New Year's Cruises - Kids and Large Groups

[palmer10]

I am considering booking the New Year's cruise on SD 2 next December. If you are sailing on SD this New Year's Eve, would you enlighten us after the trip as to the number and ages of any children and the number of large family groups? Also please let us know how this influenced your impression of the cruise.

 

I have been on almost 30 cruises and have never had that problem on Windstar, Seabourn, or Radisson. One time on Windstar there was a family group of about 15 people. The grandparents were celebrating a significant wedding anniversary so they had children and grandchildren with them. Everyone was very well behaved and they all seemed to have a great time. I would hope that the New Year's cruises, however, would be a couple's experience.

 

Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

Next cruise for us: Radisson 14 day cruise in April through Tahiti and the Marquesa Islands.

[Zimmy]

I share your concerns, Palmer. We will be aboard Seadream I next week, the cruise right after the New Year's cruise. But we are considering booking next year's Seadream II South America New Year's cruise while on board. That just works out to be the perfect time for us to go. Yet there is a little voice in the back of my head saying maybe we will be sorry because of kids on board. If I just consider the area in which we live, this cruise would be too late for kids - they would be back in school right after New Year's. But I don't know about other areas of the country, or other countries. Is there anyone on this board who has taken a New Year's cruise in the past, and would care to share experiences?

[tbeth]

I just returned from the December 11th Sea Dream II. St. Thomas to St. Thomas. No chlidren were on board. We did have two groups of 10-12 people. But they didnt seem to make a difference. Hopefully when people book their cruise they will read in the literature that their really is nothing for kids to do on the ship. One of the reasons that I picked this line was for the lack of children. I have three of my own at home, and was not looking for someone elses on a romantic getaway with my husband.;)

Have a great trip, we really enjoyed our cruise, and would deffenitly do it again.

[Jim Avery]

Hi Palmer10:

I would definately check out the kid load with SeaDream if it was me. Bob Lepisto at SD has told us he would provide the number of kiddies on a given cruise if we asked after our Kid Cruise on SD I last March. The change in the makeup is well documented in my review of that cruise on page 2 of these posts. Also, large groups were on board and groups tend to want to take the tender together, swim together, get a drink together and can therefore clog up some of the usually perfect service. The review I posted had 57 replies so it covered this topic very well. After reading, compare with my review of SDII in December 2004, Mayan Riviera Cruise, as perfect as a cruise gets. Compare the two and then decide if kids/groups on board would affect your enjoyment. Hope it works for you.

All the best.

Jim.

[carlylecat]

New Years cruise included the following

 

Captains 12 year old son

 

Owner's 2 teen boys, girlfriends and young daughter

 

3 big family groups (one 9 people one 10 and one 17 people with children), plus one family of 5 with an 8 year old, 10 year old and twelve year old

 

6 other teens

 

5 to 7 under other ten year olds with 2 twin 4 year olds

 

about half the boat families half couples with about 20 total under 18 and 25 college age or less

 

it did not seem to impact the cruise the way the much posted about easter cruise did, all the kids hung by themseles occupying the water platform and pool, owners family occupied the deck 4 aft shaded area each day, bali beds and top of boat for couples

 

owners family and party of 9 ate on deck 4 every night relieving the dining room of large tables so some of the couples that struck up relationships were able to use to eat together

 

afternoon movie was childrens fare each day and attracted a good group of the younger ones freeing up deck space

 

Pre dinner cocktail party had lively couple bar area that spilled out to the windowed area, when the families showed up (rare maybe 2 of the 6 nights) they occupied tables

 

This helped a ton as couples were able to mingle and swap "stories of the day", best part of sd as far as I am concerned

 

While there was not as much of an impact on personal space for the couple cruisers as reported from the "crusie from hell", it was definetly a family cruise and not 55 couples sailing together, it was more like 25 couples traveling together in seperate areas from big groups of family that stayed in the same spots each day

 

 

I think the timing of the 06 cruises will help a lot, having the ship sail well past new year into school start will help lessen children but I bet you will expect about the same experience I am describing above...I think the sd 1 cruises to sa will be different as it will be hard for families to commit to the 9 days as well as travel time to south america

 

The owners children getting another year older will help, they had their girlfriends with them and acted more adult than what I have seen from posts from previous years

[DisneyJen]

Thanks for the stats and mini-review Carlylecat.

[palmer10]

Carlylecat, this is exactly the information that I was looking for! I'm assuming that the under '13' age children probably stayed in the same cabin as their parents, so if the yacht sailed full there might have been 120 to 125 people on board. Therefore 25 passengers (children and college age) would be about 20% for this cruise.

 

I think you are correct about next year. Most of the school aged children will be back in class in early January unless they are home-schooled. That might help.

 

Thank you again for your precise report. I see the 'Number of Views' on this topic going up every day, so I believe this is a subject of interest for a lot of people!

 

Have a wonderful 2006!

[maxx22]

I'm assuming that the under '13' age children probably stayed in the same cabin as their parents, so if the yacht sailed full there might have been 120 to 125 people on board....

 

I think your number may be too high for several reasons:

 

This is not really a ship for economy-minded travelers who would more likely sail from Florida (lower air fare) and not pay the all inclusive premium for the children (who don't use the bar). There are many on board who are prepared to pay whatever it costs for the comfort, privacy and luxury that SeaDream offers.

 

Therefore, while a very young child may stay with its parents for safety reasons, many families seem to come in "fours" and take two cabins. Extended families have significant flexibility with children/single adults. .

 

Early booking and multiple cabin discounts can lower the cost as can judicious use of suites.

 

I suspect that most "full" ships don't sail with more than 100 passengers which is what we had.

[palmer10]

If there are 100 passengers on board, using Carlylecat's figures of 20 passengers below the age of 18, that is 20 percent. Using the figure of 25 passengers of college age or below, that is 25 percent.

 

That's a lot of young folks however you state it.

[Luxury Traveler]

WOW...

I do hope that if the management from SeaDream read this thread as they might save quite a bit of money by not needing anyone to figure out the age or demographics of who is onboard. What a great breakdown of age groups etc the only thing missing were their Blood types. I hope you did have time for your vacation when not busy counting people.

 

After a few cruises on SeaGoddess and 4 voyages on the new SeaDream, I can see why there might be younger children travelling with the family...It is quite simple as the regular guests are not 75+ years old any more and from what I experienced they seemed to be in their 40s to 50s and thus still have children in their teens or below.

I know on my last Seabourn cruise the average age was 75+++ so if they brought their kids they might be in their 40s or 50s and not as noticable as the younger set are on SeaDream.

 

I have told my kids, If you want an adult only experience then go to one of those "Couples Only" places..Or just keep away from going when you know that all the kids are off of school due to a holiday...or Spring Break etc.

 

Kids or no kids, I try to enjoy my vacation and not theirs...It is like sea-sickness, if you think you are going to be sick ...you will be.

 

I really enjoy reading these threads as they are quite entertaining.....when you think of everything going on in this crazy world, this is my comic escape.

 

Looking forward to my next SeaDream experience..

 

Smile:)

LUX

[carlylecat]

The ship sailed with 105 passengers; most of the children had their own cabin and were 3 to a cabin instead of 2; most parents used the 2 cabin suite/commodore stateroom plan, where they opened the wall up between the two cabins but instead of swapping the bed for a table left the bed up all day and had a third child sleep where the couch is

 

I did enjoy my time and it was easy to count as the parents were very pleasant folks and fun to talk to about why they brought their families there....it really was a fun cruise...

 

and by the way if anyone has the opportunity to be in St Barts on New Years eve on a ship like sea dream do not pass it by

 

It was the best, and I mean the best new years ever for us and we have done some great new years (ny, vegas, london, austria, paris for millenium...)

 

There must have been 200+ yachts in the harbor over 200 feet long (Tiger's boat, Trump's boat, Paul Allen's boat were supposedly spotted) and at midnight fireworks were set off while all 200+ boats sounded their horns including sd 1 and sd 2

 

it was awesome, and 80 degrees as well, the sea dream team put on quite a party at top of the yacht and eveyrone was having a great time, familys, couples, crew....it was incredible

[DisneyJen]

Sounds like the sights and sounds of St. Barts at New Year's was wonderful! I keep telling DH that someday we will spend Christmas and New Year's in the Caribbean ... but DD is 13 so I suspect it will be some time before we venture further South for the holidays.

 

Interesting observations/comments LUX on SD and Seabourn. Two other couples we know who have sailed on SD are in our age range (40s and early 50s). All three couples have teenaged children ... yet we all choose NOT to take the children with us when we sail on SD.

 

It isn't purely economics for our group. One of the couples was in the Owner's Suite when we sailed in November. I think it comes down to the environment on the ship ... and as others have said ... it seems that SD is a "family affair" during the holidays and school breaks ... and remains more adult oriented during those other times.

 

Regardless, I am looking forward to a SD sailing in '06 ... just not sure when:p

[zqvol]

WOW...

I do hope that if the management from SeaDream read this thread as they might save quite a bit of money by not needing anyone to figure out the age or demographics of who is onboard. What a great breakdown of age groups etc the only thing missing were their Blood types. I hope you did have time for your vacation when not busy counting people.

 

After a few cruises on SeaGoddess and 4 voyages on the new SeaDream, I can see why there might be younger children travelling with the family...It is quite simple as the regular guests are not 75+ years old any more and from what I experienced they seemed to be in their 40s to 50s and thus still have children in their teens or below.

I know on my last Seabourn cruise the average age was 75+++ so if they brought their kids they might be in their 40s or 50s and not as noticable as the younger set are on SeaDream.

 

I have told my kids, If you want an adult only experience then go to one of those "Couples Only" places..Or just keep away from going when you know that all the kids are off of school due to a holiday...or Spring Break etc.

 

Kids or no kids, I try to enjoy my vacation and not theirs...It is like sea-sickness, if you think you are going to be sick ...you will be.

 

I really enjoy reading these threads as they are quite entertaining.....when you think of everything going on in this crazy world, this is my comic escape.

 

Looking forward to my next SeaDream experience..

 

Smile:)

LUX

I am going to chime in here with a quick comment. I do not think the issue with children is going to change, but what Sea Dream can do is make a few changes to its advertising materials that suggest that while on board you will find 55 discerning couples.

[Luxury Traveler]

Hey ZQVOL,

You do have a good point of what SeaDream might want to say in thier marketing materials, but I have been lucky not to have many of the younger set on my voyages.

I also run a business where I find it hard to turn down a large revnue business such as a full family booking. I also think that all of this jabber about kids is been blow way out of proportion and not the norm on most of these voyages.

It is amazing to me how we sometimes try to pick apart an exceptional travel and life experience such as this SeaDream. You can still read about two totally different travel experiences from quests on the same voyage...This is just Human Nature and makes life interesting. But the big picture here is that we are all so fortunate to be able to go and write about all of this.

Count your lucky stars everyone, as there are quite a few people out there that could only Dream of voyages of this caliber...

Happy New Year,

LUX:)

[Jim Avery]

Hi LUX:

All this jabber about kids is only blown out of proportion when its your cruise that you paid the same amount for as the people the next week that received the cruise as advertised by marketing. We had a perfect cruise in Dec of 04 and were hoping to repeat. What we got was the kiddie cruise of 2005 which in fact actually cost more. Did we get what the brochure hawks? Yes in December, decidedly no in March. All these posts have made the same point. Deliver what you sell. As a businessman I am sure you would agree that is the way to keep happy customers. All I need is to know what to expect, I can make my decisions accordingly. When SD is right it is very right but the passenger mix is a great deal of the experience. I am looking forward to my next but I surely will do my homework and not attend any more summer camps.

Thanks for listening.

All the best,

Jim.

[surfklutz]

I agree that this might all be blown out of proportion. I have traveled with children on my voyage, and found them all to be well traveled - well mannered and quite invisable most of the time. I have found adults at times to be much less mannered than children I have traveled with on SeaDream.

 

I am not sure which line will assure you of a child free cruise- and I am quite certain that if you found one, it would be one lacking much of what you enjoy about SeaDream.

[ctbjr1309]

Regardless, I am looking forward to a SD sailing in '06 ... just not sure when:p

 

You know DJ, I just happen to have a few suggestions as to when. Don't ever hesitate to ask.....

[DisneyJen]

I hear you Ctbjr:p

 

Actually I am now trying to talk our bareboat usual sailing companions into looking at SD in '06.

[hottie]

we have sailed windstar, radisson, seabourn, paul gaugin and seadream

although they all have pros and cons

seabourn remains my overall favorite

 

we had the least fun on our 2 seadream cruises of any of the others

 

although windstar is lacking on the staterooms and food, the people were friendly and social

 

radisson was at least high end although not particularly social on the alaska cruise

 

seabourn has always been exceptional in food, service, room and people on board are very friendly, especially when you are invited to dinner with others and officers

 

seadream is a nice ship, i like her basic layout and pool area, but the people and food have never been exceptional. there is too little planned interaction

 

the paul gaugin to tahiti was awesome, food not as good, service a tad less, but the overall experience was fun and enjoyable

 

we also experienced too many families and children on seadream

 

would not choose seadream unless price and itinerary was exceptional and perfect timing for what we wanted

[carlylecat]

Dont really know but life is all about choices, we are sea dreamers, have sailed on all the same ships you mention, this just works for us, we love it...kids, no kids...it just feels right for us

 

I think it may be size, or the age group

 

I just dont like having a lot of people around me, even on seaborne I feel like I am with a big group, and the sea dream crowd is a heck of a lot younger...I have had better food and it is always hard to gauge "chemistry" of people but I like this and I think most of us do as well or we would not spend our time here writting about it...like all great products they can be refined, but this is something special....and unique

[surfklutz]

You hit it right on the head. SeaDream is not trying to be anything other than what they are. We have a tendancy to want to compare, but there is nothing quite like the little SeaDream yachts and the atmosphere. One person mentioned planned activities or interaction. If SeaDream did have that, it would ruin the whole idea of what it is. SeaDream attracts people who are comfortable with making their own entertainment. Nights in ports allow you to see the ports - what a great idea - rather than a show on a ship.

 

I am a die-hard SeaDream fan and look forward to any excuse to cruise with them.