Party Ship?

[jacknsally19]

How much of a party ship is RCCL? We are thinking of doing a European Cruise.... and I suspect European cruises are focused more on the culture / ports / etc. However, my husband is a bit concerned that there might be too much of a focus on partying, drinking versus our experiences on DCL.

Let me be clear - we totally drink and our fine with it being part of the experience.... we just aren't looking for a hard core party atmosphere. I have spoken to others that have had experiences on NCL & Carnival where people were kind of sloppy drunks in front of their kids and it made them uncomfortable.

 

[Mpadovani2]

In my experience of over 30 cruises and all companies, the amount of partying is usually linked to the length and date of the sailing and not as much the ship or company. The shorter the cruise, i.e a Friday departure for three nights, would be a nightmare for me. Too much drinking and partying at all hours of the night. Spring break time might be an exception when a decent amount of college age students are aboard and you will find the pool decks with free flowing alcohol. Other than that, a 7 night or longer cruise anywhere with any company is usually harmless. If I were to classify a company as having party ships, it would be Carnival. It is not our cup of tea. I think you will be fine in Europe with Royal. We sail them the most along with Disney and celebrity.

 

[connorlevismom]

We have done RCCL twice in the last 3 years and neither time did it even remotely resemble a party ship. Both were 7 nights cruises. Now, my NCL cruise last spring break was not fun at all with all the drunks, both young and old. Never again. That was also a 7 night cruise.

 

[jacknsally19]

Thanks - this was my thought. I can sail concierge level on RCCL for almost $2k less than an oceanview room on DCL. For that price difference, I can tolerate a lot. But, its reassuring to know that it shouldn't be much of an issue.

 

[msjprincess]

I've done several 7 night Caribbean cruises and one 5 night cruise and I wouldn't consider any of them party cruises.

I wouldn't do a 3 night Bahamas cruise during spring break. A 7 night anywhere should be fine.

 

[Frozen2014]

Have yet to encounter a Royal "party" ship. Have been on 7 night cruise on Grandeur, Voyager, and Allure.....and 4 night cruise on Mariner and Independence. Maybe a 3 night would be more party ship, but can't say as haven't tried that length of cruise. Royal cruises are very family friendly.
And if you are doing a European Cruise, I would think you would have even less to worry about.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

My only experience with RCCL was a 7 night Mediterranean. Our group of 12 ranged in age from kids to grandparents and everyone in between, and it was an appropriate atmosphere for all ages. The 10 year old and 15 year old accompanied us to all of the evening activities. Lots more sloppy drunks at Epcot. Ha.

 

[lisagirl88]

We just came off of a 4 night cruise on RC and it was a huge party atmosphere. The boat was filled with college students on spring break. Not the atmosphere we were looking for.We have young kids and it was horrible. Will never do a short cruise on a non DCL cruise line again!

 

[bbel]

I've worked in the kids clubs at both.
I've met one really drunken parent on royal, but the other parent was fine when they came to pick up and they were the 'party cruises' as they were shorter...they really weren't

However on Disney, I've experienced a few cases where parents were so far partied they couldn't remember their kids name/birthday or were covered in their own vomit, and kids had to stay in our care overnight while the parents were 'looked after' in the medical centre...

 

[SevenWonkas]

We went on a 4-night Royal cruise several years ago, in February. It definitely was not a party cruise. Most people on the cruise were probably 50+, with a lot of them being in their 60s and 70s.

We were in our 30s, and were sat at a table with three couples in their 70s and 80s, and the other couple was in their 50s. Odd match.

 

[jacknsally19]

I've worked in the kids clubs at both.
I've met one really drunken parent on royal, but the other parent was fine when they came to pick up and they were the 'party cruises' as they were shorter...they really weren't

However on Disney, I've experienced a few cases where parents were so far partied they couldn't remember their kids name/birthday or were covered in their own vomit, and kids had to stay in our care overnight while the parents were 'looked after' in the medical centre...

Wow - that is crazy

 

[SA mom]

We’ve been on 3 RC cruises, two seven-day cruises and a 5-day. The 5 day was during Thanksgiving and was so full of kids that they ran out of ketchup. It was a “party” cruise of a different sort. I love that RC has so much for kids to do.

 

[KashasMom]

Not sure why your husband thinks that. We've been on the Oasis, Allure, and Harmony in the last 2-3 years. Very much family atmosphere - at the pools, entertainment, etc. Just prior to that we did a Baltic cruise (which was the most amazing cruise) on the Serenade - and it was the same. Have never seen any drunks on our cruises. The European cruises are so port intensive with different type of passengers. Don't think you'll have any issues.

 

[mevelandry]

I've worked in the kids clubs at both.
I've met one really drunken parent on royal, but the other parent was fine when they came to pick up and they were the 'party cruises' as they were shorter...they really weren't

However on Disney, I've experienced a few cases where parents were so far partied they couldn't remember their kids name/birthday or were covered in their own vomit, and kids had to stay in our care overnight while the parents were 'looked after' in the medical centre...

On another thread, I was saying that just because DCL doesn't sell drink packages doesn't mean guests on DCL ships don't drink or get drunk... As long as a cruise line sells alcohol, there will be drunk people.

 

[atricks]

RCCL is typically not a crazy party ship. Only exception may be college spring break timeframes, and even then only on the shorter (3-4 night) cruises. Most of the really crazy stuff happens on the full ship charters which you can't book through the cruise line anyway. Generally the longer the cruise the more chill it is (and older).

If you are curious, there's a list of full ship charters https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html It's not all of them, but a lot of them. Those have to be booked through whomever chartered the ship, not the cruise line and some of them are known to be a bit on the crazy side and I'd never take kids on them.

 

[LSUfan4444]

The itinerary, length of cruise, ship and departure port are MUCH more relevant in terms of being a "party" rather than a cruise line. I saw a woman fall off the tram at Castaway Cay she was so drunk in 2017 but in no way would I consider DCL a "party" cruise line. BUT, you'll likely see more of that on the 3 night Bahamas itineraries than say a Baltic itinerary.

 

[LSUfan4444]

We’ve been on 3 RC cruises, two seven-day cruises and a 5-day. The 5 day was during Thanksgiving and was so full of kids that they ran out of ketchup. It was a “party” cruise of a different sort. I love that RC has so much for kids to do.

 

[hdrolfe]

My first RCL cruise was a 4-night from Port Canaveral, there were a lot of drunk people on it, people in the main pool were obviously very drunk and spilling drinks all over, including into the pool. It was late May, I'm not sure if that's a spring break crowd? My son didn't really notice but I tried to keep him from the main pool area which became hard when the other pool was closed for half the cruise. I cruised on RCL again, but stick to longer trips. I would think the European cruises, being longer, would also not attract as much of a drunken vibe.

 

[jlwhitney]

DH and I are considering a 3 night in June and the whole party atomosphere worries me. We don’t really drink, nor plan to party. Hoping if we do it it won’t be bad..

 

[mevelandry]

Just wanted to add: I've done four Carnival cruises (including two shorts) and none of them would qualify as "party cruise".

Our last cruise had maybe two isolated incidents (related or non-related to alcohol) ... But it did not ruin our experience.

It's really hard to predict the behavior of other guests in advance.