Children on Celebrity

Hi Everyone,

I am hoping for some feedback from anyone that has taken their little ones on Celebrity. We have 2 children who will be 4 and 6 at the time of the sailing. We love to cruise and have cruised only Disney with the kids, but several other lines without. We love princess when it is just us adults, but were thinking of trying out celebrity since we like the itinerary better. Disney prices have just been insane this year and were thinking of trying one of the adult lines with the kids. That being said, would the children enjoy a cruise on celebrity? Are they somewhat kid friendly, like in the dining room and stuff. Are children allowed in the pool (s)? Are there activities that they would enjoy? Also we are looking at either a standard balcony or concierge class balcony. Does anyone know how the beds are arranged with 4 in a cabin? It says there is a sofa bed so does that sleep 2 (my kids are small but don't think they would fit in a twin)? Or is there an upper berth somewhere? We looked into Holland as well but saw they have the 4th bed right over our bed, we wouldn't like that. Thanks so much for any insight you can give. We are looking into the Jan 2 Reflection Western.

Caroline

Hi Caroline,

Much depends on your children.

At 4/6 - we sailed HAL and my kids loved it. It ranked #1 for a while (even after two DCL cruises and 2 DreamWorks cruises on Royal) until we sailed X. My kids LOVE Celebrity and they are excited for our second X cruise in November.

My kids are now 8/9. They enjoy the dinner in the main dining room. They enjoy following the dress code. They enjoy shows on a cruise ship (even though the shows on X are not the best). There are generally not a lot of kids on X and my kids like this (they liked it about HAL too). They enjoy the extra attention they get in the kids club - like being greeted/known by name by the camp counsellors.

My kids are well-behaved. They don't run/scream in public areas and they don't get out of control in the pool. Ergo, they don't draw "bad" vibes from other passengers because they don't give them reason to.

If your kid are like mine, they just might love X. If they are runners/screamers/splashers they (and you) will likely draw a few sneers from your fellow passengers.

If your kids crave constant activity - rock climbing, ice skating, water slides etc. - they will not find that on X.

To answer some of your questions

would the children enjoy a cruise on celebrity?

• See above
  

Are they somewhat kid friendly, like in the dining room and stuff.

• I found all of the staff to be very kid friendly, especially the MDR staff.
  

Are children allowed in the pool (s)? Are there activities that they would enjoy?

• There is the adult pool - which they will not be allowed in UNLESS it is opened to all because of high winds/rain. Times which allow children will be posted, other wise they are only allowed in the main pool - at all times.
  
• There are no family activities (that I can recall). But all shows etc. will be open to families unless otherwise restricted.
  
• We spent most of our days by the pool as a family. When DH and I wanted to go to the casino - the kids went to the kid's club. Sometimes they opted for the kid's club instead of the pool.
  
• My kid's never gave me "We're bored" or "what can we do". But my kids are happy relaxing on a lounger playing with their ipad or reading a book.
  

Also we are looking at either a standard balcony or concierge class balcony. Does anyone know how the beds are arranged with 4 in a cabin? It says there is a sofa bed so does that sleep 2 (my kids are small but don't think they would fit in a twin)? Or is there an upper berth somewhere? We looked into Holland as well but saw they have the 4th bed right over our bed, we wouldn't like that. Thanks so much for any insight you can give. We are looking into the Jan 2 Reflection Western.

• When we sailed last time, we had a regular Verandah. DH and I slept in the double. The sofa bed sleeps one child, and there is a pull out mattress under the sofa. They took turns on who would sleep on the higher bed. The mattress might be about 10" off the floor (maybe more) It looks like this:
  

If you can't see the picture, click here

http://www.thepreismans.com/Solstice_IMG_3748.jpg

When we sailed HAL, we had bunkbeds in our room (it was an inside cabin, but also the most spacious cabin we've ever had.

flcruisechick16 - our families first ever cruise was on Celebrity and after that experience we were hooked. Have been on two others since. Here is my review of Celebrity Silhouette. Our little one was 8-months at the time but the sense I got was that less kids but a good amount for those kids to enjoy.

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

I hope this helps.

We sailed Celebrity over Thanksgiving last year. Our DD was just shy of 5 at that time. It was her first cruise, so she didn't have any other cruise to compare it (we had done AI resorts with her up to that point). She had fun. She went to the kids club a few times. We also went to the arcade a few times, but it is small, so not a place you can spend a ton of time. She also brought her mini iPad and would often play with it (and eat a cookie) while I enjoyed a cup of coffee in the coffee area. We ate dinner in the dining room. One night we were going to take her to the buffet for dinner so she could go to the kids club for an activity (so we wouldn't be rushed in the dining room), but she opted to eat dinner in the dining room with us....as she said the buffet area was for breakfast and lunch...not dinner. I think she enjoyed the service in the dining room as much as we did. With that being said, as another poster said, I think it will depend on your kids and their expectations. You are not going to find a lot of kids activities outside of the kids club on Celebrity. We enjoyed our cruise on Celebrity last year, but this year, we are going with NCL, so we have more options for DD (and I wanted to try the 'new' ship :D).