Anyone back from a Holiday Sailing Comment re Kids/Crowds

[Want2Cruise 701]

We booked a Celebrity for Xmas. There was a thread about unruly kids which is making me second guess my decision. There were only 700 which is nothing but I'm wondering if Carnival or RC (which we're thinking too) might do a better job keeping kids occupied. We have only one 10yr old who is quiet and shy so I'm more concerned with other kids.

 

We are thinking the Breeze Southern over Xmas.

 

Oasis, Allure or Adventure with RC. Experiencing sticker shock with Oasis/Allure though.

 

Would love to hear your feedback. Thanks.

[mum2bradley]

We did the Breeze for Christmas this year. I think there were 1500 kids on board and the odd time you would see a bad one but considering there were that many on the ship I didn't think it was that bad. Even the lines were not bad. You just have to pick your time.

 

We are going to do a NY's cruise this year.

 

As for the sticker shock, that is the reason we wouldn't sail RCI as it is more than double. And for that price I might as well go to Hawaii!

Edited January 5, 2014 by mum2bradley

[Want2Cruise 701]

We did the Breeze for Christmas this year. I think there were 1500 kids on board and the odd time you would see a bad one but considering there were that many on the ship I didn't think it was that bad. Even the lines were not bad. You just have to pick your time.

 

We are going to do a NY's cruise this year.

 

As for the sticker shock, that is the reason we wouldn't sail RCI as it is more than double. And for that price I might as well go to Hawaii!

 

Thank you. I was afraid there were going to be kids running everywhere and disregarding rules making our vacation unbearable and our hard earned money wasted. How was the aft pool area? Was it hard to get chairs? How were the crowds back there? That aft was our favorite spot on the Dream (same ship almost) and so relaxing. We actually liked it better than the Serenity. We did sail late September so their weren't many kids onboard.

 

What itinerary did the Breeze do this year for Christmas?

[susieon]

We just returned from the Christmas Cruise on the Dream. There were 1600 kids under age 18 on board and you never would have known it.

 

We had two 15 year old girls with us and they made friends with others their age in Club O2. Deck chairs were available all over the ship. If anything I think having that many kids on board made the adult areas less crowded than usual.

 

The aft pool and hot tubs as well as the hot tubs on the Lanai were never over crowded. We loved this cruise and did not find the number of kids on board to be an issue at all.

[torybruno]

We just did the Breeze Christmas sailing. I found the main pool too loud. We spent two sea days at Serenity. Nice, but you could still hear the loud music from the main pool, and I missed no pool.

 

The last day we spent at the aft pool. If you didn't have a chair by 8:00 am, you were probably out of luck. Lots of kids in this pool, and in the two hot tubs. My older sons came down around noon, and were able to find vacated chairs.

[lovelearnteach]

We booked a Celebrity for Xmas. There was a thread about unruly kids which is making me second guess my decision. There were only 700 which is nothing but I'm wondering if Carnival or RC (which we're thinking too) might do a better job keeping kids occupied. We have only one 10yr old who is quiet and shy so I'm more concerned with other kids.

 

We are thinking the Breeze Southern over Xmas.

 

Oasis, Allure or Adventure with RC. Experiencing sticker shock with Oasis/Allure though.

 

Would love to hear your feedback. Thanks.

Well I don't have children, but I was just on the Carnival Splendor Christmas sailing. It was my first holiday sailing, but I felt CCL staff and/or parents did a fine job of keeping the many children on board occupied and out of mischeif for the most part.

[Want2Cruise 701]

Thanks for all the responses. Based on everyone's feedback, DH and I think it's probably best to stick with Carnival or RC since there will be more things to keep the kids occupied with.

[sissyfromcab]

We were on the Conquest over Christmas and didn't notice too many kids around. It seemed like they were well occupied by the kids programs, because there weren't even crowds at the pools (though that may be more because the pool was a giant wave pool for about two days!). I was worried, but it actually seemed less crowded than our spring break cruise a few years ago.