What's the best cruiseline for a couple that wants to avoid lots of children?

Question

We're looking for a moderately priced cruise with excellent food and entertainment but without lots of screaming children. Which line is best?

Answer 1

I always go when the kids are in school, nothing against kids, but I dont want to spend my vacation with them--

Princess is great in late Aug, sept, oct, nov, and early dec.

If you go in the summer on any cruise line except maybe a 6 star(yachts of Seabourne, Crystal) you will find kids everywhere-the two main kid friendly ones are Carnival and RC.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I dont think you can get both moderatley priced and childless. The higher end cruises tend to have less kids. What I suggest is going during school time when less kids are available to vacation. Also, the longer the crusie the less kids. I know youve taken heat with this but I have kids and when I vacation without them, the absolutely last thing I want to deal with is someone else's screaming kids. Id suggest April or May, or again in late September or October. Good luck and Have fun.

Answer 3

My husband and I went on Norwegian.  We rarely saw any children, they have a program for them in a separate area of the ship.  Trust me, I love kids, I'm a daycare site coordinator, but when relaxing, it's nice to have peace and quiet.

Answer 4

I would recommend Royal Caribbean.  I wouldn't go with Carnival because its known for having the best kids program, so most families choose them for that reason

Answer 5

Celebrity or Holland America.  

Go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards" and then the different cruise lines to get an idea of what the different lines are like.  Also try "Reviews" and then go to the pro and past passenger reviews.

Those two cruises have good food but the entertainment can leave something to be desired; however, they would both be "laid back" cruises.

Princess might be another choice.

To avoid kids, don't cruise during the summer, over Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Year or Easter/Spring break.

Answer 6

There are two ways to avoid having a lot of kids on board.  First, stay away from Disney and Carnival.  Then most cruises going to the Caribbean tend to have more kids than those going to places like Alaska, Panama Canal, New England/Canada, and the Mediterranean.  Also cruises longer than 7 days, like 12 to 14 days, generally have fewer if any kids.  We did a cruise to the Baltic a couple years ago and there were not more than about a dozen kids among the 2500 passengers.  It was the same with our cruises to Alaska, Panama, and New England/Canada.

Remember also that all of the cruise lines have kids' programs with professionally trained staff people who run kids programs all day on the ships.  Most ships have special areas for the kids and kids and families know that these areas are available and use them.  They will have play areas and special pools that they can use.  Then too, some ships have adults only pool and hot tub areas.

Good moderately priced cruises would be on Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian.  I have been on all of these lines, but my personal preference is Royal Caribbean,  Celebrity, and Princess and they do cater to a more mature passengers and generally have fewer kids on board.  The line which will have the oldest passengers is Holland America.  Its a great line and caters to senior citizens mostly but does have passengers of all ages, just not many.

My recommendation, Celebrity, Princess or Royal Caribbean, pretty much in that order.

Answer 7

I think Royal Caribbean is the one of the best lines, however, it's more the time of year that you go that will influence the number of kids that are on board. There have been kids on all the cruises I have been on, but the staff has so many planned activities and kids-only places, that you really are never bothered by screaming kids. Another good place to go is cruisecritic.com  They have  anything and everything  you would ever need to know about each and every ship on all the different cruise lines.  Then, when you decide what line and ship you'll be on, go back and join the forum for your cruise.  You will meet many of the other people that will be on your ship at the same time. I made so many friends before we even were on the ship.  They also sponser the "Meet and Mingle" party on board.  Now all you have to do is decide where you want to cruise to, and how long your cruise will be.. I know you will find the perfect cruise.  Have fun

Answer 8

a friend of mine uses Costa for that very reason, Princess would be good too

Answer 9

http://www.adultonlycruise.net/

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cf...

Answer 10

YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK OUT PRINCESS OR HOLLAND AMERICA.  EVERY CRUISE LINE DOES HAVE CHILDREN ON BOARD BUT I HAVE NEVER  BEEN ON A CRUISE THAT HAS SCREAMING CHILDREN RUNNING AROUND. LOOK AROUND FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WEB

Answer 11

If you go when the little rug rats are in school, you will encounter very few kids. I have found that the higher priced cruises such as Princess(the prices are not bad), have far less kids then Disney or Carnival. Princess has top notch food, entertainment, cabins, and staff. I've been on 8 Princess cruises. Never had any trouble what so ever.

Answer 12

I would say the Cunnard line.but you can check at vacationstogo.com...Its a good site overall to check things like that. Shop for price at all online site, they do vary.

Answer 13

Celebrity cruise to Alaska.

I saw zero children.

Answer 14

check with your travel agent for the answer your looking for, celebrity is my choice. better food also

Answer 15

cruise.com you can break down the ships for what you want.

Answer 16

Time of year and location are two factors to be considered. Many location have excellent cruises and moderately priced.

Most ships have all types of enterainment and a big choice when it comes to food. Have you considered a cruise to Alaska in May or Sept. ? Excellent scenery, people from all over the world, and everything else you want. I have been on 22 cruises and there will always be afew children seems fewer to Alaska in these 2 months. Whatever you decide hope you enjoy your cruise.

Answer 17

Go on Holland America, it is a little more expenisve, but there wont be many kids.

Answer 18

Given the parameters you have set, I would suggest Holland America Line (HAL) and/or Celebrity.

The lines to stay away from are Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.  Even during the school year these family friendly ships will have 100 to 150 children on them (even more for Disney).  During the school year the number of children on these ships can approach 1000.  These are the three star lines.

HAL and Celebrity are four star lines and cost only a little more than the three star lines (the five star lines are about double what the three star lines cost).  HAL and Celebrity are not as family friendly, meaning that there are less facilities dedicated to children on these ships (for example, no water slides and no rock climbing walls).  In fact, while school is in session these ships might not have any school aged children on them at all.  Usually these ships only have the children's counselors on them during traditional school vacations.

Another way to avoid children is to take a ten night or longer cruise.  Basically the longer the cruise, the less children you will find.

Where you cruise will also be a factor.  An Alaskan cruise or a transatlantic cruise will have less kids than a Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise.

Answer 19

Stay away from the cheaper cruises and check the school holidays before going.  Carnival is full of kids.  RCC has kids but does a good job at keeping them in the children's areas.  I would go for Celebrity or one of the upper end cruises to avoid the most kids.  Of course don't go on Disney but I don't think you would be that stupid.  I think RCCL is just fine and have never been surrounded by kids on any of my cruises with them.

Answer 20

I have never had a problem on Royal Caribbean with kids. The last one I went on a girl was celebrating her (gonna butcher this spelling) quinceanera and there were about 20 kids just from that party and all very well behaved and never got in the way. I saw them everywhere because there were so many of them but all very well behaved. Even the younger children were respectful.. holding elevator doors for people to get on. I think most kids are just so in awe of a ship that big they dont get too cranky. lol.

Answer 21

Avoid Disney, and try to schedule your cruise during the school year and you should be pretty well set.

There are adult-only cruises, but they are normally themed for specific groups (g*y cruises, singles, etc.)

Another way to avoid children is to take a longer cruise. Parents will rarely pull their children out of school for 2 weeks for a vacation, so the 10-day cruises and longer are typically not crowded with children.

My favorite cruise lines in the moderately priced category are Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, and we’ve been on 7 cruises. We’re leaving for our 8th at the end of this week!

Answer 22

My experience is to select a more expensive, higher rated  cruise line. Many people don't want to spend the money on a cruise that children won't appreciate or isn't geared toward the little ones.

Answer 23

try princess, and try to go during the time of year that they would be in school, so the best time to avoid them is summer easter break and xmas break, crusing is great fun, for more advise go to cruisecritic.com

Answer 24

I have been on Royal Caribbean 5 times and although they are children on there.  I rarely ever seen any (especially on the higher priced ones) and the times you did see them, they were not unruly.  They have a kids club and do a good job of keeping the kids occupied and out of the way I guess.  Sometimes I didn't even realize that they were that many kids on the ship until they were showing the movie the last day of the cruise highlights.  Of course you may encounter a parent that won't let their kid participate, but that has never happened to me.

Answer 25

Costa cruise line dont have many children and a very good ship. Royal, Carnival for sure stay away from, Celebrity I dont like whats so ever, thats my opinion though

Check out some good sites:

http://www.vacationsnbeyond.com

http://www.cruisecritic.com