Children on Board - Marina and Riviera

[dlouise]

We are onboard the Riviera right now and the 20+ children that are onboard are very well behaved and no problem at all.

 

All of these young families plus one or two honeymooners have changed the demographics of this cruise. We feel it's wonderful to have so many younger adults onboard in their 30s and 40s.

Remember they are the future cruisers that every cruise line needs.

[tvmovielover]

A couple of years ago when we took the Baltic cruise on Marina in July, we met a couple of nice teenagers who played trivia with us. I was really surprised when we disembarked to find that there had been at least 15 or so younger children on board who were not seen or heard. It really must depend on the kids, their parents, and the itinerary (I would not have thought the Baltic was as good a choice as Alaska or some island cruises for a family cruise). I am like some other posters, however, always glad to see a range of ages rather than just we old people as long as all behave well whatever the age.

[Tatka]

I am not surprised at all. When I was growing up parents took us to explore different cities. We couldn't travel abroad, but we spent about a month in St Petersburg (Leningrad) visiting all historical sites, palaces, Hermitage. Other cities as well. To go on North European cruise or Mediterranean cruise was my dream, I was so envious of my grandparents trips there. My addiction to cruising was born from watching photos, videos and souvenirs from their cruises.

[CorgiNole]

We will have our 16 year old son with us on our cruise in July. He begged to go as he is fascinated by the Iceland/Greenland itinerary. I agree with the poster that this is about spending quality time with family. We did a Princess cruise when he was 9 (Norway) and I think there were about 15 children in his age group. They traveled in a pack and had fun - AND were respectful of other passengers. More than half did not speak English - and there were very few communication problems among the kids as they figured out how to make it work. I have warned him that Oceania does not do the 'kid thing' the way that Princess and other lines do, so he won't be disappointed by that.

[RJB]

We will have our 16 year old son with us on our cruise in July. He begged to go as he is fascinated by the Iceland/Greenland itinerary. I agree with the poster that this is about spending quality time with family. We did a Princess cruise when he was 9 (Norway) and I think there were about 15 children in his age group. They traveled in a pack and had fun - AND were respectful of other passengers. More than half did not speak English - and there were very few communication problems among the kids as they figured out how to make it work. I have warned him that Oceania does not do the 'kid thing' the way that Princess and other lines do, so he won't be disappointed by that.

Hope he has a good time and hope there are no other kids on this cruise. One or two are OK i guess, but then you get a lot and the trouble starts since there is nothing else for them to do. When that happens I think that Oceania will loose most of the rest of us. :(:(

[LHT28]

Hope he has a good time and hope there are no other kids on this cruise. One or two are OK i guess, but then you get a lot and the trouble starts since there is nothing else for them to do. When that happens I think that Oceania will loose most of the rest of us. :(:(

I think you should speak for yourself & not others

 

 

JMO

[RJB]

[/b]

I think you should speak for yourself & not others

 

 

JMO

If you spent any time reading these boards I think you will find that I speak for the vast majority of Oceania cruisers. The same every time this subject comes up. NO KIDS !!!

[potterhill]

I think you may find that most of us don't care one way or the other as long as they are well behaved. We have had a few children on our cruises, from infants to teens, all very well behaved. We are the silent majority, I suspect. And I am the only person I know who doesn't really care if I have grandchildren or not. [emoji106]

 

Mo

 

 

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[Floridiana]

I think you may find that most of us don't care one way or the other as long as they are well behaved. We have had a few children on our cruises, from infants to teens, all very well behaved. We are the silent majority, I suspect.

 

 

Same here.

[LHT28]

i think you may find that most of us don't care one way or the other as long as they are well behaved. We have had a few children on our cruises, from infants to teens, all very well behaved. We are the silent majority, i suspect. And i am the only person i know who doesn't really care if i have grandchildren or not. [emoji106]

 

mo

 

 

 

+ 2

[Fam_Cruise]

I think you may find that most of us don't care one way or the other as long as they are well behaved. We have had a few children on our cruises, from infants to teens, all very well behaved. We are the silent majority, I suspect.

(y) Me three.

[NanciEA]

I just want to assure CorgiNole that you are doing the right thing taking your 16 year old son. Eleven years ago my then 18 year old son selected an Oceania Mediterranean cruise as his high school graduation trip. Our family of four (My other son was 20 at the time.) had the trip of a lifetime. We had adjoining balcony cabins and the crew took down the panel so we could have one large balcony to share with our sons. I booked private excursions in all the ports and we ate every evening as a family. They were never bored, but they had books, the TV and each other so that helped. Also, this was a port intensive itinerary so we were off the ship all day most days. We still talk about all of our adventures on that trip - from the jeep we rented on Santorini to the wonderful ex-military guide we had in Istanbul. As a poster has already mentioned, our sons are now long off on their own with wives and starting families. Yes, we could have had that experience on a "family friendly" cruise ship, but we all loved the atmosphere on Oceania. Don't let the naysayers bother you. It will be wonderful because your son is with you. My husband and I have done cruises since then and I always enjoy seeing older children and young adults on cruises with their families.

[Caroldoll]

I agree. Go for it. I believe you that he is well behaved.

[parallax]

If we can only get some adults to behave. The worst behavior I ever saw was on the Nautica a few years back. A group of people were treating the staff like complete garbage.

 

I would only take my daughter on Oceania if it was port intensive. On cruises of those nature, one does not have as much leisure and the focus is what is on shore and not what is going on the ship.

 

While I understand the desire to have an adults vacation, there may be children on board. Hopefully, all parties can peacefully co-exist. Your interest does not trump another party's interest who happens to be travelling with their kids. Unfortunately, some people have that attitude that they are more important than other passengers.

 

Last year we were on a sailing with another family on the MSC Divina. We were staying in the Yacht Club. After spending the day in Cozumel, we went to dinner in the YC restaurant. We ended up having two tables; one for the kids and one for the adults. After order the maitre d come over and said there had been complaints about our group, in particular our kids we misbehaving. Outside of ordering, they hadn't said a word. They were tired and reading on their kindles. The maitre d then whispered that he had to come over even though the children had been perfectly fine. The couple had made numerous complaints the whole cruise and did not believe children should be in the YC. He had to engage in a charade to placate the couple. Fortunately, the couple left and the maitre then came over and made pasta table side for the kids.

[wripro]

Sixteen years old is not a kid, it's a young adult and certainly, as long as he's aware of how little the ship offers in the way of amusement for him, can enjoy the cruise without disturbing others. It's three, four, five, six and up to ten that becomes a problem as they have very little attention span and often, parents who ignore their needs in favor of their own. That's when they act up and become an issue.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

Sixteen years old is not a kid, it's a young adult and certainly, as long as he's aware of how little the ship offers in the way of amusement for him, can enjoy the cruise without disturbing others. It's three, four, five, six and up to ten that becomes a problem as they have very little attention span and often, parents who ignore their needs in favor of their own. That's when they act up and become an issue.

Oh, so up to 10 is a problem but once the tenth birthday is reached everything changes.

So you are fine with a large group of 10-year olds on board?

[wripro]

Oh, so up to 10 is a problem but once the tenth birthday is reached everything changes.

So you are fine with a large group of 10-year olds on board?

I stand corrected. I am not fine with that, But you get my point. There is a difference between a child and a sixteen year old.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

I stand corrected. I am not fine with that, But you get my point. There is a difference between a child and a sixteen year old.

Honestly I don't get your point. Your definition of a child doesn't necessarily match that of others.

A 16-year-old is still considered a "child" from the perspective of many employers, government agencies, the military, etc.

So are you saying that if 12 families boarded your next cruise, each with 2-3 members age 16 and 17, that you would be fine?

If so, great.

Many would perhaps think that adolescent children going through puberty are potentially more annoying than 8-year-olds.

Others who don't approve of children on Oceania might have a different cutoff.

Edited June 10, 2017 by MarkieMarkNYC

[RJB]

Honestly I don't get your point. Your definition of a child doesn't necessarily match that of others.

A 16-year-old is still considered a "child" from the perspective of many employers, government agencies, the military, etc.

So are you saying that if 12 families boarded your next cruise, each with 2-3 members age 16 and 17, that you would be fine?

If so, great.

Many would perhaps think that adolescent children going through puberty are potentially more annoying than 8-year-olds.

Others who don't approve of children on Oceania might have a different cutoff.

I don't approve of any children on Oceania if they are 8 or 16. Nothing for them to do and the potential for them to get into trouble.

[Tatka]

Some 16, even 8 years old enjoy reading for example, solving crosswords and some other sane activities when they are not in port where obviously there are tons interesting things to do... and they don't need clubs, rock climbing etc. What's wrong with it? How will they make other people uncomfortable or why would they get into trouble?

 

 

My parents just returned from Costa Rica tour with my 9 years old niece. They said that people who traveled in their group (mostly in their 40-60ies) commented on how wonderful she was. Even on her 4 cruises she never attended kids clubs unless they had some crafting and such activities. Different families, different kids.

 

My first cruise was in 1986 when I was 14... Back then ships in my country simply didn't have clubs or various modern innovations, but I don't remember me or my friends causing any troubles. We read, suntanned, swam in small pools etc.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Tatka

[RJB]

Some 16, even 8 years old enjoy reading for example, solving crosswords and some other sane activities when they are not in port where obviously there are tons interesting things to do... and they don't need clubs, rock climbing etc. What's wrong with it? How will they make other people uncomfortable or why would they get into trouble?

Different families, different kids.

 

My parents just returned from Costa Rica tour with my 9 years old niece. They said that people who traveled in their group (mostly in their 40-60ies) commented on how wonderful she was.

I have seen it on occasion. I only said potential for. One or two mostly no problem, but when there 20 or 30 with nothing to do things change.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

I have seen it on occasion. I only said potential for. One or two mostly no problem, but when there 20 or 30 with nothing to do things change.

At what age does the "potential for" trouble disappear?

[gbits]

I don't approve of any children on Oceania if they are 8 or 16. Nothing for them to do and the potential for them to get into trouble.

 

 

 

Quite honestly it has nothing to do with age - you can have an incredibly mature 8 year old, or an incredibly immature 18 year old. I have no issue with any age child being on board so long as they are polite, considerate & well supervised. And when they are not, it's the parents who are to blame & not the child - A) for not supervising and B) for not knowing enough about their child (or caring) to not bring them along on a cruise line that clearly does not cater to young passengers!!!

 

 

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[sandbag7]

For those people who migrated to Oceania as the next best thing to dear departed Renaissance (as we did to some extent) an all adult experience has some appeal, though for us the complete absence of smoking (wish it were so) and interesting itineraries were more important. As to children on Holiday Cruises I have experienced no bad behavior and only one issue of note: families (with teenagers) tend to block out prime spaces by the pool for the whole day (starting at 8:30 am) on sea days leaving everyone else searching. Ultimately they probably saved me a bad sunburn.

[mariners]

We will be sailing on Oceania Riviera in July with our granddaughters as well as with friends and their granddaughter. Our granddaughters had their first cruise on Regent eleven years ago and it was a perfect fit for the four generation family members on the cruise. We then chose to take our two granddaughters on land vacations, Princess and Celebrity as they were a better fit for the four of us.

 

We booked the Riviera knowing that there would be passengers who would not be happy to have a younger generation onboard. We believe that the ship, the restaurants, the itinerary, and the cabins will be perfect for all of us. This was not a "selfish" choice on our part.

 

We are very thankful that we have had the opportunity to share so many trips, as well as cultures and countries, with our family. We are thrilled that we will have the opportunity to sail on the itinerary and the Riviera!