Honest question: Why do parents take young kids on Celebrity?

[mahdnc]

54 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

Our next cruise will be the first cruise without our kids - they are in their 20s now 🤭 - and I’m sure it will feel strange without them as they have been cruising with us since they were 4 and 6. 

 

Yes, it is a very strange feeling, indeed.

[kay0522]

One year ago, the week before Christmas we took our daughters, spouses and 4 grands on the Apex, ages ranging from 9 to 14.  We opted not to use the kids club.  We booked sky suites and the kids had a ball.  They loved the shows in the theatre, club and eden.  They would sit for hours and read, play games or talk at the retreat pool.  Several couples stopped us and mentioned how well behaved our kids were.  They loved getting ice cream from Scoops in the afternoon and picking dining menus for the evening.  Celebrity was wonderful for our family, and we are looking for dates to coincide with everyone's schedule for another family trip.  Thank you Celebrity!

[LA24]

5 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

I'm not asking this because we dislike kids...but to the contrary.  Our recent Apex cruise we saw maybe 15 kids the whole time, and each time I couldn't help but think "those poor kids must be so bored".

 

So why do parents with kids choose Celebrity?

One of the reasons I picked celebrity….because the lack of kids 😉 

Edited February 20 by LA24

[swjumbo]

Seems that most of us here with kids are very similar.

Mine, 13 & 11 have done many cruises with Celebrity and love it.

They get their own area, have attentive staff looking after them and make friends. They are still in contact with some of them.

On our last trip, for example, they were put into groups and told to walk around the ship finding out how many languages they could get to say Good Morning. 
They loved it, as did the international crew and not a water slide in sight. 

Let the loud, easily distracted ones go to Carnival or RC.

Celebrity is definitely our favourite.

Edited February 20 by swjumbo

[paulh84]

I always get a chuckle out of comments on other groups. It's not necessarily specific to Celebrity but you can usually find a few comments like "my kids favorite ship is ____! It was their best cruise ever." Then read later on the kid is 19 months old. 

Edited February 20 by paulh84

[sixpackeddie]

We have been cruising with our 13 year old daughter with Celebrity since she was 4 years old. She has always enjoyed the pools and activities. She has met new friends she still keeps in touch with.  

We only had 1 negative experience with our daughter on the Edge in 2019. We were dining in Luminae and our daughter met some other kids her age, they were walking back and forth to each others table on 3 occasions during our dinner. They were not being loud, disrespectful or running. On the 3rd time one of the passengers who was dining with his wife on the table closest to the isle stuck his foot out to try to trip one of the kids. Well the father of the little girls saw this and freaked out at the guy was almost a full out brawl. To make a long story short security was called and the reviewed the footage and verified what happened. We didn’t see this passenger again, really not sure what happened to him. The Retreat manager followed up with us and issued us a future cruise credit for our trouble. Really didn’t expect this. Other than this one negative experience cruising with our daughter has been an amazing experience. 

[hcat]

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

We have taken our two kids on 14 Celebrity cruises starting with our first cruise on Century back in 1996 were they were 3 yrs old (daughter) and 7 months old (son).  We chose Celebrity for the following reasons:

 

1. Celebrity does a very nice job with kids.  Our two children loved the kids program.

2. When we go cruising, choosing a line that is "best" for kids is not our number one priority.  As someone posted earlier, this is the same reason we took our kids to the national parks when they were very young. 

 

Katie at Mt Rainier National Park, 1993

precious! you have  great memories....

 

kids brought on Celeb are treated to the same high quality  family experiences they enjoy when on land..

 

Not everything is a carousel or water slide.. Time and place for that too but a cruise is so much more!

[Whinenowine]

2 hours ago, kay0522 said:

One year ago, the week before Christmas we took our daughters, spouses and 4 grands on the Apex, ages ranging from 9 to 14.  We opted not to use the kids club.  We booked sky suites and the kids had a ball.  They loved the shows in the theatre, club and eden.  They would sit for hours and read, play games or talk at the retreat pool.  Several couples stopped us and mentioned how well behaved our kids were.  They loved getting ice cream from Scoops in the afternoon and picking dining menus for the evening.  Celebrity was wonderful for our family

That has been the same experience we've had with our (now teenage) kids. They LOVE Celebrity and we've cruised with them to Alaska, Europe and the Caribbean.  They never much cared for the Kid's activities...quite the contrary they felt more 'grown up' with free reign of the ship: lounging at the pool, teas at al Bacio, smoothies at the Spa Cafe, ice cream, etc.  They love all the upscale restaurants serving a wide variety of foods and are more into chic night that I am (actually that bar is set pretty low).  All kids are different but X certainly marked the spot for us (before they jacked up their prices so much that we've started booking on other lines).

[PTC DAWG]

2 hours ago, paulh84 said:

I always get a chuckle out of comments on other groups. It's not necessarily specific to Celebrity but you can usually find a few comments like "my kids favorite ship is ____! It was their best cruise ever." Then read later on the kid is 19 months old. 

LOL, I agree, they don’t remember squat until about 4 or 5. 

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

Except you are thinking like an adult with this. For a kid being on a huge ship can be the adventure. Having ice cream at lunch and dinner everyday is the fun. Spending all day in the pool is exciting. Go to new places can be fun. Not being in school can be the best. Sometimes with kids it isnt the big exciting things that matter most. My daughter has just as much fun at the giant indoor playground filled with other kids as she does on the small neighbor playground with just us.  

 

PS This of course isnt every kid but hopefully my point stands on its own without that.

 

If you're lucky, you still feel that way about a cruise when you are an adult.

 

I like having kids around, as long as they share the hot tub during family time in the Solarium.

 

(I got in trouble today for over planning vacations.  I'm on time out.  My husband doesn't quite understand that I enjoy the planning, its my day job and it's a distraction from my "real" job.  He likes to plan but only after each vacation is over.  And then only up to a certain point.)

Edited February 20 by zitsky

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, sixpackeddie said:

We have been cruising with our 13 year old daughter with Celebrity since she was 4 years old. She has always enjoyed the pools and activities. She has met new friends she still keeps in touch with.  

We only had 1 negative experience with our daughter on the Edge in 2019. We were dining in Luminae and our daughter met some other kids her age, they were walking back and forth to each others table on 3 occasions during our dinner. They were not being loud, disrespectful or running. On the 3rd time one of the passengers who was dining with his wife on the table closest to the isle stuck his foot out to try to trip one of the kids. Well the father of the little girls saw this and freaked out at the guy was almost a full out brawl. To make a long story short security was called and the reviewed the footage and verified what happened. We didn’t see this passenger again, really not sure what happened to him. The Retreat manager followed up with us and issued us a future cruise credit for our trouble. Really didn’t expect this. Other than this one negative experience cruising with our daughter has been an amazing experience. 

Sounds like a nice guy…

[PTC DAWG]

3 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

If you're lucky, you still feel that way about a cruise when you are an adult.

 

I like having kids around, as long as they share the hot tub.

 

(I got in trouble today for over planning vacations.  I'm on time out.  My husband doesn't quite understand that I enjoy the planning, its my day job and it's a distraction from my "real" job.  He likes to plan but only after each vacation is over.  And then only up to a certain point.)

The Wife and I seem to “plan” more after a bottle or so of wine.  🙂

 

We booked two cruises last Sunday. We only had one on the books, not nearly enough. 

Edited February 20 by PTC DAWG

[Pushka]

We loved travelling with our kids and the side entertainments were irrelevant for them. 

[LB_NJ]

8 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

I'm not asking this because we dislike kids...but to the contrary.  Our recent Apex cruise we saw maybe 15 kids the whole time, and each time I couldn't help but think "those poor kids must be so bored".

 

So why do parents with kids choose Celebrity?

I would take my young grandchildren on Celebrity.

 

I talked to a few parents on one cruise and they ALL said the kids loved it.

 

I probably wouldn’t take children between around 11 and 20.

[mac_tlc]

8 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I totally understand the question...I wouldn't take young kids either.  By young kids, I mean under 30.  🙂

Drat, I’ll have to tell my 29 yr old son he isn’t going to Alaska in August. 
 

I’ll give him your number 😏😏😏.

 

mac_tlc

[georgiaguy]

39 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

 

 I think we may be kindred spirits. We cruise in three weeks and he was just asking last night what islands we are going to. I have had the bulk of things planned for a while now and even keep several spreadsheets pages with a variety of info. Havent gotten in trouble yet, but he does joke that if you ever have limited time somewhere, call me cause I can really pack in a lot in a short period of time.  

Edited February 20 by georgiaguy

[Wakepatrol]

7 hours ago, Tyler414 said:

Why are there kids in Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, Yosemite, Glacier National Park, The Badlands, Smokey Mountains...................

I’ve been asking myself this for years?

[Liao]

10 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

I'm not asking this because we dislike kids...but to the contrary.  Our recent Apex cruise we saw maybe 15 kids the whole time, and each time I couldn't help but think "those poor kids must be so bored".

 

So why do parents with kids choose Celebrity?

Honest answer, because they can and they want to.

[CruisinShips]

5 minutes ago, Liao said:

Honest answer, because they can and they want to.

Thanks for that most illuminating insight!

Edited February 20 by CruisinShips

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, georgiaguy said:

 

 I think we may be kindred spirits. We cruise in three weeks and he was just asking last night what islands we are going to. I have had the bulk of things planned for a while now and even keep several spreadsheets pages with a variety of info. Havent gotten in trouble yet, but he does joke that if you ever have limited time somewhere, call me cause I can really pack in a lot in a short period of time.  

I’m giving him until our May flights.  After that, if I see a good deal I’m buying it.  Some tension was from him offering to pay for the flights.  I paid for the cruise.  And I usually pay for the flights too.  But he is a cheap bastard and if it were up to him we would fly on the A350 in coach and cruise in an inside cabin.  We can both afford much better than that.  

My husband thinks if he hates planning, that everyone else should too.  He was executive at several biotech firms so you would figure he is used to planning.  You sometimes have to drag him to vacations.  He just learned about sea days.  So naturally he can’t stop talking about them.  🙄

 

Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

Edited February 20 by zitsky

[GatorMomInNC]

10 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

I'm not asking this because we dislike kids...but to the contrary.  Our recent Apex cruise we saw maybe 15 kids the whole time, and each time I couldn't help but think "those poor kids must be so bored".

 

So why do parents with kids choose Celebrity?

I am platinum on Disney and have spent close to 100 days on Disney ships and it is my favorite cruise line.  However,  my kids are older now and don't want to travel with me at all, let alone Disney.  Honestly, if it was affordable to go solo on Disney I would be cruising it three times a year, but alas, they don't have great single rates. 

 

Anyway, my kids loved Disney, of course, but when we would go on other lines with them I was always a little worried.  However, we did ONE Celebrity with my kids in 2015 - they would have been 8 and 11.  It was to Alaska in September on the Solstice.  There were less than 20 kids on board, that includes infants to teenagers.  For kids in their age range - 7 to 14 - there were maybe 6 kids and they all hung out all the time.  My kids LOVED it!!  They only way I got to see them on sea days was to track them down in the cafe at lunchtime and sit next to them and the counselors - it was practically a 1 to 1 ratio!  They did a magic show and the captains young daughter and wife were on that cruise so he came to it.  They still have very fond memories of that cruise.  They got a backstage tour and a tour of the bridge.  

[MNSails]

My daughter is 5 and went on her first Celebrity cruise over Christmas. We now have two more booked with her (and a few without her).  She LOVED the kids club and the pools, getting ice cream at every meal, and going to the various ports.  When asked if she wanted to go back to Disney or do another cruise for our next vacation, she picked the cruise without hesitation. 

 

She would absolutely go down a waterside if it was available, but that type of cruise line would drive me insane (too loud, too much energy, etc.).  So Celebrity it is for us.

[phoenix_dream]

We took our son on Celebrity from the time he was around 6 years old.  Would he have preferred a Royal Caribbean ship?  Possibly.  But did he have a great time anyway?  He says he did.  He loved being treated like royalty (the staff is very nice to children in particular).  He enjoyed dressing up for dinner believe it or not.  He liked joining us in the pool and playing board games with us.  He enjoyed reading his books and comic books, and playing games and watching movies on our laptop.  Sometimes kids need downtime too!  He loved going to the shows, and enjoyed the music in the bars before dinner.  He is more introverted, so didn't really make a lot of use of the children's club.  He enjoyed going to the beach with us in ports (and we tried to book cruises that had more ports than sea days).  DH and I much preferred Celebrity to other lines we sailed, and all 3 of us had a great time on Celebrity.

[cruisetonowhere10]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

If you're lucky, you still feel that way about a cruise when you are an adult.

 

I like having kids around, as long as they share the hot tub during family time in the Solarium.

 

(I got in trouble today for over planning vacations.  I'm on time out.  My husband doesn't quite understand that I enjoy the planning, its my day job and it's a distraction from my "real" job.  He likes to plan but only after each vacation is over.  And then only up to a certain point.)

I actually enjoy the planning as much, if not more, than the actual trip. 

[zitsky]

19 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I actually enjoy the planning as much, if not more, than the actual trip. 

Are you single?  I’m about to be.