Kids (age 10) on Celebrity Apex?

[Majjie]

Hi all! We are looking to do a 7 day Norweigian Fjord cruise summer 2025. After a ton of research, Celebrity Apex really does, hands down, offer the best itinerary. They are visiting 2 UNESCO sites that will no longer be accessible to cruise ships after 1/1/26.

 

My other option is Royal Carribbean. It will still be beautiful - but the itinerary will not pack the same once in a lifetime punch as Apex.

 

My dilemma - we will be traveling with our two 10 - almost 11 year olds (at time of sailing) twins. My kids do not really like kids clubs, it’s a colder itinerary so I don’t think water slides are that big of a consideration. They aren’t loud or obnoxious, but they are kids, and I also don’t want them to be bored or judged by others. Apex just looks so fancy. Will my kids be completely out of place? Should I just stick with RCI and the less desirable itinerary because I know they will fit in on board?

 

Help a girl out! We have only ever done Carnival, RCI, and NCL - all of which I know cater to kids.  Will we be fine with Celebrity? 

[hcat]

Not fancy but nice!

Well behaved children and teens are usually welcomed...

 

While not all  that much to do, I think they have a Stem component in the Kids Club,  also some indoor archery and daytime stuff in the CLUB, wood brain challenge Puzzles in EDEN during the day.. EDEN cafe for lunch..included

 

movies at the Rooftop area..but not too much on the TV..

 

 family swim hr in the Solararium

 

Le Petite Chef cartoon dinner( extra)

 

if you bring some fav card games..UNO, etc, and their own devices it should be fine..but you know them best! How important are the UNESCO sites to them?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

My 12 yo kid refuses to go to kid' club. He is an introvert and does not want to socialize with kids on cruises.

His favorite cruise line is Princess, which is a lot like Celebrity. It's not exactly kid oriented.

Your kids will be fine. Have them bring tablets or Nintendo switches for the times it may get boring.  Mine stopped using his tablet during MDR dinners at 10 because he was no longer bored during said dinners.

[mom says]

With only 2 sea days, I'd go for the cruise on Apex. You will all be busy ashore on port days, and there is lots of entertainment in the evenings that the kids can enjoy. On the sea days, I'm pretty sure you can find lots of things for the kids to do outside the kids clubs.

[SbbquilterUT]

We sailed Apex to Norway last August and there were plenty of kids on that 7 day sailing -  very international passengers out of Amsterdam.  The previous cruise was 12 nights and almost no children.  Very much enjoyed those sailings.

[KruznKimmie]

20 hours ago, Majjie said:

Hi all! We are looking to do a 7 day Norweigian Fjord cruise summer 2025. After a ton of research, Celebrity Apex really does, hands down, offer the best itinerary. They are visiting 2 UNESCO sites that will no longer be accessible to cruise ships after 1/1/26.

 

My other option is Royal Carribbean. It will still be beautiful - but the itinerary will not pack the same once in a lifetime punch as Apex.

 

My dilemma - we will be traveling with our two 10 - almost 11 year olds (at time of sailing) twins. My kids do not really like kids clubs, it’s a colder itinerary so I don’t think water slides are that big of a consideration. They aren’t loud or obnoxious, but they are kids, and I also don’t want them to be bored or judged by others. Apex just looks so fancy. Will my kids be completely out of place? Should I just stick with RCI and the less desirable itinerary because I know they will fit in on board?

 

Help a girl out! We have only ever done Carnival, RCI, and NCL - all of which I know cater to kids.  Will we be fine with Celebrity? 

During summer break there will be more children but cruised on the Ascent 2 weeks ago & we only saw 1 kid onboard.  Any time we cruise with the grandkids it is always Royal as they have so much more to offer for kids.  

 

Edited January 1 by KruznKimmie

[KKB]

22 hours ago, Majjie said:

Hi all! We are looking to do a 7 day Norweigian Fjord cruise summer 2025. After a ton of research, Celebrity Apex really does, hands down, offer the best itinerary. They are visiting 2 UNESCO sites that will no longer be accessible to cruise ships after 1/1/26.

 

My other option is Royal Carribbean. It will still be beautiful - but the itinerary will not pack the same once in a lifetime punch as Apex.

 

My dilemma - we will be traveling with our two 10 - almost 11 year olds (at time of sailing) twins. My kids do not really like kids clubs, it’s a colder itinerary so I don’t think water slides are that big of a consideration. They aren’t loud or obnoxious, but they are kids, and I also don’t want them to be bored or judged by others. Apex just looks so fancy. Will my kids be completely out of place? Should I just stick with RCI and the less desirable itinerary because I know they will fit in on board?

 

Help a girl out! We have only ever done Carnival, RCI, and NCL - all of which I know cater to kids.  Will we be fine with Celebrity? 

Do not worry at all about them being "out of place" 

Our children have sailed Princess, Celebrity, DCL & RCCL & loved them all.

With a port intensive itinerary, the ship is less important.

We LOVE Eclass...I say take the one with the special ports.

[Whinenowine]

My youngest was 10 when she did her first Celebrity cruise.  She loved it.  While we've not been on the Apex, we've been on the Edge a few times and I think you'll enjoy it very much.  And on those sea days the captain will likely set aside a few hours for families to use the usually-adults-only solarium pool.  Very cool to be in an indoor warm pool when you're cruising in cold weather areas.

[Shiba_Lover]

Think about what your kids will enjoy, and knowing what the ship has to offer.  There is not a TON of things on the ship that are geared specifically towards kids outside of the kids club.  Since they don't want to visit the kids club, if they are content to play a game, watch a video, etc - then they are probably fine.  If they would prefer more of the amenities on an RCL ship because that will be more fun to them - the amusement park type things, the skydive thing, etc - then consider that.  This sailing does have several days where the sail away time is pretty early (2PM in Bergen and 3PM in Brugges) - so as long as they are good to go without being bored back on the ship, you'll be fine.  I doubt they would be out of place on Celebrity in the summer.  A 7-day sailing in summer will have more kids on it - maybe not as many for Norway as a Caribbean, but still there will be other kids.   

[docsneeze]

     We sailed on Apex with our 5 y/o in June 2023 to Iceland and he loved it.  There were only about 10 kids on board including the Captain's daughter and everyone had a great time.  Kids Club is well run with very personalized attention from the counselors.  We limited our excursions to shorter ones focusing on Icelandic culture instead of long road trips to natural landscapes but still was a great experience for our family.  

     You will have a great time if you choose Celebrity.  Food was generally available for younger taste profiles.  RCL will have more kids but the food quality is not as good.  We have done RCL to Mediterranean which was nice also but felt more "gimmicky" with better quality of experience to ports on Celebrity.  Enjoy.

[Butterfly0822]

Took my kid on Apex last spring - she was 11. She loved reading, drinking fancy decaf coffees and teas, eating great food, chilling in Eden, and enjoying live music and trivia. 

 

She visited the kids club for two hours each night and made nice friend we still keep in touch with. 

 

I think it all depends on what is fun for your kids and what they enjoy in the trip's "down time" from port adventures? Some kiddos crave the water park, climbing wall, amusement park type experience..... Others don't. 

 

My daughter was treated with great kindness by all the crew members everywhere on the ship. 

 

It sounds like an amazing trip -- the ship isn't really the destination, rather the ports are! Have fun!

 

[gcornell]

Go for it.  We brought our kids on all our vacations starting when they were 7/8.  Africa - only kids, Silversea - few in any other kids, Dive Liveaboards - only kids every time we go.  Never an issue.