Too many out of control kids

Item: Carnival Vista
Rating: 3
Author: mccauleybarbara

Carnival Vista Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

mccauleybarbara

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 36

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

12 Night Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 06, 2016

Ship: Carnival Vista

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7364

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

First of all let me say I am a retired educator and still love being around children, however on this ship there were 1200 children. Many of them were running everywhere at every opportunity, sitting on bar stools, in casinos and at inappropriate shows for their age. They took over the tiny pools on the ship and pressed every single elevator button when no one was looking. On the third day of this we went to security to report our observations. We were told that the discipline was up to the parents and that the crew/staff couldn't do anything. The security officer thanked us for our comments and our meeting concluded. I will NEVER take a Carnival cruise again in my life, nor will I recommend it to anyone. The attitude of security and the behavior of the children was totally unacceptable for paying passengers.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Unsupervised kids were putting fingers in food and no one every said anything. Rarely did anyone use the hand sanitizers that were provided.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Kids monopolized every game.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Shows were not worth going to.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Our dining room staff was lovely, especially Friska and Partama. Our cabin attendant, Alfonso was also wonderful.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Very clean. But as far as design, why was a kids water park right next to Serenity?

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Excellent! Spent a lot of time here instead of on lounge chairs around the ship since there were no free chairs. No one monitored all the towels left on the lounge chairs as a way of saving them. Staff said that they remove them after 40 minutes. This did not happen.

Ship tip

None. Do not take this ship. Pools and hot tubs were not adequate for the large number of people on board.

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Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5

It was great to be off the ship in each beautiful port.

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Marseille (Provence), France

5 out of 5

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

5 out of 5

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

5 out of 5

Naples, Italy

5 out of 5

Dubrovnik, Croatia

5 out of 5

Corfu, Greece

5 out of 5

Messina, Sicily

5 out of 5

Cagliari, Sardinia

5 out of 5

33 Comments

MsToniD 7 years ago

You actually worked with children?

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redandlou 7 years ago

We had the same problem on the Vista in August 2016 and in November 2014 Thanksgiving time on the Miracle. Try picking a cruise while most schools are in session. It will be my goal from now on!!

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LMG1988 7 years ago

I absolutely love children; have 5 of our own; take 4 with us and a friend... we have done lots of volunteer work with kids, but heck! We need a break too! We ONLY cruise when other kids are in school. Not even I could handle that many with bad parenting. It is up to the parents. Many brats at camp, but I believe that is a reflection on the parent (for the most part).

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Maurice578 8 years ago

I Agree Cruise when kids in School still! And before or after Hurricane Season.

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MAMAAFRIKA 8 years ago

Wow I'm cruising on the Carnival Vista in October 2017. Hopefully I won't have this problem.

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ilovemymidget 8 years ago

All cruises will have a lot of kids on them especially if you decide to go when school is out. Perhaps another season will work. I just came off Oasis of the Sea which is suppose to be amazing. But there we kids everywhere running around and attended shows that was not age appropriate for them. (With their parents)

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Kristina51 8 years ago

Not Carnivals fault aside from not holding parents to a standard. Those kids should be walked back to their parents! After the first time they should be charged a fine...if my kids acted like that, they would not leave my side!

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annasa 8 years ago

I agree go in late January/February when the kids are in school. I was on the Magic in January and there were barely any kids at all. I don't blame you for being annoyed...I would have felt the same way, but unless you book an adult only cruise you're bound to deal with kids and their possibly annoying behavior at some point. Definitely not Carnival's fault.

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choy1950 8 years ago

Try to go on cruise when kids are in school. We never had a problem with unruly kids in over 17 cruises by doing this. We have been on large ships like NCL getaway, and smaller ships like carnival pride

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redandlou 8 years ago

It was our observation also, we went to the Purser desk four times ourselves, for elevator button pushing. The childern ran all over the ship day and night. On the last night at 1:10am they ran down the hallway and one said hey Billy your going the wrong way. Carnival needs time install cameras in the elevators!

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Kristina51 8 years ago

I was on this cruise. I always cruise in the summer, because I too am an educator. The kids took over this ship! They were splashing get the water out of the hot tubs by the gallons...when asked to stop, they just laughed and continued. It was impossible to use an elevator because they would push the buttons then jump out...this happened to me daily...

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CruiseForever 8 years ago

I'm a 13 y/o myself and I run a page over on Instagram, (@cruise.forever) and it makes me disappointed when kids behave poorly. Sure, they're on vacation but I'd expect them to conduct themselves properly.

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tpost55 8 years ago

We've cruised late May twice with lots of kids. I've had no problems on either one.

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shelly19 8 years ago

I've been on 6 Carnival cruises. Usually go in Jan or Feb. Which I never had any problems. One time I cruised in April during Easter time when the kids were off from school....never again! Too many kids. Next time book your cruise when the kids are in school.

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jacxio 8 years ago

If you were on 12 day cruise I have to agree and I was there with my kids. We saw 14 year olds drunk in elevator. Sadly not sure this is carnivals problem but rather parents. Even my kids 11 and 13 who aren't Angels commented on the behaviour of kids.

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Ron8Michelle 8 years ago

Yeap and you paid more to be on that ship this time of year! Never go when schools out...cheaper in the later part of the year months and the kids are in school.

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CruiseForever 8 years ago

Hi! Sad to hear about your voyage, but as many have said times in the year where kids are in school are the best (and sometimes cheapest!) times. If you can afford to travel to ports, P&O and CMV Voyages have ships catered to adults only. (Arcadia, Marco Polo) Hopefully this helps. -Caleb from Cruise.Forever Media

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cherieandmike 8 years ago

Summer break. Thats what you will get. To avoid a lot of families with children it us best to travel during the school year and avoid the breaks.

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amberd23 8 years ago

As a retired educator I think you made the wrong choice of cruise. I was on the Vista last week and agree that some of the children were set loose and ran amok but I also saw the casino staff ask parents to take there children out of the gaming areas. Did the kids spoil it ruin my cruise .... no way because I was once a kid too. If you are retired I would look to cruise during term time 😉

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momof4mpls 8 years ago

Try Princess, we sailed last February and VERY few children. In fact my husband and I are in our 50's we were the young people on the cruise. We joked it was the geriatric ship.

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mimi1778 8 years ago

Don't give up on Carnival just try to book a cruise in the fall...

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tiffanyk110 8 years ago

I always cruise on carnival an have no problem with kids . I stay away from late March to mid April an June July and early August. Go while most kids are In School an u won't have problems like this I see maybe 100 kids on a ship every time I cruise

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julesj 8 years ago

Interesting because when we were on Magic last July there were tons of kids but some of the rudest people we encountered were adult passengers, not kids.

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rich0219 8 years ago

Good luck with that...if you opt to cruise in the summer (or over school breaks), you're likely to experience similar issues on many of the cruiselines. As a retired educator, hopefully you can sail during other times of the year when kids are in school. Also, you may know from your time in education, that not all parents take responsibility for their children's behavior as they should!

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millyjazz 8 years ago

We usually cruise in September because of this. We're trying January this time.

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cpfritz 8 years ago

5 carnival cruises, 4 in January, always loved it (we are Canadians) 1 in April, we had fun, just a high school group kind of taking over. They were like a junior version of girls gone wild. Didn't offend me just a bit annoyed, they were apparently chaperoned.

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tpost55 8 years ago

Cruise when school is going on. It's much better.

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godsbigangel 8 years ago

I have been in 4 carnival Cruise never had a problem i even travel with my own child and he stay with all the time and behave cause is up to me to keep him that way not the company, but yeah try a school season

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Parisjcruisetrv 8 years ago

If you are felexible, another time during the year. I usually cruise in the fall and kids are in school. Higher end was also a good suggestion.

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Katrina323 8 years ago

I had the same problem on Norwegian breakaway last year, there was 1800 kids. I learned never to go spring break again. You may want to try when kids are in school and there's less kids on board.

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engineerrick 8 years ago

The OP should be angry with the lax parents, not the cruise line. 😎

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banaford 8 years ago

If you cruise again, I suggest a higher end cruise that is not known to have children. All cruise ships leave parenting up to parents. Do you know how many complaints by parents have been made about it was "their" job to parent, not cruise employees or security. I am sorry the children got on your last nerve. My opinion, anger should be directed to parenting. Good luck on your next cruise!

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pinkie1 8 years ago

Uuhh Ohhh 😕😠

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