Rhapsody Gone Wild

[medolee]

My wife and I specifically avoid cruising during spring break to avoid being overrun by so many younger folks. While the overwhelming majority of kids that we've seen on cruises are terrific, and they really seem to enjoy the experience, it's a shame that there are a smaller handful that create issues...I support the Captains decision to take the action that (s)he did. I blame the parents for not doing their jobs as parents, and I blame the kids for acting like hooligans

 

That being said, I hope that cruiselines in general, and RCL, are even handed...I'd love to see the small group of drunk, out of control, obnoxious arrogant adults that are also on the ship dealt with in the same way, either thrown in the brig or thrown off at the next port.

 

Michael

 

And I agree---that is basically why I have not chosen to cruise via Carnival---as I see that cruiseline a spring break 12 months long. I could be wrong--but that is sure the impression that I get from them. I prefer not to spend thousands of dollars and my entire week around obnoxious drunks. Looks like RCCL is heading that way--huh. I hope not.

[stretch]

Just a suggestion for those that cruise around spring break time.

The last two years (2003 & 2004) we began our cruises the second week of April and March respectively. We had very few with us that were under 21. The clue is to do long cruises, both of these were 11 day cruises. Not too many spring breakers on the ones 10 days or longer.

Stretch

**** Welcome back Folgy ****

[over the edge]

In the Atlantic provinces, most universities have their "spring" break, know as "study" break (ya, right) in February and most of our schools have their "March Break" in March. I was thinking that most kids would be heading back to school by the end of March. Guess not!!! ;)

[Cindyrella]

Just got off the Rhapsody yesterday. Never, never again! It was our teens spring break and they didn't have a good time because most of the other underage teens were drinking constantly. No one showed up for the scheduled teen activities. My husband and I were in the schooner bar this same group of teens were in there being rude and loud. My daughter had met them early in the week and chose not to hang with them. There was one boy who was very loud and irritating getting a girl very drunk and making out. My daughter told me later in the cruise he was just 17. I have no idea where any of the parents were.

 

I had to call the Pursers desk the first night because the kids in the room next to us were screaming and laughing until 1:30. One of the pictures on our wall almost fell down they were so rowdy.

 

We were only able to use the solarium twice because it was overrun with kids--and NOT the over 16 ones. The first night the hot tubs in the solarium were full of kids. The solarium was one reason I chose the Rhapsody, I thought it would be a nice quiet spot. Why can't RCI enforce the 16 and over rule?

 

Peter the cruise director said our cruise had the most well behaved kids of the previous three cruises. Am I glad I wasn't on any of those:eek:

[over the edge]

Cindyrella, you have really scared me. I wonder if I should change my month?? Was this a 7 night sailing?

[epdion]

I was on the March 20 Rhapsody cruise that the OP described. I did not personally witness any extreme behavior, although like the OP I heard the announcements of what had happened. There were a lot of children running around the ship. Sometimes they made noise (gasp!). Ocassionally, they pushed a lot of buttons on the elevator (oh, my!). More disruptive than the children was a table of eight parents seated near us in the dining room who were extremely loud during dinner.

 

We did not let these minor annoyances ruin our vacation.

[Cindyrella]

Over the edge-- If I were you I would definitely change my sail date. There were 2,400 people on board 800 of which were under 18.

 

Yes, it was a 7-day, we sailed on 3/27 - 4/03. Teens were only part of the problem. The sheer number of people on board made everything extremely crowded. We were able to find lounge chairs twice--never by the pool. The first sea day we got up at 8:30 and found loungers in a little area above the church(?). That was nice, one of the few relaxing times on the ship. The next sea day hubby went out at 7:30 and every single chair was taken or "saved". Not only by the pool--literally EVERY chair on board, everywhere available. People would put their towels on the chairs and then disappear for hours. There were signs saying that after 30 minutes your things would be removed but I never saw that happen. Our teens sleep late like most teens do so they never got to sit by the pool the entire cruise. One man complained to the deck patrol and they brought over a uniformed gentleman to speak with him, then the man that complained left so I don't know what if anything RCI to did to please him.

 

Also the ports were VERY crowded. Grand Cayman had 8 ships in port and Cozumel had 5. Being a first time cruiser I don't know if this is common or not. We booked a stingray city snorkle trip through a private operator but our cabin neighbors took the RCI trip and it was cut short due to the crowds-not enough buses I think. They said they waited 45 minutes in a bus then visited the stingrays with 7 other boats there and were supposed to go another snorkle spot but had to come back without stopping.

[Catnip]

epdion,

Not to be argumentative, but I don't think anyone tries to let "minor annoyances" ruin their vacations. It sounds like (some of) the kids on board did more than "make noise". Some people think it's "cute" for "kids to be kids" ie: running and shouting down passenger hallways banging on cabin doors and pushing all the elevator buttons. I don't think it's cute--I think it's children being unsupervised and bratty. I cannot imagine any parent thinking it is cute for an underage teen to be drunk off his a** staggering down hallways and being belligerant to the crew and other passengers.

I guess some people have a higher tolerance for unruly and bad behavior from kids........

just my $.02 worth :rolleyes:

[epdion]

Catnip,

 

I basically agree with you. I do not condone "bratty" behavior. I think that the parents should be responsible for controlling their kids.

 

However, this was our fifth cruise on RCCL and our second on board the Rhapsody out of Galveston. From what I personally saw, the kids were no better or worse than on previous cruises. I did not witness obvious underage drinking. There was a higher concentration of kids than we have experienced before, but behaving as usual. The incident that got the families removed from the ship is deplorable and I have not heard of that before.

 

My bottom line is that I would not hesitate to book this cruise again for the same week. Yes, I would rather go when the ship is less crowded, but our schedule does not permit.

[Firefighterhoop]

I was on my 3rd spring break cruise in March, all three have been pretty calm and quiet compared to what the OP stated!

[OPSoccermom]

Over the edge...

 

The problem we experienced was with junior and senior high kids so you need to look at high school spring break, which starts in March and will go through Easter week, whenever that is.

 

We did not see issues with college age spring breakers. There were some on the Mariner this past week, but they actually seemed well behaved, unlike they 14 to 17 year old kids. These kids are too young to go away on spring break by themselves (many did not even appear old enough to drive), so it was a little different than what you would expect at somplace like Cancun or South Padre.

 

I agree that even adults can be obnoxious, but we were not talking about a small group here.

[zachnlucy]

Since we have only cruised with RCCL we can't compare to others, but we are now planning to sail on the HAL Zuiderdam this summer and see how it compares to RCCL.

I've read that HAL ships have the largest cold storage lockers for deceased persons, I'm thinking primarily due to the average age of their cruisers. Just something to think about.;)

[medolee]

Just a suggestion for those that cruise around spring break time.

The last two years (2003 & 2004) we began our cruises the second week of April and March respectively. We had very few with us that were under 21. The clue is to do long cruises, both of these were 11 day cruises. Not too many spring breakers on the ones 10 days or longer.

Stretch

 

**** Welcome back Folgy ****

 

 

Hmmmm---a good selling point to DH--longer cruises-no spring breaks!!! LOL

[PhoenixCruiser]

I've read that HAL ships have the largest cold storage lockers for deceased persons, I'm thinking primarily due to the average age of their cruisers. Just something to think about.;)

 

LOL, all ships have a small morgue :eek:

 

###

[Firefighterhoop]

I would assume your hypothesis is correct, i mean spring break only lasts 7 days, with the second weekend 9 days.

 

Remember also that the problems on these ships aren't from the breakers traveling by them selves because they have to be 21 to cruise alone OR with someone over 25 if ANYONE in the group is under 21, so there should be parents somewhere with ill disregard for their children.

 

Scott

[Schplinky]

They're likely travelling with the sorts of parents on this board who will get early/mid-teen agers their own rooms or will let them drink with the folks because then they're "watching" them. Yeah right. Parent of the Year material.

[1corona4u]

Dr. Spock!!! Is he the one who says don't spank your kids--talk to them--reason with them? Yeah OK.

 

This is why I never had kids, because I'd be beating the crap out of them.........parents today are so afraid their kids will hate them I think. Sure, I hated my parents when I got the belt, but it made me walk a straight line...for a while anyway...:)

 

If you listen to all of these "experts", and the ways in which children would be harmed by physical discipline, and everything else they encounter, those of us over 35 should all be dead now. LOL. Here is something funny someone sent me a while back...

 

 

People over 35 should be dead.

 

Here's why .

 

According to today's regulators

and bureaucrats, those of us

who were kids in the 40's,

50's, 60's, or even maybe

the early 70's probably

shouldn't have survived.

 

Our baby cribs were covered

with bright colored lead-based

paint.

 

We had no childproof lids

on medicine bottles, doors

or cabinets, ... and when we

rode our bikes, we had no

helmets.

(Not to mention the risks

we took hitchhiking.)

 

As children, we would ride

in cars with no seatbelts

or air bags.

 

Riding in the back of a pickup

truck on a warm day was

always a special treat.

 

We drank water from the

garden hose and not from

a bottle.

 

Horrors!

 

We ate cupcakes, bread and

butter, and drank soda pop

with sugar in it, but we were

never overweight because

we were always outside

playing.

 

We shared one soft drink

with four friends, from one

bottle, and no one actually

died from this.

 

We would spend hours building

our go-carts out of scraps

and then rode down the hill,

only to find out we forgot

the brakes.

 

After running into the bushes

a few times, we learned to

solve the problem.

 

We would leave home in the

morning and play all day,

as long as we were back

when the street lights

came on.

 

No one was able to

reach us all day.

 

NO CELL PHONES!!!!!

 

U n t h i n k a b l e !

 

We did not have Playstations,

Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no

video games at all, no 99

channels on cable, video

tape movies, surround

sound, personal cell phones,

personal computers, or Internet

chat rooms.

 

We had friends!

 

We went outside and found

them.

 

We played dodge ball, and

sometimes, the ball would

really hurt.

 

We fell out of trees, got

cut and broke bones and

teeth, and there were no

lawsuits from these accidents.

 

They were accidents.

 

No one was to blame but us.

 

Remember accidents?

 

We had fights and punched

each other and got black

and blue and learned to get

over it.

 

We made up games with

sticks and tennis balls and

ate worms, and although we

were told it would happen,

we did not put out very many

eyes, nor did the worms

live inside us forever.

 

We rode bikes or walked to

a friend's home and knocked

on the door, or rang the

bell or just walked in and

talked to them.

 

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the

team.

 

Those who didn't had to

learn to deal with disappointment.

 

Some students weren't as

smart as others, so they

failed a grade and were

held back to repeat the

same grade.

 

Horrors!

 

Tests were not adjusted

for any reason.

 

Our actions were our own.

 

Consequences were expected.

 

The idea of a parent bailing

us out if we broke a law

was unheard of.

 

They actually sided

with the law.

 

Imagine that!

 

This generation has produced

some of the best risk-takers

and problem solvers and

inventors, ever.

 

The past 50 years have

been an explosion of

innovation and new

ideas.

 

We had freedom, failure,

success and responsibility,

and we learned how to deal

with it all.

 

And you're one of them!

 

Congratulations!

 

Please pass this on to others

who have had the luck to grow

up as kids, before lawyers

and government regulated our

lives, for our own good !!!!!

 

 

People under 30 are WIMPS !

[Schplinky]

I'm not ready to argue the virtues of "the belt" but i will say that a lot of the folks who post about drinking with their kids or having really lax rules seem generally to be the ones who want to be a "pal" to their kid rather than a parent.

[Kissara22]

HEY now, ..I'm only 28 and I believe in strict discipline and everything you pasted :) ....Not all of us Gen X'ers are complete "touchy feely" morons :)

[1corona4u]

HEY now, ..I'm only 28 and I believe in strict discipline and everything you pasted :) ....Not all of us Gen X'ers are complete "touchy feely" morons :)

 

LOL....good! I'm proud of you...I think they now call it "old fashioned values".....LOL:D

 

"Touchy feely" morons, LOL...

[Kissara22]

LOL I'm here to amuse, .....Old fashioned values, ..I love it! :D

[tprime76]

If you are 28, you are the END of GenX. Those that I know that are a couple of years younger, or GenY, do have a MUCH different culture.

[Kissara22]

I'm not for certain but I think Gen X is anyone who was born between '65 and '80, ..myself ...I was born in '77 ......a fantastic year mind you! :D So I'm practically on the cusp ;) ...and yes I know my reply has nothing to do with the topic at hand..... :D

[nrdsb4]

I wonder what the deal is with kids and elevators. We did a ski vacation this year at spring break. One day we took the elevator from the condo garage up to our floor. In the elevator were about 4 or 5 kids sitting on the floor playing cards. They weren't being unruly, rude, or otherwise causing problems, but I wondered why in the world they had chosen that particular place to hang out. For my kids, an elevator is simply a way of getting from point a to point b and holds absolutely zero allure for them.

[dc-snoopy]

I'm not for certain but I think Gen X is anyone who was born between '65 and '80, ..myself ...I was born in '77 ......a fantastic year mind you! :D So I'm practically on the cusp ;) ...and yes I know my reply has nothing to do with the topic at hand..... :D

 

Originally the generation was termed the "Baby Busters" for the period of high decline in birth rates between 1965-1975. This was noteworthy after the "Baby Boomer" era of 1946-1964. Later, the term Generation X was coined (there are several potential sources for the first use of this term) to cover the term, but due to other generational characteristics, it was widened and there are many ranges in the 1961-1982 frame that are used ('65-'75, '64-'82, '66-'77, to name a few).

 

The problem is that those of us from the original 'Busters' are closer in demographic type than those in the '76-'82 range. There are many in the latter group that are closer to us, but demographically, the '65-'75 range have more in common than the younger X'ers. Many call the latter half of '76-'82 Generation Y. This gives them the link to the Generation X'ers but still maintains that they have many demographic differences.

 

There are several good web-sites with info about this very amorphous generation including this one