How is Celebrity for kids?

[yvr49]

We want to do a family cruise in August 2024.  I had been looking at RCI and Princess (with which I'm very familiar) but literally the only dates and itinerary that will work for all of us are on Celebrity Solstice.  Celebrity is new to us and I am wondering if they have kids' programs which would work for our 3 littles aged 5, 7 and 9.  I would appreciate any and all comments or advice.  Thanks!

[mom says]

Celebrity has kids clubs on its ships. And during school holidays there are always other children on board.

[Fang]

My children loved the kids program. They still talk about being “ shipmates” and the fun times they had. 

[Northern Aurora]

August 2024 on the Solstice -- is this an Alaska itinerary RT out of Vancouver?

 

The Alaska itineraries always attract families including multi-generation families.  There will be a number of other kids onboard and the popular Fun Factory will be busy.  

[keesar]

1 hour ago, yvr49 said:

We want to do a family cruise in August 2024.  I had been looking at RCI and Princess (with which I'm very familiar) but literally the only dates and itinerary that will work for all of us are on Celebrity Solstice.  Celebrity is new to us and I am wondering if they have kids' programs which would work for our 3 littles aged 5, 7 and 9.  I would appreciate any and all comments or advice.  Thanks!

If the focus of the vacation are the parents, then Celebrity would be a very good choice.  If the focus is with your children,  Celebrity would not be my choice.  I would look at Royal Caribbean or Princess.  

[cruisestitch]

If the only available date is Celebrity….then the question is, how to make it the best cruise for you and your family.  Start with checking out the Roll Call to see if other families are posting there.

[ymncruise]

In August there will be plenty of families on board and the kids will enjoy the pool. 

[Shiba_Lover]

They do have a kids club in terms of activities.  However, they do not have amenities like Royal in terms of waterparks, amusement park, etc.  If you are interested in the kids club for them to have some activities - that exists.  If you are interested in participating with them in activities outside of the kids club onboard like you could on Royal - such as waterparks, amusement area, those are not on Celebrity.  It is really all oriented to adults.  As others have said, there will be other kids onboard at that time of year, so they will certainly be able to make other friends their ages.  And there is a pool, but not a shallow / "kids" pool.  I believe they may allow families in the Solarium pool during certain hours (normally no children), but if the weather is cool, I think it is allowed during certain hours.

[BlueSkiesTX]

My daughters loved the kids club when they were your kids ages. The kids club is smaller and the staff are really engaged with the kids. Camp at Sea Night is really fun and the staff even has events for the whole family. I prefer Celebrity's kids clubs to RCCL because they are smaller. My daughters loved both and grew up cruising. 5, 7, and 9 are great ages for any kids club, IMHO. My daughters are 15, 13 and 11 now. The two older ones will probably join us at nightly trivia while the younger one will enjoy the kids club in the evening. My kids never needed the slides and bells and whistles with the RCCL ships.  We were always exhausted from our excursions anyway.  Ultimately, you know your kids best.  Have fun! 

[LB_NJ]

Have you looked at Disney?

 

Personally, I would choose Disney first, then Celebrity, then Royal.

[yvr49]

Thanks everyone.  I will feel confident booking with Celebrity based on the replies here.  I think our kids at 5, 7 and 9 will be very happy with the kids' club.  Another question if anyone knows:  would the 5-year-old Shipmate be permitted to join his 7 and 9-year-old cousins with Cadets?  He will be heartbroken if he can't join them.

[ESweets]

5 hours ago, yvr49 said:

Thanks everyone.  I will feel confident booking with Celebrity based on the replies here.  I think our kids at 5, 7 and 9 will be very happy with the kids' club.  Another question if anyone knows:  would the 5-year-old Shipmate be permitted to join his 7 and 9-year-old cousins with Cadets?  He will be heartbroken if he can't join them.

I have heard they are pretty strict on ages. They did not let my son “age up” even though he was only a few months away. There *is* a chance for your older kids to level down to the 5 year olds group. This is our plan if my now 8 year old doesn’t want to go alone. His 10 year old sister will try to level down for the the 2nd day. 

[hcat]

hard for siblings to be apart but I'm not sure unrelated 9 yr olds want to hang out with a 5 yr old..all depends..

 

our Grandboys are 7 and 3.. and are very close pals.....but somtimes it's better for them to be with their own age group..

 

tough choices!

[MartiniBarhooked]

I always say if you want to punish your child take them on a Celebrity Cruise.  

[Fang]

Our daughters were three years apart. One was in shipmates and the other in cadets. The first day was hard for them to be apart and after that no problem. The staff really kept the kids busy. 

[hcat]

2 minutes ago, MartiniBarhooked said:

I always say if you want to punish your child take them on a Celebrity Cruise.  

why?  family time is great..I think X has a stem program.. just check them frequently

[Cachecara]

I have 3 grandchildren similar ages and personally would choose another cruise line, even though X is my own personal preference.  
Yes, they have a kid’s club.  But it’s not close to all the other kid friendly things they will not have on X as mentioned above.  
The pool is not shallow.  I’m 5’2” and feel vertically challenged, so I can’t imagine how younger kids would feel.  Jmo

[Peteymil]

5 hours ago, MartiniBarhooked said:

I always say if you want to punish your child take them on a Celebrity Cruise.  

Do you have experience with this???   Just took my grandchildren, 2 1/2 and 6 1/2, and they had the time of their lives.  We all had the best time and I hardly think it was a punishment.

[bEwAbG]

Celebrity experience will be very similar to Princess experience for adults and kids.  They are similar product offerings.

[SerraG]

It’s been a few years, but my daughter strongly preferred the Celebrity kid’s club to Disney’s.  She said that on Disney, the kids were often left on their own to play with other kids or video games.  Whereas, on Celebrity there were plenty of fun scheduled activities and lots of interaction with the camp counselors.  
 

That being said, there aren’t water slides or anything like that on Celebrity.  So if the kids are going to be spending lots of time in the kid’s club, Celebrity is fantastic. If you want to spend time going down  water slides or rock climbing and meeting princesses, then Disney or another line would probably be better.  
 

[gcornell]

I just booked my first Celebrity Cruise with my kids. They have been on several Silver Sea cruises and had a great time.  

[keesar]

7 hours ago, MartiniBarhooked said:

I always say if you want to punish your child take them on a Celebrity Cruise.  

 

And we haven't heard from the cruisers that say "Celebrity is my two year olds favorite cruise line".  But that is coming! 😀

 

Let's face it.  The parents want to go on Celebrity and will bring their kids along.

[hcat]

as long as they are well supervised  and do not use  the hot tubs as  kids swim pools,  whatever the parents decide is fine!

[Dreamcruise27]

We just got off 14 nights on the Silhouette and I can’t say enough amazing things about the kids club. The first was a 4 nights cruise, which had 44 kids ages 0-17 and the second was a 10 nights cruise, which had 22 kids ages 0-12. Depending on the number of kids in each age group, they will combine them. My 3yo was with my 8yo at all times.

 

We had gotten off the Disney Dream before boarding the Silhouette and while my kids loved the Disney kids club (due to the Disney experience aspect) they LOVED the Celebrity kids club experience more. The activities were well planned and the staff really got to know them well (remembered their names, what they liked to do etc)

 

Solstice has two outdoor pools: one is the “family pool” which is 3ft-4ft deep. We did Alaska on Solstice in 2017 and Hawaii in 2018 when our son was 2. Had a great time!

 

If your kids don’t need all the bells and whistles, Celebrity is a great cruise line for families 🙂

[raymac46]

My grandkids loved the Kid's Club activities on Celebrity when they were younger. Now they would likely prefer RCI. However we still base our choice on itinerary. I'm sure the grandkids would prefer a Celebrity cruise to staying at home.