More kids on X

[gretan]

On 10/17/2019 at 2:58 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

On the same cruise and can't wait!  I think that there will probably be a nice mix of people with kids vs. those without due to the 9 night itinerary.  

I can’t wait either!   And from the roll call it does look like a mix of passengers, which is what I like.  I don’t care for ships overrun with misbehaving kids either.  Our son isn’t perfect, but there are consequences if he acts up.

[villauk]

5 hours ago, mek said:

We usually see very few children on cruises over 10 nights and if there are they generally are pre school age.

 

 

And we very rarely take cruises under 10 nights with our family - not worth the airfare.

[sopranos]

On 10/17/2019 at 1:16 AM, Oville said:

We’re on the same cruise and not the least bit worried. I would think November 8th isn’t very appealing for a family getaway to the Caribbean, but of course I could be wrong.

there is a teachers convention in NJ November 7 & 8 and the week is very popular for vacations . When our children were younger we always cruised it was a good time to do it because the cruises and airfare were not that expensive. You might hear the term " Jersey Week "

[zook50]

Just finished sub teaching (taught full time for 32 years and have subbed for another 3+), so just catching up on this whole thread.  Fascinating!!  My apologies if I'm "extending" the meandering response to the original poster's question.  My husband and I chose to have no children.  We have travelled extensively and had mostly positive experiences with kids.  Occasionally, we've run into an unruly or noisy or rude kid whose parent/guardian appears to have given up - sad.  Thanks to all the strong parents I've seen in my career and travels who tirelessly raise our good future citizens. 

 

That being said, I certainly understand some of the educators' opinions here.   When a student misses a week or two of school, it does have huge ramifications, contrary to what a non-educator (I'm assuming?) poster said.  We (teachers and assistants) have to catch them up upon return during our early mornings, noon hours, or after school.  They can't (and/or won't) do it themselves.  As another poster said, it's often the students who need the time in school the most who go on the longest holidays (not during school days off).  Expanding a child's horizons through travel is fantastic, but high school must be completed properly to ensure the child's future, including a job, acceptance to post-secondary programs, etc.

 

To end on a positive note, we were thrilled to have a family with a baby on our last TA cruise.  He was the only child on the ship and was definitely the most popular passenger aboard!!  Of course, it helped that he was a complete charmer😉 

 

We like all kinds of travel experiences, including family style resorts and cruises and a sprinkling of adults only holidays.

[Snickersbockerglory]

We've previously cruised with celebrity but not since we've had children. We're booked to go on a med cruise out of Southampton next summer with my two young children but must say I'm now slightly dreading it thanks to some of the posts on this thread. I feel like we're not going to be able to use any of the public areas for fear of people staring at us disapprovingly for daring to have children on board. 

 

In response to the person who asked why parents would choose Celebrity (and the other poster who said it was selfish), yes there was a certain element of being selfish about it. It's to celebrate my birthday and rather than do a family holiday resort as we've done previously I wanted to do a holiday that felt special. I also wanted to do one which felt simple and so travelling from Southampton and not having to contain children on a flight was a big part of the decision. Royal Caribbean didn't do any itineraries from Southampton that interested me. 

 

One of my children also has sensory difficulties and I am not sure she would cope well with the busyness and excitement on an RC cruise. 

 

We did think quite long about whether to do this cruise, decided to based on the kids clubs reviews, however it definitely feels like you can't really win as a parent. If we let them go to kids club we're dumping our kids on a babysitting service, and yet other cruisers neither want to hear or see children! And yes we will be taking them to the bars they are allowed in and enjoying spending time with them. 

 

As far as I'm concerned we are not taking them out of school but travelling in the holidays when more families are expected (I would love to be able to travel outside of holiday times), we are travelling on a cruise which allows children and have paid a fare for them so they have as much right to be there as anyone else. If you don't want children then go on an adult only cruise. If the larger ships didn't make themselves available to families they would very often struggle to fill the ships (and would either have to up prices or go out of business). 

 

Saying that I wish i had read this thread before booking as it would have made me think twice. 

[hcat]

Celebrity advertises an autism friendly  program which might be good for a child with sensory difficulties..I am not up on this so forgive me if these two things are not relatable but you could check into the program.

 

All sounds good..but I disagree about bringing children to bars or kate night clubs  which seem to be an adult area.  Children are welcomed by folks  in the foyer  and maybe larger lounges for the dancing  and such if they are not running around underfoot..sounds like you would not let that happen.

 

There is also a family swim hour in the Solarium on most ships..The time of year you are cruising will have more children than other times..so you  def won,t be the only family on board.

 

Enjoy your cruise and  birthday Celebration!

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, Snickersbockerglory said:

Saying that I wish i had read this thread before booking as it would have made me think twice. 

I personally don't think there is a whole lot for children to do on Celebrity ships but I also don't think most cruisers traveling without children begrudge those who do, so long as the children are well behaved.  And as far as this thread is concerned, I encourage you to look at it as a very small, microcosm of views that exist in the very large, grand scheme.  I hope you enjoy your cruise!

[Snickersbockerglory]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

Celebrity advertises an autism friendly  program which might be good for a child with sensory difficulties..I am not up on this so forgive me if these two things are not relatable but you could check into the program.

 

 

Thank you, yes they are very closely related /overlapping in many cases and we were happy that celebrity was autism friendly as it does make it easier. 

 

52 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I personally don't think there is a whole lot for children to do on Celebrity ships but I also don't think most cruisers traveling without children begrudge those who do, so long as the children are well behaved.  And as far as this thread is concerned, I encourage you to look at it as a very small, microcosm of views that exist in the very large, grand scheme.  I hope you enjoy your cruise!

I agree that there is not a huge amount to do for children on celebrity especially as they get older, and it was something we weighed up - did we think there was enough to entertain them on the sea days - but I guess because they are small and not really ready for fairgrounds, etc, we hoped that the kids club and swimming pool and other low key activities would be enough. 

 

I have just read through the link that was posted a few pages ago in this thread and am now really worried to the point where we're considering cancelling and just losing the deposit. Our children are never unsupervised and always removed from an environment if they are not being well behaved, but I can understand why people would not want to travel with children who are unsupervised and running riot. 

 

I still think however that these are two separate issues - a blanket statement of disliking all children on a cruise versus unruly children and parents (which is unpleasant wherever you are). 

[rimmit]

3 hours ago, Snickersbockerglory said:

We've previously cruised with celebrity but not since we've had children. We're booked to go on a med cruise out of Southampton next summer with my two young children but must say I'm now slightly dreading it thanks to some of the posts on this thread. I feel like we're not going to be able to use any of the public areas for fear of people staring at us disapprovingly for daring to have children on board. 

 

In response to the person who asked why parents would choose Celebrity (and the other poster who said it was selfish), yes there was a certain element of being selfish about it. It's to celebrate my birthday and rather than do a family holiday resort as we've done previously I wanted to do a holiday that felt special. I also wanted to do one which felt simple and so travelling from Southampton and not having to contain children on a flight was a big part of the decision. Royal Caribbean didn't do any itineraries from Southampton that interested me. 

 

One of my children also has sensory difficulties and I am not sure she would cope well with the busyness and excitement on an RC cruise. 

 

We did think quite long about whether to do this cruise, decided to based on the kids clubs reviews, however it definitely feels like you can't really win as a parent. If we let them go to kids club we're dumping our kids on a babysitting service, and yet other cruisers neither want to hear or see children! And yes we will be taking them to the bars they are allowed in and enjoying spending time with them. 

 

As far as I'm concerned we are not taking them out of school but travelling in the holidays when more families are expected (I would love to be able to travel outside of holiday times), we are travelling on a cruise which allows children and have paid a fare for them so they have as much right to be there as anyone else. If you don't want children then go on an adult only cruise. If the larger ships didn't make themselves available to families they would very often struggle to fill the ships (and would either have to up prices or go out of business). 

 

Saying that I wish i had read this thread before booking as it would have made me think twice. 

 

We have taken our kids on cruise ships from 9 months to 8 years.  There are people on every cruise ship that do not like kids,  but we have only had a handful of incidents over the years.   This includes RCI, which imo if you go on a boat that is a floating amusement park,  I am sorry,  but there will be kids.  Period.  Pick a different boat if you don’t want to be around Kids.

 

Don’t let the any one incident ruin your vacation.  Just be prepared, as I am sure you are more than aware, kids are unpredictable.  No amount of planning can possibly compensate for having young kids in your party.  Whether it be they get sick, get fussy, get tired, don’t want to walk,  etc, etc.  When we travel with our kids we go in with the lowest expectations of what we hope to do,  and anything that actually gets accomplished is a bonus, to help avoid disappointment at missing some site, tour, commentary, etc.  We also have a child that is not neurotypically normal,  so I can partially relate to your apprehension after reading this thread.   

 

There are rude people everywhere.   Don’t let them ruin your vacation.

[TeeRick]

On 10/21/2019 at 5:11 PM, Iamcruzin said:

According to my 87 year old mother I'm still a kid at 58. You must be young.

LOL.  Remember we were all kids once.  But when I was a kid we never even heard of cruises or any kind of nicer vacation for that matter.  The only cruise I took as as kid was from my mom who constantly said I was "Cruzin for a Bruzin"!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

6 hours ago, Snickersbockerglory said:

Thank you, yes they are very closely related /overlapping in many cases and we were happy that celebrity was autism friendly as it does make it easier. 

 

I agree that there is not a huge amount to do for children on celebrity especially as they get older, and it was something we weighed up - did we think there was enough to entertain them on the sea days - but I guess because they are small and not really ready for fairgrounds, etc, we hoped that the kids club and swimming pool and other low key activities would be enough. 

 

I have just read through the link that was posted a few pages ago in this thread and am now really worried to the point where we're considering cancelling and just losing the deposit. Our children are never unsupervised and always removed from an environment if they are not being well behaved, but I can understand why people would not want to travel with children who are unsupervised and running riot. 

 

I still think however that these are two separate issues - a blanket statement of disliking all children on a cruise versus unruly children and parents (which is unpleasant wherever you are). 

 

Please do not cancel and lose your deposit because of a few comments on here.  The vast majority of cruisers do not participate on Cruise Critic.  Go and enjoy your cruise with your children.  It will be fine.

[cgolf2]

On 10/22/2019 at 7:59 PM, zook50 said:

Just finished sub teaching (taught full time for 32 years and have subbed for another 3+), so just catching up on this whole thread.  Fascinating!!  My apologies if I'm "extending" the meandering response to the original poster's question.  My husband and I chose to have no children.  We have travelled extensively and had mostly positive experiences with kids.  Occasionally, we've run into an unruly or noisy or rude kid whose parent/guardian appears to have given up - sad.  Thanks to all the strong parents I've seen in my career and travels who tirelessly raise our good future citizens. 

 

That being said, I certainly understand some of the educators' opinions here.   When a student misses a week or two of school, it does have huge ramifications, contrary to what a non-educator (I'm assuming?) poster said.  We (teachers and assistants) have to catch them up upon return during our early mornings, noon hours, or after school.  They can't (and/or won't) do it themselves.  As another poster said, it's often the students who need the time in school the most who go on the longest holidays (not during school days off).  Expanding a child's horizons through travel is fantastic, but high school must be completed properly to ensure the child's future, including a job, acceptance to post-secondary programs, etc.

 

To end on a positive note, we were thrilled to have a family with a baby on our last TA cruise.  He was the only child on the ship and was definitely the most popular passenger aboard!!  Of course, it helped that he was a complete charmer😉 

 

We like all kinds of travel experiences, including family style resorts and cruises and a sprinkling of adults only holidays.

 

While I respect your opinion and for some kids that may be true about completing high school properly, I don't believe it applies to all kids. Our daughter graduated 11th in her class taking all the AP courses offered while missing one week a school year to do a cruise. IMO she should have been ranked higher because some of the kids above her took easier classes, and no AP classes and the GPAs were super close. For some reason her school didn't weight the AP grades heavier, so it was a disadvantage class rank wise for kids to take these courses.

 

She really didn't need any catch up when she got back though, because she had her homework with her on the ship and time was set aside each day to make sure she got her work done. I don't remember her ever staying late to work with her teachers at all, the only extra work for the teachers was making sure she had the work to take with her.

 

I would agree if she was a weak student we would not have been able to do this.

[hcat]

OP

Please do not cancel..you know your family and have picked what is right for  them.

 

For our grandson,s first cruise at around age 4 or 5, we'd pick X..  He hates crowds, loud music and big spaces.  He is daycare schooled so would be okay to go to the kids  club but would def want to spend time with us and his parents..sounds like  great plan fir a family vacation.!

[lv2cruisgrl]

We have given up on Royal because of too many kids. We have done X and will continue as usually not many on board. Hope it doesn't change or we will change cruise lines again.😬

[mahdnc]

13 hours ago, Snickersbockerglory said:

Saying that I wish i had read this thread before booking as it would have made me think twice. 

 

We have taken our two kids on 13 cruises with Celebrity ranging from when they were 7 mo old to 26 yrs old.  We have never regretted taking them nor did we ever feel uncomfortable about it.  Although it is not as fabled as Disney or Royal Caribbean, Celebrity has an excellent children's program.  I think you made a good choice.

 

Jun 22 2007, our son riding the funicular at Santorini.  Millennium and Brilliance of the Seas are anchored in the background.

Edited October 29, 2019 by mahdnc

[zook50]

We're on the same page here (and I'm sure the original person who brought this up would agree). 

 

AP students are totally different; they are more likely to monitor themselves, get their work done, perhaps not need as much catch up help, etc.  We both said that it's the weaker students who are hurt most from excessive absenteeism.

 

If your daughter is taking work with her on her holiday and you're monitoring her progress while away,  that's a HUGE difference, as well.  Many students are unwilling to do this, or, indeed,  do homework at any time of the year.  Your daughter was a strong, capable student with parents who cared; a holiday would never slow her down!😄

 

In contrast, I am subbing for a friend again tomorrow and will be supervising 5 (not AP) kids at noon who either need extra help making up assignments or need to write an exam, all due to absences (in two cases, from early holidays).

 

Congratulations on your daughter's success and, again, thank you so much for being a great parent (from a grateful educator).

[Winemyst]

10 hours ago, rimmit said:

There are people on every cruise ship that do not like kids,  but we have only had a handful of incidents over the years.   This includes RCI, which imo if you go on a boat that is a floating amusement park,  I am sorry,  but there will be kids.  Period.  Pick a different boat if you don’t want to be around Kids.

 

I once was scolded for having my kids in a shop at Disney's Magic Kingdom.  

[rimmit]

40 minutes ago, Winemyst said:

 

I once was scolded for having my kids in a shop at Disney's Magic Kingdom.  

 

That is impressive.  My wife was scolded at Sorrentos (pizza place on RCI ships) once when our daughter 9 months old because she was in a baby carrier.  The old lady told us our daughter “shouldn’t be in such a contraption.”

 

My son got yelled at for touching the car on the promenade by another passenger.  There are no signs that say do not touch the car.   The signs just say do not sit in the car.   There are no rope barriers around this car.  There is nothing that would indicate touching the car was against any rules,  but he got yelled at just the same.

 

 

[OnTheJourney]

On 10/16/2019 at 8:48 PM, davekathy said:

Agree. We just did a 14 night cruise on the Summit (8 to 22 September 2019) and heard there were less than 5 kids on the cruise. We saw none. Nice. 

 

Ditto...just did the NE / Canada on the Summit and I think I saw only a handful (there was also a 6-month baby on board!!...should be a contest for the youngest (and oldest) cruiser!!  

[webecruzin2]

On 10/16/2019 at 8:46 PM, Bootstrap77 said:

I’m curious do you usually just sail during school breaks or take them out. We try to book when most families wouldn’t but it seems like more and more parents are taking the kids out of school at various times 

We've been cruising with our now 35 year old daughter since she was 6 years old mostly on , RCCL and NCL and a few others. She was in year round schools which had 3 breaks throughout the year plus holidays, so we would plan our trips around her breaks which was usually when other kids in traditional schools were not on breaks.

 It worked out great and she was able to see the world without missing any school.
I don't think we would have been able to travel as much as we did if she was in a school with  a traditional calendar.