she makes friends with other teens from around the world (Belgium and Great Britain this last time) plays games, watches the shows, swims. What's not to like?

 

On our cruise we saw no one taking any elevator joy rides, the only loud interuptions outside our room was the couple from two cabins down coming back at 2:00am completely drunk and arguing about whose fault it was that neither had their room "key".

 

I understand that you have some fairly major constraints that you are working under. I am a project manager and have distinct windows of opportunities when I can take off and then I need to align that with what works with my DD's and DH's schedules (which are definately not the same as mine).

 

You should appreciate the fact that you have any ships within driving distance. We always have to factor in airline costs (for three) -- unless we want to take the ferry across Lake Michigan :D.

 

If a more peaceful cruise vacation experience is what you want, vacation less often and save up so that you can fly to a different port. We've done Med cruises over American T-giving the past three years and they've all been very peaceful and pretty much devoid of rude people (of any age)

[Warm Breezes]

You should appreciate the fact that you have any ships within driving distance. We always have to factor in airline costs (for three) -- unless we want to take the ferry across Lake Michigan :D.

 

That ferry is the only ship I've ever gotten seasick on:(. Not doing that again. You'll be seeing DH, me and our 2 teens on cruise ships:D.

[Jeninfla708]

Thanks for the replies. I guess in my ignorance, based on my own life experience, my parents wouldn't have taken me on a luxurious cruise vacation in a million years... I'd be left with grandma for the week. The kids don't appreciate it at all and by growing up with such vacations will never appreciate it as adults, either. I went on my first Europe trip at age 33 and if I had done it at age 16, as some do, I wouldn't have appreciated what I was really experiencing.

 

Nonetheless, some parents spoil their kids and take them on cruises... lesson learned :) It doesn't turn me off of cruising, but will make me look into planning more closely or just accepting the number of teens aboard.

 

P.S., this still doesn't excuse the packs of unsupervised kids below age 12, which were common sightings.

Just because I choose to take my kids on a cruise as a FAMILY vacation does not mean I spoil my kids. We choose to take our kids on cruises because 1) we want to SPEND time with our children instead of leaving them home while we go off and have fun. 2) you cannot find a land based vacation that includes all that is offered on a cruise.

 

I can understand not wanting tons of kids around if your not a kid friendly person but you need to do your homework and find the cruise that will suit you and your needs.

[MrsZee]

Does your school system give fall breaks? That might be a good time to go. Seems like Spring Break would be a bad idea because it is THE vacation time. People are excited for summer, they get a week off, etc etc. Maybe try a summer cruise instead? How about mid May? Since you, like me, are limited by funds to Carnival or RCL then you will run into kids no matter when you go. But, if you can find the right time of year, maybe you will be happier with the results. Check into Fall break, people are not thinking sun and beach in Oct/Nov... they are thinking leaves turning and Christmas, I imagine they are less likely to cruise then.

[mjkacmom]

OP, it would be hard for me to think of a better vacation for teens than a cruise. Unlimited food, a place to meet kids their age on vacation, a lot of kids, swimming, sunning, a lot of activities, time away from parents and siblings, beaches... I think my teen is the one most excited to go!

[VaBeachCruisers897]

I'm not sure which ship the OP is sailing but I assume if you can surf, climb rocks and swim both on and off the ship there will be kids...

[ZeroTX]

Does your school system give fall breaks? That might be a good time to go. Seems like Spring Break would be a bad idea because it is THE vacation time. People are excited for summer, they get a week off, etc etc. Maybe try a summer cruise instead? How about mid May? Since you, like me, are limited by funds to Carnival or RCL then you will run into kids no matter when you go. But, if you can find the right time of year, maybe you will be happier with the results. Check into Fall break, people are not thinking sun and beach in Oct/Nov... they are thinking leaves turning and Christmas, I imagine they are less likely to cruise then.

 

We used to get a week for Thanksgiving, but that was dropped during the past two years (thanks Texas legislature, for nothing!), so we don't get any week-long break until Christmas. I'd consider a Christmas cruise, but I hear they are packed, too...

 

I loved our cruise, please don't get me wrong. I'd do it again, for sure. Someone mentioned that cruising isn't expensive... I guess that's all relative. We never did a beach vacation, etc, when I was a kid, either! First of all, the beach was only 15 miles away from our house (sandy beaches on the Gulf of Mexico), and family vacations involved piling in the car and going to see other family and/or a few days amusing ourselves in San Antonio. I have fond memories, but we never spent the kind of money required for a cruise, nor "renting a beach condo." Those were the activities of the rich as far as we were concerned and for most Americans, that's still the case, folks.

[reallyitsmema]

Zero, I really hope you don't hurt yourself jumping to so many conclusions. You do not know anything about anyone's finanacial situation in this forum. Maybe some of us are rich but my guess is that the majority are hard working people who save for their vacations. If you have an issue with your own financial situation and your ability to take the vacation you want, then do something to change it.

 

In the meantime, I will continue to schedule cruises and other vacations I see fit for my family. I will continue to do my homework, shop the Tuesday specials and watch for price drops on a daily basis.

[junglejane]

If we're so rich, why is it called "mass market" cruising??? Why do some people call Royal Caribbean the "Walmart of the Seas"? (I'm not dissing RCI -- we had a great cruise on the Mariner -- just making a point that cruise vacations are far more affordable today than they were 20 years ago.)

[SuperCoolOne]

I don't know about anyone else, but it took us almost a year to save for this trip and it will be at least 2 years before we can go again.

[islandercruiser]

We used to get a week for Thanksgiving, but that was dropped during the past two years (thanks Texas legislature, for nothing!), so we don't get any week-long break until Christmas. I'd consider a Christmas cruise, but I hear they are packed, too...

 

I loved our cruise, please don't get me wrong. I'd do it again, for sure. Someone mentioned that cruising isn't expensive... I guess that's all relative. We never did a beach vacation, etc, when I was a kid, either! First of all, the beach was only 15 miles away from our house (sandy beaches on the Gulf of Mexico), and family vacations involved piling in the car and going to see other family and/or a few days amusing ourselves in San Antonio. I have fond memories, but we never spent the kind of money required for a cruise, nor "renting a beach condo." Those were the activities of the rich as far as we were concerned and for most Americans, that's still the case, folks.

 

I am sorry that you were never fortunate enough to experience what my daughter and other children are experiencing. However, I do not feel that it is your place to judge the lives of the rest of us. For the record no we are not rich, we work hard for everything that we do. I can tell you that we made choices and sacrifices :eek: to be where we are today in life to enjoy the "finer" things.

 

I hope your next cruise will prove to be a better experience for you.

[sparky-elpaso]

I am sorry that you were never fortunate enough to experience what my daughter and other children are experiencing. However, I do not feel that it is your place to judge the lives of the rest of us. For the record no we are not rich, we work hard for everything that we do. I can tell you that we made choices and sacrifices :eek: to be where we are today in life to enjoy the "finer" things.

 

I hope your next cruise will prove to be a better experience for you.

 

Well said. DH and I (retired parks maintenance worker and secretary) are certainly not rich. But we've decided we want to cruise and take other types of trips now that we're retired. We don't have a big expensive house, our car is paid for (and hopefully will last us for a while longer), we don't eat out 4 or 5 times a week, etc. so that we have the money for cruises.

[rgnok]

the kind of money required for a cruise, nor "renting a beach condo." Those were the activities of the rich as far as we were concerned and for most Americans, that's still the case, folks.

 

I just HATE seeing this argument . . . I've made the case before, and I'll make it again, that cruising can be very inexpensive.

 

My family of 4 (mom, dad, 2 daughters under 12) live in NE Oklahoma. Oklahoma, where the median household income for a family of 4 is $55,000.

 

I can take my family of 4 on a 7 night cruise vacation, visiting 3 countries (Jamaica, Mexico, Grand Cayman) this summer, during regular school vacation, for $3,000. This is just over 1/2 of 1% of my state's median family income. If you do it every 2 years, as some have mentioned, you're down to about 1/4 of 1% of household income. If that's rich person spending, than yes, I'm rich and proud of it. But come on . . . that's not a big chunk of money. And I've not even mentioned that two teachers in Texas, assuming they have at least one year of experience, should be making MORE than $55,000 per year ;).

 

And before someone questions the numbers (though I think most people here recognize they are valid), let me break it down for you . . .

 

Carnival Conquest out of Galveston on August 22, 2010 -- I can book cabin #8222 for 2 adults and 2 children right now (10:30 AM on 03/25) for $1706 + taxes and fees, total cost $1,897.08 - I'll splurge and call that $1,900. Suggested tip for that cruise is $280 for the 4 of us. Since I'm splurging, we'll say $300 for tips -- total is up to $2,200 now. Got to get to Galveston from NE Oklahoma, so we'll hop in the car -- 1200 mile roundtrip will take us 60 gallons in gas ($180), plus we'll spend one night in an economy hotel about an hour north of Houston the night before the cruise . . . makes for an easy 7 hour drive down the day before the cruise, a comfortable couple of hours from hotel to port the morning of the cruise, then we'll drive straight through to get home after the cruise -- in the car by 10:00 AM and in our driveway by 9 PM - $80 for the hotel. $100 more buys my family of 4 a total of 4 fast food meals on the road, plus $100 in misc. money during the drive to and from -- $180 for gas, $80 for hotel, $100 for meals, $100 for misc. makes the total drive cost $460, so now we've covered cruise (including taxes and port charges), tips, and the cost of getting to and from the port -- total is at $2,660. Leaves $340 of spending money, or about $14 per person per day (not counting the day we leave Galveston after 4 in the afternoon or the day we return at 8 in the morning, those days are covered by that $100 misc. in the road trip). Not a lot of spending money, but we will all be happy eating the food included in our cruise fare, we don't drink alcohol, will mostly skip soft drinks (and pack a few cans anyway), so drink costs will be very minimal on board, we don't gamble. We will spend our money on a taxi ride to the beach in Cozumel, plus about $20 at one of the beach clubs for a couple of drinks and nachos that will keep us having fun on the beach for hours, then wander around the downtown area in Cozumel; we'll pick maybe one family excusrion in either Jamaica of GC, spending under $150 of our spending money, and stick to cheap and free exploration at the other port. And we will have a BLAST. And we'll do it all for $3,000, which is NOT rich person spending!!

 

Happy sailing, everyone!