10-day Celebrity: yes or no?

Hi all, I am an experienced cruiser but have only sailed Celebrity once in 2008 to the Med (which was fabulous in every aspect). I am looking at sailing one of the 10-day Equinox Caribbean cruises Jan 2016 and am considering taking my child, who will have just turned 5.

I have read great thing about the kid's club on X, but I need to know if they run the kids club on these longer cruises. I would not bring him if there was no club he could participate in. I would imagine the amount of children is less on these type of sailings vs. a 7-day cruise, but will there be at least a few kids onboard?

A co-worker of mine took her 15-month old on a 7-day Celebrity sailing in Dec and told me she was made to feel very unwelcome by fellow passengers. She told me several groups of elderly people in the dining room publicly scolded her for bringing her child on the cruise. For example, her child was fussy at dinner and she was removing him from the dining room and a few tables started to clap loudly and told her a cruise is no place for a baby. I find this behavior unacceptable from fellow guests. I have no reason not to believe her account of the issues she encountered.

So....since it has been a while since I have been on X, I am wondering if I will be ridiculed or chastised for bringing my child on a 10-day sailing? Granted, a 5 y/o is much different from a toddler, but I obviously want to have a pleasant time and not feel like I'm under a microscope. My son loves the kids clubs on the cruises he has been on, so he would spend at least a few hours per day/night there.

Thanks for any input!

Currently on the Summit with our 20 month old....

1) He's too young to do the kid's club - but they do have Toddler Time

2) While not 100% sure - I do not see why they wouldn't have the kid's club - All the ships have the space and I can't see them not using the space just because a ship is doing a longer itinerary

3) No one has said ANYTHING to us except how cute....now I will say that we have been VERY proactive to fussiness and only wait about 2-3 minutes when/if there has been an issue

Hopes this helps

I would think that they would have the kids club on a longer cruise. When my kids were younger they always did. We just got home from a 12 day cruise on the Quantim and there was a pretty good amount of kids of all ages.

My kids were very good students and I had no problems taking them out of school.... I would get some stares and actually had an older gentleman ask my son why he wasn't in school, he told him " because I have a cool mom" ! I think it just depends on YOUR attitude! Don't let narrow minded, mean spirited people decide when and where u should take ur child!

Just my two cents!

Jacki

You and your child have just as much right to cruise as the uppity crowd who think kids should be at home. We've always cruised with our kids and have never had anyone actually say anything. I've had an old doll sneer at us, but I just laughed at her and felt sorry for her husband. Most people love to see kids having fun and enjoying themselves.

We just came back from a Celebrity back to back 4/5 night cruise in January/Feb and there were 30 kids on the first sailing and 75 on the second. You just never know. I am sure there will be at least a few on your sailing. Our kids club staff were really great - regardless of how many kids were in the club at any one time.

You and your child have just as much right to cruise as the uppity crowd who think kids should be at home. We've always cruised with our kids and have never had anyone actually say anything. I've had an old doll sneer at us, but I just laughed at her and felt sorry for her husband. Most people love to see kids having fun and enjoying themselves.

We just came back from a Celebrity back to back 4/5 night cruise in January/Feb and there were 30 kids on the first sailing and 75 on the second. You just never know. I am sure there will be at least a few on your sailing. Our kids club staff were really great - regardless of how many kids were in the club at any one time.

+1 to this.

I responded to you on the other board.

I mentioned we had a bad experience on HAL, but I didn't want to go in to too much detail there.

It was little things ... like waiting by the end of the hallways, HAL has these large corridors where they display artwork. My daughter would always stop and dance. People were rarely around. One night while she was there dancing to classical music (we were waiting for DH to go for dinner) and old biddy walked by and literally stopped and stared. Who does that? looks at a child having fun (and not bothering anyone) and glares at them?

Another time, we went to the Indonesian tea .. it was open seating and we were denied seating at the table by two old ladies who had just been seated there. It might have been because I was with two young kids. It might have been because I am non-white and my kids are mixed race. It might have been because they wanted to be alone. Whatever their reason, they gave a hands-up gesture to the person seating us that we were not welcome there. It was RUDE, RUDE, RUDE.

Despite things like that, we still had a wonderful cruise on HAL and would sail them again. It was countered by other positive experiences and guest interractions. My kids are always the best dressed kids in the MDR, and numerous people always come out of their way to talk to my children and engage them.

On our last X sailing, our 4-top was beside a 2-top where we dined beside an older couple from Miami. The wife was so taken with our kids, she asked if she could take their picture to remember how much fun she had chatting with them all week.

The people you encounter on board are much, much, nicer and far more tolerant than many of the complainers you will find at Cruise Critic.

The people you encounter on board are much, much, nicer and far more tolerant than many of the complainers you will find at Cruise Critic.

So true.

Aside from the passengers who love to see and chat with the little people are the crew who miss their kids at home. We've had great chats and fun with the staff and they call my kids by name after the first few days. I am sure the crew members in the Lido (who have to put up with the smile-less rude adults who don't say please or thank you) would rather serve a fun kid than a boring adult any day of the week.

To those people who think kids don't belong on a cruise, I would suggest they go try Cunard or Crystal or Viking River cruises or some other line that doesn't offer kids club and other family friendly amenities.

Queen of Oakville - just had a funny thought about those two old ladies who waved you away at tea. It would have been funny if you told them you wanted to try out a magic trick you've been working on and swiftly ripped their tablecloth off. I am just a big kid myself I guess.

Sprockie, to this day I regret that I did not say something and call them out for their rude behaviour. I think I was so shocked at the time and my brain was slowly processing what had happened. I suppose I also did not want to draw attention to a situation that clearly had no impact to my kids.

OMG Queen of Oakville! I can't believe the rudeness you experienced on the HAL cruise! That is so unfortunate! I think I would have been in shock too. Some of the posters on the X board are kind of grumpy lol. At this point I'm not really sure of the cruise I will book. I'm celebrating a milestone birthday and have been really wanting to give X a try in the Caribbean...don't know if I would have childcare so that's why I wanted to possibly bring my son along.

Sprockie, to this day I regret that I did not say something and call them out for their rude behaviour. I think I was so shocked at the time and my brain was slowly processing what had happened. I suppose I also did not want to draw attention to a situation that clearly had no impact to my kids.

I hear ya.

I don't know what gives Olds (I can say that, I am one) the idea *they* can be rude without consequence.

Loved your thoughtful, measured words in the other thread.

I hear ya.

 

I don't know what gives Olds (I can say that, I am one) the idea *they* can be rude without consequence.

 

Loved your thoughtful, measured words in the other thread.

lol ... now I have to go back and read what I said that was so thoughtful!

OMG Queen of Oakville! I can't believe the rudeness you experienced on the HAL cruise! That is so unfortunate! I think I would have been in shock too. Some of the posters on the X board are kind of grumpy lol. At this point I'm not really sure of the cruise I will book. I'm celebrating a milestone birthday and have been really wanting to give X a try in the Caribbean...don't know if I would have childcare so that's why I wanted to possibly bring my son along.

I don't deem the few rude passengers I encountered to be representative of HAL, in any way. I could easily encounter those same passengers on X or Royal. I would book your trip with comfort, know that you will have a good time and don't worry about what others say, do or think!

lol ... now I have to go back and read what I said that was so thoughtful.

 

Haha. Perhaps it was just that I agreed with what you said. :-)

 

A co-worker of mine took her 15-month old on a 7-day Celebrity sailing in Dec and told me she was made to feel very unwelcome by fellow passengers. She told me several groups of elderly people in the dining room publicly scolded her for bringing her child on the cruise.

We got a similar unwelcome feeling when we took our toddler on an Alaska cruise on X.

That along with the cruise line moving our cabin when we checked in at the pier are why we will most likely won't sail them again. They moved us to what was literally the most un-child friendly cabin on the ship. Directly next to the atrium where they had loud evening dance parties. So of course our child couldn't sleep so we would take him out of the cabin at night. But that led to not very nice comments from passengers that questioned our logic in having a child up so late. What did they want us to do? Sit in a dark room with a fussy child while "YMCA" blared 10 feet away to hundreds of drunk passengers! :mad:

We did like the cruise, it was a 7 day with around 75 people under age 18. They did have the kid club open which we weren't too impressed with (security issues). We LOVED their speciality restaurants which is why we *may* sail them 1 more time.

The childs club runs, whether it's a 3 nighter or a 3 month cruise! No worries....as far as the other passengers....ignore them. Yours won't be the only child. Children ARE ALLOWED on X...so do NOT worry about that!

As far as Lerin, you must have chosen a guaranteed stateroom, where THE CRUISELINE assigns your cabin. They don't just "move you" willy nilly!

We just returned from Reflection on X. We had 5 kids in our group 17 yo, 15 yo, 11 yo, 4 yo and 14 mos. the two youngest are my girls. We were in the Carribbean and it was spring break for the older 3 kids as they live in Midwest so a good amount of kids on board not tons. We sat in MDR every night at 6. Staff and people around us were awesome. Always had to walk the 14 mos old prior to dessert but everyone knew her and she gave them all high fives. I figure if someone did like they can get there table moved.

Kids program was great with my 4 yo and even knew 14 mos old. We only went to family playtime with the 14 mos old one time. Mostly because times were inconvient for older daughter who wanted to swim. But it was a great way to meet others, even families of officers go. And would be great if inclement weather. I wouldn't recommend breakfast or lunch in MDR as service was too slow and better options at buffet. Also I strongly recommend taking an inflatable bathtub for deck with some buckets or nesting cups. My other family members thought I was crazy but fit perfectly next to lawn chair, in shade and other people loved it, commenting on how lucky she was to have a private pool.

Let me know if you have other specific questions.

Also I strongly recommend taking an inflatable bathtub for deck with some buckets or nesting cups. My other family members thought I was crazy but fit perfectly next to lawn chair, in shade and other people loved it, commenting on how lucky she was to have a private pool.

Very wise. We did this when my son was 18 months and we went to Cuba for a week. We brought a 5 gallon pail filled with all sorts of pails and stuff and it kept him busy in the shade on the pool deck and also attracted other little ones to play with. My husband thought I was insane bringing it, but it turned out to be the best thing in our suitcase.

The childs club runs, whether it's a 3 nighter or a 3 month cruise! No worries....as far as the other passengers....ignore them. Yours won't be the only child. Children ARE ALLOWED on X...so do NOT worry about that!

 

As far as Lerin, you must have chosen a guaranteed stateroom, where THE CRUISELINE assigns your cabin. They don't just "move you" willy nilly!

Well.... sometimes they are!

We were on the Celebrity Infinity's TA last October (14 days), and our two children were the only kids on board eligible for the kids' club. There were also 3 infants on board, but our kids were the only 2 children in the club.

The kids' staff were fantastic - they still ran the club as usual, but gave the kids more leeway in what they wanted to do each day.

We didn't get much side-eye from any of the other cruisers - most people were nice, although it was a bit frustrating that when we sailed out of England we had many days of cold weather (and very rocky, wavy conditions). We couldn't go swimming in the indoor Thallaso pool because of the age restriction, so on a few days we swam a bit in a hot tub. There were several hot tubs on the main deck, and I don't think we were prohibiting anyone from joining us if they wanted to. When we just walked through the thallaso pool area, we did get a few dirty looks like we didn't belong there, but we were just walking through it to the main deck.

One lady stopped me and asked if she could give the kids some pez dispensers, and said that they were the only children she'd seen onboard. A few others stopped the kids in the elevator and made conversation that they hadn't realised any children were onboard.

We are on NCL next week, and while the kids had a good time, they are hoping for some more kids to play with this time!

Well.... sometimes they are!

 

We were on the Celebrity Infinity's TA last October (14 days), and our two children were the only kids on board eligible for the kids' club. There were also 3 infants on board, but our kids were the only 2 children in the club.

 

The kids' staff were fantastic - they still ran the club as usual, but gave the kids more leeway in what they wanted to do each day.

 

We didn't get much side-eye from any of the other cruisers - most people were nice, although it was a bit frustrating that when we sailed out of England we had many days of cold weather (and very rocky, wavy conditions). We couldn't go swimming in the indoor Thallaso pool because of the age restriction, so on a few days we swam a bit in a hot tub. There were several hot tubs on the main deck, and I don't think we were prohibiting anyone from joining us if they wanted to. When we just walked through the thallaso pool area, we did get a few dirty looks like we didn't belong there, but we were just walking through it to the main deck.

 

One lady stopped me and asked if she could give the kids some pez dispensers, and said that they were the only children she'd seen onboard. A few others stopped the kids in the elevator and made conversation that they hadn't realised any children were onboard.

 

We are on NCL next week, and while the kids had a good time, they are hoping for some more kids to play with this time!

Passengers on many ships get upset when kids walk through the Solarium (or Adult area - different names on different ships) but I blame the ship designers for this. Put the adult areas in a location which does not require one to use it as a thoroughfare.

I would suggest they go try Cunard or Crystal or Viking River cruises or some other line that doesn't offer kids club and other family friendly amenities.

I would just like to point out that Cunard does indeed have a kids programme:

http://www.cunard.com/cruise-ships/queen-elizabeth/activities-entertainment/?view=12186#tabbedModule12180