Suitable for families?

[oskarNZ]

Hi everyone,

After a few weeks of weighing up the pros and cons between a Celebrity and Royal Caribbean cruise, I was about to ring up and book a Celebrity Cruise tonight. I have found a good special on a cruise I really want to do and the special expires tomorrow.

However, now I am at crunch point, I am having a last minute attack of the guilts about whether or not this cruise will be suitable for 5 year old son.

The cruise itself is not until Jan 2013 and it goes around Southeast Asia (including a much-desired stop at the island of Komodo). These ports are what have sold this cruise to me. It is on the Celebrity Millenium and is 14 days long. A 'nerd' at heart, I love that Celebrity offer a wealth of activities that stimulate the brain. I also like that it starts and finishes in Singapore, because it means we can spend a few days beforehand taking our son to Universal Singapore and the other theme park style attractions on Sentosa Island.

The alternative is a Great Barrier Reef cruise on the Radiance of the Seas. The ports are interesting, but we have been to Australia many times as it is a fairly cheap holiday destination for us kiwis. At 10 days, it is 4 days shorter, and the dates aren't quite as good for us. But because it's cheaper, we could afford a balcony over an oceanview on the Millenium. Also, we aren't really sporty people, but the Minigolf and pool tables do appeal. With all it's glass, I also slightly prefer the look of the Radiance ship.

Lastly, I should mention that part of the reason for this cruise is to celebrate my husband's and I 10th wedding anniversary. We do intend on putting our son into the kids clubs for at least 3 or 4 hours a day so we can celebrate time as a couple. Every holiday we've done over the last 4 years has been with my son in the forefront of our minds. We would never dream of doing a holiday without him (we would miss him too much), but this is the first time we have considered a holiday that is as much about us as it is about him. I know I shouldn't feel guilty about that, but I kind of do.

Anyway, I would be really interested to hear from families who have cruised with Celebrity and/or RCCL about their thoughts and suggestions. I know RCCL are generally considered to be better for families, but do Celebrity also offer activities that are suitable for the whole family (family Bingo etc)?

I will post this on the Family forum also as I need to make a decision soon.

Thanks in advance for your advice. :)

[cruisestitch]

This is a brand new itinerary for Celebrity, so you won't find any families who have done this cruise and can give advice. I'm guessing that there will be very few children on board. The kids club will operate regardless, but he's liable not to have any playmates, or very few.

[tserface]

I've never been to those itineraries, but I have been on cruises on both X and RCCL and I like them both. The Radiance is a wonderful ship and recently nearly rebuilt so in like new state. I've also been on the Millennium and I loved that ship as well, but there was not as much kid stuff to do on Celebrity. Celebrity does have kids programs, but there are not as many kids.

 

At 5 years old I doubt your son would have serious problems with either so you may want to get in Asia while he's still young and plan the more "beach" oriented trip for when he's older. I think he'd have a blast on either and is a lucky kid to have parents that take him along rather than dumping him at a grandparent or aunt's house on the way. I also think the Asia trip will be very educational and, at 5 years old, he will likely form many lifelong memories and may pick up some cultural or language skills.

 

Tom

 

Hi everyone,

After a few weeks of weighing up the pros and cons between a Celebrity and Royal Caribbean cruise, I was about to ring up and book a Celebrity Cruise tonight. I have found a good special on a cruise I really want to do and the special expires tomorrow.

However, now I am at crunch point, I am having a last minute attack of the guilts about whether or not this cruise will be suitable for 5 year old son.

The cruise itself is not until Jan 2013 and it goes around Southeast Asia (including a much-desired stop at the island of Komodo). These ports are what have sold this cruise to me. It is on the Celebrity Millenium and is 14 days long. A 'nerd' at heart, I love that Celebrity offer a wealth of activities that stimulate the brain. I also like that it starts and finishes in Singapore, because it means we can spend a few days beforehand taking our son to Universal Singapore and the other theme park style attractions on Sentosa Island.

The alternative is a Great Barrier Reef cruise on the Radiance of the Seas. The ports are interesting, but we have been to Australia many times as it is a fairly cheap holiday destination for us kiwis. At 10 days, it is 4 days shorter, and the dates aren't quite as good for us. But because it's cheaper, we could afford a balcony over an oceanview on the Millenium. Also, we aren't really sporty people, but the Minigolf and pool tables do appeal. With all it's glass, I also slightly prefer the look of the Radiance ship.

Lastly, I should mention that part of the reason for this cruise is to celebrate my husband's and I 10th wedding anniversary. We do intend on putting our son into the kids clubs for at least 3 or 4 hours a day so we can celebrate time as a couple. Every holiday we've done over the last 4 years has been with my son in the forefront of our minds. We would never dream of doing a holiday without him (we would miss him too much), but this is the first time we have considered a holiday that is as much about us as it is about him. I know I shouldn't feel guilty about that, but I kind of do.

Anyway, I would be really interested to hear from families who have cruised with Celebrity and/or RCCL about their thoughts and suggestions. I know RCCL are generally considered to be better for families, but do Celebrity also offer activities that are suitable for the whole family (family Bingo etc)?

I will post this on the Family forum also as I need to make a decision soon.

Thanks in advance for your advice. :)

[benatty]

Oskar, we are in the U.S., so we have not done the exotic cruise you are thinking about, but we took our 6 year old (5 then) on Celebrity last year in the Caribbean and he loved it. He has cruised on Princess, Holland and Celebrity, and he enjoyed Celebrity the best. There were 80 kids on our cruise (probably 10-20 his age) and he had a great time in the Kids Club. The thing we have found, especially with a young one (3-6) is that he enjoys the experience, regardless of what we are doing. We have purposely not taken a Royal Caribbean ship because he will want water slides, rock climibing walls, ice skating, on any subsequent cruise. For that reason we have taken him on "older skewing" cruise lines. He loves the pool every day, the kids club and eating in the fancy dining room. I say go for the Celebrity cruise and enjoy your 10th anniversary. He will have a blast.

 

The other thing we have found, talking to a lot of cruisers with young kids, is that their children have enjoed Celebrity/Princess more than Royal Caribbean, because there are less children. Our friends have told us their kids felt lost among the 100's of kids in their group at the kids club on board RCL, whereas they formed real bonds with the kids/counselors on Celebrity/Princess, and even Holland. We were scolded on Cruisecritic for even taking him (4 y.o. at the time) on the Westerdam, as he was going to be bored and more importantly ruin the experience for the adults. Instead he had a blast and the counselors were second to none.

 

Enjoy your cruise, either way.

[junglejane]

Here's a link to samples of the kids' cruise activity newsletters for X: http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Celebrity%20X/

 

I also agree that often kids have a better time with a smaller group than a larger one, because it can be easier to make friends and get more individualized attention from the Youth staff. I think you should go for it. If you continue to have doubts, try the Family Cruising Board, which tends to be a more supportive environment for these types of questions.

[AlanAllyn]

We were on the Celebrity Equinox the first week of December, 2009. There were 21 children, including a 4-year old who sat at the table next to ours. She was constantly pleading to go back to the children's program.

[oskarNZ]

Thank you very much for your advice. I have taken it all onboard and are feeling very excited again about booking the Celebrity Cruise.

 

Cruisestitch, it will be interesting to see how many kids are on the ship. I agree with others in that I wouldn't want a cruise ship with so many kids that my son gets lost in the crowd. However, I agree with you in that it will be disappointing if he has no one to play with. South East Asia is a very popular holiday destination for Australians and New Zealanders - especially now that we have budget airlines flying there and keeping the airfare costs down. Our summer school holidays run from mid December to the end of January. So while I won't be expecting too many children from the Northern Hemisphere, I half expect there to be a reasonable number of Aussie and Kiwi kids on this cruise. Time will tell?

 

tserface, thanks for your helpful response. I agree that an Asian cruise will be more educational for my son, and I feel better about booking Celebrity now that you have reminded me of that :)

 

Benatty, thanks for your response. You provided me with a new and interesting way of looking at the situation. I too, don't want water slides and ice skating being the only thing my son remembers about the trip, and expects of future cruises. I really want him to have fun, but like tserface said, I also hope he receives some cultural and educational benefits from the whole experience.

 

Junglejane, thanks so much for that link! I have been trying to google kids club newsletters and haven't been having much success.

 

AlanAllyn, that's great to hear. I really want my son to enjoy the kids club as that will make the whole trip more enjoyable for all of us.

[Boo's Mom]

We have cruised many times with our children on Celebrity.

My children were 6 and 9 when we started cruising on Celebrity.

They are now 15 and 18.

 

Celebrity has a very high quality Children's program.

 

Great programs.

Kids love being there.

 

Your son will LOVE it!

[oskarNZ]

Thank you Boo's Mom. I have now booked the cruise, so that is very reassuring to hear :)