Never again!!

[Arzeena]

We have been on 6 Spring break cruises in a row.

Because we have school age kids, it is one of the only times for us to go.

The ship is usually full, but that is ok, it is never a problem.

A lot less crabby people older people....

 

Hitting the like button.:D

[BGCruiser85]

100% agree. Went on a spring break cruise a few years back and the unattended kids roaming the decks were unreal. My wife and I both agreed never again. We place the brunt of the blame on the parents that want to "enjoy" their vacation in peace. If letting the kids roam free is what it takes to enjoy the vacation then leave them at home.

 

 

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[fendbass]

My wife and I got married the day before Easter some years ago, and booked a cruise on the old Carnival Jubilee, leaving the day after Easter. It was my first cruise

The combination of Spring Break and Carnival nearly caused me not to cruise again, but, fortunately, for the most part, I was drunk with love

 

We try to avoid kids' school breaks and hurricane season when it comes to cruising. Heck, we even took her grandson on a Disney Cruise once

 

And, yes, we are Cranky older people

[WetToes]

We prefer to cruise at times other than spring break not because the kids bother us, but because there are a lot less snarky younger people on board.:rolleyes:

 

He's not so young.

Just one of those trying to retain youth by being "snarky". :rolleyes:

FYI - It's not working. ;)

[debbs0723]

We are currently stuck doing only school holidays as well. Last year I was really worried about our Spring break trip. Of course Texas spring break is nowhere near Easter but it was still spring break. It was definitely a different vibe. The college kids were super tame as well. I didn't even get to see any embarrassingly drunk people. ;)

 

We noticed a few things on the last few nights with loud kids in groups but it was short lived. We don't let our kids really roam the ship much without us. It is usually controlled, like going to get an ice cream or pizza and be back in 30 minutes or so.

 

Now I'm worried about our Thanksgiving Cruise on the Allure :confused:

My oldest ail be 13 and she is probably going to want to "run" around with some kids her age. I lie to my kids though on a regular basis and tell them things like I have security cameras on the entire perimeter of my house when they have sleepovers so I can make sure nobody sneaks out. :D I'll have to find some good ones for the cruise but I hope its not too horrible.

 

 

Debbie

[debbs0723]

Yikes!! 10 year olds unsupervised at midnight? On a ship of 6,000 passengers, it would be no different than a parent allowing their 8 or 10 year old to roam around a small town on their own at midnight!! Those parents must not read or watch the news (or ID Discovery :eek:) and are unaware some of the harm that can come to children, from other people or just careless injuries....even in a town with only 6,000 residents.

 

 

Sometimes, as a parent, I wish I could enjoy the false sense of security of cruise ships with kids. Unfortunately my mind doesn't work that way. I'm extremely nervous about my kids having more freedom this time. I would love to be able to relax on the deck all day without a care in the world because my kids are in the kids club but those days ended a few years ago. Now we still get to hang out and relax but one of us is always running a kid here or there. With my oldest turning 13 this year I've been told that I need to give her more freedom. I'm going to tell my kids that they kick you off the ship if you act like heathens though. I'm concerned that my 13 year old has so many late activities with the teen group. 11 p.m. activities. Jeez. HOwever, my 10 year old will not be running around unsupervised at 10 p.m. That is why we are lucky to bring grandparents and other family. There is always one adult who is super tired and has no desire for late activities so they fall asleep with the kids.

 

Running in restaurants is just completely rude. I agree that kids will be kids and they do get loud and excited, especially around water so I expect a higher noise level. Kids don't notice the difference between nice restaurants and buffet type places because they don't care. They need to act the same in all of them, regardless. It is really annoying to see kids run around and act like wholes (pardon the shortened french). I blame the parents also.

[Justmekaren918]

I try to avoid, and I am a little scared, because I may hit the kid overload. I have to agree with a lot of people that there is such a lack of parenting, and they feel it is some on else's job/staff. I see it all the time with my eldest brother's family. Why they can't come to my house cause they don't parent there kids and the kids have no dog skills to be around my 2.

[tserface]

LOL!!!

 

Tom

 

We have been on 6 Spring break cruises in a row.

Because we have school age kids, it is one of the only times for us to go.

The ship is usually full, but that is ok, it is never a problem.

A lot less crabby people older people....

[RCI Cruisers 004]

So glad we don't have to sail around kids school breaks ! We usually go right after everyone's spring breaks when the prices drop a little !

[Harooni]

give me a grumpy old couple next door to me over a bunch of kids.

 

 

one thing that was uncormfortable a little was i was in the hottub and a little 5 year old girl jumped in with me, i said where are you parents she just shrugged. smh at some parents. how can they trust strangers on a cruise like this???

[Susie51]

Disney is the only cruise line I have sailed with that has a high percentage of children. I don't remember any problems with any of the children. Parents seemed to be very attentive even on Castaway Cay.

 

Is there a way to contact Princess to see how many children are sailing on a particular cruise?

 

The adult pool on Diamond is a great place to get away from all the hub bub of the other pools. Parents didn't bring their children to that pool. I can't remember if Grand Princess has a forward adult pool. On that cruise we spent most of our time at the covered pool.

[goldgirl2]

Wait, I really don't mean to be rude, but you were upset that there were children jumping into the pool? OH, THE HUMANITY! What did you expect kids to do at the pool? I am a parent of four kids ranging in age from 1-10. I have never cruised with them, but I certainly wouldn't get after them or stop them if they were jumping into the pool. That is just what kids do. Why can't they enjoy their vacation too? If people jumping into the pool bothers you, perhaps you should find a spot farther away from the water.

 

 

Reread my post where I said they were jumping on top of people. There were too many people in the pool to have kids jumping in. I was not surprised to see kids in fresh casts. I don't think I would want someone landing on my kids head in a pool. Or my head!.

 

 

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[goodycruising]

I have seen the advertisements. They (Royal Caribbean) say in their adverts that you can come on a cruise, the kids will be entertained by us, and you can relax. That is what they are offering. Then you blame the parents when they take RC up on their advertised offer.

 

We have done a January summer holidays cruise out of Australia, and we were told there was 770 under 18s on Radiance, so about 1/3 of the passengers. It was messy and grubby.

 

NEVER AGAIN for us too. Give me an older crabby demographic any time. They don't clog up the whirpools for hours with twice the capacity, they don't sit in the elevators for hours....We enjoyed our cruise, but, no, never again.

Edited May 23, 2014 by goodycruising

[goldgirl2]

I think all the parents are in the adults only pool while the kids fend for themselves.

 

I was very disappointed in RCI for not enforcing rules on this cruise. My two 17 year olds had no idea that the white party was adult only and they got in. They did not order anything to drink. They danced a little and met a very large nice man that was wearing a super bowl ring. They got a little lecture that night when they came to our room to check in.

 

 

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[DaKa2002]

We found a similar situation during a Celebrity Caribbean "holiday" cruise (Christmas time). Kids ran wild and unsupervised in dining rooms and hallways all over the ship. Parents and ship security were nowhere to be seen. Never Again.

As an additional note - we have sailed Disney Cruise Line all times of the year and have never encountered such undesirable behavior.

[Funbobby68]

Try disneyland at christmas time , good god I've never seen more people in one place before , would way feather be on a crowed cruise ship

 

 

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[MandyMooToo]

I have seen the advertisements. They (Royal Caribbean) say in their adverts that you can come on a cruise, the kids will be entertained by us, and you can relax. That is what they are offering. Then you blame the parents when they take RC up on their advertised offer.

 

 

 

We have done a January summer holidays cruise out of Australia, and we were told there was 770 under 18s on Radiance, so about 1/3 of the passengers. It was messy and grubby.

 

 

 

NEVER AGAIN for us too. Give me an older crabby demographic any time. They don't clog up the whirpools for hours with twice the capacity, they don't sit in the elevators for hours....We enjoyed our cruise, but, no, never again.

 

 

I think, in regard to the ads, that RC is referring to their kids' programs. Many parents bring their children on the ship and let them run loose instead of having them attend the organized activities or keeping them nearby under their supervision. I don't think RC meant "bring your kids, they can run wild and you can hang by the pool hogging chairs for the whole family all day." I know I'm being somewhat facetious but.....

 

 

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[Blue Darter]

I will never again go on a cruise near Easter aka spring break. We went the week before Easter. I have never seen a ship so crowded! On our first day by 10:00am every single lounge chair was taken on every deck all the way around. The pool was filled with 6-10 year olds jumping in on top of each other, no parent in sight. I did notice 4 different kids with a fresh cast on their arm by day three. I don't mind kids. I knew there would be kids. I just expected the kids to bring their parents. I had two teens with me. There was a small percentage of teens on this sailing. No trouble with the teens. One evening around midnight there was a gathering of @ dozen kids sitting on the stairway that looked to be 8-10 years old. No parents! I guess mom and dad are at the club. After all..... it is their vacation.

 

 

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Wow...a pack of 10 year olds hanging out on the stairwell. Must've been truly frightening.

 

Just curious...were they wearing red or blue bandanas? ;)

[Harooni]

As you are no doubt fully Ware kids aren't allowed to jump in the pools, they are neither deep nor big enough. I'm really not against kids but they do need to follow the rules.

 

agreed, he doesnt say to his kids do not jump in pools? this is the issue i see all the time, i tell my kid constantly , do not run jump scream and annoy others and i get very upset when i catch him doing something like that from time to time., you have to teach your children manners , i do not understand the attitude today of " how can you stop them they are kids".

[PLEIKU68]

A lot less crabby people older people....

 

 

You will be old one day...:mad: you whippersnapper

[goldgirl2]

Wow...a pack of 10 year olds hanging out on the stairwell. Must've been truly frightening.

 

 

 

Just curious...were they wearing red or blue bandanas? ;)

 

 

I never said they were frightening. I just would never allow a ten year old to be unsupervised anywhere at midnight. Or any other time for that matter!

 

 

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[notsomadhatter]

Last March we sailed on MSC Poesia. Caribbean Princess that was docked next to us had 700(!!!) children, which is way too many for Princess, other ships too. We had... I think under 200 as half of MSC crowd was from Europe, and flying big families is expensive. :)

 

The most u18s I've ever encountered on a cruise was a Disney offseason sailing (January) and there were 1100. With a total passenger capacity of 2400 it was a bit chaotic but not awful.

 

We sailed March 15 on the Fantasy (4000 passenger capacity) during our first peak time cruise and I wouldn't ever do it again. Felt like more adults taking "time off" and kids being unsupervised. I'm experienced with the line and how large of a percentage are children but that time it was truly choking.

 

My X cruise over Easter on the other hand was totally pleasant with about 400 on Constellation. Not one meltdown witnessed in 5 nights.

[cruisebabe50]

We have always avoided Spring Break months but have gone in the Summer because it was the only time we could . As soon as the kids grew up we have been avoiding it like the plague . Last couple of years have been October and January. This year we are going week after labor day. ;)

[dorisis]

Same here!

 

Only cruised once during Spring Break. We are NOT SLOW LEARNERS!!!

[TIMNANNA]

The more of you that don't book when kids are on board, the better for me and my family.