To those thinking of a Christmas cruise 2014 and beyond

[blueboro]

We went on 2 Christmas cruises when our two sons were in their teens...Brilliance of the Seas and Summit when both were fairly new. Kids were everywhere and we expected that and fortunately had few incidents. However, if you don't want to cruise with a lot of children my advice is do not book a Christmas cruise or book one on Azamara, Crystal, Regent and other small, upscale lines.

[CruiseLovinNewlyweds]

My new husband and I were on the Equinox at the same time as lawgirl.

 

We were on our honeymoon and had an entirely different cruise then lawgirl.

 

Yes there were ALOT of kids, but when we had enough of them each day we moved to the adults only sections of the ship. The solarium was the best spot to relax and unwind

 

We found that the adults were the problem. So many times there were people who acted like they were the only ones who mattered on the ship.

 

I would recommend this trip to anyone. Great ports and great service on the ship.

[beachchairs2]

cant be that entirely different if you had to move to a quieter spot....

[CruiseLovinNewlyweds]

It was quite a bit different as the kids didn't bother us. We expected it at Christmas. As i said the issue was more the adults. They were the ones who would put a towel on a chair and walk away for the entire day and then wig out when cruise staff moved the towels.

[beachchairs2]

it wasnt different, it just didnt bother you....

[miched]

We stopped going to New Years Eves parties many years ago for any of the same reasons

 

Overpriced

 

Too crowded

 

Bad service

 

Waiting in long lines for everything

 

I am retired now and can travel anytime but when I was working my times were much more limited so when I did have the time I still found it much more enjoyable to stay at home than to pay a premium to fight crowds and have bad service during the holidays or peak seasons.

 

💨⛄

[candycaramel]

There was a "kids sale free" promotion for sailings over this past Christmas. (3rd and 4th passengers in cabin)

[Cruise Raider]

Sounds like these parents were going by the old gimmick of 'X the Rules'. Ouch...I would have been miserable. I don't expect that from Celebrity and have been lucky enough to only have well behaved children on this line. I would not have expected that many kids on a 10 day cruise, even during the holidays. I also would have also thought there would be a little more rule enforcement by Celebrity....yuk, diapers in the pool?? That is just disgusting. Grabbing for food with their bare hands....classless!!

We were recently on Princess and experienced the exact same thing. It wasn't relaxing at all. I thought maybe we were on Carnival. Made me book my next couple of cruises with Celebrity.

 

We've sailed a ten night on the Equinox before and it was the best cruise ever. Sorry to hear yours was overrun with rude and inconsiderate parents.

[beachchairs2]

There was a "kids sale free" promotion for sailings over this past Christmas. (3rd and 4th passengers in cabin)

 

 

that explains some of it...but even two kids , not supervised can clear the pool of all adults...

 

so if there were such discounts for families, then make sure you get a discount for your next cruise, since this one was ruined....

[lcmslady]

 

Amen....well said!

[lcmslady]

the only Christmas cruise I did was on the Summit out of San Juan. The airfare is more but not as many kids. We had 300-400 and really didn't have many problems.

Another trick is to book late seating dinner - the parents want to feed the kids early because they are hungry.

 

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I think the problem is that parents think that since little Johnny/Susy can't get off the ship, they don't need to be supervised.

 

To some extent, I can also understand Celebrity trying to walk a tightrope of making sure the rules are followed and not offending guests.

 

I'm not sure I know the answer.

I was actually thinking about an Xmas cruise for 2014 to escape all my family drama. Not sure I want to exchange my family drama for someone else's. At least with my family, I know what to expect. :eek:

[DonnaMW]

I debated long and hard about posting, as any negative comment on X seems to draw criticism. But, I thought it may help others decide....

 

So, our Equinox 10 day December 20 to 30th cruise just ended. Caribbean out of FLL. Out of all of our cruises, it was in some ways the most disappointing. Food and service were good, ship lovely. But, X seems to have oversold the cruise so to speak with many cabins with 3rd and 4th beds full, meaning a VERY crowded ship. But it was the kids...we were told by staff there were 700 onboard. Staff also told us they had no idea what to do with all the kids.

 

This is what we dealt with for 10 days

 

Diapers and more diapers in pools

Pools so full of kids you couldn't move

Being kicked in face by kid in pool..hard

Being hit by a football in head

Cannonballs in hot tubs

Running from pool, to hot tub, back and forth again

Screaming in halls at all hours.

Yelling out crazy stuff during hot glass show

Using elevators as a game of racing

Constant yelling on balconies

Tag in the library.

Running through the solarium chasing each other

Screaming Tweens in the ladies spa changing area

A kid running smack into my husband and spilling his $12 drink on his tux, which the family of the kid thought was cute apparently.

And an exchange of gifts of thongs by teens at the dining room table next to us

Complaints to pool attendants and customer service disregarded.

 

I could go on.

 

Is this my fault..yes, in part, for booking a Christmas cruise. However, in my defense, our other cruises on X had maybe 25 to 50 kids. Did I think it would be three or four times that? Sure! I even did research and people said 10 days on X over Christmas, maybe 200 or 300. NOT 700.

 

Do I blame the parents? Yes...have some respect for others. You may think your screaming child is cute, but everyone paid for the cruise....this is not your personal yacht. And yes, i could go in the shady solarium -- where kids ran thru too-- but i paid for this cruise...cant i get some sun? And, btw, adults, seriously grabbing French fries with your hands instead of using tongs?? WHat?

 

Lastly, do I blame X? You bet!!! Why overbook like this (I know, short term money to the detriment of worrying if people like me will cruise with you again). More importantly, why book this many kids...limit it. You do NOT have the capability of entertaining kids well on X, with no children's pool or significant other children's area like Royal or Princess. In fact a ton of kids on X are worse than a ton on other lines because of this. You can't sell yourself as an upscale, enrichment, sophisticated line and then let kids stand and scream on chairs and climb in windows at late seating dinner.

 

And why can't they have pool attendants and security etc. control the situation better? You can't have a drink in the pool, but you can throw footballs or jump onto of adults? Or use huge baby floats and diapers? It's OK for 7,8,9 year olds to run the halls at midnight and race the elevators all night? Celebrity could, and SHOULD set limits, curfews on unattended kids, etc.

 

So, be warned, unless you want to feel like you are vacationing inside a Chucky Cheese or Daycare center, avoid Celebrity at Christmas.

 

Lawgirl, totally agree with you on this cruise. We were on this one also. This was our third Christmas aboard a Celebrity ship. One Millenium and last year Constellation. Now they were short cruises and yes children, but I do not remember it being this bad. We actually were on a btb for Christmas and New years last year. They managed the children on these ships and I remember a quote of something like 700 also. So I do not know why this year it was so bad.

I actually booked the 10 day thinking not as many children. Wrong.

But because it is so long, I think the staff had a hard time keeping them busy. If it is a short 4 or 5 day, they can do something each day and not repeat. But any longer the children get bored and start running the halls.

The 5 and 6 year olds just getting on and off elevators was unbelieveable. I no way would let my grandchildren run free like that. And I think they had a tampoline in the cabin above us. Never experienced this before.

I probably will still vacation over Christmas. But going back to a short cruise just incase the problem is the same. Not stuck for 10 days.

Donna

[dln929]

Lawgirl, I'm so sorry you ran into all those child-related problems! The crew ought to have managed things better. That kind of behavior should not be tolerated on board, no matter what the season. I agree that a well-worded letter to Celebrity would not be remiss on your part. I say this because your cruise shouldn't have turned out that way. We were on the exact same sailing as you one year ago and we encountered nothing like you did. We had a lovely time. The children on board enhanced the Christmas spirit, in fact. That's the way it should be. Not the way you experienced it. I don't think we had near as many young ones on board as your sailing did, and perhaps Celebrity needs to be told that they shouldn't book as many children if they can't handle them. It's unfair to other passengers to have to endure out-of-control kids.

[cruisemom42]

We are just back from the Silhouette's W. Caribbean New Year's cruise (7 days) with a total passenger load of over 3100. I never heard how many children were on board, but there were a lot of families. We didn't personally encounter any significant issues. Kids in the pool areas seemed well behaved for the most part, not much running, splashing or yelling. I also never noticed any "disruptive" behavior in the MDR.

 

The older kids and teens seemed to want to congregate in the Hideaway, which was a bit of an issue as our cabin was one floor up and very close to the open area. Occasionally we heard some of that noise; I never knew until Day 6 that there was a glass door that could be closed from the hallway to mute some of the noise -- why was it not used until then, I wonder? We heard from another passenger that security was policing the Hideaway pretty regularly.

 

I felt that the staff on Silhouette had been expecting the large load of kids/families and dealt with them pretty effectively. I do see how it could easily have gone the other way, as lawgirl's review clearly shows.

 

For us, the cruise was a very pleasant, relaxing, and fun way to spend New Years.

[retired067]

Hi, we are booked on the Eclipse, Dec. 21/Jan 04/14, hoping there won't be as many kids on the longer cruise, comments from anyone who has sailed this time frame would be appreciated. Thanks

[dkjretired]

Sounds ghastly. If that's where Celebrity is headed, I don't want to be going with them.

 

They are not heading anywhere, I was on cruises over Easter where there were hundreds of kids and this was in 94,95 and 96. . Its a holiday cruise.

[MarkBearSF]

My husband and I had our own “cruise from hell” on NCL. It was our first cruise with friends who had sold us on the idea of a relaxing and fun time. Unfortunately, we sailed in March and unbeknownst to us, it was Spring Break. The ship held about 1500 passengers and 850 of them were college kids (drunk and obnoxious kids). I was later to learn these kids’ parents had purchased drink packages for them. I couldn’t imagine what those parents were thinking.

 

There were few if any places you could find on the ship to find some peace. There was no room in any hot tubs or swimming pools. In addition, it wasn’t unusual to find vomit in the elevators and other assorted places. The kids also thought it was especially fun to run through the halls at all hours of the night. We were on the promenade deck so they could also use that as their race track. To the best of my knowledge, NCL did nothing but make excuses for the behavior (and selling them the drink package).

 

Fortunately, the cruise was only 7 days because I couldn’t wait to get off that ship. Somehow we were persuaded this cruise was an anomaly and tried again at a different time of the year. I’m definitely putting the Christmas holidays on my personal “Do Not Cruise” list of dates.

 

I’m really sorry for your experience but am hoping you’ll try X again.

I wonder if you were on our "cruise from hell." We were with a group on the Norwegian Spirit out of NOLA in March 2011.

 

Our experience was as you describe. Additionally, it was impossible to get any bar service from the waiters. (The food was also mostly inedible, but that's another story).

 

Luckily, we don't need to travel during school vacations. After that cruise, I also learned to check for Spring Break. Never again. (applies equally to NCL and the schedule)

Edited January 6, 2014 by MarkBearSF

[poffles]

Wow!!! Always thought it would be nice to sail at Xmas/New Years but not after reading this. Your post actually brought be back to my All-Inclusive vacation to DR last year. We selected first week of April to avoid March breaks - you can guess how that worked out. Same thing, kids jumping overhead in pool and in jacuzzi, running around your chair when sitting in the lobby and when you asked them to stop the would just stick their tongue out at you with their parents two feet away, kids left alone everywhere - it was the worst I had ever seen and I've gone to All-Inclusive 5 times and none of them being adults only. The resort even seemed to be entertaining to it, at 9 PM in the main lobby sitting trying to have a nice relaxing drink they would all of a sudden have the staff jump onto a made up stage and start singing kids like songs over loud speaker and inviting them to sing along. It was unreal and I couldn't understand it when so many adults only couples before me had said how wonderful the resort was.

 

Well a few months later I happen to look at a travel book for the following year and noticed small print for that resort ... April 1st and later children 10 and under were free which I'm guessing was in place for the time I had gone the current year.

 

So who's at fault, me for not knowing every little detail about that resort's specials which could be different depending on where you live and what travel carrier you use, or is the resort to blame for not just clearly identifying themselves as a more youth driven resort, or perhaps regardless of the above it's the parents that need to take some ownership and mind their children at bit more. Either way, I've learned a valuable lesson to look for this detail in the future as it really ruined the week, the alternative will be adults only which I've never once considered before. I "try" to avoid peak times that I anticipate will be more children but who would ever expect 700 children on a Celebrity ship - not me that's for sure!

 

Just sucks to have such a negative experience. By the way, there are many adults (seniors) that behave just as badly :eek: which I witnessed on my recent NCL Epic cruise so guess it's everywhere :rolleyes:

[TFM70]

 

So, be warned, unless you want to feel like you are vacationing inside a Chucky Cheese or Daycare center, avoid Celebrity at Christmas.

 

Its not just Celebrity. I did one Christmas cruise with Princess. I'll never get on any cruise ship over the Christmas holidays again.

 

Adult only cruises, ONE VOTE

[Onessa]

Any trip can be spoiled by boors - whether they be boors with kids, kids who are boors, or boors alone.

 

Any cruise where there is the max number of extra pax in each cabin seem to have a higher than average risk of having more boors. I am always a bit wary of 3rd or 4th pax "deal" cruises.

 

To the poster who complained of a family whose mode of communication was to scream down the hallway -- we were unfortunate enough to have been on a cruse with a reunion of US WWII submarine vets. No kids, no spouses, but lots of guys in their 70s (at the time) whose only volume level seemed to be at max who would start drinking at dawn and not stop until 2 or 3am. Pool closed multiple times for clean up, people whose balconey's were unusable due to -- well what ever disgusting thing you can imagine probably happened! Hammering on my cabin door at 2:30am - demanding to be let in (wrong deck).

 

I am careful for what I wish -- Adults-only cruises start to take on an unsavory reputation (kind of a "girls run wild" attitude). Drinking, vulgarity, etc. are "OK" because it is "adults only".

[beachchairs2]

how often are vets on a cruise as a group, compared to kids and their ignorant parents?

 

when a cruise line that has no ablility to look after many children aboard, offers a promo knowing that, they are liable to the others that paid good money to get a relaxing , peaceful experience....

[Onessa]

. . . when a cruise line that has no ablility to look after many children aboard, offers a promo knowing that, they are liable to the others that paid good money to get a relaxing , peaceful experience....

yup . . .

Any cruise where there is the max number of extra pax in each cabin seem to have a higher than average risk of having more boors. I am always a bit wary of 3rd or 4th pax "deal" cruises.

[billscruiser]

We just returned from a 14 day Christmas cruise on the Eclipse, left 12/14 and returned 12/28. There were very few children on this cruise. We had a great time, staff was just awesome, even the adults (lol) even with the drink packages. Celebrity exceeded our expectations once again. The only reason we did not book over next Christmas was a plea from our children and grandchildren to be home for Christmas.

 

Several years ago we did a Princess cruise over Christmas which was also very good. They limit the number of children per cruise, which soothed my concerns somewhat. Everything was great on that cruise as well.

 

Don't necessarily give up cruising over the holidays unless you really don't care when you cruise. We love the decorations and atmosphere as well as decorating our room up like our home.

 

It's unfortunate you had that experience. I did notice the sales just before Christmas and had fears of just that happening. Having said that, we were so port intensive and not "sun worshipers", that there could have been issues, but the youngest one I can remember seeing was at least 10.

 

Kathryn

[pbrady]

We sailed the Silhouette Christmas 2012 & the Reflection Thanksgiving 2013. Last Christmas there was a greater number of kids, but nothing too noticeable. This past Thanksgiving was much as the OP said. We were told by many they had about 550 kids on board. I really disliked was the constant running & screaming, pushing every button in the elevator (which happened a lot) and then running off before the doors closed, and the manners at the buffet (no clue how to use the utensils). We didn't hesitate on the Thanksgiving since last Christmas wasn't bad, but no more for us. If we stick to the 14 day Eclipse, there are only a few kids. I just wish they'd please change the itinerary.

[20pluscruises]

As some on here like to recommened "you may want to try a Carnival cruise" when they disagree with you...this Celebrity cruise was as close to a Carnival cruise as it could possibly get.

 

Why they allowed the children to run through the casino pulling on slot machine arms of the machines people were playing is beyond me. Every single machine arm these young boys pulled should at the very least been given some sort of spin credit.