20 children on my upcoming cruise...

[Laurin612]

I recently found out that there will only be 20 children (and zero infants) on my upcoming 4/9 cruise on the Dawn Princess. :eek:

 

While the folks travelling without children will doubtlessly be thrilled that there are only 20 children on the ship, I'm a little worried that my 3 and 7 year olds won't have anyone to play with.

 

Has anyone been onboard a ship with their children where there were that few children aboard? Did they like being one of the few, or would they rather have been one of 500?

 

Any advice or comments would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

Laurin

[AnotherVirginCruiser]

There's a thread somewhere about this...maybe do a search?

 

I think it said that the age groups in the play area were combined, but the children got a ton of 1:1 time with the counselors so it was great. Also, with less children the staff were more appreciative of those that were there and doted on them! So, I wouldn't be worried, it might be better!:)

 

I was going to choose Princess to for our Alaska cruise in June and was told that they limit the number of infants/children for their cruises! I called and was told the the particular cruise I wanted was full and that my child could be waitlisted if I wanted to book the cruise. Waitlist my child and my DH and I still go??What? :eek: So I went further to ask my TA to inquire why that particular cruise was already full and they said that there wouldn't be a peditrician onboard- so the regular doctor couldn't exceed the specific amount- they never told me how many...

 

But, I do know that Princess limits the infants/children - so not sure if that's why there is only 20 or maybe there isn't many families able to go?

 

Your cruise will be a great time...enjoy!:)

[boatbunny]

Hi Laurin612

 

On our last cruise 2 years ago (AOS) there was only a handful of kids as well. Our children were 3 and 6 at the time and it was their first experience attending a children's program. They only went 2 nights during the trip, but they had a blast each time. They had tons of attention from the staff, but they were able to make friends as well. For the most part, younger kids don't pay attention to whether someone is a year younger or older than they are. They were in different age groups, but both made friends in their appropriate groups.

 

We are cruising again at the end of April, we live in NH and we tend to have the latest spring vacation of most of the country. This year will be a little different because we have heard that quite a few MA towns also have the same week, so we may have a cruise with more kids on it this time. Either way, I am sure they will have a great time!

[serene56]

Laurin: how did you find out there is only 20 kids on your sailing?

 

If you called the cruise lines...call again and I will be that you will be given a different answer.

 

Even though there may not be a lot of kids onboard--the play areas will make sure your kids have a great time with or without kids. (I would think the less kids onboard the betteer attention the kids can get fromt he counselors.

[familycruzer]

On our last cruise to Bermuda there were only 30 kids on board the ship. Celebrity grouped my 9 year old son with 5 year olds and were doing activities way below what he would have liked. My 12 year old got put with 17 year olds and doing activities that were above her age.

 

They still had a good time hanging out with mom and dad, but not much in the line of activities and other kids to play with.

 

Our next cruise is over Thanksgiving, enough said.

[Laurin612]

Laurin: how did you find out there is only 20 kids on your sailing?

 

If you called the cruise lines...call again and I will be that you will be given a different answer.

 

Even though there may not be a lot of kids onboard--the play areas will make sure your kids have a great time with or without kids. (I would think the less kids onboard the betteer attention the kids can get fromt he counselors.

 

Ha! You're right. I called again and this time was told "about 25." :rolleyes:

[serene56]

Im sorry- those people that man the phones for any cruiselines really dont know what they are talking about. For one-- how do they know how many kids.... some cabins that are booked with 4 people could be 4 adults. Or the couple who booked a set cabin that holds 4 people but there is only two of them.

[VikkiGarcia]

We did a 14 day Panama Canal Oct. 2004 with 22 kids on board. Adventure Ocean staff did a great job keeping the kids entertained.

[Laurin612]

Im sorry- those people that man the phones for any cruiselines really dont know what they are talking about. For one-- how do they know how many kids.... some cabins that are booked with 4 people could be 4 adults. Or the couple who booked a set cabin that holds 4 people but there is only two of them.

 

I dunno! But they didn't have a problem putting me on hold and "looking it up" both times I called. I would think if they didn't have access to that kind of information they would have said they couldn't do it. :confused:

 

Besides, if I recall correctly, Princess has a limit on the number of children per sailing, so they would have to keep track of it somehow, right? ;)

[familycruzer]

The cruise lines would keep track of it, but I doubt they would actually be allowed tell you. That would break a confidentiallity law of some kind. At least that is what RCL told me when I called about the same question.

[cacruiserjen]

Our kids have cruised 4 times. Last August we did Alaska and ds was almost 10 and dd was 8.5. They were thrilled to have less kids! Then nearly 2 years earlier we did the Panama Canal. Again - less kids. They LOVED it! Lots of times they combine the age groups, kids get more attention, and can actually enjoy the activities without the large crowd of rowdy kids. I have noticed that our kids spend more time in the kid programs when there are less kids overall. It will be fine. Your kids will have a blast no matter how many kids are there! ;)

[smrtypnts]

familycruzer, what ship are you sailing for thanksgiving? we'll be sailing thanksgiving also. rccl, legend of the seas. we have a 15yo girl and an 11yo boy.:)

[familycruzer]

We are on the Voyager of the Seas. What a shame, our kids are about the same age.