Celebrity with Young Kids?

Hi all, my family is considering our first cruise on Celebrity in 2017. It would be the Summit to Bermuda. Myself (28), husband (31), and kids (3 and 1).

We have only cruised Carnival and RCCL in the past, and only RC with our son when he was 1. We really like the departure port, itinerary, and stateroom size/layout options on the Summit. But, I want to ask those of you with experience if you feel that we will be openly accepted on X.

Our kids are well behaved and we are by no means the "let your kids run, scream, and do whatever they want" type of parents. We prefer to have them with us most of the time so kids clubs aren't a big issue, and we will be traveling with extended family which will help.

We have a more laid-back and low-key approach to the cruises we take: eat, lay out by the pool, eat, Bingo or casino, eat, show, bed. We aren't up all night or interested in a lot of constant activity.

My main concerns are what the overall climate of the other guests will be toward a family with small kids, as well as the employees. Would we be "welcomed?" Are there kid-friendly food options available in the MDR? Any small splash-type area that I could allow the kids to run through?

On our first cruise with kids, Enchantment of the Seas, our son was doted upon. I don't necessarily expect that again, but we would like to feel that we are welcome on the ship.

Thanks in advance for your help. I'll post this on the X board too.

amandajean06 - Our first family cruise was on the Celebrity Silhouette back in 2013 when our lil one was 8 months. I've included a link to my full review below. We didn't use the kids clubs so you'll see nothing about that but you will get a sense of how we were received.

You will see kids on Celebrity but certainly not as many as RC, Disney, Carnival, Norwegian etc. Our daughter became a bit of a rock star and was known to many of the crew and other guests. We were treated very well and never felt like we were being looked down upon by guests without children.

One night the three of us were sat at a table with a middle aged couple and we had the most fantastic dinner of the cruise. Fabulous people.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions that aren't answered by my review please let me know.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1794896

Cheers

amandajean06 - Our first family cruise was on the Celebrity Silhouette back in 2013 when our lil one was 8 months. I've included a link to my full review below. We didn't use the kids clubs so you'll see nothing about that but you will get a sense of how we were received.

 

You will see kids on Celebrity but certainly not as many as RC, Disney, Carnival, Norwegian etc. Our daughter became a bit of a rock star and was known to many of the crew and other guests. We were treated very well and never felt like we were being looked down upon by guests without children.

 

One night the three of us were sat at a table with a middle aged couple and we had the most fantastic dinner of the cruise. Fabulous people.

 

Hope this helps. If you have any questions that aren't answered by my review please let me know.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1794896

 

Cheers

Thank you so much, Tagong! I found your review to be very helpful. I hadn't thought of asking about the pack n play availability, so I'm glad you referenced that.

Of course your child will be welcomed! No worries at all....although there will be folks on CC that say how terrible it will be for you AND them....ignore those comments!

We sailed with Celebrity last winter and we all really enjoyed it. The crew and fellow passengers were both pleased to see kids on board. We didn't use the kids club much, but when my son did go, he really liked the counsellors and the things they did - especially the family treasure hunt around the ship.

We sailed with Celebrity when our little ones were still in diapers. The staff was great. The one thing we made sure to do at dinner, if they began to get fussy waiting for the food, one of us would take them out of the dinning room as to not to annoy the other dinners. We had people approach us on several occasions (fellow guests) to say high to the little ones and to commend us for being considerate toward others by taking the little ones out of the dinning room.

During one of our walks, well the youngest one could not walk yet, they got to meet the Captain. The youngest one literally jumped into his arms. :D

We did it when our son was 3 and it was the best cruise yet. We picked a European itinerary and seriously had the time of our lives. I was pregnant with his twin brothers at the time and I am so glad I did this.

We were on the summit with our then three year old and it was great. He loved the kids club and barely wanted to spend time with us

You'll be fine. I've seen everything from babies to teenagers on celebrity and all have been well behaved. From experience, there are even passengers who will come up and complement you on your kids! Lol

The staff was very friendly and practically fawned over my 3 and 7 year old (kids club and around the ship).

We took our then 3 year old on the Summit to Bermuda in August 2014. He had a great time. There were lots of other families with young children on the boat and everyone was warm and welcoming. The staff were great with him and he had a fantastic time in the kids club. Hope this is helpful

Nicole

Last March I took my 4 yo and 14 mos old daughters on Celebrity Reflection. They loved it. Older one did kids program and loved it- they were very personable and we went during Spring break so other kids. Younger one couldn't go to kids program but had fun. I highly recommend a blow up bath tub to put on pool deck so lil one can swim. It was a huge hit. If unsettled in MDR we would walk her and she would give high fives to staff and passengers. My only complaint (and it's minor) was it was sometimes hard to find a highchair in the buffet area at lunch but staff would help. Unfortunately sometimes they had to go to MDR to get one so took a bit of time. It was a great cruise for everyone!

We did the summit out of San Juan in March 2015 with our 18 month old and he was fine....here is a thread I recently posted a bunch of suggestions specifically to things to bring and what we did on board

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2296048

Only DCL and some RCCL ships have splash areas for kids still in diapers.

We sailed on the summit twice to Bermuda. My kids were 2 and 4 and the next year they were 3 and 5. Not once were they treated like anything other than princesses. My younger one was fully potty trained at 26 months just so she could swim. There is nothing for them to go in if they are not fully potty trained. No wading pool or splash pad. I have see many suggestions of a small blow up baby bath for them to splash in. They have a children's menu with pizza, chicken fingers , hot dogs, fruit, etc. At that age my kids ordered off both the adult menu (steaks, salads, etc) and some off the kids menu. My kids loved it both times. Make sure if your older one is potty trained to try some of the fun factory activities. They do a lot of fun things. You can look at threshers and just choose the activities you think he would like (I.e. Pirate night....they get eye patches, hunt for treasure, or superhero afternoon...they play superhero games and make masks). We just pick and choose what appealed to our child and that is what she went to. She liked going after lunch for an hour or two, or after dinner for a little while. We never did meals or any paid time. They mostly swam with us sea days. One warning we often had to drag them from the fun factory.

Im so glad to see this thread. My hubby and I are going on the Solstice with our then 17 month old. We love cruising but are sooooooooooooo nervous about taking our son, especially since he will be too young for the camp. I'm praying that we can get babysitters so we can go on some excursions. Do you think we will have problems?