Meltdowns and stares: What I learnt taking kids on a luxury cruise
That is, until my youngest takes offence when I stop her from taking her cardigan off. In protest, she slams her forehead into her fine-china place setting in front of her, before starting to wail at her usual high volume. The commotion stops conversations around us. A crew member swiftly comes to her side, removing the tableware from her reach.
I don't need to look up to see the knowing glances passing between people nearby. My smugness has evaporated, replaced by a blush that quickly deepens: Windstar's minimum age is eight years old, and we've been granted an exception to bring her on the cruise. She is, right now, demonstrating exactly why that limit has been set.
While few cruise lines explicitly ban children (Viking and Virgin Voyages being the most notable examples), not all of them offer Disney and Royal Caribbean-style bells and whistles. At the smaller end of the cruise ship scale, Windstar and its like among other premium and luxury lines welcome younger guests (the age limit varies per line) but they don't have any dedicated kids programming as such.
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