Kids - More Out of Control???

[ABoatNerd]

:rolleyes:

Hello CruiseCrazies:

A number of work mates are just back in the office having just come back from cruises on RCL.

They reported the cruise experience was reduced due to the negative impact of out of control kids (I call them "free range kids" - I travel generally Crystal, Oceania and sometimes Celebrity to avoid them).

Have people:

a) Noticed more out of control kids than previous years?

b) Experienced a "loss of use" of hot tubs, pools etc ?

RCL, in particular, have decided to "load up" on the nuclear family target market, but now have lost my two work mates as future clients (they are moving to Celebrity).

I for one do not put up with any human being (of any age) being disruptive. I have personally tripped a number of "heathens" running in the halls at 12 midnight (sticking the leg out the door when they come your way does wonders!!!!). I have also grabbed more than one shrieking kid running around my chair and shoved them towards their stupid parents with a stiff warning to keep their "monsters" out of my space.

My philosophy is that if the "reasonable and respectful" people do not fight back the "riff raff" will take over. This approach takes guts and fortitude but generally results in thanks from the related people in the area who were simply waiting for a leader to take control.

What do people think?

ABoatNerd

[Mebert]

I believe in reporting things because I'm a big guy.

I make sure I don't put my hands on anyone because things get a little fuzzy when its time to explain why one has put their hands on somebody else's child.

I think people should have major control of their children and because of the nature of the excursion, young people should be supervised for their own safety.

In the five cruises that I've taken, I've only had one minor problem with with a teenaged girl that was blocking the path of the corridor. She refused to move after I said excuse me two or three times. Her companions took care of the problem for me. This showed me that there were a great deal of excellently behaved young people on the ship. Her companions may have saved her life.

[schatje]

I personally choose to be with kids everyday helping out the family etc. but being with children on my vacation is not a vacation for me so we book cruises during the first or second week of Dec so we are not as likely to have this problem. This time is for Hubby and me :>)

[Lisa63]

I'm noticing more out-of-control kids and invisible parents everywhere, not just on cruise ships.

[Suzila]

I personally enjoy being around kids...I've had two of my own, although they are both now grown. We did take numerous cruises with them, but I like to think they knew how to behave in public.

If a child was annoying me, I'd certainly speak to the parents about their behavior, and if that didn't work, I'd resort to reporting them to one of the cruise staff. Better to allow them to handle an unruly passenger when the parents won't take responsibility.

I'd never grab a child myself, nor would I stick my foot out the door, trip them, and possibly hurt them when they fell. I don't consider that being reasonable, nor respectful. They are children and need to be taught the correct way to behave in public. Tripping them doesn't teach them anything. I'd be willing to bet they'd pull themselves up, and continue running through the hallway.

If you travel during the time of year when kids would be out of school, you have to expect to put up with them on a vacation. Hubby and I took one 11 day cruise to the Panama Canal in an April...school was still in session and there were no kids on the ship, except for the captain's. The average age of the cruisers were 70, and we are in our 50's. Truthfully, we enjoy our cruises WITH children on board.

Sue

[sailinglisa]

Yes, I have had unruly children and unresponsive parents reduce the enjoyment of my cruise. Out of 12 cruises it happened twice and the first time when the parents caught the kids doing what they were doing the behavior stopped immediately and did not reoccure. The second time, well, let's just say that these parents were in their own little world and thought rules and dining times did not apply to them. I personally have decided that I am taking a digital camera with me everywhere and will get photographic evidence of what they are doing and then take that evidence to Security - and I will follow up to make sure that things have been handled. And know that I will definitely try to get facial shots of the miscreants - adult or child!

Now, in no way am I talking about kids being kids...being a little loud, running at times and enjoying life.....I am talking about destructive behavior, behavior that puts other passengers at risk and behavior that disrupts the service in dining or other venues that affect other passengers.

[boba]

:shocked: :shocked: Aboatnerd, I hope you're kidding about the way you treat kids, unruly or not. Any "monster" that would trip a kid, grab a kid, or shove a kid sounds like a "heathen" themselves, and the sort of "riff raff" I'd rather not cruise with.

[DaCruzNut]

With cruise lines pushing the "family vacation" line, there are more children on ships and, well, kids will be kids.... Unfortunately, because they are on vacation, parents tend to shirk off their responsibilities and let the little monsters run wild.

I have used some unique methods to get back at these irresponsible parents, believing that they are more responsible for their children's actions than the children are.

On one cruise, there were two pre-teen kids that thought the hot tub was a splash pool, felt that yelling and screaming were a way of communication and who were, generally, obnoxious. I waited for the parents to get into the hot tb and found four kids and gave them $5.00 each to join them and act as badly as the 2 brats. When to parents started to say something to the 4 kids I had paid, I simply stood up for them and said, "Oh, leave them alone. Their just having fun, like those 2 little brats over there, pointing to the couples children as if I didn't know who they belonged to...."

[JoeyandDavid]

We tried Carnival too many party people.

We tried HAL too many young people cussing like they were sailors and running the halls.

Now we booking Celebrity.

For every unruly child there has to be at least one unruly adult parent… kids behave the way they were taught!.. Or has that changed too?

[hamster92256]

After reading the posts on this subject I'll put in my 2 cents worth. Kids will be kids no matter what, they will act the way their parents taught them to while in public. You will have the occassional child who will not take direction and will always cause trouble, then there is the perfectly behaved child that has the wild parents and they can be worse than the kids because they should know better.

As for being on vacation and having to deal with them, if you don't want to be around kids(good or bad) book when school is in session, try adults only cruises or resorts, or just stay at home(not always the preferred option).

When ever I see kids on vacation (or anywhere else) I try and think about what I was actually like at that age and how I behaved, but then again I was the perfect child and never did anything wrong :rolleyes: :rolleyes: , at least that is what I like to say now that everyone is old enough where they don't or can't remember what I was like. Although my mother who's memory is as sharp as can be likes to tell my kids exactly what I was like, Thank goodness she never heard half the stories.