How the hell can this be a "romantic" dinner cruise??

I'm lucky enough to live near Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. It's simply beautiful. I was looking at the dinner cruises put on by the resort there and found this (bolding is mine):

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Sunset Dinner Cruise

Enjoy a romantic two-hour sunset cruise, complete entertainment and a dinner buffet prepared by the chefs at The Coeur d'Alene.

* Sunday - Thursday
* 7:30 PM-9:30 PM (May 11 - Aug 31)
* 6:30 PM-8:30 PM (September 1- 21)

* Adults: $43.75, Seniors (55+): $39.75, Children 6 - 12: $22.75
* Children 5 and under: FREE

Rates include Cruise Admission, Dinner Buffet, Light Dinner Music Steamship Round of Beef and Baked King Salmon, Organic Green Salad, Fresh Fruit Salad, Chef's Pasta Salad, Iced Relish Basket, Sunset Onion Casserole,Four Cheese Duchess Au Gratin, Potatos, Rolls, and Sunset Cheesecake.

So, I just sent them this email:

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Hello,

I was just looking at your dinner cruise information on your website. My husband and I would love to have a romantic dinner on one of your cruise boats. However, I was quite disappointed to see "Children 5 and under: FREE". Nothing ruins a "romantic dinner" faster than the presence of screaming children. Even if the children are well-behaved, it still totally changes the atmosphere. We are not willing to risk spending almost $90 because of the (very real) possibility that young children will be aboard. Please consider having "adults only" dinner cruises, especially for the later cruise (which young children shouldn't be on anyway).

Thank you

I didn't even get into the fact that my $43 cost is absolutely subsidizing the "brats eat free" deal, not to mention that the menu doesn't exactly sound kid friendly. Where are the chicken fingers and PBJ sandwiches? :angry

I'll let you know if I hear anything back.

GRRRRRR! That sucks! You are so right about children changing the whole atmosphere of a place even if they are well behaved. I guess they're pandering to the 40+ crowd with money to spend. Unfortunately, that same crowd seems to have toadlers. My husband and I have very few couple friends left because of this. It used to be that people our age were empty-nesters or at least on the verge of being so. There are so few places that cater to the child free.

Oh, but this IS a romantic dinner cruise!

Just imagine when a wee one starts smearing his grubby hands on all the items in the Iced Relish Basket and whining, "I don't LIKE this!" and getting up to run around deck.

Your sweetie and you will look at each other with a renewed thankfulness. Your eyes will lock--and an unspoken thought, and a tender smile, will flit between you. Oo la la.

My hubs and I had a moment like this on the patio today while reading the Sunday New York Times and sampling an Oberon beer. The neighbor yelled to his rather dim 3-year-old child, wandering around in his backyard, "WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS?!?"

Hubs and I locked eyes with an unspoken thought and broke into silent laughter. And then toasted each other.

Slightly off topic:

An outrageously expensive restaurant just opened in my neighborhood, which is just what we needed in Charm City. Seriously. Regardless, the lobby is a PLAYROOM, with the dining room beginning about 3 feet away. It's a city place so imagine something like in Greenwich Village or some other non-suburban sprawl spot. Regardless, you're getting beaned with a crayon while you try to enjoy your pecan encrusted catfish with garlic mashed potatoes and $20 wine.

Unless you are at Chuck-E-Cheez's, any restaurant, cruise or bar, where one pays more than 10 dollars per entree should not allow children.

"It truly is the one commonality that every designation of humans you can think of has, there's at least one asshole."
--Me

Anything that allows anyone under the age of 21 is NOT romantic, in my opinion. I'm glad you wrote to them.

My guess is, they're too chicken shit to answer you back.

ANYTHING that advertises "kids eat free" should not have the word "romantic" anywhere in it, as that is simply false advertising.

CheeseLouise, I'm happy you wrote to the cruise company; more people should do the same. However, they most likely won't get back to you.

We need to get organized the way the breeders are. I would love to see CF cruises, restaurants, movies and other businesses!

Keep working more hours, CF people! Millions of breeders depend on us.

My last job was working at a cafe, which was a fairly run-down shoddy place with a box of shitty toys in one corner for customers' toadlers to play with. It also provided a couple of shitty highchairs.

After I'd been working there for a while, the owner sold the place and the new owner completely refurbished the place and made it look like a million bucks. She also got rid of the toys and highchairs to give the place a more adult vibe.

Man, did I have fun whenever some breeder would come in with semen demons in tow, looking for the toys:

"Where are the toys?"
Me: "Don't have them anymore."
"Oh."

Then the kid would start bawling after being told by its parent that there weren't any toys. The breeder would complain "But we came here for the toys!" as if that would make them magically appear or make me go running to the nearest toy store to purchase some for his brat.

Even more gratifying, would be when some moo would come in lugging her fat cuntloaf on her hip and ask for a highchair:

"Can I have a highchair please?"
"Nope. We don't have any."
"WHAT?!" (giving me serious stinkeye) "Why not?"
"Boss got rid of them." (smirking)

Then I'd get to laugh to myself as I watched the moo trying to enjoy a coffee while wrestling with a baybeeeee on her lap and trying not to spill it on the kid. LOL

I know what you mean ArticFox because I did a stint at a restaurant gig as well awhile back. That place had at LEAST 5 big high chairs, 10 of the smaller wooden kinds, and about 15 booster seats. On Sundays there were times when church moos (the worst kind) would be irate because ALL of the kid's chairs were in use and they would literally pitch fits if we ran out of coloring books or kiddie place mats. Of course I always apologized with great sincerity, but on the inside I was tickled to death.

I did a brief stint in new home construction and some of the models had toy baskets for visitors! when I covered at someone else's community and they had a basket, i would hide it.

Generally the net result was the any child would find a way to make a toy of the water cooler. Why must they constantly be entertained? I would even hide the cups and say we were out so I wouldn't have to clean up the 10 cups full of water they would pull and leave around the model.

Maybe this is breeders notion of romantic.
Most can't cut the umbilical cord.