Half Term cruise

[jimbo1683]

I mean no offence with this post...I am ready to book our Scandinavia cruise, however I have realised it is scheduled for the May half term. We are a male couple travelling for special birthdays and are looking to relax, enjoy our first cruise with plenty of good food and drink and take in the beauty of northern Europe. The suite I am planning to book looks to be in a quiet position of the ship and is amongst cabins which only sleep 2 so I'm not worried about that. I know about the adults only areas and see that Sky Princess is well catered for with children's facilities. I'm aware of other adults only cruises, but it's Princess that goes to the destinations we want to visit.

 

I just have a slight concern about how many children might be onboard due to the half term and whether we will be easily able to find quiet space in restaurants and common areas. We ordinarily wouldn't choose to travel during school holidays but of course cruise schedules are what they are.

 

Do you have any advice or can you offer any reassurance?

Edited September 25, 2021 by jimbo1683

[dog]

No, you have no control on who else books the same cruise as you. 
Sky Princess is a large, beautiful newer ship I was on her December 2019. The British Isles , Baltic cruises Princess offers are excellent. 
You could ask your travel agent closer to departure time how many kids or groups are on it and buy Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance if you have a problem with it 

[yamanid]

39 minutes ago, jimbo1683 said:

I mean no offence with this post...I am ready to book our Scandinavia cruise, however I have realised it is scheduled for the May half term. We are a male couple travelling for special birthdays and are looking to relax, enjoy our first cruise with plenty of good food and drink and take in the beauty of northern Europe. The suite I am planning to book looks to be in a quiet position of the ship and is amongst cabins which only sleep 2 so I'm not worried about that. I know about the adults only areas and see that Sky Princess is well catered for with children's facilities. I'm aware of other adults only cruises, but it's Princess that goes to the destinations we want to visit.

 

I just have a slight concern about how many children might be onboard due to the half term and whether we will be easily able to find quiet space in restaurants and common areas. We ordinarily wouldn't choose to travel during school holidays but of course cruise schedules are what they are.

 

Do you have any advice or can you offer any reassurance?

 

W have been on many cruises over the last 27 years and also on many school holiday cruises. Every xmas are away for a month cruising (apart from last year LOL) - so Xmas/New Year being 1 of the busiest family cruises you will get, there can be 300-400 children onboard and the only time you see them is when Santa arrives.  I would definitely NOT be concerned about kids onboard and and on the Scandinavian cruise I would not imagine that there would be lots of children  -  half term or not.  Please go and have  a FAB time.  You have nothing to be concerned about

[cruzsnooze]

I did a Mediterrean cruise during the summer one year and there were a significant number of families with children. It seems the Europeans like to do family vacations with their kids. You have no control over how many kids are on your cruise. The children have kids programs to keep them occupied during the day so you probably won't see too many around. You picked a mass market cruise line. A smaller boutique line would have a limited amount of children.  I usually stay in a suite and they all have a sofa which is a sofa bed and sleeps more then 2. Which cabin are you looking at and we can be specific.

Edited September 25, 2021 by cruzsnooze

[jimbo1683]

4 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I did a Mediterrean cruise during the summer one year and there were a significant number of families with children. It seems the Europeans like to do family vacations with their kids. You have no control over how many kids are on your cruise. The children have kids programs to keep them occupied during the day so you probably won't see too many around. You picked a mass market cruise line. A smaller boutique line would have a limited amount of children.  I usually stay in a suite and they all have a sofa which is a sofa bed and sleeps more then 2. Which cabin are you looking at and we can be specific.

Its a forward club class mini suite, one of L108/M108/M107

[cruzsnooze]

16 minutes ago, jimbo1683 said:

Its a forward club class mini suite, one of L108/M108/M107

First you need to know as a newbie that a mini suite is really a larger balcony cabin with no suite amenities. A full suite gets the amenities listed under the suite category. Full suites are designated with an S in front of the cabin number. You picked a forward facing cabin which has plus and minus'. During sailing the balcony might get locked due to wind and you may not be able to use it. It is a very large balcony and on the other ships (I've not been on the Sky) it is a solid metal railing so you can't see the ocean when seated. At night you may not be allowed to have your balcony light on since it interferes with the bridge which looks right down onto your balcony.  ALL mini suites accommodate 3 and some even 4 passengers in the sofa bed. The front of the ship has the most motion so if anyone has any motion disturbance it's a poor choice. 

 As for dinning you are in one of the general dining rooms. Based on your celebrations and what you wrote I suggest you look at a club class mini suite which has a smaller dining room with no wait time when you arrive without a reservation. There will be few if any children in the club class dining room compared to the general population dining room.

Edited September 25, 2021 by cruzsnooze

[jimbo1683]

3 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

First you need to know as a newbie that a mini suite is really a larger balcony cabin with no suite amenities. A full suite gets the amenities listed under the suite category. Full suites are designated with an S in front of the cabin number. You picked a forward facing cabin which has plus and minus'. During sailing the balcony might get locked due to wind and you may not be able to use it. It is a very large balcony and on the other ships (I've not been on the Sky) it is a solid metal railing so you can't see the ocean when seated. At night you may not be allowed to have your balcony light on since it interferes with the bridge which looks right down onto your balcony.  ALL mini suites accommodate 3 and some even 4 passengers in the sofa bed. The front of the ship has the most motion so if anyone has any motion disturbance it's a poor choice. 

 As for dinning you are in one of the general dining rooms. Based on your celebrations and what you wrote I suggest you look at a club class mini suite which has a smaller dining room with no wait time when you arrive without a reservation. There will be few if any children in the club class dining room compared to the general population dining room.

Thank you, I've done loads of research and am comfortable with this cabin type and position. These mini suites are indeed club class.

Edited September 25, 2021 by jimbo1683

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, jimbo1683 said:

Do you have any advice or can you offer any reassurance?

1st the children are normally not an issue. Over inebriated adults are louder. Wouldn't anticipate either being enough of a problem to deter me from an itinerary 

6 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

club class mini suite

Thats the best way to avoid eating near what could be as much as 5% of the ship (inadvertently did a half term out of Southampton in 2018)

Edited September 25, 2021 by Ombud

[jimbo1683]

14 minutes ago, Ombud said:

1st the children are normally not an issue. Over inebriated adults are louder. Wouldn't anticipate either being enough of a problem to deter me from an itinerary 

Thats the best way to avoid eating near what could be as much as 5% of the ship (inadvertently did a half term out of Southampton in 2018)

5% doesn't sound as bad as i imagined!

[Sea Hag]

1 hour ago, jimbo1683 said:

Thank you, I've done loads of research and am comfortable with this cabin type and position. These mini suites are indeed club class.

You made a good choice. Those are wonderful cabins, and club class is very nice to have.

 

I'd say not to worry about kids on the ship. I honestly can't remember ever being disturbed by any children on a ship. I'm sure others have had different experiences, but that's my experience.

[waltd]

 Its a great  cruise.    You will be just fine.   

[Thrak]

If you were sailing on Carnival you might have issues with children running rampant, messing with the elevators, being obnoxious, etc. (I've read reviews about these sorts of issues.) Princess has a very different clientele. I have rarely even noticed the children on our cruises. Sometimes we see them all dressed up for formal nights but they are quiet and well behaved. I'm sure there must be exceptions but we haven't encountered them. Rowdy people rarely book Princess cruises as the line doesn't have the sorts of amenities that attract them.

 

[scott4020]

Only time I had ever a problem with too many children on Princess was a Christmas cruise.

Won't do that again.

[capriccio]

I don't know if I missed the length of the cruise but in general, the longer the cruise, the fewer the kids. 

[cruzsnooze]

6 hours ago, jimbo1683 said:

Thank you, I've done loads of research and am comfortable with this cabin type and position. These mini suites are indeed club class.

I missed that it was a club class. You will enjoy it. Suggest you check out the thermal spa for relaxation. If the Sky has the thermal suite with the hot tile beds they are fabulous. 

[Coral]

In the US - many colleges get out in early to mid-May with K-12 getting out end of May to end of June.

 

I don't think you will have many kids from the US at the time you are going. I don't know Europe's scheduling.