What are the best adults-only cruises, those that not only ban children but also cater to the tastes and interests of adults?
Maybe you’re asking because you just spent time on a megaship where the kids took over the pools and hot tubs (not to mention the elevators), much to your chagrin. Or, you might be looking for a vacation with more conferences and less limbo, or perhaps a cruise with a more R than G rating.
The list of adults-only cruises is unfortunately very short. Only a handful of cruise lines ban children from their ships and promise cruises for adults; perhaps the most notable is that of newcomers to cruise ships. virgin trips and fast growing Viking.
In fact, the trend in cruising in recent years is toward more family-focused trips, with more children aboard ships of all types. In fact, some of the largest and most well-known cruise brands have gone deep after the family marketto the point that the sun-drenched upper decks of their boats can sometimes look more like a scene from “Daddy Day Care” than a blissful vacation retreat.
But don’t despair. Although many lines are betting on the family market, a small group of cruise operators continue to support the idea of adults-only cruises.
Here are our picks for the best adults-only cruise lines, with an adult vibe to boot.
Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing a Cruise Line
virgin trips
The much-hyped new line from Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has banned children under 18 from its ships. It’s part of an effort to create a more modern, sophisticated and adult-focused vibe that company leaders believe is sorely lacking in the world of cruising.
“We’ve done a lot of research to try to create a sophisticated experience,” Virgin Voyages CEO Tom McAlpin said in the days leading up to the line’s debut in 2021. “I did some personal research. We found that when you put kids on the pool, they shout, and we don’t want that.
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Related: I have been on over 150 cruises. This is what I thought of Scarlet Lady.
Virgin Voyages’ first three adults-only cruises, the 2,770-passenger one scarlet lady and sister ships brave lady and resilient ladyThey cater to adults looking for a decidedly adult type of fun with offerings like interactive dance parties. Each of the ships also offers a karaoke lounge with pink and purple karaoke rooms and a tattoo parlor (read about how one of our employees was among the first to get tattooed on board).
What you won’t find on all three ships (a fourth ship, Brilliant Lady, is will debut in 2025) are water slides, aquatic splash zones, teen lounges, and all the other family-friendly features that are becoming so common on larger ships.
Viking
To create an adults-only cruise experience, Virgin Voyages took a page from the rapidly growing Viking playbook. Viking’s 12-ship ocean cruise division has banned children under 18 since its debut in 2015. Additionally, its 80-ship river cruise division has had a minimum age limit for more than two decades. (Initially, the limit was 12 years old; as of 2019, that also jumped to 18.)
Not that Virgin and Viking are anything alike. Virgin is designed to appeal to millennials and older travelers who want to party like they’re millennials. Viking, on the other hand, is the anti-millennial line.
Viking’s target market is squarely in the 55+ age group. It targets that demographic with a unique destination-focused experience that’s all about what the industry likes to call “enrichment”: onboard lectures and other learning opportunities. It also emphasizes tours focused on history and culture (with at least one free excursion in each port) and entertainment offerings that lean more toward string quartets than bikini-clad dancers.
“What we’re trying to do is try not to be everything to everyone,” Viking executive vice president of marketing Richard Marnell told TPG. “We don’t have a children’s program. What we have is… [an] immersive experience that is best suited for intellectually curious people.”
P&O Cruises
This historic British line clearly sees the demand for adults-only cruises, but it is not giving up on the family market either. The line divides the difference between the two segments. Five of its seven ships (Arvia, Iona, Britannia, Ventura and Azura) are marketed as “family” and open to passengers of all ages. The other two (Arcadia and Aurora) are reserved exclusively for adults.
Since more than 95% of the Southampton, England-based cruise line’s passengers are British, you’ll probably want to be British or a major Anglophile to consider booking one of the latter two ships. Sailing with P&O Cruises is a very British experience, something that is clear the moment you see their ships. They feature helmets painted with huge Union Jacks.
Plus, you’ll find quintessentially British offerings such as elaborate afternoon teas, shuffleboard on the upper deck and restaurant menus designed by top UK chefs such as Marco Pierre White on board P&O Cruises ships.
That being said, if you are a Princess Cruises fan, you might feel right at home on a P&O Cruises ship. Located under the same corporate umbrella, the two brands are long-time sisters who have traded ships back and forth (although Holland America fans might be interested to know that the Arcadia shares a ship design with the Vista Class of that line).
For booking purposes, P&O Cruises considers anyone over 18 years of age when sailing as an adult.
Saga Cruises
Like P&O Cruises, Saga Cruises is a British line that has focused on the business of offering adults-only trips, but it goes far beyond what P&O Cruises or any other line does by avoiding younger travelers. The minimum age on Saga Cruises is not 18 or 21 years old, but 50 years old.
That’s right: You won’t find a single millennial or that many members of Generation X aboard a Saga Cruises ship (at 58, even the oldest members of Generation X only max out for eight years). Instead, what you’ll find is a large number of baby boomers, many of them retired.
Saga Cruises operates just two oceangoing vessels, sailing exclusively from the UK, in addition to several river ships. Like P&O Cruises, it’s probably a better product for British travelers or major Anglophiles.
Other adult-focused cruises
In addition to lines that completely ban passengers under 18, several cruise operators allow small children, but take relatively few of them.
Examples include luxury lines such as Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises and seabournwhich largely cater to an older audience. Small boat specialist Windstar Cruises It allows tweens and teens on its six boats, but does not allow children under 8 years old.
Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, which sells both sea and river cruises, traditionally discourages customers from taking passengers under 12 years old on ships, except during Christmas holiday trips.
Also, the longer the cruise, the fewer children you will encounter. Book a trip of longer than two weeks to a more exotic location, such as Asia or South America, during the school year on a line such as Holland America or Princess, and you will share the boat primarily with adults.
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