Kidless Cruises

[Wilda]

cat, it should be the same this year as last year, which is the first week of Nov.

 

Don't let your trip be ruined. Look at it this way. Even if the ENTIRE state of NJ took off that week and went on a vacation, there are a LOT of places for people to choose from, so they won't ALL be on your ship. :)

 

I really didn't find an ENORMOUS amount of kids on my ship last year. I think my friend discouraged us from cruising the same week this year because our H2O Zone was closed from day two through the entire cruise. So ALL of the kids on the ship had to hang out by the main pool. But that wouldn't normally be the case. :)

 

 

Ummm, we vacationed in Disney World one year during Jersey Week and it was PACKED:eek: Learned my lesson on that one and always verify when Jersey Week is whenever considering a vacation in November;)

[amybeth4]

Maybe for some reason, they just didn't bother me that much (which is a shock for me, haha).

 

Maybe it's because one of my cruising friends is a NY teacher and my previous three cruises were with her, during PRESIDENT'S DAY WEEK. Forget New Jersey. On that one, you get a lot of the entire east coast, not to mention all of their teachers! :D

 

(Not to mention the worst part, somewhat higher cruise prices and airlines that GAUGE you. I'm talking over $400, upwards of $600 r/t NYC to FL. Good LORD.)

 

I need new friends... ;)

[Johnny Yen]

 

Why have I never heard of Jersey week?

[kakey30]

Hey we will also be going out of San Juan in January with an eight yr old and a crazy two year old so everyone better stay away haha

[amybeth4]

Yeah I think some Drink of the Days would have been the only thing to lessen that situation. ;)

 

I REALLY don't mean to sound like I'm all perfect and stuff...because like I admitted earlier, I'm not a huge fan of kids. But my friend's reaction was slightly more annoying than the girl. She was getting SO annoyed. EVERY time she said MIRA, my friend would react. After a while I thought, "SHUT UP!"

 

Then I drank beer. (Less fattening than the DOD, haha.)

[amybeth4]

Nothing against New Jersey obviously, just would prefer less kids [ie none at all]on board! We're sailing from Bayonne to Southern Carribbean on 7th November :(

 

Well, again, if it's the same week as last year, you'll actually miss it by a week. You can wave goodbye to all the NJ kids as you board and they exit.

 

IF it's the same as last year, which I'm strongly thinking.

[mechcc]

We love seeing children on cruises. They seem to be enjoying themselves and having a good time (really, really love the pirate parade). Guess we have been lucky as we have never seen horrible behavior out of any of the children (can't say that about adults). That said, I hate going to a land resturant and have a child scream while throwing a fit and the parents do nothing about it. I don't care if it is a McDonalds, the child needs to be removed from the resturant until they can get their emotions under control. On a ship in the MDR, I would be really annoyed. But to change tables just because a child is around - nope. Probably would look forward to engaging the child in a conversation on their cruising perspective every evening.

 

Have to say, other people's children have enriched our cruises more than once. Best experience was with an 11 month old at the table next to us. Little Juliet was so cute and by the end of the cruise, I got a "gotta hold a baby Grandma fix". Another fun time was father with triplet boys about 4 years old claiming a table in Windjammer for breakfast. Mom was gathering food for the boys at the time. Dad claimed a table for six but one of the boys spotted a table for 4 next to a window and wanted to sit there. Explanations and protests passed between Dad and child with a final "Okay you can sit there. We are going to sit here." Mom arrives a few minutes later with breakfast, and when the cutie saw that food was at the bigger table and his brothers were getting to eat, he moved to join the family. We just laughed. Then there were the teens on a cruise that were just energetic about life. Not causing any trouble but you could just feel the happiness of being out and about. Oh, and bad weather day on last cruise, a group of teen girls did some impromptu cheerleading displays on the Promonde. It was fun just watching them have fun.

[amybeth4]

 

Why have I never heard of Jersey week?

 

Do you not have kids in school? I only heard of it because of the cruise and the friend I went with has a sister who's a teacher in Joisey.

[Bethee99]

When is Jersey Week this year Amybeth?? In two words, I think my holiday may have been ruined :(

 

you can always look up school holidays online. I don't know about "Jersey Week" but if it is a state wide week off just look up any district website they should have school calendars posted a few years in advanced. It should be posted on when it is.

[John Henry on CC]

Nothing against New Jersey obviously, just would prefer less kids [ie none at all]on board! We're sailing from Bayonne to Southern Carribbean on 7th November :(

Clipped from another travel board:

 

"All New Jersey public schools will be closed on Thursday November 4 and Friday November 5, 2010."

 

Many parents take the fact that the schools are officially closed for two days and decide that it means that they have the whole week off.

 

I doubt that you will see any of these people on your cruise, whenthecatsaway. :)

[Johnny Yen]

Do you not have kids in school? I only heard of it because of the cruise and the friend I went with has a sister who's a teacher in Joisey.

 

I'm with you...I don't have any, and I don't want any. (on my boat or in my house)

[Kerrupt]

Perhaps one of the more frustrating things involving rambunctious children on a cruise is that there is very little you can do about it. If another adult passenger offends or irritates you, you can address the issue directly.

 

Just try 'dealing' with someone elses child. I would not dare address a child that was not mine for fear of repercussion. Try addressing the parents and they don't care ( if they did you wouldn't have this problem in the first place).

 

We have had the 'privilege' of having a cabin next to 2 children under 12. Not ours. Not part of our group. The kicking of walls was nuts, the fighting and screaming was relentless. Our room steward was powerless to address the situation. What is he going to do?

 

Our last cruise, a 11 nighter on the Jewel in January (Panama cruise) we had the 'privilege' of have a table next to a large group with three exuberant youngsters. Not even the Head waiter pleading with the parents could stop that section of MDR from become romper room.

 

I personally, would aim for less children on a cruise not because we don't enjoy them, it just reduces the odds of these types of occurrences. Entertainment areas such as the pool and other venues you expect the whoop whoop that comes from excited children and other passengers. Just not at dinner or in the cabin next to you. It improves the ambiance.

 

That said it is a crap-shoot regarding the passenger mix on any cruise.

[amybeth4]

Clipped from another travel board:

 

"All New Jersey public schools will be closed on Thursday November 4 and Friday November 5, 2010."

 

Many parents take the fact that the schools are officially closed for two days and decide that it means that they have the whole week off.

 

I doubt that you will see any of these people on your cruise, whenthecatsaway. :)

 

I concur with this assumption, Cat. Looks like you're safe. Boy are you lucky because if there was gonna be a crowded ship during Jersey Week, it would be the Explorer, lol. (Which I'm hoping to take 12/10!)

[funat55]

As a teacher, I cringe at how many people are saying they take their kids out of school for vacations just because it's cheaper. I hope you're having them do homework on the plane or doing enrichment work on the ship (or that they're home schooled and you can take a break whenever).

 

Whenever students have missed a week of class, they inevitably come back pretty far behind. If the child gets sick, there's not much you can do about it, but when parents deliberately plan for their child to miss a week of instruction, that's hard for me to stomach. (Albeit this is from a middle school teacher perspective...)

 

Four of my grandchildren are going to be with me on the Oasis next year. My sister who is a school teacher is also going to be on the cruise. My sister (the school teacher) is going to go to all of the grandkids schools and we are going to sign them up for independent study the week they are gone. She will also work with the kids on sea days. My sister has always said that a cruise that goes to foreign countries is also an education in and of itself. Hope your stomach doesn't hurt too much.

[BND]

Nothing against New Jersey obviously, just would prefer less kids [ie none at all]on board! We're sailing from Bayonne to Southern Carribbean on 7th November :(

 

We're on the same cruise and there probably won't be a lot of kids on this trip because it's a 12 day. We've cruised during and around Jerseyweek and most parents just add a day or two to the kids time off, not a week. Disney is extremely busy as are shorter cruises during that time. 12 days tend to have an older demographic and childless couples.

[Caliterp07]

Four of my grandchildren are going to be with me on the Oasis next year. My sister who is a school teacher is also going to be on the cruise. My sister (the school teacher) is going to go to all of the grandkids schools and we are going to sign them up for independent study the week they are gone. She will also work with the kids on sea days. My sister has always said that a cruise that goes to foreign countries is also an education in and of itself. Hope your stomach doesn't hurt too much.

 

No need to be snotty...

 

I'm just saying, as a teacher of middle school math students, it is not possible for my kids to make up a week of missed classes through visiting a foreign country. It sounds like you're planning ahead and will hopefully be getting missed assignments to work on during the trip, or alternative assignments to cover the work (which makes me think that you're talking about little guys, where it's a lot more flexible).

 

I'm sorry if I rubbed you the wrong way. I've had far too many parents come "talk" (read: yell) at me for their students being behind/doing poorly on exams, yet these are the same parents who think that family vacation is more important than their child being in class each day.

[MikeNJ1109]

<sigh> Can we PLEASE just shoot this horse of a thread, to finally put it out of its misery? While every post is well meaning, as are each poster, we're just going round and round here, and I suspect we're not going to change anyone's opinion on this subject.

 

Come on folks ... please just let this die a natural death.

 

Michael

[Debde]

guaranteed no kids:

 

Sandals resorts

 

 

:cool:

[BGCruiser85]

Does RCI have any no-children-allowed cruises?:o

 

If only that existed my wife and I would be cruising so much more we'd be Diamond + by now! I can only dream I guess.

[catlady27]

LOL

 

 

 

[travelgip]

Very, very funny! I love the goat (I used to have one when I was small):D

LOL

 

 

 

[LisaH]

Does RCI have any no-children-allowed cruises?:o

 

We always (except for Alaska) cruise when kids are in school and we also avoid Spring Break season. However we have never had a problem with kids on any cruise and we have none of our own. We have only seen nice, well behaved young folks.

 

I would think that you should be more worried about the college age kids on Spring Break. The younger ones are with their parents and seem to be really well behaved in our experience.

[Hebejeebe]

Amy...

 

I'll answer, I once was waiting for Adventure Ocean counselors to load the kids into elevator after the Pirate Parade when 2 older women stepped out of the adjacent elevator. One look at the other and said "I came on this cruise to get away from THAT and here they are!"

 

So I responded "Funny, I came on this cruise to get away from cranky old biddies and yet, here YOU are!"

 

:rolleyes:

 

I see you exercised the nuclear option. Very satisfying but I usually try to restrain myself from doing similar.:D

[hazeleyez3]

I just love how all the parents reacted. The post was a simple one, do they offer kid-less cruises.

 

The OP never said he/she hated children, never said that they all mis-behaved, never said that he/she wouldn't sail on a cruise that had kids. Just wanted to know if Royal ever offered one.

 

Everyone, parent or no parent, has times where they just don't want to be around children. It doesn't make them a bad person, it just makes them human. Royal even recognizes this which is why there is an adults-only solarium.

 

Just to pose another question...Would every married person get upset if someone asked if Royal offered "Singles" cruises? It wouldn't mean that that poster couldn't stand to be around married people, just that they were looking for one cruise that catered to singles.

 

Just because a cruiseline typically caters to families does not mean that they could not have 1 week that was for adults only, and/or 1 week for just single people. It would still leave 50 weeks where families could sail.

[kakey30]

I do not think that anyone is upset with op. And it could have been answered simply no!! It is the comments after that one that were rude. Such as the children should be seen and not heard remark. There are plenty of adult only resorts in the islands if being around kids is such a problem.