Celebrity with Kids?

[ToroAzul]

Back story. My wife and I have cruised X once back in 2007 for our honeymoon. We were by far one of the youngest, if not youngest, couple on the ship being in our mid 20s at the time.

 

Fast forward to now. We were going to do a no-kid-trip in Feb 2021. However, now it looks as if our September Royal trip will be cancelled. The Wifey is feeling bad the kids will miss out so now we plan to add them to our February trip on a five day Infinity cruise. If possible we are trying to switch to either an Apex/Edge 7 day the same week of President's Day.

 

We cruised this past Feb on RCCL Rhapsody, not a ton of kids but my daughter found some friends. How difficult will it be to find playmates for my kids on X?

 

Obviously no way to crystal ball this, general question.

 

Thanks in advance.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

There were quite a few kids on the Edge over Presidents' Week this year.

[ToroAzul]

sweet (well at least for them)! Thank you. I was hoping for a break from the kiddos but I gotta play ball.

[awhfy]

Celebrity has a fabulous kids club. Just make sure that they go the first day, that’s when all the friends are made. Remember, Celebrity doesn’t have the slides, etc that Royal Has

[cruisetonowhere10]

I have sailed celebrity with my kids...at the time 12 and 8 on infinity for a 7 night to Bermuda.  Kids loved it.  

[Covepointcruiser]

Best cruise with kids is Disney.   Disney is expensive but there is no chance your kids will be bored.

[bEwAbG]

There should be more families on board President's Day week because a lot of schools use that week if they do a winter break.  If it's any other week of February, the number of kids will drop pretty dramatically, in my experience (we usually sail in February to avoid lots of kids, and it works).

 

The unknown for 2021 is if cruising will still be affected by the current pandemic and what effect, if any, that will have on kids club activities.

[mahdnc]

As said earlier, you will see lots of families with kids if your cruise week includes President's Day.  For the other weeks in February you will not see many kids at all.

[ToroAzul]

2 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Best cruise with kids is Disney.   Disney is expensive but there is no chance your kids will be bored.

 

Thanks we've done Disney Fantasy twice with the kids. We're done with the mouse.

 

Thanks for the responses.

Edited June 17, 2020 by ToroAzul

[pumpkin 11]

44 minutes ago, ToroAzul said:

 

Thanks we've done Disney Fantasy twice with the kids. We're done with the mouse.

 

Thanks for the responses.

Haha! Too funny! The club is great they will have plenty to do if they wish. The staff is great to kids

[PTC DAWG]

As an adult who likes to cruise Celebrity...I vote no. There are too many lines that are a better fit for kids..

[ToroAzul]

23 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

As an adult who likes to cruise Celebrity...I vote no. There are too many lines that are a better fit for kids..

 

This is a comped balcony offer sooooo... They'll be on Celebrity (Infinity if I can't move it to Apex or Edge)  if I can add them 😉

 

Lo

Edited June 17, 2020 by ToroAzul

[MamaFej]

In my experience, the kids, teens, and young adults on Celebrity have been very well-behaved. I think it goes along with the "Classy Without Being Stuffy" atmosphere. The sort of parents who enjoy that atmosphere tend to raise their kids to fit into it.

 

I think you and your kids will have a great time, @ToroAzul.

[pumpkin 11]

2 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

In my experience, the kids, teens, and young adults on Celebrity have been very well-behaved. I think it goes along with the "Classy Without Being Stuffy" atmosphere. The sort of parents who enjoy that atmosphere tend to raise their kids to fit into it.

 

I think you and your kids will have a great time, @ToroAzul.

That is a perfect description.

[rmalbers]

You can be assured that all cruise lines have the kid thing figured out, the kid thing is VERY important to every cruise line out there, X included!

[dkjretired]

6 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Best cruise with kids is Disney.   Disney is expensive but there is no chance your kids will be bored.

Several cruisers on this board in the past have said their kids enjoyed Celebrity more than Disney largely because of the more individualized attention.  My kids did the Big Red Boat years ago with Disney characters before DCL and the kids had fun but enjoyed much more their Celebrity cruises.  A lot depends on the child. 

 

After many years on this board usually when you see someone knocking Celebrity's children's programs, they have never used them.   There is a thing that goes back many years for some odd reason that Celebrity should not have kids on board.  

Edited June 17, 2020 by dkjretired

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

As an adult who likes to cruise Celebrity...I vote no. There are too many lines that are a better fit for kids..

It depends on the kids. When my sister and I were growing up, we would have been fine with X because we did not (and still don’t) need slides and other gimmicks to have fun. We also wouldn’t have wanted to be farmed out on a family vacation, so clubs and such wouldn’t have mattered. (And we might be weird but hanging out with people for a week doesn’t make you “friends” - it goes deeper for us.)

[upwarduk]

Just be aware that the indoor pool (Solarium) is for Adults only.

I did see a concession to ‘FamilyTime’ from 5-6 on a Baltic Cruise, as it was too cold to swim in the outdoor pool.

[chemmo]

12 hours ago, MamaFej said:

In my experience, the kids, teens, and young adults on Celebrity have been very well-behaved. I think it goes along with the "Classy Without Being Stuffy" atmosphere. The sort of parents who enjoy that atmosphere tend to raise their kids to fit into it.

 

I think you and your kids will have a great time, @ToroAzul.

 

Also agree!

 

We have experienced a few RC cruises where parental supervision was noticeable by its absence...On Celebrity children in the general areas tend to be happy chatting to each other or busy on devices and it is rare in the restaurants to have any issues.The one time we experienced a screaming child in a restaurant on Celebrity the M’D was over with a polite but assertive “Whose dinner do I keep warm whilst the little one gets some fresh air?”

 

You do not mention the ages of your children...I think the children’s club age starts at 3 (fully toilet trained). The shops on board, unlike some other lines, have very little for children and for that matter neither do many of the ports of call. When our son was young we did ensure we took plenty of ‘down time’ things with us. Colouring books, crayons, sticker books along with a couple of light weight family games. Babysitting can be arranged at a cost but it is not guaranteed. Some age group also offer some evening supervision which can allow you and your wife some twosome time. You may want to look at visiting Le Petit Chef one night with the children  ideal good fun family dining.

 

Hope you have a fantastic family cruise!

[ToroAzul]

Sorry, ages 10 and 5. They only do kids club at night. We are a family unit through the day, through dinner, and will usually do a show together every other night before we farm out the evening.

 

They have sailed: Carnival x 4, Disney x 2, RCCL x 2. NCL x 2 (daughter only).

[Bo1953]

16 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

As an adult who likes to cruise Celebrity...I vote no. There are too many lines that are a better fit for kids..

To be sure, as an "adult" (at times) who likes to cruise X, I vote resoundingly YES as we, at times, travel with a five (5) YO and she behaves very well IMO, with very very few public melt downs (mainly when it is time for a nap or she wants to hit Camp At Sea).

 

She did well on RCC, but was not happy with the crowding and human mass that presented itself.

 

As such, it was not a better fit for her. An anomaly, quite sure, but not out of the norm for many 'kids' we have interacted with on X sailings.

 

You are quite correct, for the vast majority of 'kids' who have a different 'social' norm, other ships are more compatible and interesting, for sure. Then again I Am not sure about the ports of calls for those lines, either.

 

I will go so far to say, most passengers who bring their children on X have to a great degree prepared them for the experience accordingly, through daily living.

 

Yes, there will be a few kids, like adults, who disappoint, but I have yet to run into them on X, yet (next sailing???)..... LOL

 

bon voyage

Edited June 18, 2020 by Bo1953

[mahdnc]

49 minutes ago, ToroAzul said:

Sorry, ages 10 and 5. They only do kids club at night. We are a family unit through the day, through dinner, and will usually do a show together every other night before we farm out the evening.

 

They have sailed: Carnival x 4, Disney x 2, RCCL x 2. NCL x 2 (daughter only).

 

From our experience, Celebrity's kid's program does an excellent job with those ages.

[Pinboy]

7 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Just be aware that the indoor pool (Solarium) is for Adults only.

Reason---- Between 2:05 pm and 4: 25 pm every day 90 % of adults participate in Celebrity Olympics .

" Who can sleep the longest without snoring  "

 

[pumpkin 11]

17 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Reason---- Between 2:05 pm and 4: 25 pm every day 90 % of adults participate in Celebrity Olympics .

" Who can sleep the longest without snoring  "

 

Isn't that the truth

[WesternBroncoCruiser]

We cruise Celebrity with our kids from the ages of about 7 and 9 to the last family cruise when they were 15 and 17.  They loved Celebrity and were never bored.   They were also instructed to be respectful of otheres and be on their best behavior at all times or that would be the end of cruising for them.  We cruised for our preferences and not the kids and loved that Celebrity fit our taste so well and the kids enjoyed the quality time with us, entertainment on the ship, and the fun we would have ashore.  

 

The Mouse we never our thing other than a couple of trips to Disney World, and we couldn't see paying more than twice as much for a cruise that would cater to the kids. Celebrity was a good fit for Mom and Dad, and if the kids wanted to come along they had to like it too.    We did Royal once when they were 17 and 19 when my Sister picked the ship.   We liked the variety of entertainment and activities on the ship, but found the dinner service to be not at good and the inward facing ship took away from out enjoyment of the ocean. Everyone is different and has different taste, so not saying one is better for families than others, but we loved Celebrity with our kids.