So many kids

[IAMGPW]

I am just wondering if all Royal cruises are packed with children.  I have nothing against them, but, a lot of parents were busy drinking and not watching their kids.  Also, the pool was FULL of children.  This was two weeks ago and it wasn't even a school break.

 

Thank you.

[doghog]

3 minutes ago, IAMGPW said:

I am just wondering if all Royal cruises are packed with children.  I have nothing against them, but, a lot of parents were busy drinking and not watching their kids.  Also, the pool was FULL of children.  This was two weeks ago and it wasn't even a school break.

 

Thank you.

This wouldn't be happening if the late and great W.C. Fields was in charge. 

[lv2cruisgrl]

IT depends on when you go and which ship.  We did Wonder of the Seas last week of April 2023 and it wasn't bad.

[A&L_Ont]

Plan for kids, unless you are on Virgin. Trans-Atlantics have less of them, smaller ships and longer cruises but that’s no guarantee.

 

All I can say is expect the worse, and hope for the best. 

[gumshoe958]

Welcome to the new normal.

 

Since Covid millions more kids are home-schooled, and more and more parents think nothing of taking their kids out of school to go on vacation when it’s cheaper.

 

And with Royal actively marketing itself as a family friendly line, if you want fewer kids you’re better off sailing with an ‘older’ line like Celebrity or Princess, or one that bans kids altogether like Virgin.

[lifes-a-beach]

Frankly, kids are better than drunks.  We just got off a Carnival cruise and OMG the drunks.  There was a fight in the piano bar.  The PIANO BAR!  I'll take some noisy kids any day.  Of course, YMMV.

[smokeybandit]

If you don't want to sail with kids, don't sail a family cruise line.

[firefly333]

6 minutes ago, lifes-a-beach said:

Frankly, kids are better than drunks.  We just got off a Carnival cruise and OMG the drunks.  There was a fight in the piano bar.  The PIANO BAR!  I'll take some noisy kids any day.  Of course, YMMV.

And my 14 day carnival cruise had 19 kids. Longer cruises have almost no kids. No fights. 

[alfaeric]

There are 50 kids on this 12 day sailing. Can’t even tell they are around. 
 

Then again, you can’t hear a thing in the Schooner Bar, as it’s overfull with people who have to yell thanks to the age of their sailing friends. 
 

I miss the kids this week. 

[SUgwoz]

Saw Viking commercial the other day, it started off by saying No kids, No casino, also seemed to emphasize showing passengers 50+.  A lot of cruise line options to avoid kids.  

[pyrateslife4me84]

Buy a yacht. 

[Thisguylikestocruise]

1 hour ago, IAMGPW said:

I am just wondering if all Royal cruises are packed with children.  I have nothing against them, but, a lot of parents were busy drinking and not watching their kids.  Also, the pool was FULL of children.  This was two weeks ago and it wasn't even a school break.

 

Thank you.

Same floating daycare I experienced on Wonder recently. February 2023 it was relaxing. Not sure what happened on the cruise two weeks ago. Mainly on sea days. It was taken over by unsupervised kids under 10. Sprinting barefoot on deck 15, came full speed around a corner outside the WJ and knocked a drink from my hand. Kept running. Elevators had all buttons pushed and kids ran off laughing. 

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, IAMGPW said:

I am just wondering if all Royal cruises are packed with children.  I have nothing against them, but, a lot of parents were busy drinking and not watching their kids.  Also, the pool was FULL of children.  This was two weeks ago and it wasn't even a school break.

 

Thank you.

How long was your cruise, and in what part of the world?  Longer cruises (and in certain parts of the world) typically have fewer kids.

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Plan for kids, unless you are on Virgin. Trans-Atlantics have less of them, smaller ships and longer cruises but that’s no guarantee.

 

All I can say is expect the worse, and hope for the best. 

 

We sail on Anthem (well it will be Odyssey from now on) twice a year out of Bayonne NJ.. one of which is on Thanksgiving with almost 1400 kids on board, and adult areas are adult areas. For example Solarium.

Edited February 28 by Tatka

[Twenty2020]

1 hour ago, IAMGPW said:

I am just wondering if all Royal cruises are packed with children.  I have nothing against them, but, a lot of parents were busy drinking and not watching their kids.  Also, the pool was FULL of children.  This was two weeks ago and it wasn't even a school break.

 

Thank you.

 

Wasn't two weeks ago President's day week? 

 

I would anticipate a lot of kids to now be the norm on most RC sailings, with exception of the older smaller ships and long itinerary.

 

Suggest looking at other lines as Royal is now THE family cruise line. 

Edited February 28 by Twenty2020

[Engineroom Snipe]

The words that strike fear into the hearts of adults who might want a more "tranquil, private moment cruise", booked that moment only to find after they booked that 'Royal' change the cruise to

 

'Kids Sail Free',

 

😱

[Mum2Mercury]

We only sail in the fall, and we share the ship with relatively few children and teens.  

[Tlbecker1]

1 hour ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

Same floating daycare I experienced on Wonder recently. February 2023 it was relaxing. Not sure what happened on the cruise two weeks ago. Mainly on sea days. It was taken over by unsupervised kids under 10. Sprinting barefoot on deck 15, came full speed around a corner outside the WJ and knocked a drink from my hand. Kept running. Elevators had all buttons pushed and kids ran off laughing. 

This sounds like the Wonder cruise that I experienced a couple of weeks ago.  It wasn’t relaxing at all.  

[toxicfairy]

Sadly we can only cruise in the summer because of my job. I might as well be cruising the halls of my school🤣

We have done a cruise in Feb but we felt more rushed because I only had off for a long weekend. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We only sail in the fall, and we share the ship with relatively few children and teens.  

One must anticipate children when school is out and holiday weeks.

 

To do otherwise is to stick one's head in the sand and complain about what you see when you pull your head out.

 

To expect an adult only cruise on Royal is to doom your vacation to disaster if it is critical to the vacation experience.

 

You know the time that is best for what you want.

 

[Armac]

Just off Odyssey on Sunday there was 1150 kids on board. Diamond concierge said that number increases for the next few of weeks. Seemed to be lots of multi generational families. Did not affect our cruise, there was lots of stuff to keep the kids occupied. It was an eye opener for us as we usually do longer cruises on older ships. We enjoyed Odyssey and would go on her again, maybe a transatlantic.       

[livetravelcruise07]

I think it really depends on the itinerary as well. We went on an Alaskan cruise last September and there were barely any kids on that sailing. We are wondering how it'll be on our Mediterranean cruise coming up, but from what I have heard those sailings don't have many kids on them. 

[leaveitallbehind]

6 hours ago, lifes-a-beach said:

We just got off a Carnival cruise and OMG the drunks.  There was a fight in the piano bar.  The PIANO BAR! 

Well there's your answer....LOL

[leaveitallbehind]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

And my 14 day carnival cruise had 19 kids. Longer cruises have almost no kids.

...which is true of virtually any cruise line - even those where families with kids are their primary demographics.  

[cr2000]

6 hours ago, IAMGPW said:

I am just wondering if all Royal cruises are packed with children.  I have nothing against them, but, a lot of parents were busy drinking and not watching their kids.  Also, the pool was FULL of children.  This was two weeks ago and it wasn't even a school break.

 

Thank you.

 

It's a family cruise line, singles or couples without kids ARE NOT the target demographic. Royal does not care about your experience as the majority of income derived from sailings is from family passengers. You just have to accept it and move on, don't complain about it.