We have cruised on different companies, chosen various itineraries of different lengths. As most cruise lines are family-friendly, our preference for adults only travel needs some pre-planning and daily schedule choices on board. How to ensure the R&R?
Choose the Ship
You have all these fantastic, luxury adults only resorts around the world, those that come with the guarantee that your serene holiday is not interrupted by the rambunctious children and crying babies. There are some cruise lines as well that are geared to the adult clientele. Companies that understand not everyone needs the multigenerational experience and some are willing to pay extra to avoid the under aged prats.
There are intimate alternatives by such cruise lines as Silver Sea Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Windstar Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line and many more, those who charge more and ensure less kids are sailing. There are even some cruise lines that tell some cruises are not suitable for kids at all. We have not tried these smaller ships yet as we are a little worried of them being too small for our liking (we are getting there, have gotten into smaller and smaller ships). Share your experiences on these!
We have, however, only travelled with companies that welcome families and child free customers alike.
Choose the Cruise Itinerary
We’ve cruised from different ports. From New York, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa and Long Beach (in California). Our first ever cruise was 5 nights, shortest ever was 4 nights and the last & longest one was eleven nights.
The obvious thing with cruise lengths and prizes has a connection with kids on board. Not everyone can afford paying the family for a longer cruise. The longer the cruise, the less likely you’ll have to spend time in the same quarters with the under aged. That has two aspects: the price and the school semester. Even if someone has enough money for a cruise the kid’s have their school schedules and it is definitely irresponsible to choose cruising over study.
Our Partial Panama Transit Cruise for 11 nights on NCL was the most kid-free experience we’ve had.
Obviously, the longer and the more expensive a cruise gets, the less kids you are likely to see on the same cruise.
Choose your activities
Every evening you’ll get the program for the next day to you state room.
If you really want to really make the best of it, choose activities that sound less family activities. There are loads of things you can do and enjoy without ever bumping into kids. All cruises are different but we promise you’ll find ways to spend tranquil time outside your stateroom.
Daytime you’ll find speciality activities in pubs, bars, the atrium, library and other areas the kids and teens are less likely to spend time in. Most ships also have their own pool area for adults only.
If you book excursions, you might want to analyze them a little: which ones are the family friendly ones?
Dine Fine
Most cruise ships offer options that are included in the price and options you’ll have to pay extra for. We do it all.
We love the buffet, we do. As much as many people talk against eating at buffets, we still enjoy the variety and the freedom. We seem to be very good at eating at the time when most families are not dining. To be honest, we don’t know what is the time families with kids tend to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, but we’ve nailed our tranquillish time so far.
The speciality restaurants are mostly worth the extra you’ll have to pay for dining and they are very much kid free zones.
Really happy to run across your blog, especially as another DINK travel couple 🙂 Unfortunately, not too many of us around! Anyhow, great post with solid advice! Keep up the good work.
Hi there, thanks for your nice words. It may be that a lot of DINKs are not comfortable underlining that, the cultural pressures may be too much in some social circles. But when choosing when, how and where to travel we definitely pay attention to our preferences. Happy travels, must go check out your blog as well! : )