Celebrity Reflection Fun Factory Terrible Experience for Our 3 y/o

[Queen of Oakville]

Thanks to everyone for weighing in with their experiences. It's quite clear that experiences differ line-to-line and child-to-child.

 

We took our granddaughter on her first cruise this past January (Carnival Sunshine with 2.0 waterpark upgrades). We thought the waterpark would ... ahem ... blow her out of the water (enthusiasm-wise). It did not. She visited it on the first day, didn't like it, and we never returned.

 

She did Camp Carnival twice. Once was a prince/princess event. She and one other kid dressed up for it; she was unimpressed with the craft/activity that went along with it. The second time she asked the staff to call us to pick her up. I've heard people rave about Camp Carnival - it just wasn't our granddaughter's cuppa tea.

 

We spent lots of time in the pool, on our balcony, and exploring the ship. She loved the MDR and the balcony (sunrise, sunset, and docking). And room service.

 

Our next cruise with her will be on the Celebrity Reflection. Thanks to the poster who described their bathroom experience; we'll go over that ahead of time so she knows what to expect and how to get help if she has trouble opening the door.

 

 

 

Hi Dee, you asked a questions somewhere else, and I forgot to answer it. I don't think X really did a lot of parent/grand interaction type events. However, HAL was great for this. The had "family" events each day usually lat afternoon = family scavenger hunt, family wii, family karaoke, family trivia etc. The events were never really well attended, but we went and had a blast. HAL is also very generous with the prizes :D The Royal Family of Oakville won the Family Trivia contest on our cruise (we were the only family that showed up!).

 

 

 

The Original Post is 2 years old, so I hope it doesn't sway anyone against X. We've only done one X cruise so far, but my kids (7/8 at the time) loved it. They are really excited for our next cruise.

 

My experience with DCL, like others have noted is that there is no adult interaction. The counsellors are there to supervise not interact. They don't know most children by name and they really don't participate. Their job is to keep the crowds controlled. On the more "Adult" ships, you generally will find fewer kids (holiday and spring break cruises excluded) but you will also find counsellors who are more engaged with the children. Usually by day 2, they are being greeted by name.

 

My kids (now 8/9) rank the kid's clubs as follows

 

X

HAL

DCL

Royal

Carnival

 

The rank DCL higher for the "themes" - who doesn't want to play in Andy's room? But the prefer counsellor-engagement and fewer kids that they find on the more adult lines.

[CanadianDee]

Hi Dee, you asked a questions somewhere else, and I forgot to answer it. I don't think X really did a lot of parent/grand interaction type events. However, HAL was great for this. The had "family" events each day usually lat afternoon = family scavenger hunt, family wii, family karaoke, family trivia etc. The events were never really well attended, but we went and had a blast. HAL is also very generous with the prizes :D The Royal Family of Oakville won the Family Trivia contest on our cruise (we were the only family that showed up!).

 

 

 

The Original Post is 2 years old, so I hope it doesn't sway anyone against X. We've only done one X cruise so far, but my kids (7/8 at the time) loved it. They are really excited for our next cruise.

 

My experience with DCL, like others have noted is that there is no adult interaction. The counsellors are there to supervise not interact. They don't know most children by name and they really don't participate. Their job is to keep the crowds controlled. On the more "Adult" ships, you generally will find fewer kids (holiday and spring break cruises excluded) but you will also find counsellors who are more engaged with the children. Usually by day 2, they are being greeted by name.

 

My kids (now 8/9) rank the kid's clubs as follows

 

X

HAL

DCL

Royal

Carnival

 

The rank DCL higher for the "themes" - who doesn't want to play in Andy's room? But the prefer counsellor-engagement and fewer kids that they find on the more adult lines.

 

Thanks tons. I've read a number of posts written by parents underwhelmed by the Disney kids' program. We probably would've opted for DCL (banned by parents, who understandably would like to do that cruise with her themselves), but the more I read, the more I'm convinced we've made a good choice.

 

So X is preferred by the kids, but HAL has a better multi-generational experience in the kids' club. So many awesomely fun choices to make. :)

[Sparkygirl]

Sorry to hear about your experience. DS went on RCCL when he was 3 and Disney when he was 4, Princess and HAL when he was 6 and 7. We haven't been on Celebrity. Disney had the least amount of supervision of any cruise line we've been on. Even though we were on DCL for an 11 day cruise, I doubt that any of the staff even knew his name. It was a free for all. We had a similar experience at Disney's Aulani resort. So, I would not assume that because Disney has a family friendly reputation, that their child care is even as good as other cruise lines or resorts.

 

 

I couldn't agree more! DCL told me they can not accommodate my daughter allergy needs because their kids program is a free for all without sufficient supervision to protect her.

 

 

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[Queen of Oakville]

Don't get me wrong ... I think every child should be spoiled with a Disney cruise, at least once :D

 

When we sailed Dream, we were already booked on Fantasy and we contemplated cancelling but decided to sail a second time.

 

 

 

There are many enjoyable things to a Disney cruise:

• Aquaduck
  
• Awesome Shows
  
• Character Interaction
  

 

Just to name a few. I just don't think that the kid's club is the reason to go on a Disney cruise. Once is enough. We had many magical moments on our Disney cruise, lots of fun. If you are a member of a group that does Fish Extenders - it's a blast. To this day i am still friends with people i got to know on our cruisemeet.

 

The Character Interaction you get on a ship is FABULOUS it doesn't even compare to the parks. The meets are never rushed and you can run into characters anywhere. My kids (dressed as Woody and Jessie) had about 10 minutes of play-time dancing with Woody and Jessie. We ran into Tiana in a hallway and she spent a VERY long time chatting with my daughter.

 

If your grand-girlie is a "princess" .... it's a must. My daughter cruised with 7 princess dresses - one for each night. She loved it!

 

To me 4/5 to 7/8 is the optimal age to get the most magic out of it.

 

 

There are some people who love DCL and exclusively cruise DCL. For me, it was a once/twice in a lifetime thing; but other lines suit us better and provide an overall more enjoyable holiday experience.

[Gardeneroflove]

. We've done Disney twice, and RCL once with dd, Carnival Dream next. Since dh works, she doesn't go to the clubs, she plays with daddy or both of us. Dh has his time during quiet time and after we go to bed (early, lol).

 

We enjoyed Disney MORE because there were open play times in the kid's club (so we could play with her or watch her play) and they more family fun things to do (crafts, toddler time, wake up with disney jr, charactor breakfast), running into different characters was great. RCL didn't have ANYTHING that was for families (with kids anyway that would be fun).

 

On all three cruises dd found other kids to play with, either by the pool or in the clubs during open hours or where ever. On RCL there was another three year old and they had a blast playing together. Your kid can be soical without being in the club.

 

 

Everyone cruises for a different reason, we cruise to spend time together as a family or dh/dd together and me alone (sahm - I enjoy my kid free desserts and naps!). I wouldn't judge a cruise line on their kid's club during spring break or a cruise line experiance with a three year old (we cruised with a three year old :eek: Here's hoping our next one will be better!)

[Kiran]

Celebrity Equinox -witnessed really kind counselors for the littles.

We did a cruise with less than 100 kids onboard. My DD13 had no one as the other 13 yr old girl onboard was equally shy.

There were "family activities" where parents could join for Bingo etc and so we went to kids club. The counselors would play cards and then trade them out with their little charges so little kids won in the end. It was very thoughtful of them. Counselors knew childrens names. So just an example on the other side of the ledger.

[ladygal4.4]

Have you thought about Carnival? We took our 4 kids last year, ages 4,6,9, 10. They LOVED it, and we're begging to go back and play when we would take them out for meals and excursions. They have lots of differing activities. Not just crafts, video games...but exercise and dance parties. Themed nights where they'll play dress up with pirate activities and get face painting. Then of course, they have the Seuss at Sea with a parade they let the kids be in.

 

We have had NO complaints with carnival staff. They have been very good to our kids and in turn, the kids just loved their week there. And believe me, if something was off, my kids would have told me immediately. Tattle-telling is their specialty LOL

[Freckle53]

The Carnival staff was fantastic last year at their Camp Carnival with our then just turned 2 year old. He only stayed about 90 minutes on the first sea day before the separation anxiety kicked in, but for the entire week, every time we saw the staff either in the halls or when dropping off/picking up our older son, they said hi to our youngest and called him by name and would ask him if he'd like to come play with them again, etc. Even though the answer was an firm head shake of "no", they certainly tried and I was surprised they knew his name and were even so friendly, despite him wanting nothing to do with their camp.