It is summertime and the kids are back...

[Mapleleafforever]

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

I thought the Solarium was a 16 and up venue? Has that changed? 

Yup, and that's my point. Was no fault of my daughter that she was in there, it was my Dad who brought her in. Not one person, staff included said anything apparently but that's not the point. We'd rather just not have any problems. 

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Yeah,  I get that but the initial feeling of being "horrified" baffles me. I mean, Royal advertises itself as the family friendly line, people should be expecting to see lots of kids onboard. 

That word was based on the fact that I read "horror stories" about kids and young adults on cruises. My roll call participants all thought that schools would still be in session.  Until my job ended two years ago, I always worked through the summer, so all of our cruises were at other times.   RC Baltimore cruises have always been known as Senior cruises the rest of the year.  ("Don't take your kids on Enchantment; there's nothing at all for them to do.")   In our 15+ cruises from Baltimore, we had never seen more than six children.

Would the word Surprised have been less hurtful?

[baelor]

21 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Our opinion has always been that the kids congregate in areas that we don't so it's not that big of a deal. We never go to the main pools, only the Solarium. We don't go on the water slides. We spend time in the DL most evenings before dinner (yes kids are allowed but we don't find many causing trouble there).

Is this really a different take, though?  It seems to just be that kids are not a problem if you avoid them via the Solarium and generally inaccessible areas like the DL.  Well, sure, I guess, but that is also tautological.  That is something quite different from saying that children are well behaved (if anything, it suggests the opposite).

[baelor]

19 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

In MDR we were seated with two 29-year-old men for the duration.  They were great!  Smart, with wide-ranging interests and knowledge, and excellent social skills. 

What were you expecting lol?  Those are grown-ass adults.

[vjmatty]

37 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

That word was based on the fact that I read "horror stories" about kids and young adults on cruises. My roll call participants all thought that schools would still be in session.  Until my job ended two years ago, I always worked through the summer, so all of our cruises were at other times.   RC Baltimore cruises have always been known as Senior cruises the rest of the year.  ("Don't take your kids on Enchantment; there's nothing at all for them to do.")   In our 15+ cruises from Baltimore, we had never seen more than six children.

Would the word Surprised have been less hurtful?

 

Thank you for clarifying this.... and no I don't think using "surprised" would have helped, especially if there are people who look for offense even when the comment is not directed at them or their offspring.

[jstuartys]

My kids and I will happily be cruising this summer.  My kids are too young to go off on their own, so they'll be safely by our sides or in Adventure Ocean.  But, they will probably be too loud at times and they will probably try to get on an elevator they shouldn't and they may even try to cut in line because my 8 year old sometimes can't tell his head from a hole in the ground.  We will make them apologize or we will apologize for them, but they are kids.   That's life and we were all kids once... unless you were born at age 18, and if that's the case, I feel sorry for your momma.

 

 

[Mapleleafforever]

54 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

That word was based on the fact that I read "horror stories" about kids and young adults on cruises. My roll call participants all thought that schools would still be in session.  Until my job ended two years ago, I always worked through the summer, so all of our cruises were at other times.   RC Baltimore cruises have always been known as Senior cruises the rest of the year.  ("Don't take your kids on Enchantment; there's nothing at all for them to do.")   In our 15+ cruises from Baltimore, we had never seen more than six children.

Would the word Surprised have been less hurtful?

Still doesn't make sense to me but that's completely ok. 

[OCSC Mike]

47 minutes ago, baelor said:

Is this really a different take, though?  It seems to just be that kids are not a problem if you avoid them via the Solarium and generally inaccessible areas like the DL.  Well, sure, I guess, but that is also tautological.  That is something quite different from saying that children are well behaved (if anything, it suggests the opposite).

 

I'm not suggesting anything about their behavior whatsoever. I'm saying the increased amount of them being present on the ship does not affect where we personally spend a lot of our time. We don't go to the Solarium to avoid kids, we go there b/c it's quiet and I don't care to spend time in the sun and the Solarium has lots of shady spots where I can chill while my wife gets some sun nearby. We go to the DL for the snacks and previously for the open bar. We don't go on the water slides b/c I have no interest in water slides.

 

You've got the causation wrong. We're not avoiding kids, our interests onboard just do not happen to closely match up with the interests of children.

 

FWIW, when spending time in more common areas like the promenade, hallways, WJ, etc., I can't remember once thinking "damn, this cruise is awful b/c there are so many poorly behaved children." Naturally there are isolated incidents, but those are no worse than when a woman was so drunk in the DL one night she was basically asked to leave.

 

If others are bothered by a large amount of children on board, so be it. I'm not interested in judging anyone and I'm glad those people are able to sail at other times of the year if that makes their cruises more enjoyable.

[baelor]

15 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

You've got the causation wrong.

I was probably unclear; I was not meaning to suggest that you are actively avoiding kids.  It just seems a bit tautological to say that you do not notice differences in numbers of kids given that you choose to spend time where kids are not allowed (Solarium) or is essentially a gated neighborhood (DL lounge).  

[Mapleleafforever]

40 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 

Thank you for clarifying this.... and no I don't think using "surprised" would have helped, especially if there are people who look for offense even when the comment is not directed at them or their offspring.

LOL. One person's looking for offence is another person's calling out overly dramatic hysterics. 

 

 

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

I still believe adults act worse than kids on cruises.

Sometimes. Not all kids and not all adults. Our last experience. We did a B2B cruise on the Explorer 13 and 20 March 2022. The 20 March leg was a totally different experience than the 13 March leg due to adults and kids. The 20 March leg had a lot of rude, loud, yelling, disrespectful, inconsiderate kids and adults thru out the ship.  Almost like it was their first time in public and on a cruise. IMO, this type of behavior is passed down by lead or follow by example.  We have done a lot of B2B cruises out of SJ during mid March to early April and this was by far the worst based on what I described.  It was hard to adjust accordingly when it is constant.  BTW, my opinion was shared by others for that specific sailing on the ship and here on CC. 

[Mapleleafforever]

2 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Sometimes. Not all kids and not all adults. Our last experience. We did a B2B cruise on the Explorer 13 and 20 March 2022. The 20 March leg was a totally different experience than the 13 March leg due to adults and kids. The 20 March leg had a lot of rude, loud, yelling, disrespectful, inconsiderate kids and adults thru out the ship.  Almost like it was their first time in public and on a cruise. IMO, this type of behavior is passed down by lead or follow by example.  We have done a lot of B2B cruises out of SJ during mid March to early April and this was by far the worst based on what I described.  It was hard to adjust accordingly when it is constant.  BTW, my opinion was shared by others for that specific sailing on the ship and here on CC. 

Yes, I agree completely not all kids and not all adults. 

[hazeleyes46]

1 hour ago, baelor said:

Is this really a different take, though?  It seems to just be that kids are not a problem if you avoid them via the Solarium and generally inaccessible areas like the DL.  Well, sure, I guess, but that is also tautological.  That is something quite different from saying that children are well behaved (if anything, it suggests the opposite).

16 is STILL considered a kid to me and they can be worse at this age with the fooling around, annoying people.

[OCSC Mike]

36 minutes ago, baelor said:

I was probably unclear; I was not meaning to suggest that you are actively avoiding kids.  It just seems a bit tautological to say that you do not notice differences in numbers of kids given that you choose to spend time where kids are not allowed (Solarium) or is essentially a gated neighborhood (DL lounge).  

Fair enough on the avoidance part, but it's not like we are never around kids. I notice there are a lot of them when around the rest of the ship and it doesn't have much, if any, impact on my enjoyment.

Edited June 14, 2022 by OCSC Mike

[life is to be happy]

21 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Oh my.   Who expected one would see kids on a family cruise line?  And in the summer no less.........

 

M

I know fully agree with you ....and them having fun with new friends they meet....

I love hearing kids having fun... best sound ever

 

 

 

[life is to be happy]

20 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

These threads are hilarious. I can understand people being annoyed by seeing anyone of any age displaying a lack of manners but I can never understand people being unhappy just to see children onboard. This forum can be like something from the Victorian period.  

absolutely agree... kids/teens deserve a holiday too and they are allowed to have fun and enjoy themselves... teen fun is not the same as adult fun and  they are allowed to be happy whilst on holiday

[rudeney]

4 minutes ago, life is to be happy said:

I know fully agree with you ....and them having fun with new friends they meet....

I love hearing kids having fun... best sound ever

 

 

 

 

 

But there is a time and a place for everything.  I also enjoy hearing kids playing at pools, playgrounds, ball parks, even the few that come out on our neighborhood street.  What I don't want is to have kids running up and down stairs and hallways and elevators on a cruise ship.  Or trying to enjoy a nice meal with kids using their "outside" voices and running around the dining room playing chase.  Even a screaming toddler in a restaurant is not acceptable - the parents need to remove the child from the are until they calm down.

[life is to be happy]

8 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

 

But there is a time and a place for everything.  I also enjoy hearing kids playing at pools, playgrounds, ball parks, even the few that come out on our neighborhood street.  What I don't want is to have kids running up and down stairs and hallways and elevators on a cruise ship.  Or trying to enjoy a nice meal with kids using their "outside" voices and running around the dining room playing chase.  Even a screaming toddler in a restaurant is not acceptable - the parents need to remove the child from the are until they calm down.

I do agree with children / teens not being rude or disrespectful but what I was saying is that as long as they are not doing so or hurting anyone. I just try to relax on holiday and not let kids being loud annoy me... but yes early early morning running up corridors is disrespectful. Toddlers... well that is what toddlers do sometimes... they do it to annoy the parents so just think how the parents are feeling at that time ... lol ... im sure most parents will have been in that situation ....our daughter is a teen so we dont need to worry about tantrums .lol.... well not toddler ones anyway 

[Mapleleafforever]

31 minutes ago, life is to be happy said:

absolutely agree... kids/teens deserve a holiday too and they are allowed to have fun and enjoy themselves... teen fun is not the same as adult fun and  they are allowed to be happy whilst on holiday

Especially after the past 2 years that they've had. 

[hazeleyes46]

19 minutes ago, life is to be happy said:

I do agree with children / teens not being rude or disrespectful but what I was saying is that as long as they are not doing so or hurting anyone. I just try to relax on holiday and not let kids being loud annoy me... but yes early early morning running up corridors is disrespectful. Toddlers... well that is what toddlers do sometimes... they do it to annoy the parents so just think how the parents are feeling at that time ... lol ... im sure most parents will have been in that situation ....our daughter is a teen so we dont need to worry about tantrums .lol.... well not toddler ones anyway 

Sometimes teen tantrums are worse than toddlers lol

[hazeleyes46]

13 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Especially after the past 2 years that they've had. 

How long are we going to be able to say this though before it turns into just kids being brats? Most kids outside of school were with their friends this entire time. I get the online school though as my kids did horribly but outside of that, life was pretty normal.

[LorraineP]

37 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

 

But there is a time and a place for everything.  I also enjoy hearing kids playing at pools, playgrounds, ball parks, even the few that come out on our neighborhood street.  What I don't want is to have kids running up and down stairs and hallways and elevators on a cruise ship.  Or trying to enjoy a nice meal with kids using their "outside" voices and running around the dining room playing chase.  Even a screaming toddler in a restaurant is not acceptable - the parents need to remove the child from the are until they calm down.

Strongly agree with you. 

[Blauelini]

6 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

As a parent of 2 young kids I agree 100%. It's gonna take some time though as they have all just been set back over 2 years in their development. It takes a village.......and that village needs to have some patience and empathy. 

Takes a village for what? Their your kids, your problem, not mine. 

[hazeleyes46]

Just now, Blauelini said:

Takes a village for what? Their your kids, your problem, not mine. 

Agreed, the village should not be other vacationers having to watch your children. That pertains more to people who help raise your children on an everyday basis, not strangers trying to enjoy their time off. Time off they might not have had for years.

[Mapleleafforever]

1 minute ago, Blauelini said:

Takes a village for what? Their your kids, your problem, not mine. 

Not once did I mention kids are a "problem" but thanks for your input, much appreciated. Royal doesn't believe they're a problem either thankfully.