Haven and kids.....pro? con??

[LrgPizza]

There are not enough Vibe passes available for all the adults in the Haven. That would not be a viable solution.

[david_sobe]

Kids are kids. They are not bad or bad parents.

They run, scream, and splash in a pool.

While the Haven area is not usually the best place for this, they are allowed to be there. I call the Haven pool "The rich kid pool" because its always a kiddie pool with inflatable toys, with kids learning to swim. Very cute. But its not the tranquil place some hope it should be. How can you blame kids for being kids. The answer is simple. Create an adult area in the Haven with its own hot tub or dipping pool. Problem solved!

[conandrob240]

Too many people think that kids playing, having fun, and naturally making some noise while doing it equates to being disrespectful and poorly behaved. It does not.

 

Very true. There is a huge difference between playing, a little yelling in fun vs knocking people over, jumping all over the chairs, etc. I am not a huge fan of being around kids on a couples vacation which is why we go to an AI like a sandals. A cruise is not a couples or even adults-only environment.

[edawn]

I would certainly be disappointed and irritated if I experienced what the OP did. I'm also irritated when I go out to a nice dinner and there's a crying baby in the restaurant or children running around when they should be seated having dinner. But that's life. Sometimes things don't go the way you want or expect. You either decide if it's worth it to you to pay the prices for the Haven and possibly be disappointed because of loud children or choose a less expensive cabin and go to the main pool where you know there will loud children :) It's not that I don't like kids, I just don't find them as cute as their parents do.

[funat55]

And, my brothers dollar is just as green as yours. You will know who he is. On the next cruise, he will be the guy sitting next to you at dinner talking in a voice that can be heard across the room. His language will be colorful (no cursing, just colorfull). His muscle shirt will say " I am with stupid". Next to him is his wife that will be just as loud and will be asking you to take pictures for her. And she will want to show you all the funny pictures they took yesterday. They will be harrassing the waiter asking for a 3rd plate of food.

 

When you go to the jacuzzi, he will be the one singing with a beer bottle as a microphone. His 325 pound wife will be showing off her new bikini.

 

The kids will be dive bombing into the pool. And running from one end of the pool deck to the other getting points for each plate of food they knock over.

 

You will see him again riding up and down the elevator playing keep away from his kids who are running on the stairs.

 

No worry though, they have green money.

 

Christmas must be fun at your house with that brother of yours.

[Casino Comp Chick]

And, my brothers dollar is just as green as yours. You will know who he is. On the next cruise, he will be the guy sitting next to you at dinner talking in a voice that can be heard across the room. His language will be colorful (no cursing, just colorfull). His muscle shirt will say " I am with stupid". Next to him is his wife that will be just as loud and will be asking you to take pictures for her. And she will want to show you all the funny pictures they took yesterday. They will be harrassing the waiter asking for a 3rd plate of food.

 

When you go to the jacuzzi, he will be the one singing with a beer bottle as a microphone. His 325 pound wife will be showing off her new bikini.

 

The kids will be dive bombing into the pool. And running from one end of the pool deck to the other getting points for each plate of food they knock over.

 

You will see him again riding up and down the elevator playing keep away from his kids who are running on the stairs.

 

No worry though, they have green money.

 

Honey Boo-Boo and crew are booked? When??????? I HAVE to book that cruise, maybe I can get a picture with the kid

:D

[jkallet]

I'm the mom of 2 sometimes-can-be-obnoxious kids aged 11 and 14. I'm also a Virtuoso travel advisor, and booked to sail in the Haven with my kids and my DH this coming April.

 

I think everybody here has raised good points...

 

My kids travel everywhere - yes, I'm fortunate. They've flown in business class on Cathay (seamless and easy, invoking smiles from the business people around us). I also had the kid who, when I fell asleep next to him, snuck into my carryon bag and ate a full 2lbs of licorice6 hours into the 11 hour flight to Honolulu - in first class- and proceeded to - you guessed it.

 

I am absolutely certain that my kids are NOT perfect. But you better believe that they understand that the butler is not their personal servant; they cannot play tag in a small pool or scream when others are reading or resting.

 

Because I agree with the "older" members here who say "it is the responsibility of the parents".

 

My kids, while they can whine and fight like all kids, have learned that it's everyone's vacation.

 

And if I were in the haven and my kids were misbehaving, I would be MORTIFIED if someone came up to me and asked my kids to calm down. They would immediately or they would lose their haven privileged.

 

And for the record,there are families I do NOT recommend the haven to...I know exactly about whom you are referring to, and I tell the parents that the kids won't be happy there...

 

That simple.

[jkallet]

We "bought" everyone in that cabin on the way to Hawaii a drink and apologizes! And yes, we still got dirty looks for 5 hours

[johnsak123]

You never know the mix in the haven

You would think young children would be the issue

How about a family of 5 with children in late teens who all jumped in the hot tub with sneakers and clothing

Classless!!!!!!

[jackson bernard]

If you are near a pool where kids are, you should expect to get wet, listen to kids screaming, playing tag and just being kids. What do you expect them to do sit around reading and sleeping? Maybe they don't like the sight of us old folks sitting in the sun tanning our wrinkled leather like skin. Ever think of that? Too bad for those who don't like other peoples parenting skills. You know nothing about the families.

 

Kids are allowed in the haven, not just us old folks. Kids, have at it....

[KarenR122]

We have sailed the Haven numerous times with our 8 year old. Yes there were kids in the Haven and some were out of control but a quick call to the concierge should take care of that. While sometimes the kids may be misbehaved it only lasts for a short while and they are off to something else. Our biggest problem was the group of adults insisting on playing drinking games around the pool in crazy hats and yelling for hours at a time. Regardless of children being there or just adults there are always going to be people that are annoying. I will also say that what I find even more infuriating is the adults who give my daughter the stink eye when we walk in and refuse to say hello to her when she greets them.

[funat55]

I'm the mom of 2 sometimes-can-be-obnoxious kids aged 11 and 14. I'm also a Virtuoso travel advisor, and booked to sail in the Haven with my kids and my DH this coming April.

 

I think everybody here has raised good points...

 

My kids travel everywhere - yes, I'm fortunate. They've flown in business class on Cathay (seamless and easy, invoking smiles from the business people around us). I also had the kid who, when I fell asleep next to him, snuck into my carryon bag and ate a full 2lbs of licorice6 hours into the 11 hour flight to Honolulu - in first class- and proceeded to - you guessed it.

 

I am absolutely certain that my kids are NOT perfect. But you better believe that they understand that the butler is not their personal servant; they cannot play tag in a small pool or scream when others are reading or resting.

 

Because I agree with the "older" members here who say "it is the responsibility of the parents".

 

My kids, while they can whine and fight like all kids, have learned that it's everyone's vacation.

 

And if I were in the haven and my kids were misbehaving, I would be MORTIFIED if someone came up to me and asked my kids to calm down. They would immediately or they would lose their haven privileged.

 

And for the record,there are families I do NOT recommend the haven to...I know exactly about whom you are referring to, and I tell the parents that the kids won't be happy there...

 

That simple.

 

Your comments are right on the money. You sound quite reasonable, lol.

To the original poster who started this, now that you have read all of the comments, I will just add that I did understand what you were trying to say.

If, I had gone on the cruise with your expectations I would have been disappointed but I would have gone to the adults only area or Vibe.

[abe3]

We have sailed the Haven numerous times with our 8 year old. Yes there were kids in the Haven and some were out of control but a quick call to the concierge should take care of that. While sometimes the kids may be misbehaved it only lasts for a short while and they are off to something else. Our biggest problem was the group of adults insisting on playing drinking games around the pool in crazy hats and yelling for hours at a time. Regardless of children being there or just adults there are always going to be people that are annoying. I will also say that what I find even more infuriating is the adults who give my daughter the stink eye when we walk in and refuse to say hello to her when she greets them.

 

I agree. There are just as many annoying adults as kids in the haven area. I have cruised in the haven a few times and see adults hog the hot tubs just like kids do. I have seen loud adults just like loud kids. We take our five year old and most of the time he behaves better than the drunk annoying people.

 

I don't let it bother me, because I am on vacation and even though I paid good money to be in the haven every other guest has their right too. If you don't like something that is going on just speak up to whoever is in charge of the courtyard .

[L-in-CLT]

I'm not a huge fan of poorly behaved kids whether they are 2 or 70 :) But then, everyone's standard for what "good behavior" is these days seems to be different. I'm married without kids in my early 40s and enjoy serenity and quiet when I vacation. I am sailing NCL and staying in The Haven for the first time in January. My tolerance level for what I believe to be bad behavior is, admittedly, fairly low. That being said, I don't have any expectations about kids (or adults) acting a certain way. I do suspect that I'll grit my teeth every now and again on this cruise and get up and move (and maybe not just in The Haven!). I am sure there will be people who annoy me. I'm quite sure that I might annoy someone too. We are sailing with several thousand people in fairly close quarters - its amazing fights don't break out more frequently :) I do wish NCL had an adults only section of The Haven. I also wish some restaurants had adult only times or dedicated rooms. But, adults-only does not equal serene; some adults can be more obnoxious than the worst behaved kids...in my opinion :-)

[AlphaGeek]

Having read a number of contributions on this subject, I agree that effective parenting should very much be an assumption by everyone in the Haven, whether they are also parents or not. It should be assumed that children need to be guided by their parents to behave properly in an environment where relaxation for all is the objective. There is a time and a place for everything, and most parts of the Haven are not a place for energetic behaviour by children. People go there to relax!

 

Having said that, NCL should also recognize that unruly children will result in a decrease in services revenue. On several occasions where we, and others, needed to leave a restaurant or other area where children were misbehaving, the result was a loss of revenue and tips from drinks. I hope that reality serves to motivate NCL to take this concern seriously.

Edited October 28, 2014 by AlphaGeek

[funat55]

Having read a number of contributions on this subject, I agree that effective parenting should very much be an assumption by everyone in the Haven, whether they are also parents or not. It should be assumed that children need to be guided by their parents to behave properly in an environment where relaxation for all is the objective. There is a time and a place for everything, and most parts of the Haven are not a place for energetic behaviour by children. People go there to relax!

 

Having said that, NCL should also recognize that unruly children will result in a decrease in services revenue. On several occasions where we, and others, needed to leave a restaurant or other area where children were misbehaving, the result was a loss of revenue and tips from drinks. I hope that reality serves to motivate NCL to take this concern seriously.

 

You make a very valid point. To be honest, my grandkids would be bored in the Haven pool area. They would enjoy themselves more in the regular pool area where they could socialize. I do have one grandson who loves to dress up and he enjoys fine dining. I'm looking forward to taking him someday to the Haven Restaurant. Cruising is a wonderful opportunity to teach your children table manners and social graces.

[havenfan]

To those of you who argue for restrictions on children's behavior and/or an adults-only area:

 

Are you really sure that children in the Haven are disproportionately badly behaved? Or is it just easier to pick on someone who's not your own size? To put it in a less confrontational manner, are you complaining about poor behavior in kids because you have no good remedies for poor behavior in adults?

 

Some of the behavior that's been cited here by both children and adults is, at the very least, annoying for the other guests. But, again, is it really about the kids or the fact that you have no effective means to enforce your desired levels of decorum?

 

Personally, one of the things I have found most annoying have been the people, mostly adults, who sit several chairs apart, or on opposite sides of the pool, yet insist on continuing their conversations over everybody else's heads. Of course, I also find the opposite annoying, when someone, invariably an adult, demands, either explicitly or through dirty looks, that other people be absolutely silent so they can have a nap on their deck chair.

[AlphaGeek]

To those of you who argue for restrictions on children's behavior and/or an adults-only area:

 

Ironically, in all cases, it does come down to adult behaviour. As you correctly describe in some scenarios, behaviour among adults, and ALSO as others have noted, behaviour of adult parents. Adult parents are accountable for the conduct of their children, and as others have already observed, some don't seem willing to get involved. The situations you've described as adults being accountable for their own behaviour. The key words in both cases seem to be adult, behaviour and accountable.

[Fishbait17]

To those of you who argue for restrictions on children's behavior and/or an adults-only area:

 

Are you really sure that children in the Haven are disproportionately badly behaved? Or is it just easier to pick on someone who's not your own size? To put it in a less confrontational manner, are you complaining about poor behavior in kids because you have no good remedies for poor behavior in adults?

 

Some of the behavior that's been cited here by both children and adults is, at the very least, annoying for the other guests. But, again, is it really about the kids or the fact that you have no effective means to enforce your desired levels of decorum?

 

Personally, one of the things I have found most annoying have been the people, mostly adults, who sit several chairs apart, or on opposite sides of the pool, yet insist on continuing their conversations over everybody else's heads. Of course, I also find the opposite annoying, when someone, invariably an adult, demands, either explicitly or through dirty looks, that other people be absolutely silent so they can have a nap on their deck chair.

 

I don't think anyone is disproportionately badly behaved in the Haven, but in such a small space, any bad (or even slightly "not good") behavior is amplified many times. This is especially true in the very small Jewel and Gem class Havens. Even one or two boisterous children or loud speaking adults can fill the Haven with loud, echoing cacophony. Any few adults or kids can monopolize the hot tub or small pool or the Haven in general. All Haven guests simply need to treat the small space as a public area, not their private lounge, and behave appropriately. I've been on many sailings where I have never been able to use the hot tub because there were kids splashing, jumping in and out, and yelling in it every time I attempted (I cannot be splashed in the face). I've been on a few sailings where the Haven is underutilized (though that was a while ago). It's usually one or maybe two families or groups of adults that "take over" the space and seem to always be there.

 

The reason that children seem to get blamed more often is that some families never seem to leave the Haven, while adults tend to spend time elsewhere on the ship as well as the Haven space. On a Jewel sailing, it was two sisters, always unsupervised, playing with dozens of toys in the hot tub, whether they were actually in it or fully dressed sitting on the edge, day and night. On my last Gem sailing, it was two families, with three children playing Marco Polo, screaming at the top of their lungs, in and out of the pool and tub, shoving wet hands in the bowls of candy, and throwing up poolside (Mom called the butler to clean it up) - again, this went on all day long, every day, and often after dinner as well. On the Breakaway, it was large groups of unsupervised kids, whose parents used the Haven as a designated "play space" while they (the parents) were elsewhere - we overheard several conversations where the kids wanted to do something else, but their parents had told them not to leave the Haven. That leaves most other suites, with adults or families, who might have, like us, been unable to comfotably enjoy the space at all during the cruise. Sure, we could simply enter and attempt to share the space, but it usually very uncomfortable to do so (we have tried). Late night soaks are usually impossible because they close the hit tub for maintenance after a certain hour.

 

My ongoing solution is to never plan on using the Haven space at all, and it's a bonus if I do get one soak in the hot tub. While I'm okay with that, it's kind of sad. Yes, they have every right to use the space, they paid for it too, and I get it, it's an easy way to spend family time together. But not everyone enjoys the space the same way. Perhaps they could take notice that they are monopolizing the area for their own use, and take some breaks so that others might enjoy a quieter space?

 

Robin

Edited October 28, 2014 by Fishbait17

[MSH from Norway]

....... and the easiest solution is to build two Haven on next mega-ships.

 

A Haven deck with family-friendly suites for kids, and a Haven deck with spacious suites for adults.

 

Two deck, first deck with (almost-spa-)pool for adults only, and an open deck pool for families, and on rop a sundeck for adult only in front, and for families behind.

 

Problem solved.....

 

NCL; ARE YOU LISTENING?????????

[ClarkBHM]

All Haven guests simply need to treat the small space as a public area, not their private lounge, and behave appropriately.

 

I think that is the ultimate solution. I think by blaming kids, we see a lot of people on the defensive. However, if you describe it with the broader brush of everyone who misbehaves, the defensive nature should subside.

 

Perhaps a solution is to have the haven be "adults only" at certain times of the day, and "families welcome" at other times of the day. And it can change on a daily basis. So sometimes, its families in the morning, adults in the afternoon, and families after dinner. Sometimes it's the reverse.

[Shawnino]

...and one can place the blame in many places, but I start with NCL for marketing "The Haven" as a place of tranquility and serenity without ensuring that it's so.

 

If they called it "Small Area Where Uncouth-but-Moneyed Parents Can Take Their Snot-Nosed Brats" they might not rent as many suites, but it would be a victory for truth in advertising.

 

In the meantime, I just book a balcony and a spa pass. Somebody else can book the so-called "Haven".

[havenfan]

Perhaps a solution is to have the haven be "adults only" at certain times of the day, and "families welcome" at other times of the day. And it can change on a daily basis. So sometimes, its families in the morning, adults in the afternoon, and families after dinner. Sometimes it's the reverse.

 

Would adults without children be banned from the Haven during family hours? The way many playgrounds operate? If so, I could buy into this solution.

[khaide612]

Last time I was in the Haven we had wonderfully behaved children. They were just talking or reading or playing cards - completely respectful, nothing crazy or obnoxious. Anytime they made a sound, their mother would yell at them to be quiet. The mother was WAY more annoying than the kids.

[ClarkBHM]

Would adults without children be banned from the Haven during family hours? The way many playgrounds operate? If so, I could buy into this solution.

Perhaps, but I'm thinking more of the adults can be there, but realize that it's during the family friendly hours so they'll have to just live with it. I'm thinking of it more of an "adult swim" time at the local pool, where, for certain times, the kids are booted out.