Are there certain cruises that have more (or less) children?

[Rebecca Pocahontas]

I don't care if a cruise has a ton of families with children or not (because duh, it's Disney there are going to be kids). But I am just wondering if there are certain times of the year or destinations that don't draw in as many families with younger children.

I have read that the transatlantic and the panama canal cruises have less children because it is such a long cruise not during the summer. But are there any other trips that aren't as popular for families with children?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

School year not aligned with vacation is going to be mostly younger (pre-K) kids, and not older kids.

 

[Marc D]

Most cruises in Europe have a less kids, especially younger ones, than those in the Caribbean.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I've just booked 5 Night Western Europe from Dover 13 to 18 September 2020. I'm guessing there will be less children as it will be term time in most European and American schools and universities. Also its the last European route before the transatlantic back to America.

 

[GPaLarry]

Our WBTA a few years ago only had 200 kids on board...a real problem during the evening shows when a magician or act that depends on kids for their performance has to comb through the entire audience to find just a couple of kids to help. The Jack-Jack Diaper Dash had so few babies (and a real diaper issue) that a dad had to volunteer for the final race. His leg gave out, his arm collapsed and then his back went out and the real baby won...imagine that!! The whole atrium roared, what a hoot! We found that the EBPC had more kids, possibly home schooled. After nine DCL cruises to almost everywhere they cruise we find that there are fewer children on board during school season--Sept to June. There are adult only locations and pool aboard for a quiet retreat if lots of rugrats are an issue.

 

[Pens Fan]

Our Canadian cruise in October of 2016 had very few children on board. I don't know the actual number, but it was really a different feel without all of the little kids running around everywhere.

Our son is 21, so while we love kids, we don't always want to be surrounded by them on vacation. In an odd way, though, I think I enjoy the vibe of the ship with a ton of kids more than what we experienced on the Canadian cruise. The adult areas were extremely crowded. If you wanted to attend one of the adult shows you had to get there really early to find a seat. In contrast, when lots of families are on board you often find the adult areas underutilized and oh so peaceful. It's pretty easy to escape the kid crazy atmosphere and find a quiet place to relax.

Plus, it never gets old watching the little kids run up to hug Mickey. Our son was never really into that at that age, so I have to live vicariously through others .

 

[xlxo]

If you want to see less children.... Avoid cruising during the school breaks. Otherwise look to other cruise lines like Holland America for an older cruise age target.

 

[arlopop]

Panama Canal cruises tend to have fewer kids because they fall during the school year and run about 2 weeks. There are kids, but are usually younger than school age.
We took our 3 elementary kids, worrying they wouldn’t have many playmates, but there seemed to be enough. Bonus was that staff/kid ratio was really good and that made it much more interactive. Kids thought it was our best cruise precisely because their were so few kids.

 

[braysmommy]

We done mostly longer cruises both the TA and Panama Canal which usually have under 300-400 kids.

 

[kiford]

Both of our Med cruises and the Baltic one had significantly fewer children. The downside was that the adult only pool area was always crowded. In general, we just stick to the adult only areas, have second seating, and spend a lot of time in the lounges. You don't really notice many kids when you do that

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The downside was that the adult only pool area was always crowded. In general, we just stick to the adult only areas,

On our first Panama Canal cruise, we found that the family beach on Castaway Cay was much less busy than Serenity Bay. As were the family pools onboard.

 

[ScooterScott44]

The obvious answers have already been stated, TA and Panama, school year etc. We have done EBPC and it was not too bad but less then other cruises. Our TA is in 2 months so we can share more after. We did the 12 night Copenhagen to Dover in 2015 and it did have a few less kids but not by much.

We did Alaska on another line and the club staff there confirmed the dates align with the amount of kids. We were mid to late May and there was like 300 something kids. The next cruise went up to 600 kids which was right before June. The cruise after that, beginning of June it went up to like 1000 kids.

Expect the Dream to have the most kids no matter what time of year due to the short cruises out of Port Canaveral. The Fantasy probably the next most with a slight edge for the Eastern Caribbean having a few less kids. Those ships the calendar has a little impact on the amount of kids. The others probably are a little more dependent on school calendar and itinerary.

 

[seacruise]

The 9 night Alaska we did last week had noticebaly fewer kids than our previous Disney cruises.

 

[tvguy]

I'm sure there are peaks and valleys, but at least here between year round school, charter schools seems like some school is out of session every week of the year in the county I live in. Throw in kids getting a week off for President's Day instead of just Presidents Day, a week off instead of Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving, and parents willing to take their children out of school for a vacation I think are boosting school aged kids on board year round.

 

[Dug720]

I'm sure there are peaks and valleys, but at least here between year round school, charter schools seems like some school is out of session every week of the year in the county I live in. Throw in kids getting a week off for President's Day instead of just Presidents Day, a week off instead of Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving, and parents willing to take their children out of school for a vacation I think are boosting school aged kids on board year round.

Not to mention the home school brigade who can take vacation whenever the non-schooling parent can get time off.

 

[lilsonicfan]

On our ebta I believe there were at least 500-600 kids, not a ton compared to the overall numbers (apparently 2800?) but a lot compared to what we thought there might be. And still I agree that the adult areas were very crowded.

 

[tvguy]

Not to mention the home school brigade who can take vacation whenever the non-schooling parent can get time off.

There is no standard school year, or school schedule here anymore. The third largest school district in our area was the last to still start after Labor Day. They finally switched to an August start this past school year. That switch was hard on a lot of family vacations, but it makes complete sense to me because the fall semester now ends at Christmas break, not two weeks into January. So the kids aren't off for two weeks, then have to take finals a week after they return.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

The 9 night Alaska we did last week had noticebaly fewer kids than our previous Disney cruises.

Wow! I have to say the opposite. That cruise had more kids than any of my previous Disney cruises. I noticed a lot of unsupervised kids running up and down the stairs, and I got in 2 elevators where a kid had pressed every floor button! I also noticed a lot of teenager clusters plant themselves right in the middle of a busy passageways.

But, we usually sail when kids are in school. Our Spring and Summers Breaks were always earlier than most states when we cruised before. There weren't even as many kids on our Med cruise last year, but honestly, we weren't on the ship much! By far, our Panama Canal cruise had the least amount of kids.

 

[seacruise]

Wow! I have to say the opposite. That cruise had more kids than any of my previous Disney cruises. I noticed a lot of unsupervised kids running up and down the stairs, and I got in 2 elevators where a kid had pressed every floor button! I also noticed a lot of teenager clusters plant themselves right in the middle of a busy passageways.

But, we usually sail when kids are in school. Our Spring and Summers Breaks were always earlier than most states when we cruised before. There weren't even as many kids on our Med cruise last year, but honestly, we weren't on the ship much! By far, our Panama Canal cruise had the least amount of kids.

All our previous DCL cruises have been 7 day Caribbean during school break weeks so by comparison it felt like far fewer kids on this longer Alaska sailing.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

All our previous DCL cruises have been 7 day Caribbean during school break weeks so by comparison it felt like far fewer kids on this longer Alaska sailing.

Wow, I can't even imagine more kids than that on a ship!