As a seasoned cruiser who has sailed Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, and MSC Cruises over the past year, there’s one complaint I hear quite often.
“There are too many kids on this cruise.”
I’ve heard that on Royal Caribbean ships with over a thousand kids and on a Celebrity Cruises trip with less than 100 people under the age of 18.
As someone who spends roughly 20 weeks a year at sea, I’m not overly bothered by children, but across multiple sailings, I’ve noticed a recurring pattern of unattended kids in common areas like elevators and adult-designated spaces.
That can lead to minor annoyances (like a kid pushing every button in the elevator) to larger ones like kids banging on random doors in the middle of the night).
Mainstream, family-friendly cruise lines can’t get rid of children as serving all ages is a core part of their business. They can, however, take a page out of Carnival Cruise Line’s playbook and offer a limited selection of adults-only cruises.
Carnivals expands its SEA Cruises
Carnival calls its adults-only sailings SEA Cruise (sailings exclusively for adults).
“Imagine a cruise designed exclusively for guests 21 and up, where every detail is tailored to people who love big wins, big fun, and a splash of indulgence. SEA Cruises are invite-only sailings that feature exciting itineraries, more casino access and themed parties… plus onboard experiences that are anything but ordinary,” the cruise line shared on its website.
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I received one of those invitations and will be sailing on Carnival Conquest, an older ship that has recently been renovated, in late-October. The sailing will offer an upgraded menu, expanded casino hours, and special events.
Carnival declined to share details about how invitations are distributed or starting prices, but noted that it continues “to see strong demand for these cruises, and they do sell out quickly,” in comments made to USA Today.
Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival is meeting demand
The number of cruise passengers has continued to grow since the industry recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“42 million passengers are forecast to sail in 2028,” according to the Cruise Line International Association’s 2025 State of the Cruise Industry report.
That compares with 37.7 million in 2025, according to CLIA data.
“Royal Caribbean and Carnival tend to sell out their biggest and newest ships,” according to Postcard Travel Planning owner Amy Post. “Older ships don’t sell as well, so using them for special sailings make sense.
Post, along with her husband Dennis will be sailing on the Conquest’s October SEA sailing.
“Carnival remodeled Conquest, but it can’t add the bells and whistles its newest ships offer,” she said. “By using it for adults-only cruises, the cruise line can sell out a ship that otherwise would have not been full because it’s lacking a large selection of specialty restaurants and the water park and amusement park-style features newer ships offer.”
Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador John Heald made it clear that while these cruises are incredibly popular, they are special events.
“We are and always will be a proud family cruise line, and I don’t ever want you to think that this is changing. However, I have seen how extraordinarily popular the adults-only cruises that we have done so far have been,” Heald wrote, according to Cruise Industry News.
Carnival will offer 22 SEA cruises in 2026, on Carnival Conquest, Carnival Dream and Carnival Glorywith departures currently available from Miami and Port Canaveral in Florida and Singapore, along with Long Beach.
Heald sees the cruises as an opportunity for the company.
“I think we have perhaps stumbled across a secret and discovered that not all family cruises have to feature the whole family, and those choosing these adults-only cruises seem very happy to know this,” he added.
Royal Caribbean does not offer adults-only cruises and has no public plans to do so.
“They’re missing an opportunity based on the customer feedback we get,” said Dennis Post.
Daniel Kline is also the editor-in-chief of TravelHost’s Come Cruise With Me, a sister website of TheStreet. You can visit Come Cruise With Me’s YouTube page here. Kline takes at least 20 cruises a year and wrote this story in his cabin on Celebrity Beyond.
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