Kids off from school.....

[msbptg]

Perhaps I should have taken a deeper breath before my previous post because I wish I had responded as eloquently as A Little Pixie Dust.

 

That said, I have no problem with people wanting to go on a cruise without children. I think it would be a wonderful idea for cruise lines to designate adult only cruises so that people had this option. What I didn't like is being told by one poster that cruisers with children should stick with Disney or leave their children at home.

 

I also agree that parents are responsible for their children's behavior and that some parents fail miserably. However, all families should not be penalized for these actions.

I,m glad you took a deeper breath cruisewmn.. I personally LOVE CHILDREN, my brother has 5, my sisters have 3. With that being said, I new my post would bring lots of conversation on children and there behavior while cruising.. I did not however tell YOU personally to leave your children at home, or sail disney lines. What I did say was a general version of how my wife and I feel when taking a long vacation..Why? Because of the attitude of S O M E parents who feel that since they paid for a cruise, there children can run wild all over the place unattended .. So go ahead, bring your children and enjoy yourselfs..

[fxcarden]

I ment no disrespect to the OP. I answered the best I could regarding our area (S. Ca - near Disneyland).

 

Although I posted regarding travelling with children, I agree that there should be some "adult only" cruises. But that should be across the board with all cruise lines. Overall, I was just trying to make a point that parents need to take responsibilty for their own children. I know that point has been made several times before but I place that first and foremost on our vacations.

 

Do I miss out on some acitivities because my daughter didn't feel like going to the kids clubs? Most definitely. Do I let her run free so I can attend? Never. My husband and I try to work out a way that one of us gets to go if possible but it doesn't always work out. We make a schedule so that we know when our daughter will be (expects to be) in kids clubs and when she is not. If there is not an appropriate event to attend with her, then we have some quiet time in the cabin. Another fun thing for my daughter to do with us is the photo hunt. With atleast one parent in tow - she is allowed to photograph anything she wants to on the ship (no guests). We let her use our digital camera so that not everything has to be developed. She has fun explaining to Grandma back home why she took a particular photo and what it is.

 

I always try and remember that it is a vacation for everyone on the ship - those travelling with us and those that are not. Believe it or not, I do not want you disturbed any more then I want to be disturb by misbehaving guests of all ages.

 

Desiree

 

 

 

No disrespect taken. Sounds like you are a model parent, and I do agree with the other poster that said that adults can be worse.

[Iamboatman]

Why not just ask to be seated at another table?

 

Our kids prefer not to eat in the dining room, so we readily give their seats up. We too wouldn't be pleased to sit with two families with their children, either!

 

What we have found is that when we have boring (or inappropriate) adult tablemates we ask to be reseated. It is done all the time and it not an issue. (In fact, we have met some of our dearest friends from early cruise table shuffling. We are going on our third cruise with some of them this summer.)

 

It is not a kid issue. And the solution is simple.

[fxcarden]

When my kids were in their teens their meeting (see and be seen) place was at the mall or the skate center. Now I didn't go to the skate center, but I do not recall any incidents at the mall. Does a mall contain more roaming people than a cruise ship does? (We don't have mega story, huge malls, and the ones we do have are all one story). I doubt it. Is a mall more crowded than a cruise ship (by sq footage)? I don't think so.

 

If you need something at the mall and it's 4 p.m. do you say to yourself, "I won't go because there will be after school teenagers there?" It's not even a question. They don't accost you or create scenes. They are just young people.

 

So, why are unsupervised children so irritating to adults within the confinement of a ship? Is it that there are lower ceilings on a ship? ha

 

Admitedly, I can't think of something worse than being assigned a cruise dining room table with two families with their small children and me. (I know, they usually do a very good job with seating assignments. This is just a worst case scenario). I think I'd just do room service every night. Why?

 

Not because of their behavior, but because of their conversation or lack thereof. I don't want to have lengthy conversations about or with children when I'm on a cruise. And children being children, there are going to be food questions that have to be answered, that prevent the adults from interacting. It's selfish on my part, I know. Maybe I feel I've put in my time already.

 

FUI, No, I didn't take my kids on a cruise. We'd go places that were family friendly on land. if they got antsy at a concert I'd leave with them. I didn't want to stretch my luck that their good manners would fail them!

 

It's one thing to sit at a table near a bunch of teenagers at the mall, or next to a family table on a ship, and another thing to have to interact with them every single night at the same table. Once would be okay, and I might even enjoy them. BUT...

 

Maybe this is why Freestyle and Personal Choice Dining are becoming popular on NCL and Princess. You won't ever be stuck with adults or children you really don't want to talk to. But you also lose out on the possibility of engendering close adult friendships by moving around unless you have been lucky enough to find another couple you enjoy, and go to dinner with them in Freestyle or Personal Choice. I have not personally tried either NCL or Princess. Reading the NCL board, they seem to think the future of cruising is going to have to include SOME form of freestyle choice for meals.

 

 

 

 

 

There are fundamental differences between the mall and a cruise ship.

 

In the mall, you can just walk out and go home or go elsewhere, and so can the other person. In the ship you are more or less a captive audience....especially on those days at sea which is when most people get in each other's hair.

 

In the mall, you walked in for free.....you can walk out and come back another day. In the ship, you and everyone else spent your hard earned money to enjoy your time away from work, etc. and when someone else ruins it, especially when it is a kid misbehaving and a parent that just lets them run amok, it really sucks.

 

Perhaps the cruise lines can put their smaller ships to better use and run a couple of adult only cruises. After all, there are plenty of " XXXX only " cruises out there. In fact, a co-worker of mine has been on a gay/lesbian only cruise, so if that is out there, why not an "over 21 only" cruise. At least if someone gets out of line in that cruise, you can beat 'em up (just kidding).

[kitty9]

After being on more than 40 cruises, I hope I can shed some light as to the original question.

 

First of all, if you want less kids, never cruise out of San Juan. RCCI, which is the parent company of Celebrity, offers extreme discounts to the local PR population if the cruises aren't sold out. On one of my recent cruises, during January which is usually the best for kid free cruising, we had over 600 kids on board, and 99% of them were locals from PR. When you consider they were able to cruise, at the last minute, for $350 per person, that's a great deal.

 

For the least amount of kids, cruise the last two weeks of September, the first two weeks before Thanksgiving, the two weeks after Thanksgiving (there were maybe 10 school age kids on our December 4 Mille cruise), the second through the fourth week of January, the last week of February, and the four weeks after Easter. You will always get some kids, but not nearly as many.

 

Another general rule is: the longer the cruise, the less kids. On our 11 day Summit cruise, which started in late January, we had three school age kids on board.

 

Another idea is to stay away from all the mass market lines and go with one of the luxury lines. I usually cruise Crystal when I'm not on Celebrity, and on most of my cruises on Crystal, there have been absolutely no kids.

 

Unfortunately, Celebrity did have some adults only cruises but stopped offering them because no one booked them. If the demand is as great as it seems, considering the comments on these boards, I wonder why people didn't support the adult cruises. Perhaps X didn't really promote them as they should have.

[fxcarden]

After being on more than 40 cruises, I hope I can shed some light as to the original question.

 

First of all, if you want less kids, never cruise out of San Juan. RCCI, which is the parent company of Celebrity, offers extreme discounts to the local PR population if the cruises aren't sold out. On one of my recent cruises, during January which is usually the best for kid free cruising, we had over 600 kids on board, and 99% of them were locals from PR. When you consider they were able to cruise, at the last minute, for $350 per person, that's a great deal.

 

For the least amount of kids, cruise the last two weeks of September, the first two weeks before Thanksgiving, the two weeks after Thanksgiving (there were maybe 10 school age kids on our December 4 Mille cruise), the second through the fourth week of January, the last week of February, and the four weeks after Easter. You will always get some kids, but not nearly as many.

 

Another general rule is: the longer the cruise, the less kids. On our 11 day Summit cruise, which started in late January, we had three school age kids on board.

 

Another idea is to stay away from all the mass market lines and go with one of the luxury lines. I usually cruise Crystal when I'm not on Celebrity, and on most of my cruises on Crystal, there have been absolutely no kids.

 

Unfortunately, Celebrity did have some adults only cruises but stopped offering them because no one booked them. If the demand is as great as it seems, considering the comments on these boards, I wonder why people didn't support the adult cruises. Perhaps X didn't really promote them as they should have.

 

 

 

Great post. Thank you very much.

[mrs66]

"Unfortunately, Celebrity did have some adults only cruises but stopped offering them because no one booked them. If the demand is as great as it seems, considering the comments on these boards, I wonder why people didn't support the adult cruises. Perhaps X didn't really promote them as they should have."

 

I suspect that the reason the adult only cruises did not book fully is that the vast majority of people are more interested in finding an itinerary and convenient week for them than they are in avoiding all children. Personally, I would much rather deal with some misbehaving children than with "misbehaving" (rude, demanding, loudly partying, etc) adults. In my opinion, most (not all, of course, but the majority) of children are misbehaving due to overexuberance, excitement, or simply poor awareness of the effect their behavior is having on others. A polite request for them to alter their behavior is often (again, not always) met with an apology and an improvement in that behavior - especially if that request comes from an adult other than the parents (I know that my kids would be mortified to have another adult correct them, but I would hope that someone would do so if they were misbehaving). Unfortunately, I don't think the same thing can be said for many misbehaving adults - the difference being that they usually are aware that their behavior is not acceptable and just don't care. Of course, some of the complaints about children on cruises (toddlers in hot tubs, for example), is not misbehavior of the children, but of the parents responsible for them. Removing the children from the ship but allowing the parents to be there doesn't result in passengers with a better sense of socially acceptable behavior....

 

All that said, if you would prefer to minimize the number of kids when you cruise, I would add President's week to the list of no-nos - most of the Northeast has winter break that week. As a matter of fact, I would recommend that you check out the Disney web site (I think it is the official Disney site, although it may be one of the "unofficial Disney info sites)... they have a listing of the comparable business of different times of year. I would guess that would be a good way to find out when families are most likely to travel with kids, and I'm sure Disney has the statistics to back it up.

[suznf]

A comic on the Mariner this Christmas suggested that since it seems most parents won't discipline their own kids, there should be a general rule on cruise ships allowing pax to slap other peoples kids. Like the ones that push all of the buttons on the elevator...

 

We thought it was a good idea.....

 

(PS I'm mom to 16 & 19 DSs...and you are all welcome to slap them if neccesary ;) )

[psychboss]

A comic on the Mariner this Christmas suggested that since it seems most parents won't discipline their own kids, there should be a general rule on cruise ships allowing pax to slap other peoples kids. Like the ones that push all of the buttons on the elevator...

 

We thought it was a good idea.....

 

(PS I'm mom to 16 & 19 DSs...and you are all welcome to slap them if neccesary ;) )

 

Now THAT is the best suggestion I have ever heard!

I always say, give me your kids for a month, I will fix them. I saw the TV show Super Nanny and realized that I really missed my calling. I could have made a fortune! It is SO simple, I don't know how so many parents don't get it!

[Danno]

I don't care if any of you would rather deal with bad kids than bad adults...that's not what the OP asked. This person simply wanted a quiet vacation and is willing to pick a week that kids are not in abundance...

 

I get tired of "raging parents" who think anyone, who isn't absolutely GIDDY with joy and excitement while in the presence of kids, is a child hater.

 

Some of us have simply gone by that point in our lives and are happy to enjoy vacations with more adults and less kids...if that makes us bad people, then I guess that's what we are...I don't expect to change...and I always avoid any week where school vacations may be an issue.

[Iamboatman]

I think the OPs plight is perfectly fine and there have actually been quite a few posts that actually answer the question. The problem seems to be that others have turned the "I prefer a quieter cruise without children present" inquiry into another the "children are obnoxious and not entitled to cruise on Celebrity" thread, which in turn has the always present "it's not really bad kids, but bad parents" fiasco.

 

Hence a legitimate inquiry became yet another soapbox battle.

[MopedMama]

"Unfortunately, Celebrity did have some adults only cruises but stopped offering them because no one booked them. If the demand is as great as it seems, considering the comments on these boards, I wonder why people didn't support the adult cruises. Perhaps X didn't really promote them as they should have."

 

How long ago was this? I suspect it was before all the mainstream cruise lines started trying so hard to be family-friendly. Back then it was a non-issue. Most people didn't cruise with children because they knew they'd be trapped with EXTREMELY bored children for 7+ days. The fancy kiddy pool, the age-appropriate activities, etc. is a fairly recent thing. Maybe X should give it another look?

[MopedMama]

I kind of resent having to schedule around the kids' schedules. There are only certain times of year that my husband can take off from work, depending on what the project schedule is. Those just happen to be busy kid-times most of the time too, since they try to schedule projects to wrap up for holidays. For example, he's only guaranteed to be off the week between Christmas and New Year's. And usually the manufacturing plants related to his projects shut down for the week of July 4th. In other words, we can't necessarily pick the first 2 wks of Nov, etc. I think an adults-only sailing during the peak seasons for each venue would attract a lot of folks in the same situation as us.

[Iamboatman]

Actually the Adults Only cruises were in 2003-2004; not that long ago.

[Danno]

I kind of resent having to schedule around the kids' schedules.

 

Then you'll have to find another type of vacation...while I am not thrilled to have a boat load of kids...they have every right to be there, and I have every right to look for weeks when kids are few.

 

Maybe parents "resent" being boxed in by school vacation dates...

 

This is not about who has rights to the ship, but "how can I make an informed decision that best meets my wants and needs".

[MopedMama]

Then you'll have to find another type of vacation...while I am not thrilled to have a boat load of kids...they have every right to be there, and I have every right to look for weeks when kids are few.

 

Maybe parents "resent" being boxed in by school vacation dates...

 

This is not about who has rights to the ship, but "how can I make an informed decision that best meets my wants and needs".

 

I don't resent the kids, I resent the scheduling issues due to lack of other options. Its not about rights, did I say "rights" anywhere in my post? No. I have to believe the ocean is big enough for all of us.

 

I am just saying I want the cruising industry to provide me with more options. I think adult-only cruises would also benefit the families - they wouldn't have to endure my whining about being trapped on a ship with their kids. I guess I'll be looking into longer cruises and premium cruise lines. Sigh.

[Iamboatman]

There are options and they include, as you state, longer cruises and different cruise lines. Celebrity has a certain product. It obviously doesn't fit with some people's requirements/tastes. It is a chocolate or vanilla thing.

 

I don't resent Seabourn for not having a kid's program or facilities. I just don't cruise it with my children. Simple.

 

I don't resent World Cruises for not having a younger mix, but I avoid sailings which are part of world cruises because the passengers tend to be much older. Simple.

 

If Celebrity doesn't work; don't resent the situation, try another line. Holland America if you don't want to spend much more. Radisson and Oceania if a bit more is OK, Windstar if you want something different. Seabourn or Silversea if you want luxury. None of these lines are tops on family-friendly cruises. And, there are other options as well.

 

Geeez.

[newmexicoNita]

I have stayed out of this for the most part but am going to put in my 2 cents worth and that's it. My impression of the OP post was not she hated kids, or that kids shouldn't cruise, just she preferred to cruise when the ship was not over run with them. I love kids, have cruised with my grandkids when they were younger (now they are grown) and think cruising can be a fun vacation for kids as long as they are old enough to enjoy the activities. I also have seen lots of brats; maybe they were not as bratty as just plain bored or tired. We try to schedule our cruising around when the younger group will be in school but if the ship has several kids that's fine too as long as they are supervised. The sad thing, the parents who do not demand their kids behave are the ones that think, either, their kids are well behaved or think, they have a right to let the little ones do what they want cause they paid for their cruise as well. As for adults, of course some of them are pretty poorly behaved, but we can't control that. NMnita

[Danno]

Its not about rights, did I say "rights" anywhere in my post?

 

No...I said it...you're in the clear :D .

[fxcarden]

I have stayed out of this for the most part but am going to put in my 2 cents worth and that's it. My impression of the OP post was not she hated kids, or that kids shouldn't cruise, just she preferred to cruise when the ship was not over run with them. I love kids, have cruised with my grandkids when they were younger (now they are grown) and think cruising can be a fun vacation for kids as long as they are old enough to enjoy the activities. I also have seen lots of brats; maybe they were not as bratty as just plain bored or tired. We try to schedule our cruising around when the younger group will be in school but if the ship has several kids that's fine too as long as they are supervised. The sad thing, the parents who do not demand their kids behave are the ones that think, either, their kids are well behaved or think, they have a right to let the little ones do what they want cause they paid for their cruise as well. As for adults, of course some of them are pretty poorly behaved, but we can't control that. NMnita

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original poster is a HE (at least I was this morning when I woke up, LOL). I too, love kids but I also love my space as do many others on these boards / cruise ships. Once again, the original intent on this thread was not to start a soapbox war, but to attempt to gather and compile some type of list of the times when kids are least likely to be on board, and somehow break it down by region so that people sailing out of say, San Juan would know that they get an extended XMAS break, where as Galveston might be safe, thus, if you MUST cruise the second week of January, and you have an issue with kids running amok on the ship, you might consider Galveston as your embarkation point instead of San Juan.

 

I have nothing against kids. I was a kid once. I even helped make two of them, and enjoyed raising them to be the outstading young men they are today. Heck, I might even be a grand father sooner than I think, and definitely way sooner than I am ready for, as I am only 48 myself (my oldest son turns 25 this month .... go figure).

 

Perhaps someone with more advanced computer skills can create one of those survey type of posts where people can enter when schools are closed for their particular area, and people can make their own decisions from there. You know.....break it down by state or something along those lines. Maybe the moderators can help.........I don't know.......I thought it was a good idea at the time......

 

Peace.

[kitty9]

fxcarden, what you're asking for, with regards to having people write when their local schools are in or out of session, would be impossible. We have nearly 25 school districts just in my two county area alone, and each one seems to have different vacation schedules. One district has the entire week of Thanksgiving off, while another has the last three days and the rest only have Thursday and Friday. It's the same for Christmas, Martin Luther King week, President's week, Spring Break/Easter and so on. Then you have to add the full year schools into the mix, with some having a 45/15 schedule and others having 60/20. And still you'll have the home schoolers, which are rapidly growing in numbers every year. And of course, you have the thousands of parents who pull their kids out of school just for vacation. So, I stand by what I previously wrote, and the weeks you can cruise with a smaller number of kids.

[Cruise Arizona]

We went to Disney World this summer and I bought the guide book "The Unofficial guide to Walt Disney World."

 

On Page 31 they have chart that shows the most and least crowded days.

 

Sept, Octber, November, are not very crowded, then there is a Peak on Thanks Giving Week, Then a big dip between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Then another peak at Christmas.

 

The next spike is Presidents day, and then it goes down until March, with March and April, and Easter in there somewhere in the mix being very high.

 

Post Easter to Memorial Day are slow, Then it levels off at pretty high June through August.

 

So if you applied this chart to cruising, you best bets would be Sept, Oct, Nov up to Thanksgiving week, then the first two weeks of December, Then Jan-Presidents Day, Post Pres.Day - March, or Late April Early May.

 

This would work assuming that Disney's Peak weeks would probably be the same is Cruising Peak weeks, or Vice Versa.

[fxcarden]

We went to Disney World this summer and I bought the guide book "The Unofficial guide to Walt Disney World."

 

On Page 31 they have chart that shows the most and least crowded days.

 

Sept, Octber, November, are not very crowded, then there is a Peak on Thanks Giving Week, Then a big dip between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Then another peak at Christmas.

 

The next spike is Presidents day, and then it goes down until March, with March and April, and Easter in there somewhere in the mix being very high.

 

Post Easter to Memorial Day are slow, Then it levels off at pretty high June through August.

 

So if you applied this chart to cruising, you best bets would be Sept, Oct, Nov up to Thanksgiving week, then the first two weeks of December, Then Jan-Presidents Day, Post Pres.Day - March, or Late April Early May.

 

This would work assuming that Disney's Peak weeks would probably be the same is Cruising Peak weeks, or Vice Versa.

 

 

 

Sounds like this is a good guide right here. Thanks.

[mrs66]

I want to apologize if I sounded like I was attacking the OP for asking about best times to cruise without kids; I think that's a very reasonable approach. What got me going was a few of the other comments implying that the presence of children makes the cruise miserable for everyone else....

 

I found the website that I mentioned earlier (it is not official Disney, but another Disney travel planner). It says:

 

MOST CROWDED TIME OF THE YEAR

Christmas through New Year's

EXTREMELY CROWDED

Easter Week (Before and After)

REALLY CROWDED

Fourth of July Week

CROWDED

Spring Break (first week of March until mid April)

Memorial Day Weekend

Summer Break (second week of June until second week of August)

President's Day until the end of February

A GOOD TIME TO GO

End of April

Second Week of February

Labor Day Weekend

First two weeks of December

THE NEXT BEST TIME TO VISIT

First Week of February

Beginning of October until Thanksgiving

Week before Christmas

BEST TIME TO VISIT

January

September



As stated by Cruise Arizona, you would need to assume that the busy Disney times would hold for cruises as well. If you would like to avoid college students as well, it is probably safe to assume that the first week or so of January and the Spring Break weeks may be busier on cruises than the Disney attendance may lead you to believe.



Many parents will consider taking their kids out of school for a family vacation, so no time is completely safe, but I think parents are less likely to want their kids to miss school at the very beginning of the school year (September) or at the very end (the first couple of weeks of June). I think that looking at cruise prices is also a good way to see what the cruise lines expect in terms of business - if you look at a listing of available weeks by price, you can clearly see the prices up for holiday weeks, Presidents Day week, and a gradual increase through June into the summer months ... all typical family vacation times.

[msbptg]

OK, I think we,ve heard enough of everyones thought process..with that being said, I think its time we end this thread with this in mind..If your going to travel with children, enjoy, but remember to keep an eye on them..Its as simple as that..