Let's Give Credit to the Good Kids

[Margy23]

There may already be a thread about kids' behavior, but I didn't find one, and I want to post our experience after just reading an Oasis review that stated the following:

 

"Guest Code of Conduct is not monitored.. We encountered an unusually large number of rude guests on this sailing. Kids everywhere, running in the halls, constantly slamming doors, playing in the dining rooms, playing in the elevators (pushing the "close" button before guests could enter.) I know they are on vacation but PARENTS PLEASE teach your children how to behave in public."

 

My husband and I were waiting for an elevator on Oasis last week, traveling for the first time with two mobility scooters and not too sure of our skill level. Three boys in the 10-12 year old range were already on the elevator when it stopped. They immediately each took on a job: one stood in front of us to guide us in, the second held the door open, and the third made sure people didn't cut in and make it difficult for us to maneuver. They were also very polite when we thanked them for their assistance.

 

We read so much like the review I quoted above, I think it's important to send a shout out to the kids who go out of their way to help.

 

I know we're more likely to remember and post about bad experiences, but I think it would be refreshing if we made an effort to post about our positive encounters with kids.

Margy

[WisconsinFan]

Thank you Margy for reminding people to look for the good. It is easy to fall into the Negative Nelly frame, especially when we have had a long day or things haven't been going well. I hope that I did a good job with my two now grown sons.

[cruiser123!]

thank you for this post! It's good to see people can still see and acknowledge the good ones.

[hlinsemeyer]

So nice of you to comment. Their parents should be proud. My son is 12 and we are sailing together next month. I will show him this as a reminder that kindness doesn’t go unnoticed.

 

 

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[Husky1987]

Thank you for posting.

 

Maybe I'm lucky, but I've never come across kids on a cruise who can hold a candle to the rudeness/obnoxious behavior of some of the adults I've encountered.

[molsonschooner]

So nice to read this. Of course, there are lots of excellent, well mannered young people, just as there are too many very rude people of adult age. Thanks for sharing this and thanks for letting the kids know that you appreciate their actions.

[cruzeluver]

Thank you for sharing. And its a great reminder.

 

We have had very few bad experiences with kids on board. Most just want to enjoy their vacation like everyone else. The majority of bad behavior we have seen did not come from children.

[Sky616]

Great post Margy. My wife and I sail in 6 weeks with our 2 boys. I would hope they would do the same in this situation as these young men.

[Jaco5NC]

Very nice comment recognizing the well mannered boys, so refreshing! Thank you!

 

 

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[Annabanana1234]

I have to say sailing with kids I get my fair share of rude adults toward me cruising with my kids. I’ve heard from a man on the elevator as he looked at my family and said to me you know a good vacation for kids is Disney World! I politely replied that we’ve done Disney World several times and we enjoy cruising as a family! I wanted to say something else but I bite my tongue! The audacity of some people! I have to say also if you want to cruise without kids then don’t go on a ship that is geared for kids. Take a river cruise or maybe holland american. If you go on a ship with three water slide and a dream works parade then I’m sorry but there will be kids on your cruise! I love seeing posts where people get that not all kids are evil minions out to ruin their vacation. I watch my kids and they don’t roam the ship. Thank you! Rant over. 🤭

[cindivan]

Thanks for posting. I read so much negative about kids on board. I know some kids are out of control, but in our experience more are well behaved than not. Thanks for a needed reminder that most parents and kids are doing a good job!!

 

The last cruise we were on I was on an elevator with several teen boys that asked if they could practice their talent show act for me. It was hip-hop and a bit of rap, and having 3 teen/20 something boys it was so much fun to see talent and fun and manners!

 

Yes there are some kids who maybe don’t know better or perhaps are too excited and temporarily forget. But there are a TON of kids who are awesome. And to quote a 5yo son of one of my best friends “it’s hard to be good ALL the time.”

 

 

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[NotTheBatesMotel]

I love the tone of this post, very refreshing! I’d also like to point out that even when it looks like a “bad kid”/bad parent things aren’t as always straightforward as they seem. Not all disabilities are visible.

[Icantgolf]

For the most part there are more well behaved kids then bad. Its always the small minority that give any group a bad name.

 

 

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[Sky616]

I have to say sailing with kids I get my fair share of rude adults toward me cruising with my kids. I’ve heard from a man on the elevator as he looked at my family and said to me you know a good vacation for kids is Disney World! I politely replied that we’ve done Disney World several times and we enjoy cruising as a family! I wanted to say something else but I bite my tongue! The audacity of some people! I have to say also if you want to cruise without kids then don’t go on a ship that is geared for kids. Take a river cruise or maybe holland american. If you go on a ship with three water slide and a dream works parade then I’m sorry but there will be kids on your cruise! I love seeing posts where people get that not all kids are evil minions out to ruin their vacation. I watch my kids and they don’t roam the ship. Thank you! Rant over. 🤭

NIcely said. I think you are on our cruise on 4/8 out of Galveston on Liberty. Hope to see you on the cruise.

[kingandqueenofcruising8083]

I have took my son on cruises since he was 7 and the reason I did is because he is well behaved and deserves a vacation. He does well in school, he is well mannered. Now if it was the other way around he would not go and I would have to consider what me and his dad was doing wrong for him to act up. But thankfully we don't have any problems. Thanks for the positive message.

 

 

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[PTAngel]

We have encountered kids playing with the elevators & running out the doors onto the deck. They weren't really bad just being kids. My concern is that we use canes &/or a scooter & are not as steady as we could be. We did tell them to stop running & they listened & stopped. One time in the buffet I had a toddler almost run into me. I had to do a quick side step & I was lucky I didn't fall. I know he was young & his dad was following behind. I didn't say anything.

 

I have also encountered some rude adults when trying to get on an elevator with a scooter. I tried to give DH room to get on & these adults just hurried past me to get on first. I did say something like "Excuse me!" but it didn't seem to faze them. They wanted on regardless of the fact we were first. That was very frustrating to me.

 

There are good & bad for all ages. It just depends on how you handle it. I can wait for the next elevator but I do worry about being knocked down.

[Jasukkie]

My recent review did include some negatives about kids. My only real issue is in the dining room and late at night. I realize cruising is a great family vacation. I hope to be a grandmother some day and would love to join the ranks of multi-generational cruising families.

 

Absolutely, the vast majority are fine. But if one table in the dining room is throwing food and standing on chairs, it's hard not to notice or comment. Security seemed completely overwhelmed and ineffectual regarding the late night problems. Most kids were in bed, but the ones waking me up at 3am, hard not to notice. It's really a parent problem, not a kid problem.

 

Some great parent moments to add to the good stories...overheard in the Windjammer, a child asking his mother, "mom, would you mind if...?" Polite, not whining, not demanding. Also a man we saw repeatedly on our cruise, known to us as "the dad". He didn't engage in a fight at Spectra's Caberet when the man in front of him turned around to shush his kids in what seemed to me to be a threatening manner. His kids were little, I didn't even notice them making noise so it wasn't bad, maybe some oohing and ahhing. After that we seemed to see "the dad" everywhere, very attentive to his kids, and having a great cruise. And taking one or two out of the MDR when they acted up. Thanks Dad, you are doing a great job!

[rdsxgrl28]

I have to say sailing with kids I get my fair share of rude adults toward me cruising with my kids. I’ve heard from a man on the elevator as he looked at my family and said to me you know a good vacation for kids is Disney World! I politely replied that we’ve done Disney World several times and we enjoy cruising as a family! I wanted to say something else but I bite my tongue! The audacity of some people! I have to say also if you want to cruise without kids then don’t go on a ship that is geared for kids. Take a river cruise or maybe holland american. If you go on a ship with three water slide and a dream works parade then I’m sorry but there will be kids on your cruise! I love seeing posts where people get that not all kids are evil minions out to ruin their vacation. I watch my kids and they don’t roam the ship. Thank you! Rant over. 🤭

 

I can't even imagine anyone making such a rude comment! Having raised 3 boys it was my worst nightmare they would be little jerks on vacation. Thankfully never happened. Now having 3 granddaughters looking forward to taking them cruising next year. Go ahead make a comment to Mema like that - when you regain consciousness we'll talk.

 

Good kid moment involving mine. When we were in Disney riding a bus, boys were teens. All 3 got up and gave their seats to women & older folks, no prompting. Proud parent moment.

[griffy116]

We cruise as a family (3 generations) and started when my now 23 year old Grandson was four. Before we went on our first cruise with him, we were worried and told him he had to practice his best manners. He loved the cruise experience. He got so many compliments on his behavior, from guests and the crew, including them mentioning him saying, "yes, please," "no thank you, but thank you for asking" to watching us allow older guests and guests in scooters and wheelchairs on the elevators ahead of us. It stuck with us that the compliments he got encouraged him to continue using his best manners not only on the cruise but anywhere we took him and it just became a part of who is is now. When we are on a cruise now, we no longer have any little ones and we always make a point of complimenting the kids and their parents when we see them being kind to others or having such good manners. It's wonderful to see the parents smile and the children smile when they get these compliments. They always thank us for noticing. Doesn't mean we haven't seen and experienced the kids who are running down the hall and beating on people's cabin doors late at night or punching all the button on the elevator, but for every child we've seen doing this, we've seen many more that are respectful and helpful. I'm so glad to see someone post positive experiences with the children on cruise ships. I love it.

[Sky616]

On our last cruise we took with our 2 boys a few years ago on Oasis we had maybe a total of a dozen people come over to us on the two formal nights and say how well behaved and handsome our boys were all dressed up in suits and ties. It made us feel good as parents as maybe we're doing something right.

[KamiKake]

Thank you for your touching story. As a mother of 5 boys, I truly hope that my boys always behave in that manner. Unfortunately we didn't have such good luck on this past Christmas Grandeur cruise. There were several large groups of 11-15 year olds constantly causing issues, running in and out of shows, being loud and obnoxious, trying to take beer off beverage carts, then playing it off when they got caught, etc.. Three families were thrown off the ship, but somehow the worst offenders managed to remain on board. One of the most frustrating experiences as they were everywhere (even in the solarium). With kids all grown now, we make a point to thank young people that are acting appropriately and compliment parents that are obviously doing a good job.

[cello56]

We just did Oasis with our son/daughter-in-law and our two granddaughters ages 1.5 and 3.5. A cranky old guy told me on the first day that kids should not be on cruises until they were at least seven or eight. Then he said, you know, they won't remember any of this, right? I looked at him and said that I would remember every moment. Two weeks later and the 3.5 year old still talks non stop about her cruise! :hearteyes:

[Margy23]

My recent review did include some negatives about kids. My only real issue is in the dining room and late at night. I realize cruising is a great family vacation. I hope to be a grandmother some day and would love to join the ranks of multi-generational cruising families.

 

Absolutely, the vast majority are fine. But if one table in the dining room is throwing food and standing on chairs, it's hard not to notice or comment. Security seemed completely overwhelmed and ineffectual regarding the late night problems. Most kids were in bed, but the ones waking me up at 3am, hard not to notice. It's really a parent problem, not a kid problem.

 

Some great parent moments to add to the good stories...overheard in the Windjammer, a child asking his mother, "mom, would you mind if...?" Polite, not whining, not demanding. Also a man we saw repeatedly on our cruise, known to us as "the dad". He didn't engage in a fight at Spectra's Caberet when the man in front of him turned around to shush his kids in what seemed to me to be a threatening manner. His kids were little, I didn't even notice them making noise so it wasn't bad, maybe some oohing and ahhing. After that we seemed to see "the dad" everywhere, very attentive to his kids, and having a great cruise. And taking one or two out of the MDR when they acted up. Thanks Dad, you are doing a great job!

 

Jasukkie, it wasn't your review I quoted, but we've all run into children who resemble "evil minions" and have merited negative comment in reviews.

 

My faith in human kindness has been bolstered by the positive comments in this thread and the strategies people use to encourage children to live up to our good opinions of them. As others have said, we always compliment children and their parents for good conduct, if possible pointing out a specific positive behavior.

 

Here's to positive posts on CC whenever appropriate!

 

Margy

[GalFitness19]

IMHO we need to remember that children are not vile beings living in OUR world. They are people. Some behave like a horse’s behind and others are an absolute delight - just like adults. I have found that most kiddies on my cruises are the latter.

 

Thanks for the positive post! I personally love being around children having fun. It reminds me of my own childhood. Of course, in the 70s most people (myself included) only dreamed of cruising by watching “Love Boat” on tv!

 

 

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[taglovestocruise]

Kids are like apples, one bad one taints the whole group. If memory serves me right I remember myself being a absolute angle, my parents have different memories.