Parents that let their children run down the hallways like animals are awful!

[bbel]

This thread was supposed to be about kids running up and down the hallways. That is atrocious behavior on a cruise ship. It's just bad and I said I blamed the parents.
I am very sorry this has devolved into people posting random complaints about assorted bad children's behavior on cruise ships. That was not my intent.
Yes, kids can be terrible. People can have PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of how awful these kids are. That wasn't the intention of this thread. Most of us love kids. We have them, we teach them, we protect them.

For every bad kid, they'll be 5 good ones.
Unfortunately people tend to remember the bad ones/encounters and the decent ones tend to go unnoticed.

 

[cruiser21]

This thread was supposed to be about kids running up and down the hallways. That is atrocious behavior on a cruise ship. It's just bad and I said I blamed the parents.
I am very sorry this has devolved into people posting random complaints about assorted bad children's behavior on cruise ships. That was not my intent.
Yes, kids can be terrible. People can have PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of how awful these kids are. That wasn't the intention of this thread. Most of us love kids. We have them, we teach them, we protect them.

Come on we all know toddlers never throw food right? That's why it's important to have a good dog around to keep the floor clean. Sorry your thread went off the rails.

 

[tlprice]

We have only stayed on Deck 2 and never had issues with kids running in the hallways (probably because they are short hallways!) On the Dream though, at the elevators when many people were waiting their turn, there were some kids that would just push ahead of everybody and take over the elevators as if they owned the world. My DD also had an issue at the pool with some kids "controlling" the ladders and not letting her or other kids get in the pool. They were quite mean. She decided she didn't want to swim on that cruise. We didn't have any of these problems on the Fantasy. As a teacher, we always say that 90-95% of kids are great. Unfortunately those 5-10% that aren't make everybody's lives miserable! From a teacher's point of view, it is almost ALWAYS the parents that are the real issue. As soon as you meet the parent(s) you immediately understand why the child is that way. The apple does not fall far from the tree!

 

[cruiser21]

One consistency I've noticed with this thread is that teachers have a some real resentment towards parents. Interesting to say the least.

 

[IRLdisneyprincess]

I can understand anyone's frustration with anybody being too noisy, especially when you are trying to sleep or are doing something where you need minimal distraction. Kids are guilty of being noisy, but hey, so are adults. It's the cost of being around other humans; they make noise!

In life, I've learned that no one is going to work around me, so I have to work around other people. If the noise bothers you, maybe try ear plugs or headphones? As others have suggested, maybe call the desk and report your complaint.

I think people forget that kids naturally have a ton of energy. Combine that with being on vacation, and even the nicest, most respectful kids are going to be super-charged and hopping around. The parents may normally enforce rules, but they are on vacation too and are probably a bit more lax etc. You can't blame them. Kids are going to make noise. A lot of times I'm sure they don't even realize how loud they are being.

I see kids running around everywhere I go. I just see it as the cost of living in a world with other humans lol.

 

[IRLdisneyprincess]

For kids? I wasn't aware that any kids paid for "their" cruises on DCL.

But seriously, I've taught kids from ages 4 - 12 for many years. Some of those kids even had serious emotional, social and/or behavioral problems. My own son is on the autism spectrum. But my son and all of the children I've taught at school have proven to be capable of walking quietly through hallways.

Kids will behave when they are taught to behave and held to high expectations. The out-of-control behavior described on this thread is due to irresponsible parenting, and not due to the intrinsic nature of children.

The aforementioned picture of the pea.

We knew 100% it was not ours as a) peas were not a side item for anything we had ordered and b) our assistant server had just scraped the crumbs before getting us drink refills.

LOL. Why did you take a pic of this? I'm just wondering...

 

[Dug720]

LOL. Why did you take a pic of this? I'm just wondering...

Because it made us laugh and was so random.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I would have taken the picture, too! LOL

 

[cadien]

One consistency I've noticed with this thread is that teachers have a some real resentment towards parents. Interesting to say the least.

I'm not a teacher but I don't blame them at all. Look at what they have to put up with. And I'm a parent.

 

[valee]

Thinking of pictures:
On one DCL cruise, there was a group of teens who would roam the halls every night after the club closed at midnight. They would talk loudly, sometimes cursing. A gentleman across the hall and one door down from me would stick his head out each night and ask them politely to be quieter, since they had little ones sleeping in their cabin. One night Guest Services?/Security? came by later to talk with him, and I could hear them say that there was little that they could do, since they didn't know who the kids were. The next night, I could hear the teens coming down the hall (they were loud enough that you could hear them quite a distance). I heard a nearby door open, a pause, and then a door shut. When the teens walked past, I heard one say "@#$%, did that dude just take a picture?".
That was the last time we heard the teens late at night.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Oh man--I read every post here with deep shame! Now, to qualify, we have two four year olds and a three year old. We made a HUGE deal about table manners (we do regularly, but especially ramping up to the cruise). The kids were extremely polite to everyone from the bathroom attendant to the person who cleared our plates at Cabanas, saying "thank you for making our cruise special!" or "thank you for keeping the ship so clean!" That said, they ran to our stateroom EVERY TIME to check the fish extender because they were so excited despite our constant admonitions not to run. Parenting these three so close in age is like trying to herd cats. They mostly kept their voices down, but we did let them do the stairs by themselves to work out energy. For the most part, people seemed super tolerant and even amused at our mob scene, and yes, we were always trailing the kids trying to keep them calm. However, they weren't running at night, just after dinner or otherwise (we had the early seating).

One other point--I agree generally about the cells/lights at shows but the kids club also pages you with your cell in the wave app. So as soon as we sat down to a show, we'd get a text from the kids club saying "kid a wants to be picked up!" or "kid b has fallen asleep". As a responsible parent, you pretty much have to check the messages when you feel them come through or whatever, and getting up to check the message every time is also super inconvenient for everyone around you. Just something to think about.

I get why people feel like they are entitled to an adult experience on a Disney Cruise, but I also think that the expectation that all of the kids around them will be marching like Mary Poppins is in the house is probably a bit foolhardy. We're packed on a ship with that markets primarily that the cruise is a kid-centered experience where parents can also relax. There will definitely be inconsiderate kids and parents, but do keep in mind that no one concealed the kid-centeredness of the cruise-- and expecting that everyone holds the same standards as you is not realistic.

I have a friend with one kid who does a great "make good choices" and "let's play the quiet game" thing. It works temporarily for sure, but long term, the good old "ONE. TWO. THREE." is what I rely on. I guess my point is that parenting isn't easy on vacation and kids, especially out of their routines and surrounded by constant stimulus, are a challenge to control. Not saying I don't try (and succeed).

Another related piece--we were on the cruise and joked that Disney makes it really hard to parent. If your kid starts pouting or crying that you're "making" them eat their vegetables first, someone gives them stickers to try to cheer them up, and reinforces the attention seeking bad behavior. It happens at Disney World too Our girls were fighting in their double stroller and so a cast member came out and gave them both princess crowns. In Nemo's Reef, I sat right by that little slide and if either of the girls cut anyone in line, I made them sit with me and skip two turns, and I got looks from other parents like "that's cruel!" It's honestly hard to give the kids actual consequences there, and we tend to be super strict and have high expectations for the kids that they know about. But they're still going to want to run towards the fish extender to beat their twin to see if there are presents.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

I can understand anyone's frustration with anybody being too noisy, especially when you are trying to sleep or are doing something where you need minimal distraction. Kids are guilty of being noisy, but hey, so are adults. It's the cost of being around other humans; they make noise!

In life, I've learned that no one is going to work around me, so I have to work around other people. If the noise bothers you, maybe try ear plugs or headphones? As others have suggested, maybe call the desk and report your complaint.

I think people forget that kids naturally have a ton of energy. Combine that with being on vacation, and even the nicest, most respectful kids are going to be super-charged and hopping around. The parents may normally enforce rules, but they are on vacation too and are probably a bit more lax etc. You can't blame them. Kids are going to make noise. A lot of times I'm sure they don't even realize how loud they are being.

I see kids running around everywhere I go. I just see it as the cost of living in a world with other humans lol.

THIS. The place is DESIGNED to be exciting. Excited kids--well....

 

[Dug720]

One other point--I agree generally about the cells/lights at shows but the kids club also pages you with your cell in the wave app. So as soon as we sat down to a show, we'd get a text from the kids club saying "kid a wants to be picked up!" or "kid b has fallen asleep". As a responsible parent, you pretty much have to check the messages when you feel them come through or whatever, and getting up to check the message every time is also super inconvenient for everyone around you. Just something to think about.

There is a difference between a quick, subtle (and preferably hand-shielded) check of the wave phone and doing a full out planning session for the following day or playing games or leaving the screen out and on. There is also a difference between the small wave phone screens and the large screen of a smart phone or tablet.

 

[IRLdisneyprincess]

I get why people feel like they are entitled to an adult experience on a Disney Cruise, but I also think that the expectation that all of the kids around them will be marching like Mary Poppins is in the house is probably a bit foolhardy. We're packed on a ship with that markets primarily that the cruise is a kid-centered experience where parents can also relax. There will definitely be inconsiderate kids and parents, but do keep in mind that no one concealed the kid-centeredness of the cruise-- and expecting that everyone holds the same standards as you is not realistic.

LMAO @ "marching like Mary Poppins". Immediately I thought of the little hop that the students were doing in Pete's Dragon

I totally agree with you. I'm not a parent and I'm not an expert on kids... I'm also not going to judge other parents (unless there's serious abuse going on) That being said, I was a kid, and a pretty well-behaved one. But I went completely nuts on vacation and acted like a wild animal. My parents tried to enforce what they could, but I wasn't "acting out" so much as I was loud, excited, full of energy, and not really thinking of how my actions might disturb others. I probably ran down a hallway a time or two. I probably threw a tantrum due to whatever. Kids will be kids...

Going on a Disney cruise and expecting to not be disturbed by kids is like watching the Bachelor and expecting not to see any drama. Guess what? IT'S GONNA HAPPEN. Don't act so shocked lol.

That being said, I'd love a more party centered adult only Disney cruise, but it probably won't ever happen.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

LMAO @ "marching like Mary Poppins". Immediately I thought of the little hop that the students were doing in Pete's Dragon

I totally agree with you. I'm not a parent and I'm not an expert on kids... I'm also not going to judge other parents (unless there's serious abuse going on) That being said, I was a kid, and a pretty well-behaved one. But I went completely nuts on vacation and acted like a wild animal. My parents tried to enforce what they could, but I wasn't "acting out" so much as I was loud, excited, full of energy, and not really thinking of how my actions might disturb others. I probably ran down a hallway a time or two. I probably threw a tantrum due to whatever. Kids will be kids...

Going on a Disney cruise and expecting to not be disturbed by kids is like watching the Bachelor and expecting not to see any drama. Guess what? IT'S GONNA HAPPEN. Don't act so shocked lol.

That being said, I'd love a more party centered adult only Disney cruise, but it probably won't ever happen.

I do LOVE the idea of Adult Exclusive Disney charters

 

[PrincessShmoo]

One consistency I've noticed with this thread is that teachers have a some real resentment towards parents. Interesting to say the least.

Could be a reason:

 

[belac]

That said, they ran to our stateroom EVERY TIME to check the fish extender because they were so excited despite our constant admonitions not to run. Parenting these three so close in age is like trying to herd cats.

Kids running to check their FE is one thing, that I don't think anyone would ever begrudge a child doing such. The running that was in question, was during "quiet hours" up and down the hall, repeatedly in some instances.

Herding Cats - LOL love that one !

 

[cruiser21]

Could be a reason:

 

[cruiser21]

Could be a reason:

It's a lot more complicated then a simple cartoon. I don't think you have a good understanding of what going on with education today.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

It's a lot more complicated then a simple cartoon. I don't think you have a good understanding of what going on with education today.

3 kids in public school....I have a pretty good idea of what's going on.