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Each cruise line has its own niche. Four Seasons is for those who expect the greater things in life. Carnival focuses on smaller budgets and tends to be the “party” boats. Holland America caters to retirees.

Royal Caribbean’s mega-ships focus on offering something for everyone. Their cruises can offer amusements galore, including FlowRiders, rock climbing, ice skating rinks, Broadway shows, you name it. So, not surprisingly, they get a huge mix of clientele, from families to solo cruisers to couples without any children in tow.

Trouble in paradise

That mix is starting to not work out as well as it used to on Royal Caribbean (RC) cruise shops. Kids are going to be kids and, increasingly, some parents are apparently not watching their kids as stringently as they do at home (well, IF they do at home but that’s for another blog post). Anyway, apparently several adult guests are finding it more and more difficult to enjoy their Royal Caribbean cruise with so many unruly kids on each ship.

The issue came to a head a couple of weeks ago, during a Q&A session for travel agents during a preview sailing on RC’s Utopia of the Seas. In fact, Royal Caribbean Blog reported that one of the travel agents (TAs) told the cruise line’s CEO, as well as its Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, that they’ve received several complaints from clients about the subject.

The TA said that adult guests are very unhappy about the extraordinarily disruptive behavior of the kids around them. They suggested complaints were particularly high for those on Icon of the Seas, which is geared toward families,  “Icon is fantastic, but [at] the swim-up bar, there’s kids splashing into your drinks,” said the TA. She also reported being at Boleros Latin Club (a Latin-themed bar and dance club) at midnight and watching children crawling through adults’ legs as they attempted to dance.

As part of their Guest Health, Safety and Conduct Policy, RC’s curfew for children is currently 1:00 a.m. That’s when they’re supposed to be back in their staterooms. However before 1 am, nearly any space is fair game…which is becoming more frustrating to those who are looking for of an adult atmosphere as the night goes on.

The TA alleged that adult guests traveling without kids are starting to abandon Royal Caribbean for calmer, quieter cruise lines that have more of an adult focus (Virgin Voyages, for example, is only for the 18+ crowd. No kids allowed on board, period). Their suggestion was to add more areas targeted toward adults only, or imposing curfews for kids at the onboard bars.

RC CEO Michael Bayley appeared to be in agreement, saying he too had received complaints about kids in public areas.

“It’s probably time for us to take a look at [the curfew]. I think the idea of curfews in some of the bars is a great idea,” he said.

Kids’ program

Like most cruise lines that caters to families, RC does offer a childrens’ program called Adventure Ocean. It offers multiple programs ranging from babies (6 to 36 months old) to kids (12 years old). There are also activities for teens and tweens. However, of course, the kids’ program is voluntary and any kid not in a program may wind up making their own fun…sometimes at the expense of the adult sailors. So, the possibility of changes is probably welcomed by those over the age of 18.

Feature Photo: Royal Caribbean

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