Kids during Christmas vacation

[Old As Dirt Mom]

.................. any line with a Kids program has lost me as a passenger

 

Run dont walk from any ship that welcomes kids because the spolled adults who bring them are as big a problem or worse.:eek:

 

Well, sorry Dan, that would eliminate Holland America for you. You might as well cancel any HAL cruises you have booked. Enjoy your travels on Regent.

[Scrapchick]

After experiencing the totaly out of control kid seen I will NEVER go on a cruise during any school holiday, or when the cruise line has a family special... that is kids sail at any discount. on any line.

The Kids factor drove me to sail Regent where they didnt give a discount to kids, has a strict policy ( a Kid is someone under 21 in their book.) and way willing to pay 500 to 800 a day to be on a kid free ship. On Kid cruises the parents are as bad the kids... and actualy facilitate the bad behaviour.

The whole promotion of bring kids as many and as young as possible is in my book wrong and self indulgent. sitting next to the little darling during their food fights in the buffet.... have then ringing cabin doors, A crying baby in the dining room..... NO way pal.... Children shouldbe seen and not heard.... I say let them wait till they have the maturity and the financial ability to take themselves.... Adults deserve cruises as a place to relax.... kids , in my book just plain dont belong a a cruise abnd any line with a Kids program has lost me as a passenger

 

Run dont walk from any ship that welcomes kids because the spolled adults who bring them are as big a problem or worse.:eek:

 

What an appalling, hate-filled post. This spoiled adult is so glad to know I will never see you on a cruise. Enjoy Regent, and please, do us all a favor and honor your pledge never to go on a ship with a kids club. It will make it a much more pleasant experience for the rest of us. Your attitude is absolutely disgusting.

[love to cruz]

To answer the posters question, we have been on three HAL Christmas cruises and loved each and every one. We found the children to be well behaved the very little we saw any. I believe they spend most of their time with their new friends in the HAL club. For us holidays mean a special enchantment caused by children. I never want to get so old I cannot tolerate an excited small child.

If you want unruly, misbehaved, unspuervised children try MSC cruise line. The parents were mostly Italian and very rude themselves. That is the only line we would not take again for the holidays. (Or any other time for that matter.)

[junglejane]

The Kids factor drove me to sail Regent where they didnt give a discount to kids, has a strict policy ( a Kid is someone under 21 in their book.) and way willing to pay 500 to 800 a day to be on a kid free ship.

***

Run dont walk from any ship that welcomes kids because the spolled adults who bring them are as big a problem or worse.:eek:

 

Bad news for you!!! Regent is running discounted fares for kids!:D There are some where kids sail from $529. I was looking at the June 2011 Istanbul-Athens where kids can sail for $999 (versus $5999 for adults).

[Linda&Vern]

To answer the posters question, we have been on three HAL Christmas cruises and loved each and every one. We found the children to be well behaved the very little we saw any. I believe they spend most of their time with their new friends in the HAL club. For us holidays mean a special enchantment caused by children. I never want to get so old I cannot tolerate an excited small child.

Agree - agree - agree! I have been on two Christmas cruises (11-day and 7-day) and one (10-day) Thanksgiving cruise. I still remember that on our first Christmas cruise my DH and I didn't think there were any kids on the cruise ... until Christmas Day when Santa "landed" on the ship and all the kids followed him through the Lido Pool area. We didn't know about Club Hal and couldn't figure out where all the kids came from:eek:. AND ... we never saw many of them again. I remember a baby in a stroller on an elevator once - that's about all. DH always says he is amazed how the older kids seem to find new friends and bond immediately and look like they are having such fun. We would never hesitate to cruise on a HAL ship during the Holidays ... except we do miss our adult children and :p wonderful grandbabies!

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

WOW! Christmas and kids, what a concept! Isn't that the BEST part of Christmas??? Seems like everyone on these boards seems to have forgotten what it was like to be a kid. I would not want to spend one single Christmas without children around me, isn't that the meaning! How many here still believe and have the "gleem" in their eyes on Christmas day!

[LMB01]

Christmas and kids is not everyone's idea of a good time. The OP asked for opinions for what a cruise is like over the holidays. Many have responded and it seems that for those of us that don't care to be around children are called some very unkind things.

 

We did one cruise over the holidays and will never cruise at that time of year again and the only reason is kids - far, far too many and children do not make my Christmas more enjoyable. I am glad those who have a similar opinion have spoke up as we are by far in the minority (there are even clubs for those of us who are childless by choice!). With the variety of points of view, the OP should be able to make a better informed choice. If they, or any of us, decide not to cruise then, it does not make the decision wrong (or any of the other interesting words to describe us).

[cancun cowgirl]

It sure is nice to hear some positive about HAL cruises at Christmas. We have been looking forward to this for quite some time until we began to read some of the posts about Christmas at sea with kids. I hope that the people who have posted such negative comments remember that they too were kids at Christmas. We can't wait to have a wonderful cruise with our two boys, 22 and 18, and all of the other families.

[maxout]

[serendipity1499]

We've never been on a Christmas cruise, but I especially would love to do one some day..Would love to see all the lovely decorations & watch Santa with the little ones, who still believe in him..:):) DH would rather be home at Christmas..:)

However, we've been on nine Thanksgiving cruises on HAL or NCL (most were 14 days or more), one 7 day Alaska in Aug & one 7 day Mid Aug this year to Bermuda..Agree that out of control kids are no fun, but we've never had a problem on either NCL nor HAL..

I'm sure on all of them there were lots of children, teens & young adults on board...We hardly ever saw any of them except for lunch in the Lido...For sure they were all well behaved & never saw unruly kids...

As a matter of fact, on our Bermuda cruise, we had a young man of 12 & a young lady of 18, whose Parents were right next door to us..We got to know them quite well, as they also were CC members..We were so impressed with both of the kids, that we made it a point to tell their parents how lovely & polite they were...I was especially impressed when the young man waved hello to me from an elevator one day..You don't find many 12 year olds, who are outgoing enough to wave to an adult they hardly knew..;)

 

Cheers....Betty