What are the very best adults-only cruises — those that not solely ban children however cater to grown-up tastes and pursuits?
It’s possible you’ll be asking since you simply frolicked on a megaship the place the children took over the swimming pools and scorching tubs (to not point out the elevators), a lot to your chagrin. Or, you is perhaps in search of a trip with extra lectures and fewer limbo — or maybe a cruise that skews extra R-rated than G.
The checklist of cruises just for adults is, alas, very quick. Solely a handful of cruise traces ban youngsters from their ships and promise cruises for grown-ups — maybe essentially the most notable being cruise newcomer Virgin Voyages and fast-growing Viking. Oceania Cruises is also within the strategy of changing into an adults-only line.
The pattern in cruising in recent times is, in reality, towards extra family-focused sailings, with extra children showing on ships of every kind. Certainly, among the largest, best-known cruise manufacturers have gone full bore after the family market, to the extent that the sun-soaked prime decks of their ships generally can really feel extra like a scene out of “Daddy Day Care” than a blissful trip retreat.
Do not despair, although. At the same time as many traces double down on the household market, a small group of cruise operators stays all-in on the thought of adults-only cruises.
Listed below are our picks for the very best adults-only cruise traces, with a grown-up vibe in addition.
Associated: A beginners guide to picking a cruise line
Virgin Voyages
The much-ballyhooed new line from Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has banned youngsters below the age of 18 from its ships. It is a part of an effort to create a hipper, extra refined, adult-focused vibe that firm leaders suppose is sorely missing within the cruise world.
“We’ve accomplished a ton of analysis actually attempting to create a classy expertise,” Virgin Voyages’ former CEO Tom McAlpin stated within the days earlier than the road’s 2021 debut. “I’ve accomplished some private analysis. We discovered that while you put children within the pool, they scream, and we do not need that.”
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Virgin Voyages’ first 4 adults-only cruise ships, 2,770-passenger Scarlet Lady and sister vessels Valiant Lady, Resilient Lady and Good Girl, cater to grown-ups in search of a decidedly grownup type of enjoyable with such choices as interactive dance events. Every of the vessels additionally gives a karaoke lounge with pink-and-purple karaoke rooms and a tattoo parlor (examine how one among our staffers was among the first to get inked on board).
What you will not discover on the 4 ships are waterslides, watery splash zones, teen lounges and all the opposite family-friendly options which are changing into so frequent on greater ships.
Viking
To create an adults-only cruise expertise, Virgin Voyages took a web page from fast-growing Viking’s playbook. Viking’s 12-ship ocean cruise division has banned youngsters below the age of 18 because it debuted in 2015. Moreover, its 88-ship river cruise division has had a minimal age restrict for greater than twenty years. (Initially, the cutoff was age 12; as of 2019, that jumped to 18, too.)
Not that Virgin and Viking are something alike. Virgin is designed to attraction to millennials and older vacationers who need to occasion like they’re millennials. Viking, against this, is the anti-millennial line.
Viking’s goal market is squarely within the 55-plus bracket. It zeroes in on that demographic with an upscale, destination-focused expertise that’s heavy on what the business likes to name “enrichment” — onboard lectures and different studying alternatives. It additionally emphasizes excursions targeted on historical past and tradition (with not less than one free tour in every port) and leisure choices that veer extra towards string quartets than dancers in string bikinis.
“What we’re trying to do is strive to not be every part for everybody,” Viking’s government vp of selling, Richard Marnell, informed TPG. “We should not have a children’ program. What we now have is … [an] immersive expertise that’s finest suited for those that are intellectually curious.”
Oceania Cruises
Upscale model Oceania Cruises, which operates eight comparatively small ships, is simply within the midst of transitioning to an adults-only line. The model introduced on Jan. 7 that it will not take reservations that embody vacationers below the age of 18 — matching the age cut-off utilized by Virgin and Viking.
That stated, Oceania stated it will honor all reservations made earlier than Jan. 7 that included youthful vacationers. Meaning you would possibly nonetheless discover youngsters on some Oceania ships over the subsequent two years, because the model already was taking bookings for some crusing as far out as April 2028.
In making the announcement, Oceania stated the coverage shift got here after intensive analysis that included suggestions from previous clients, new-to-the-brand vacationers and journey brokers.
“Our friends have constantly shared that the tranquil atmosphere aboard our ships is among the main causes they return time and time once more,” Jason Montague, Chief Luxurious Officer of Oceania Cruises, stated in a press release. “By transitioning to an adults-only expertise, we’re enhancing the very essence of the Oceania Cruises journey – one outlined by sophistication, serenity and discovery.”
Like Viking, Oceania focuses on destination-intensive itineraries that usually attraction to an older crowd together with retirees, with sailings that span the globe.
P&O Cruises
This storied British line clearly sees the demand for adults-only cruise ships, nevertheless it is not giving up on the household market, both. The road splits the distinction between the 2 segments. 5 of its seven vessels (Arvia, Iona, Britannia, Ventura and Azura) are marketed as “family-friendly” and open to passengers of all ages. The opposite two (Arcadia and Aurora) are reserved completely for adults on most sailings.
On condition that greater than 95% of the Southampton, England-based cruise line’s passengers are British, you may in all probability need to be both British your self or a significant Anglophile to think about reserving one of many latter two vessels. Crusing with P&O Cruises is a really British expertise, one thing that turns into clear the second you see its vessels — even earlier than you board. They characteristic hulls painted with large Union Jacks.
Moreover, you may discover quintessentially British choices like elaborate afternoon teas, quoits on the highest deck and restaurant menus designed by cooks massive in the UK, similar to Marco Pierre White, on board P&O Cruises ships.
That stated, in the event you’re a Princess Cruises fan, you would possibly really feel proper at house on a P&O Cruises ship. Nestled below the identical company umbrella, the 2 manufacturers are longtime sisters which have swapped ships backwards and forwards (although Holland America followers is perhaps to know that Arcadia shares a ship design with that line’s Vista Class).
For reserving functions, P&O Cruises considers anybody who might be 18 or older when crusing an grownup.
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Saga Cruises
Like P&O Cruises, Saga Cruises is a British line that has honed in on the enterprise of providing voyages only for adults, nevertheless it goes manner past what P&O Cruises or another line does in shunning youthful vacationers. The minimal age at Saga Cruises is not 18 and even 21 — it is 50.
That is proper — you will not discover a single millennial and even that many Era Xers on board a Saga Cruises ship (at 59, even the oldest members of Gen X solely make the cutoff by 9 years). As a substitute, what you will see that is numerous child boomers, a lot of them retired.
Saga Cruises operates simply two ocean vessels, crusing completely out of the U.Okay., plus a number of river ships. Like P&O Cruises, it is a product that’s in all probability finest for British vacationers or big-time Anglophiles.
Different adult-focused cruises
Along with traces that ban passengers below the age of 18 outright, a variety of cruise operators enable younger youngsters however get comparatively few of them.
Examples embody such upscale traces as Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises and Seabourn, which cater closely to an older crowd. Small-ship specialist Windstar Cruises permits tweens and youngsters on its seven ships, nevertheless it does not enable any youngsters below the age of 8.
Scenic Luxurious Cruises & Excursions, which sells each ocean and river cruises, historically discourages clients from bringing passengers below the age of 12 on vessels besides throughout Christmas vacation sailings.
Additionally, the longer the cruise, the less youngsters you will see that. E book a two-plus-week crusing to a extra unique location, like Asia or South America, throughout the faculty 12 months on a line like Holland America or Princess, and you may share the ship predominantly with adults.
As well as, budget-friendly line Carnival up to now 12 months has begun providing a really small variety of invitation-only adults-only sailings aimed toward gamblers, which embody expanded on line casino gaming, themed events and different choices aimed toward adults. Passengers on these sailings should be 21 or older.
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