I’m like a big kid when it comes to water slides—I absolutely love them! I’ve been on Virgin cruises and love everything about them, but I really miss having some good water slides and a bigger pool. The only other cruise I’ve done was Symphony of the Seas, and while I had a blast on the slides, it also meant being surrounded by a ton of kids, which isn’t really my thing.
Is there a cruise out there that has fun water slides but isn’t packed with kids? So far, my best guess is taking a Celebrity cruise to Coco Cay and hitting up the water park there, but I’d love to hear more options.
I’m in Miami and would prefer a cruise leaving from here, but I’m open to other ports if the ship is worth it.
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FIB: I’m like a big kid when it comes to water slides—I absolutely love them! I’ve been on Virgin cruises and love everything about them, but I really miss having some good water slides and a bigger pool. The only other cruise I’ve done was Symphony of the Seas, and while I had a blast on the slides, it also meant being surrounded by a ton of kids, which isn’t really my thing.
Is there a cruise out there that has fun water slides but isn’t packed with kids? So far, my best guess is taking a Celebrity cruise to Coco Cay and hitting up the water park there, but I’d love to hear more options.
I’m in Miami and would prefer a cruise leaving from here, but I’m open to other ports if the ship is worth it.
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If you pick a Royal Caribbean cruise that’s longer and during the school year, you’ll see way fewer kids. There will still be some, but the crowd is mostly older.
Rowan said:
If you pick a Royal Caribbean cruise that’s longer and during the school year, you’ll see way fewer kids. There will still be some, but the crowd is mostly older.
Same goes for Norwegian! The newer ships like Viva and Prima have awesome slides, including a huge drop slide. I went on a 16-day transatlantic cruise and barely saw any kids. No lines for the slides either!
Rowan said:
If you pick a Royal Caribbean cruise that’s longer and during the school year, you’ll see way fewer kids. There will still be some, but the crowd is mostly older.
We did a Royal Caribbean cruise to New Zealand in early February, right after school started back up, and there were barely any kids onboard. The pools were practically empty in the evenings! If you pick a ship with slides, you’ll have them mostly to yourself.
Rowan said:
If you pick a Royal Caribbean cruise that’s longer and during the school year, you’ll see way fewer kids. There will still be some, but the crowd is mostly older.
If you go with Royal, look into The Key program. It gives you extra hours on the water slides just for Key members, so you’ll have almost no wait times. It’s not always worth it, but for slides, it might be.
Rowan said:
If you pick a Royal Caribbean cruise that’s longer and during the school year, you’ll see way fewer kids. There will still be some, but the crowd is mostly older.
Not all Royal Caribbean ships have slides, so double-check before you book. Their smaller ships usually don’t have them.
If you go on longer cruises while school is in session, you’ll see fewer kids. Repositioning cruises like transatlantic ones also help, but weather can be unpredictable.
Onyx said:
If you go on longer cruises while school is in session, you’ll see fewer kids. Repositioning cruises like transatlantic ones also help, but weather can be unpredictable.
The best plan? Cruise when kids are definitely in school. I went on a cruise in early November before Thanksgiving and saw maybe five kids the whole time.
I’m all about the slides too! The best ones I’ve tried were on Navigator of the Seas (out of California) and the Carnival Vista class ships. Harmony of the Seas (same class as Symphony) was a bit disappointing slide-wise. Norwegian Bliss has a great inner tube slide, but the drop slide was kind of meh.
This is tricky. If you can do a longer cruise while school is in session, that’ll cut down on the number of kids for sure. Another option is booking a ‘ship-within-a-ship’ experience. Norwegian’s Haven section gives you access to an adults-only sun deck where you can escape the crowds.
Try Royal Caribbean or Carnival but during the school year. If you’re open to land-based options, water park resorts like Kalahari or Great Wolf Lodge can be fun too, especially mid-week when kids are in school.