I obviously love kids since I'm an elementary school teacher but when I go on vacation I try to go places where I don't feel like I'm doing recess duty when I'm trying to relax by the pool. I realize that Carnival is a very family oriented cruise and people that I know who've gone on Carnival to the Carribean have found there to be a lot of children on board (more so than other lines).
Have people found the European cruies on Carnival to also have multitudes of kids or to they tend to be a more adult crowd?
I'd love to be able to afford the Crystal Serenity...but, as I mentioned before, I'm a teacher. My husband and I are looking for something in a lower price range and Carnival seems to offer the best itinerary for the price.
Since your Vacation is Prolly the same time as the Kids Vacation.. Is a little hard to say. I would put my best bet on Carnival for the college Spring Break. Not many Families, and is a little raucus but nothing too outrageous. You might enjoy it.
Obviously as a Teacher you love Kids. But I don't like other People's Kids running around un-supervised either. You need a Vacation like everyone else in My Opinion.
While its true that Carnival attracts more families then some of the other lines, I'm not so sure you will have a problem. The cruise staff tends to have enough kid activities running to keep them busy. My wife is a teacher also and we tend to cruise during school breaks. Our last cruise on the Conquest had a reported 1200 passengers under the age of 18 on board. But you would not have noticed. I think I saw one family who may have needed to set more boundaries for their children, but that's about it. Camp Carnival keeps them busy. True, they may be in the pool, but there are multiple sun bathing decks around the pools and ship and you don't have to be sitting so close to the pool as to be bothered by any kids swimming in them.
Royal Carribean also attracts families, so that is no option. NCL gives teachers a discount (not much but its something, but our first cruise on them is coming up, so I can't give you a report on # of kids. But I imagine its the same story there too.
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================================================== ========== Carnival Cruise Lines:
Fantasy 90, Celebration 95, Victory 05, Conquest 05, Spirit 6/06, Freedom 6/08, Holiday 7/08, Victory 6/09, Valor 9/09, Dream 6/10, Splendor 8/10,Conquest 8/11,Magic 11/11,Triumph 4/12,Spirit 7/12,Freedom 11/12, Triumph 2/13 - The fire cruise
NCL Dream October 2006, RCCL Mariner OTS June 2007
Originally posted by LCos:
I'd love to be able to afford the Crystal Serenity...but, as I mentioned before, I'm a teacher. My husband and I are looking for something in a lower price range and Carnival seems to offer the best itinerary for the price.
Yes, Crystal is on the "higher end" of the spectrum. However, you need to consider another set of ships in the "Carnival family" - Holland America. HAL caters to an older crowd with fewer children, and in my experience, those that are on board tend to be well behaved. They run "specials" all the time that could prove advantageous to a school teacher.
Then there is Princess (Penny3333, where are you?) - I just received an offer that is outrageously INexpensive (I don't like to use the word cheap)! AMAZING PACIFIC PANAMA CANAL CRUISE — 19 Days from $1,399* (the "*" indicates an inside cabin) but a oceanview cabins are from $1,699. At $1,399, the per deim is $80 per day!
on my cruise I barely noticed any kids or any other people for that matter. I cruised Carnival and again, I went in February. I took my teenage and young adult children but we never seemed to see the same people twice while walking the decks. My kids took their homework with them and didn't even have problems getting the work done and keeping up their grades. I would think during spring breaks you may see more people
I want to also vouch for Camp Carnival they do a great job. Our Friends took their 7 year old and He had a great time. During summer there are going to be more Families on vacation. When school is in will be less..no brainer. I have never seen a recess type moment with the kids, usually just a few what I call brats running wild. The lido pool where the slide is has the most kids. The aft lido has a smaller pool on most Carnival ships and a wonderful un-obstructed ocean view. Is much quieter and is a nice place for reading, relaxing and catching rays and views of all kinds As Jim C. said there are multiple sun decks. I always enjoy looking at the ocean more than the pool anyway.
As ChucksOK stated, Princess is a wonderful alternative. While there are children on board, you really don't notice them that much. Depending on the time of year you cruise and the length of the cruise, greatly increases/decreases the number of children. Princess's prices are comparable to Carnival, Royal and NCL. Their ships are immaculate, the service has always been impeccable, and the food is great. We tend to do 10-14 day cruises which typically have less children. The only time I've noticed them is in the buffet or playing on the elevators. Princess has a children's program as well that keeps them busy. I'm sure Costa will be full of children on our Christmas cruise, but since I work at a university, we get that week off without having to use vacation (my hubby works for Boeing). We've been on Carnival, NCL, RCI, HAL, Costa, and Princess. To me, Princess is the best, so far. Best wishes on your cruise!
As Jim C. said there are multiple sun decks. I always enjoy looking at the ocean more than the pool anyway.
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