If you’ve ever taken a cruise, perhaps to someplace tropical, and found yourself quietly lounging near the pool, only to be disturbed by a high pitched squeal emanating from a child throwing a tantrum, you’ve likely found yourself wishing for the cruise to be kid free. That’s exactly why there’s small, but growing, selection of adults only cruise lines. Because it’s not that you hate kids, you just don’t want to spend all your time around them.
What Adults Only Cruise Lines Are There?
There are currently three adults only, or as they sometimes say “kid-free”, cruise lines in the world, which certainly lends a bit of exclusivity to them. Those three lines are, in order of how long they have been adults only, Viking, Virgin Voyages, and Oceania. The last of those only joined the game in January 2026 and, before that, Virgin Voyages only joined in February 2020. Suffice it to say, this is still a small field of players.
Offering up an option for people to sail the seas, and rivers in the case of Viking, without children around has obvious appeal. In fact, there are a growing number of establishments that cater to adults only in the travel world, especially with boutique hotels and B & Bs. I doubt that this segment will ever become dominant in travel, simply because plenty of people want to travel with their kids, but I do expect to see more companies and venues offering this experience.
You may notice that the three cruise lines I listed are higher end experiences, and that does seem to be typical. The ships are smaller, especially Viking’s, and the target clients for these companies are often higher-earning adults that want sophistication and refinement in their experiences, typically meaning luxurious accommodations. In fact, a very popular type of client for these lines are parents with their adult children. It’s commonplace to find families traveling together on these ships, especially for reunions.
Even though each line has the same rule of, no sailors under the age of 18, each one is different in the atmosphere they offer.
Viking
Viking cruises is the largest of these lines, by a long shot. They offer both river and ocean cruises all over the world, so there’s lots of offerings for itineraries. Viking is also the most senior player in adults only cruises and they have the biggest advertising budget, so most people in their target markets have heard of them.
A Viking Cruises River Boat
Onboard, the Viking experience is mostly all-inclusive. There are some alcoholic beverages that will be charged to you should you wish to have them, but they do offer a selection of alcoholic beverages at meals in the restaurants, and these will be included in your ticket. Alcoholic beverages ordered outside of restaurants will be charged to you, but there is a beverage package available for an additional cost to cover these sorts of occurrences.
Wi-Fi is also included in your bookings on Viking, and they even offer a limited selection of included excursions. Another gratis amenity is access to the spa on the ship. The exact offerings in the spa changes from ship to ship over their large fleet, but in general it will have saunas. Since this question gets asked frequently when spas are the topic, no, massages are not included on the ships that offer that service.
The vibe on their ships tends to be, what I would call, reserved and quiet. Viking’s clientele trends older than some other lines and it’s uncommon to find sailors younger than 45-50 on any sailing. The entertainment on board is focused on enrichment, emphasizing science, culture, and history lectures, rather than show tunes or stand-up comedy. The décor is elegant and refined, with glass railings and rich wood surfaces.
We’ve found that the line has excellent customer service and offers more overnight stays in ports as well as longer itineraries than most competitors. If what I’ve described sounds good to you, then Viking might just be the line for you. Given that they offer both ocean and river cruises, that gives them an extra edge that’s hard to beat.
Virgin Voyages
Virgin has made a name for itself on the seas with its target market. They offer a distinctly youthful experience on their ships, emphasizing fitness, top-notch entertainment, and top-tier food. The onboard experience is amazing no matter what cabin you are staying in, whether that be a Sea Terrace or a Mega-Rockstar suite. While Virgin only has four ships, and their itinerary diversity is more limited, they still offer many diverse and excellent options.
Virgin Voyages Top Deck Running Track on Their Adults Only Cruise Ship
Included amenities cover, Wi-Fi, fitness classes, and most beverages. There are no restaurants walled behind an upcharge, every dining establishment is included in your booking – a major departure from every similarly priced cruise line. They do not, however, include the spa like Viking. There are also no included excursions on Virgin, but at a lower price point than Viking, that makes sense.
Most shocking for a cruise line is that there is no drinks package available. The customers on Virgin Voyages seem to prefer it this way and, for what it’s worth, so do I. I rarely encounter overconsumption of alcohol to be a problem on their ships, not that it doesn’t happen but I’ve never seen it become an issue like it can on other lines. Their drinks are also reasonably priced at, what I would call, typical bar prices. The quality of the drinks, though, is unmatched on the ocean and they also offer some of the best mocktails I’ve ever encountered.
The vibe on their ships tends to be youthful. That doesn’t always mean young people, but it does mean people who are young at heart. There are twenty-year-olds and sixty-year-olds sharing the dance floor, having a blast. People are, generally, polite, fun, and diverse, the same goes for the staff. Overall, joyful and relaxed are the best descriptors for Virgin. You can just as easily relax in your Sea Terrace hammock, reading a book, as you can dance the night away at the pool on Scarlet Night.
If that sounds appealing to you, then Virgin Voyages may be the cruise line for you. If you do like the experiences, Virgin brands also have other travel opportunities that may appeal to you, like hotels and airlines, which is quite different.
Oceania
Oceania cruises, as I mentioned above, only very recently joined the adults-only cruise lines. Before January 2026 they were open to all ages which puts a bit of a wrinkle into their new change. To accommodate the passengers that have already booked an Oceania cruise with their young children, they are allowing those bookings to proceed as purchased. That means that, for a while, you will likely still experience kids on the ship, but there likely won’t be many of them. That’s general lack of children is the reason they made the change, most of their customers didn’t travel with kids.
Onboard, Oceania offers a mostly robust basic package. Their standard fare includes specialty dining, Wi-Fi (one per guest), gratuities, soda, specialty coffee and tea, Vero still and sparkling, cold pressed juices, smoothies, gourmet ice cream, free self-serve laundries. It’s worth noting that suite guests get free laundry service. That puts their included amenities somewhere between above Virgin and below Viking.
Oceania Makes A Big Deal Out of Afternoon Tea
They do offer a drinks package as well as a larger upgrade package they call Simply More which includes a drinks package, excursions, airfare, and transfers (transportations from the airport or a hotel to the ship at the start of the cruise and then the same at the end of the cruise).
The vibe on their ships tends towards a country club feel. The Oceania clientele is often in their 40s-60s. The entertainment on board features pianists, classical string quartets, and dynamic vocalists. They also boast of their lecture series, culinary center for cooking classes, and art seminars. Afternoon tea, the classic affair, headlines their activities, which gives you an idea of how important they think it is.
We’ve had clients rave about their time on board and want to sail again immediately. The line is part of NCL, so if you’ve have status with that cruise line they recently opened up so you can status match with NCL to Oceania. Reports are that many NCL sailors are quite happy stepping up to this line with the status match. If what I’ve described sounds good to you, then Oceania might just be the line for you.
Options
These are the only three truly adults-only cruise lines in the world, so if you don’t want to have a single child around you on the ship, you’ll need to pick one of these. However, there are other lines that, while they don’t explicitly ban kids, kids just aren’t very common.
Among these are Regent Seven Seas, Azamara, Silversea, Explora, Seabourn, and Seabourn. More specialized lines, sometimes called expedition cruises, often have few children on them. Lines like HX, Ponant, and Lindblad are all in this more rarified area of cruising and young kinds are just a very uncommon sight.
There’s one common thread among all the lines that don’t allow or don’t frequently have children on them, though, they are more luxury focused. Don’t get me wrong, you can sail Virgin Voyages for a price that’s competitive with RCCL once you factor in what’s included with Virgin against RCCL’s packages to achieve the same thing, but that’s the only listed here line I can say that about.
The truth is, if you want to sail kid-free, you’re going to be looking at a premium experience and a more premium price. That’s not exactly a terrible thing, but price is a factor to consider. That being said, I cannot even count how many times I’ve sat down at breakfast on Virgin and someone says to their dining partner, “I’m so glad that I don’t hear screaming kids.”
