Posted on 09/01/2018 10:03:00 AM PDT by Simon Green
When Virgin Voyages announced last year that the cruise line’s first ship, to debut in 2020, would be for adults only, it surprised many in the industry. Cruises are typically marketed to families and boomers. Recent years have seen cruise ships add wild theme park-like attractions onboard, ranging from multi-story in-suite slides to go-kart tracks to indoor skydiving. Families are big business in the industry.
Marketing the no-kids move as “Adult by Design,” Virgin Voyages, a joint venture between Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and private investment firm Bain Capital, looked to fill a void in the market. Virgin Voyages CEO Tom McAlpin wasn’t shy about saying why the company made the move, pointing to their own market research showing demand for such offerings. But it now looks like McAlpin might’ve been a bit too loud in pointing to the adult-only designation as a key point the company would use to distinguish itself.
Viking Cruise Lines recently confirmed that all of their cruises are now limited to those 18 and older. When the luxury cruise line known for their river cruises launched ocean cruises in 2015, it adopted the 18-and-older policy, but river cruises remained family-friendly with guests 12 and older welcomed on the ships. The new rule covers all Viking cruises.
On the Terms and Conditions section of the website, Viking lays out their new policy and any explains it may be some time before the ships become entirely adult-only. “Due to the nature of our cruise and travel itineraries, the Carrier does not maintain facilities or services on our Ships for individuals under the age of 18 years. For all cruise/cruise tours booked after August 1, 2018 (regardless of departure year), you must be 18 years old on or before the day you are scheduled to embark on the cruise tour. Cruises through the 2019 may still have passengers under 18 as the cruises were booked prior to August 1, 2018.”
Speaking to Travel Weekly, Viking senior vice president of marketing Richard Marnell explained that while the cruise line previously had some “flexibility” with the minimum age rules, guests on the ships, which are typically marketed to those 50 and older, appreciated a child-free environment.
Viking ships are typically smaller than the those of family-friendly cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Instead of merry-go-rounds and zip lines, Viking’s sleek Scandinavian-designed ships offer a more subdued cruising experience with educational lectures, afternoon tea service, and live classical music.
Other cruise lines have dabbled in the adults-only cruise option for some time. P&O Cruises, owned by Carnival, announced earlier this year that it would soon roll out its third adult-only ship, a refit of the formerly family-friendly Aurora.
U by Uniworld, a new river cruise line focused on millennials that launched last year, had age restrictions on both minimum and maximum ages, banning anyone over 45. The maximum age restrictions have since been removed, but the no-minors policy remains.
Viking’s new age policy is now one of the strictest in the industry, but with so few children on their ships already it’s unlikely the company will see in any negative financial repercussions due to the move.
Good idea. Many people don’t want to see kids during a vacation, especially people who can afford a Viking cruise and all the culture you soak up. Want to see kids? Go on Disney or Carnival.
most children today are not disciplined n
or trained. Liberal mindset and soccer moms free-range/BFF their kids which is sickening.
Their business, their rules. I like traveling with my kids, so would find something else to do. The older-set who pay for Viking cruises probably do not want kids around.
Who cares?
“Get off my boat!”
Good move on their part. It’s about time some cruise appealed to that demographic. Most kids I’ve seen on cruises were brats.
Viking also has eliminated casinos on it’ cruise ships. - Tom
This is an example of pro choice, in a manner of speaking.
I love kids when they are properly behaved. That’s certainly become less common.
But why shouldn’t adults be able to purchase a child free vacation? Apparently there are sufficient numbers to keep the cruise line in business.
Find a market niche & fill it.
Good. You want to go to a casino, go to Vegas.
I’m older. I like seeing kids about. Gives me hope.
All the ships I went on cruises on had a 18 y.o age limit.
Couldnt even bring my wife!
I have a feeling this is why they are doing this. Because so many kids nowadays are undisciplined, and there’s no way to administer discipline to other people’s children, they shoot a rule simply banning children.
“most children today are not disciplined n
or trained.”
Most kids today are spoiled little brats who need a trip to the woodshed.
This is happening more and more and will keep happening until parents start making their kids behave.
They just mimic their parents.
Funny you should mention that. I saw a prime example of free range brats in action last night waiting for a (long delayed) Southwest flight. Woman had three kids -guestimating here - but oldest was probably 8 and youngest about 4-5. Second thing I noticed was that one of the kids had his hair dyed green - never a sign that you're dealing with high class people when a little boy has hair died an unnatural color and when also one or more little boys have pierced ears and stud earrings. We're talking pre-school on one of them. Anyway the brats were running all over the place - getting into peoples' stuff while their (I assumed) mother had a self satisfied smirk on her face as in "Look at my wonderful children."
I'm guessing they were not Trump supporters
ba dum chhh!
LOL!
Kids today are like wild animals. No discipline from parents. I lived next to a nightmare family with two small boys for several years. If I am paying mucho dollars the last thing I want to deal with is kids.
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