The cruise lines of today offer a safe and efficient way to see the world for a variety of passengers. Each traveler their own needs, interests and budget. Good news for family groups: each individual member can be looking to get something unique out of the experience.
But what about passengers who have no interest in traveling with children of any age? They are looking for the best cruise lines for kid-free cruises. They don’t want to see any of them. Well, good news here as well; there are cruise lines where children are not seen, heard or welcome.
Check Advertising Photos
A good rule of thumb on where to begin searching the best cruise lines for kid free cruises: Avoid cruise lines that focus on children’s programming and family-style accommodations. That takes most of the child-rich cruises off the table. We can also look for signs of children in advertising…like a pool full of kids playing, for example. Cruise line advertising commonly features images of people enjoying their hardware. Those people are often a target demographic the cruise line wants to attract.
A Best Choice Here: Viking Ocean Cruises with 930-passenger Star class ships. All staterooms are doubles, eliminating the ability to add discounted third/fourth guests to the booking. I have yet to see a child in Viking advertising.
Size Matters
Giant cruise ships with lots of stuff on the top deck are sure to have lots of kids on board to use it. It’s really just that simple. Smaller ships do not have as much top deck space to stack attractions. Smaller ships also stop at obscure little ports of call that might not be of interest to children. Don’t get me wrong: taking a kid on a cruise at the right age can add a whole lot of meaning to topics being studied like history and geography.
A Best Choice Here: Windstar Cruises motor ships with 212- passengers on board. Windstar ships with sails also work, especially for couples.
Nearly Kid Free
So you want kid free but don’t want to pay the comparatively premium priced Viking or Windstar ships. Perhaps a ship within a ship concept is what you need to think about. Here we have your stateroom in an isolated area of the ship, away from all the other passengers.
A Best Choice Here: The Haven by Norwegian Cruise Line. Also popular for those with a more global view, MSC Cruises Yacht Club which brings a rather European style experience in their ship within a ship. Actually this might not be a bad idea if looking for a kid free cruise but you do have kids. There will be fewer in the higher priced real estate of a ship within a ship accommodations.
Wait, It Will Cost More?
One result of researching the best cruise lines for kid-free cruises seems to come up rather quickly: it will cost more. If that’s a deal breaker, we can still consider larger ships that will have some kids if we plan carefully. Book a stateroom far away from family-focused attractions and accommodations, close to things kids have no interest in. Of the big ship choices, pick one with a higher price point. Kids and $$$ lots do not go together as well. You may find that sweet spot between big ships full of kids and small ships without them.
Chris Owen shares frank, inside information about cruise vacations on ChrisCruises.com
Also of note are Holland America and Celebrity. While there may be a few kids, the lines have far fewer “toys” on board and don’t focus so much on kids in their activities. Even when there are kids around, there tend to be far fewer of them. These lines are both far more reasonably priced than Viking Ocean or Windstar.