Recommendation for non-DCL cruise board

[Dug720]

Viking recently announced it will not be allowing under 18 year olds on their cruises (river as well as ocean).

Looks like if you want guaranteed no children, book Viking. For after this has been in effect long enough that there are no children grandfathered in because they were already booked.

 

[Dug720]

I will say, FWIW, I have been far more aware of children when I have cruised in HAL and RCCL because the kids’ clubs have much more limited hours (and at least from conversations between parents and kids I heard on HAL much less interesting activities). On DCL they are often in the clubs doing their own thing. Plus DCL has great adult-only areas.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Looks like if you want guaranteed no children, book Viking. For after this has been in effect long enough that there are no children grandfathered in because they were already booked.

Well, they made the change in April, so it's been in effect for almost half a year now.

 

[GuardMusic]

Wow - you sound just like my BFF and me! And we are both Platinum on DCL....

 

[Dug720]

Well, they made the change in April, so it's been in effect for almost half a year now.

So maybe not so long until no kids...but it would depend on how far out they were booking at the time.

 

[cadien]

There are several lines that actively discourage children but not having kids menus or a kids club. Officially there could still be a child on the cruise, but the odds are pretty slim. Oceania is an example.

 

[cadien]

AMA Waterways (river cruises)

On our programs in Europe & Southeast Asia, children under the age of 4 years old are not permitted onboard and children 4-7 years old are not recommended.

AmaWaterways does not provide child-specific programs or child-minding facilities.

And kids pay the same fare as adults.

 

[aggiedog]

Certainly part of the equation is just when you sail. Go during standard school break times, there will be at least some kids on almost every ship of most lines. Go during school, and the numbers will drop significantly. And I'm assuming the OP isn't against all children, or the possibility of seeing or hearing a few children. Just hoping not to have hoards of them surrounding her. I get that.

And there are those that really don't want any kids around. There was a post on Cruisecritic's Oceania board about some Alaska sailings having a "kids sail free" promotion. The outrage and angst was such you could almost hear the stampede of some posters to call their TA's to make sure they were not on any of those sailings.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Before thinking too much about kids or no kids, it would be worth setting a budget and deciding what slice of the world you plan on visiting, as both of these will play big roles in what you can and can’t choose. Picking dates is also important, as generally, non-holiday periods and longer cruises have less kids.

The ships with most kids will include the likes of NCL, Carnival, RCCL, MSC, Costa and Disney. Disney has very good areas for avoiding the kids and is arguably more luxurious than the other more kid friendly lines, but it is also quite a bit more expensive.
Should it matter to you, Disney, RCCL and NCL are known for having some of the best evening shows in the industry.

On the next tier of less kids but still fairly mainstream and affordable, you could look at Celebrity, Princess and HAL. The clientele is generally older (especially in the case of HAL) and the entertainment more subdued.
I have a child, but I’m also a Celebrity fan as I like the styling of their newer ships and their food is pretty good (better I think than Disney), but on the flipside, their entertainment options could be improved.

Then, the next tier is the no-low kid options such as Oceania, Regent, Aramara, Crystal, Windstar etc, but be aware that these lines come at a cost. Some of them are quite inclusive with little need to pay any extras once onboard, but even then you need to crunch the numbers to check you’re getting what you pay for.

And lastly, to answer your question directly: Cruise Critic

 

[jaiminee krikit]

I honestly recommend getting in touch with a travel agency that specializes in cruises. Trying to plan a cruise is overwhelming. We have been on 3, 2 DCL and 1 Princess. I was looking into possibly doing a cruise next summer but I wanted to try a location we've never been to and a different cruise line. I have spent hours looking into things.
I loved DCL, but if you don't want kids on your cruise, that is NOT the line you want to sail with. We dined at Palo for brunch both times, and that was the only place it was quiet (besides our room). I didn't realize how loud it was until we walked into that restaurant. Everywhere. So loud.
Princess was a completely different experience. I loved it, but it was different. Their service was amazing, and we upgraded our dining. D14 was the only "child" in the section every night. The entertainment was terrible, though. There wasn't an over abundance of kids on that ship, honestly rarely noticeable.
I've looked into Celebrity and would love to try those, but not until DD is older and is willing to eat real food.
Cruise Critic is a very helpful site, very friendly.

 

[KashasMom]

You are going to find kids (and likely a lot of them) at the shows in the theaters and in the dining rooms - both seatings. There are also various kids' activities in lounges and the atrium. It's going to be very hard to avoid kids. You'd probably be better off on a different cruise line.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I hope you find something you're truly happy with, OP! If river cruising doesn't turn out to be the answer, then consider sailing during school time ... that significantly lessens the chance of having many kids on board, as does sailing a longer voyage. I looked at a review of a Princess panama canal crossing and the reviewer, who had kids, said there were 8 kids on board the entire ship. We were on a 3 day Princess cruise ourselves where the folks before us had been on a 26-28 day voyage across the Pacific, and during that long cruise there were less than 30 kids on board (ship capacity was over 3,000).